Last night I did the stupidest thing! Wrote in this blog a BIG, LONG comment about the rest of our Hawaii trip and when I was finished, instead of posting it, I hit the close button. AHHHHHH! So....here I go again.
Sunday, Sept. 27th we took off for the Dole Plantation. A pretty place with a train ride, a maze to walk through and a large gift shop with everything you ever wanted in pineapple. Didn't realize there were so many varieties.
Then off to the North Shore with the big waves. A couple of days before it was reported that the waves were 15 to 20 feet high. Not this day but still nice to see. They were kind of quick waves....not long ones where a surfer could really ride well.
Drove over to Honolulu and saw the statue of King Kamehameha and saw big cruise ships docked right next to the highway. Weird! That night we went to a luau. But after seeing the Polynesian Center's dances that were dressed so authentic, this was more like Vegas....not quite...but almost. Saw them taking out the pig, had dinner and would have to say that their show was entertaining.
The next day, Monday, was our last day in Hawaii. We packed up all of our stuff...tons...and left our luggage at the hotel since our plane didn't leave until around 9pm. Then off to the Bishop Museum to see Hawaiian history and also a Dinosaur exhibit that was taking place. Interesting to see what Hawaii looked like years ago compared to today. At the museum they had some stuffed animals of the islands. A few days before we had seen this "thing" run across the road in front of our car and didn't know what it was. Found out, from the museum's stuff animals, that it was a mongoose which neither of us had ever seen before. They resemble, somewhat, a squirrel without the bushy tail.
Next we drove over to Nuuanu Pali State Park. If you ever get to Oahu, this is a place you must see. At the park there is this cliff which when you walk up to lets you see a beautiful view of the island and ocean. It was at this cliff that King Kamehameha I invaded Oahu and did battle with his enemies. Four hundred of his enemies were forced off the cliff to their deaths 1,000 feet below. This was suppose to the the turning point in uniting all the Hawaiian islands under one rule. The other thing about this cliff is the WIND!!!! It is extremely windy. The trade winds blow through the valley between the high mountains on either side, forming a strong wind tunnel of sorts. On extra windy days, you can even lean into the wind and let the gusts hold you up. Yup....windy!
After leaving the park we stopped at a couple scenic sites and then had lunch. After that it was on to The Valley of the Temples. Beautiful place. The best of the temples has got to be The Byodo-In Temple. It was built in the 1960's to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant workers in Hawaii who came to work in the sugar plantation fields. It is a replica of the 950-year-old Byodoin Temple located in Uji, Japan near Kyoto. Buddah is there and you have to take off your shoes to enter the temple. The whole place is very pretty and peaceful.
We then headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and off to the airport. Plane didn't leave until around 9:15pm and we got back to Detroit at around 4:30pm on Tuesday afternoon.
And here we are. Added some more photos to the slide show.
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