Everyone
has to see Hawaii before they die. We stayed on the island
of Oahu that has the cities of Honolulu and Waikiki. The islands
of Kauai and Maui are more beautiful and have volcanoes, lush rain
forests, and waterfalls that Oahu does not have. Even so,
Oahu was beautiful. Just seeing that one island makes us want
to go back. The islands are far enough apart that you must
fly from island to island. There weren't any ferries.
If you ever go, stay 10-14 days and visit at least 3 islands.
We are arrived in Honolulu, picked up the rental
car, drove to the next-door city of Waikiki, checked into our hotel
and were ready for bed at 10:00pm local time. It was 4:00am
Washington, DC time and we were quite tired. By 5:30am local
time, we sprung out of bed to start the day. This is our first
morning from our hotel balcony and we are already looking relaxed.
Our fresh leis were a gift when we got off of the plane. They
smelled so sweet.
Here is Waikiki with all of the hotels. Our hotel
is the last one on the row, near the center of the postcard. Diamond
Head Mountain is in the background and offers a great view. We didn't
have time to hike the rocky trail to the top, though. We heard it's
a tough hike.
Hunama Bay is the prettiest bay on the island. We
rented fins, masks and snorkel to view the coral reef and tropical fish.
We saw at least 10 different kinds of fish that were only a few feet from
us.
At 8:00am, Hanauma Bay wasn't that busy, but by noon, it was
crowded like the above post card shows.
This is the Halona Blow Hole. When the molten
lava reached the sea many years ago, a tunnel was formed between
the sea and the top of the lava. As the waves crash onto the
rocks, water is forced through the tunnel and spouts out the top
like a geyser. When it's high tide, it can spout over 20 feet.
I'm guessing this is 8-10 feet in this photo.
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