Posts Tagged ‘Diamond Head’
5 days and 4 nights. Oahu at its best.
Posted by Lynn Hartley | Filed under Travel
Recently I took my first trip to Hawaii and the island of Oahu. Aside from being in 80 degree weather versus the 50 degrees at home, I was really excited to see everything the island had to offer.
I am a planner so I already had everything planned for my trip. Monday was my first day and everything was pretty much flying. I left at about 6:00 am Eastern Time and arrived in Oahu around 3pm their time. I couldn’t wait to get my feet in the sand and myself in the water so off I went!
On Tuesday I had the opportunity to take an hour-long helicopter tour of the island. The helicopter fits 6 people plus the pilot. When I checked in they told me I was too small to ride by the windows because of the weight balance required in the chopper. At first I was disappointed but little did I know, I was going to be sitting right beside the pilot in the front of the plane!
We started out flying over Waikiki Beach towards Diamond Head. Sailors originally thought there were diamonds in this crater because of the glitters you see when the sunlight hits it, hence the name.
Continuing on we flew over Hanauma Bay, which is a huge snorkeling and recreational Swimming Park. The Bay was also the location for Elvis Presley’s film Blue Hawaii. As we cut north on the right side of the island, I saw the color of the land. Flushed green hills, deep blue waters shining in the sun. And hidden deep into the lands is Ali Sacred Falls. All I can say to describe this is pure beauty. Ironically the first thing I thought of when I saw this was it would be nice to hike but there must be a lot of snakes there. Interestingly enough, our guide told us there are no snakes in Hawaii! So the hike would have been possible had they not closed the park it’s located in to the public.
Heading further up the right side we went over the North Shore. The easiest way to describe this is relaxation. It’s home of my favorite, the Banzai Pipeline, where surfers from all around the world come to ride the waves. The waves are huge and as they crash across the reefs underneath they form curls that surfers can ride the barrel across. I must say, while we were there, there was nothing better than watching a man surf on a serving tray. True talent!
Apparently Oahu’s soil has so much volcanic ash and red iron that it turns the soil that color and makes it very fertile for the Pineapples – which explains why Dole has their headquarters here. When we flew down the left side of the towards the Dole Plantation and I got a great aerial view of the famous “Pineapple Garden Maze” which is one of the world’s largest. While I only saw it from the air, I have no doubt I would have been lost in the bushes all day if I were on foot. You can also see Kings Highway in the background. I think it should have been named Queen’s highway but that’s just my opinion!
The end of our tour went over Pearl Harbour but since I was going there again towards the end of my trip, I didn’t take many pictures from the air. After we landed, I went back to relaxing, swimming and surfing the rest of the day.
On Wednesday morning my husband Jeff and I headed over to Sea Life Park. I have always loved dolphins so the 20-minute ride seemed longer than it actually was. Once we got there I suited up and climbed in the pool. Our instructor told us because of the way these dolphins were trained we had to keep our hands above water until we were ready to signal them for something. Well apparently Jeff didn’t listen and one came up in his face and smacking himself against the water as if he were trying to talk to him. Once we got back on track, we got to swim around with the dolphins. I knew they were extremely smart but they are also very friendly. After about 20 minutes of swimming it was finally time to try a belly ride! I swam to the left side of the pool and crossed my arms in front of me. The dolphin swam around and stayed on the ride side. As soon as I was ready, I formed a T with my left hand on my right shoulder and my right arm straight out. I am not kidding when I say this, as soon as my right hand shot out that dolphin swam towards me faster than I could imagine. He slowed down as he came behind and flipped over on his belly. I grabbed both of his fins and off I went. Even though I am already a kid at heart, it was SO much fun. Then it was time to kiss him so I cupped my right hand on top of my left and tapped the water three times. He came right up to me and waited for me to pull him close and kiss him. No matter how many times I look at it, I still think the picture is too cute so it stays on my wall at home.
When I got out of my suit, we walked around the park to learn about the other animals. One of the shows I watched was, of course, the dolphin show. I love seeing them flip in air and do their tricks. This show was especially cool because they had both the Pacific dolphins which are large and the Atlantic dolphins which are more of a baby size. It even had something I had never heard of: a Wholphin! She was a mix of a whale and a dolphin that were in the park, and the only one of it’s kind known in the world.
There are so many other things to do at the park. They even have this huge tank you can suite up and dive inside of so you can walk around with the sea life. It’s basically snorkeling but in a controlled environment. You walk past everything from blowfish to stingrays and even sharks! Definitely a worthwhile experience.
After finishing up our tour of the park, we headed back to do some Waikiki shopping to kill some time. There is such a variety of stores it actually makes shopping fun. They have everything from high end stores like Chanel and Gucci to kiosks in the International marketplace. And the street performers are fantastic! As the late afternoon approached, we headed up the island to the board the Navatek dinner cruise. We made friends with a couple sitting beside us and further into the evening the four of us decided to try Sake for the first time. Sake is definitely for the strong willed! When the sun was setting, we heard everyone on deck laughing so we walked outside and saw two whales flipping around. The waters were so rough that we got wet a few times but I still managed to keep my camera dry to get some pictures. Unfortunately the whales were not cooperating because every time I snapped a picture they were back in the water.
Pearl Harbour was scheduled for Thursday. I was told that the line is enormous so you have to get there early. We did have to stand in line for about an hour but it moved very quickly. I am a huge history buff so once we were inside we went to watch a documentary on the Harbour’s background and the attack itself. After that was over we boarded a boat and sailed across the port to the Arizona Memorial. I have always seen this on TV but words cannot describe the place once you are physically there. The memorial itself strays across the middle of the sunken ship. The back of the first room with flags from all military divisions and the back room has a memorial wall with inscriptions of those lost. The middle room is the largest and contains an opening where you can peek down the floor opening into the waters and the ship. This room contains 21 windows to represent the 21-gun salute for the fallen sailors. On the outside of the right windows you can also see an opening of the ship where oil has been seeping out. This oil is also known as the “black tears” and the story behind it says that once the oil stops seeping and the waters clear, all the souls have passed.
While we were at Pearl Harbour we also were able to tour the USS Bowfin Submarine. I could not imagine having to stay on this ship for more than an hour. It is definitely too claustrophobic for me! Heading back to Waikiki Beach we got ready for our first “official” luau that night. I had the best authentic food possible and a great show to boot. The best part of the show was the man who danced with fire. Even though I know he was oiled up for protection, the thought of putting a stick of fire on your arms and in your mouth is still wild.
Our last day, Friday was spent heading to the airport and flying home. With the time change, we left Friday and arrived back home in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Just before we went to sleep, we flew over the other islands and I got some great shots. Overall it was an ideal trip that I would recommend to anyone looking for a great adventure.
