On top of the world

Well, on top of Oahu, anyway -- at some really nice lookouts.

Actually, this day was a really good illustration of how different the weather can be on the two sides of the island.

These are views from Pali Lookout, which is on Windward Oahu.

That's Kailua on the other side of that tunnel.

So, kinda overcast, grey, drizzly, on the cool side.

And this is the view from Mount Tantalus Lookout (on west side of the mountains) -- same morning.

Sunnier and warmer!

Those abrupt changes in weather took a little getting-used-to. I mean, you'd be driving west on the Pali Highway or H3, and there'd be these grey clouds hanging over the mountain tops. Next thing you know, you're driving through a mountain pass, and twenty seconds later you emerge -- into blazing sunlight! What?! What happened? Ha! It's really interesting.

Right, so, getting up to the Mount Tantalus Lookout involves a drive up a curvy road that winds through rain forest and eucalyptus trees. Then you're in a park, and then you see this!

Diamond Head from a distance.

We loved it up here -- sunny, quiet, and breezy. And it was a wonderful place to go for our final look around before going to the airport.

You can just see the airport from here, too!

Sigh!

It was an absolutely fantastic trip -- one we'd do again in a heartbeat!

A fun side trip on the North Shore

Okay, so Tom and I enjoy watching Lost, which is filmed in Oahu.

We didn't go hunting for film locations or anything, but after seeing the familiar Kualoa Ranch scenery, we decided to look for one other place -- the Lost Beach.

Its real name is the Papa Iloa Beach. It's a public beach, but not a very crowded one. It's off a small residential street, and there's a nice sandy walkway between houses that lets out onto the beach. Which, if you watch Lost, is instantly recognizable.






Think the actors ever bussed it to a shoot?

Nah, me neither. But they could have!

It was a cool little adventure for a sunny afternoon.

How to eat shrimp

We ate at a couple different outdoor shrimp eateries. This one here is The Shrimp Shack, on the Kamehameha Highway in Punalu'u.

You can't miss the yellow van!

All these places serve the shrimp very fresh. Some of them have shrimp ponds right next to them where they go and scoop up your order and cook it right away (yikes!).

And -- something Tom and I weren't used to dealing with -- the shrimp is served with the shells still on. The sauce is poured all over them, too, which means that eating is a messy business (all the shrimp vans have sinks with soap nearby, thankfully!).

We weren't exactly sure the best way to eat shrimp served this way. Luckily, the Shrimp Shack helped us out.


So now you know!

A morning at Kualoa Ranch

Tom and I spent one gorgeous sunny morning here.

Kualoa Ranch is a family-run ranch that encompasses a rather large tract of land on the windward coast, right on the Kamehameha Highway.

The view from the ranch's front door.

We knew just from our coastal drives that there was some amazing land back there. So Tom and I signed up for one of their tours.

Tom was happy to sit on a bus for a change!

The road was dusty and a bit bumpy, but none of us minded. Especially when we looked out the window!

We got some amazing views of Kaneohe Bay.

That's the Kamehameha Highway down there.

The small island known as "Chinaman's Hat"

And then, there were views like these.





Astounding, isn't it?

If any of this scenery looks familiar, there may be a reason.


A significant amount of Lost filming happened in this valley (as did Jurassic Park). You can see why -- it's such beautiful and distinctive terrain. I haven't seen any other place quite like it.

We were amazingly lucky with the weather, because Windward Oahu is the part of the island most likely to be cloudy or misty. Granted, it still would have been beautiful, but we felt very fortunate that the skies were so clear that morning.

Breathtaking, the whole area. Loved it.

Hawaiian cuisine?

Ah, the tastes of Hawaii.

The fresh pineapple and papaya for breakfast ...

The mouth-watering garlic shrimp ...

The flavors of Hawaiian fusion cooking ...

The Boston-style pizza ...

Wait. What?

Yeah! We saw this sign and others while we were there, though some places specifically said "Boston North End Pizza" (the slices were huge!). Never Chicago-style, never NewYork-style, at least not that we saw. Just Boston.

I know, right? Well, I suppose we do have "Hawaiian pizzas" on our menus ...

The sights and tastes of the North Shore

We couldn't resist the coastal drives, and found ourselves scoping out Oahu's north shore a number of times.

The waves on the beaches there are known the world over for attracting world-class surfers. So we had to check out The Pipeline.


Don't surf here after just a couple lessons -- the waves are something else. When we were there, lots of kids and teens (grownups too!) were camped out in the sand, just watching for someone to catch a wave and ride it out. It's fun to check out.

We stopped at Matsumoto's for what is rumored to be the best shave ice on Oahu.

A shave ice is kinda like a snow cone, but the ice is finer (and seriously, in this picture, I've already eaten half of mine -- the servings are huge!). They're super sweet, and Tom and I discovered that they taste best when you're hot and tired from a hike.

Tom and I loved this place:

Best pie slices ever.

They make a mean haupia pie, which is a really delicious coconut cream. Tom and I made a feast of it by ordering a slice each of haupia and chocolate-haupia, and splitting them. I'm still not sure which was better (I think Tom liked the haupia by itself better). But they were both AWESOME.

There were all kinds of fun foods to be found along here.

Ah, let's not forget Kahuku shrimp!

There are lots of shrimp vans like this one along the coastal roads up north, particularly in Kahuku, near the northeast tip of Oahu. They serve very fresh shrimp cooked in garlic and butter, coconut, or hot sauce -- usually served with a couple scoops of rice. Very tasty!

Lots to do and see up there, all great for hot sunny days.

And on top of all that, a bonus ...

You can take the bus up here!

I could so go for a slice of that haupia pie ...

Driving up the Kamehameha Highway

The road that travels up the windward coast and much of the north shore is named the Kamehameha Highway. I think the average speed limit is about 35 mph, which gives you plenty of time to stare at the scenery as the road twists and turns along the coast.

If you're headed north, if you turn your head left, you see this:


and if you turn to the right, you see this.


Mountains on one side, the ocean on the other, right up close to the road. And since Oahu isn't really very big, it's easy to drive the length of it and back in a day. We couldn't help just staring at everything each time we drove up this way. It makes you wish you had a couple extra sets of eyes.

This drive is the thing I miss most -- I loved this kind of scenery.




So beautiful.

And now, a rain forest!

So, just a couple miles from volcano craters and downtown Honolulu is the Manoa Falls Trail. It leads you through this lush, humid, bright green rain forest.

Near the base of the trail.

There are all these tall trees that we hadn't seen anywhere else on Oahu.

The tree density definitely hid the sun in parts of the trail.

This was the first walk we did on Oahu where the air had that warm, humid, kind of "close" feeling of dense, healthy plant life -- lots of ferns and plants with big leaves. It's also the only place where we experienced mosquitoes, but even then there weren't many.

It's a peaceful, easy trail -- nothing too strenuous, a mellow "staircase" here and there, mostly to keep people from walking on other plants.

Those skinny trees are bamboo!

The actual falls part of the Manoa Falls Trail were a little meager when we were there, however.

See what I mean?

I've seen pictures of this place, so I know the waterfall is usually a bit more impressive than that! Maybe during the spring and summer it'll be a real "falls" again instead of a little trickle.

The hike itself was very pleasant, in any case! Definitely a nice place to take refuge from the direct sunlight and see lots of greenery.

"I cracked my head on Diamond Head ... "

Diamond Header crater is near Waikiki, and its top is a very popular destination.


So, after spending the morning at Hanauma Bay, we decided to check it out that afternoon.

The trail to this summit is a long series of switchbacks, an easy ascent even though the ground is a little uneven.

And then, you get to the stairs.

At least the stairs were in the shade!

They're much more reasonable steps than the ones in Koko Crater (since these really are stairs instead of railroad tracks!), and there's nowhere near as many.


The one thing to watch out for? Emerging at the top.

You can see from that last picture that some parts of the walk near the top go inside. Well, just as you're nearing the top, there's this little ladder you have to climb out of to go outside to the lookout, and there's a very, very low roof right there. I thought I'd noticed just how low it was, but I misjudged it.

CRACK! ... And, Owww!

Well, that was a bit of a nasty shock, but on the other hand, the view from the top was scenic and breezy.

No, I'm fine really ... just a little headache. :-)

It's a nice walk up there, good view payoff without getting totally exhausted. Just, if you go up there, please -- watch your head!

A way to spend a sunny morning

Lots of people had told us that we should try snorkeling in Hanauma Bay.


Most everything in the water in that picture that looks like rock is actually coral, and we'd heard there were all kinds of colorful fish swimming nearby.

So, there was just one thing to do.

Turn into Super Snorkel Woman!

And it's true, it's a wonderful place to snorkel, especially for beginners. They rent out masks and snorkels and flippers there, and if you're not used to wearing all that (which I wasn't) you're not alone -- lots of people there are probably snorkeling for the first time.

We didn't have an underwater camera, but really that was just as well. What with breathing with that very well-loved (and therefore not super-airtight) rental snorkel in my mouth, and keeping my body from touching the coral, I don't think I'd've been up for taking pictures.

But the fish were all different colors and shapes, and they were everywhere! Tom also spotted an eel sticking his head out of one of the holes. The coral was so full of life, it was amazing what you could see even just a few feet away from shore.

It's definitely something to do in the morning, when not enough people have come yet to really kick up the sand.

Plus, the water isn't quite cold, but -- what with it being winter there now and all (snort) -- it's not exactly bath water either, so eventually we both got pretty chilled and retreated.

Lying on a beach blanket in the sun never felt so good!

It was really, really beautiful. I recommend it.