Friday, January 06, 2006
Upgraded to a Convertible!
On Thursday we rented a car and drove around Oahu. Before leaving for our trip friends had loaned us "Revealed" books for each of the islands, except Oahu, so I went out and purchased that one. The book is great for driving tours as they provide mile markers and detailed descriptions on what you can see along the way. We used it as a loose guide for our day.
We reserved an "economy" car online through Thrifty, but when we got there they upgraded us to a convertible (cool!). So for $40 we got to see Oahu with the top down.
We started our drive by heading up to Tantalus road. It's a beautiful drive, with a rainforest feel. There are great big banyan trees everywhere and we were definitely glad we had the convertible. At the top we parked and checked out the amazing view of Waikiki and Honolulu and Diamond Head.
Honolulu with Diamond Head and Waikiki in the distance.
We then headed out to Hwy 1 and then the coast via Hwy 72. Just past Hanauma Bay (we didn't stop there, Ian isn't a big fan or snorkeling) we stopped at a lookout that had a cool old Japanese Fishing Shrine.
Japanese Fishing Shrine Along Hwy 72 on Oahu
We then got back on Hwy 72 and made another stop a few yards up at the lookout for the Halona Blowhole. No photo, we weren't impressed. Maybe the tide wasn't high enough because there wasn't much water shooting out of the hole.
After our brief stop we drove some more along Hwy 72 until it intersected with Hwy 61. We wanted to go up to the Pali lookout for more great views of the Island.
View from the Pali Lookout on Oahu
It was really windy at the lookout and we got blown around a bit. After shooting a couple of pictures we located the trail the Oahu Revealed book told us about and headed out. It was a nice little walk and there were more banyan trees everywhere. We goofed around and pretended we were swinging from them like Tarzan. (Or at least we thought that's what we were doing.)
Playing with a Banyan Tree on Oahu
After playing with the banyan tree we hiked back to our car and drove back down Hwy 61 and took Hwy 83 along the coast towards the North Shore. We made a yummy stop at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet.
Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet on Oahu
They had samples available for all different types of Macadamia Nuts. Honey roasted nuts, cinnamon coated nuts, onion-garlic nuts, etc. They also had many different types of jellies & jams, syrups and coffee. We bought stuff to snack on and stuff to bring home for gifts.
Back on the road we continued to the North Shore. Along the way we stopped off at the Sea Arch off of the La'ie Point. The hole was created when a Tsunami punched through the rock. It was a really beautiful spot and I wished we could have stayed there longer. But we were on a schedule (we had a dinner reservation, but more on that below).
Sea Arch off of the La'ie Point on Oahu
Once back in the car we traveled on Hwy 83 to the famous Bonzai Pipeline, where the waves are huge and there are always surfers. They were too far out for me to get any photos of them, but there were plenty of waves. And they beach was beautiful.
Banzai Pipeline on the Oahu North Shore
We left the beach and headed back towards Waikiki traveling through the center of the Island. We had dinner reservations at Roy's courtesy of a generous gift certificate from our friends M&K. I had a juicy, tender steak and Ian had fish. We finished off the meal with their famous chocolate soufflé. All in all it was a great day!
~ Christina
Next Hawaii January 1-15, 2006 Post:
January 6-7 Laying by the Pool & Diamond Head
We reserved an "economy" car online through Thrifty, but when we got there they upgraded us to a convertible (cool!). So for $40 we got to see Oahu with the top down.
We started our drive by heading up to Tantalus road. It's a beautiful drive, with a rainforest feel. There are great big banyan trees everywhere and we were definitely glad we had the convertible. At the top we parked and checked out the amazing view of Waikiki and Honolulu and Diamond Head.
Honolulu with Diamond Head and Waikiki in the distance.
We then headed out to Hwy 1 and then the coast via Hwy 72. Just past Hanauma Bay (we didn't stop there, Ian isn't a big fan or snorkeling) we stopped at a lookout that had a cool old Japanese Fishing Shrine.
Japanese Fishing Shrine Along Hwy 72 on Oahu
We then got back on Hwy 72 and made another stop a few yards up at the lookout for the Halona Blowhole. No photo, we weren't impressed. Maybe the tide wasn't high enough because there wasn't much water shooting out of the hole.
After our brief stop we drove some more along Hwy 72 until it intersected with Hwy 61. We wanted to go up to the Pali lookout for more great views of the Island.
View from the Pali Lookout on Oahu
It was really windy at the lookout and we got blown around a bit. After shooting a couple of pictures we located the trail the Oahu Revealed book told us about and headed out. It was a nice little walk and there were more banyan trees everywhere. We goofed around and pretended we were swinging from them like Tarzan. (Or at least we thought that's what we were doing.)
Playing with a Banyan Tree on Oahu
After playing with the banyan tree we hiked back to our car and drove back down Hwy 61 and took Hwy 83 along the coast towards the North Shore. We made a yummy stop at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet.
Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet on Oahu
They had samples available for all different types of Macadamia Nuts. Honey roasted nuts, cinnamon coated nuts, onion-garlic nuts, etc. They also had many different types of jellies & jams, syrups and coffee. We bought stuff to snack on and stuff to bring home for gifts.
Back on the road we continued to the North Shore. Along the way we stopped off at the Sea Arch off of the La'ie Point. The hole was created when a Tsunami punched through the rock. It was a really beautiful spot and I wished we could have stayed there longer. But we were on a schedule (we had a dinner reservation, but more on that below).
Sea Arch off of the La'ie Point on Oahu
Once back in the car we traveled on Hwy 83 to the famous Bonzai Pipeline, where the waves are huge and there are always surfers. They were too far out for me to get any photos of them, but there were plenty of waves. And they beach was beautiful.
Banzai Pipeline on the Oahu North Shore
We left the beach and headed back towards Waikiki traveling through the center of the Island. We had dinner reservations at Roy's courtesy of a generous gift certificate from our friends M&K. I had a juicy, tender steak and Ian had fish. We finished off the meal with their famous chocolate soufflé. All in all it was a great day!
~ Christina
Next Hawaii January 1-15, 2006 Post:
January 6-7 Laying by the Pool & Diamond Head
# posted by Christina @ 9:22 PM 
