After heading out, we drove for another 30 minutes passing by some houses and quite a bit of farmland. We saw some cool turn offs along the way and made some stops to check out the waves. Surf boards abounded and it was cool to see them strapped to peoples cars as they passed us on the road. From what we were told this is the area that the surfers head because of the great waves!
The rain had pretty much stopped by the time we made our first turnoff, but it was still pretty overcast. I absolutely loved the rocks jutting out along the shore, it created such a cool effect with the waves.
These were the coolest looking birds because they were like morning doves, but a lot prettier!
A few miles down the road we came to a public beach area and even saw some buses pulled over, so we decided to check it out. We didnt have our suits with us, so we had no real plans to get in the water. The waves were huge though and Kris seriously considered going in, but decided against it in the end.
I love this shot, thats Kris in the background contemplating whether or not he should go in the water.
We had no real plans for the day which was actually great for exploring. We also came across the Waimea Falls Park which is ran by the National Audubon Society. We pulled in to explore and were excited because in the guidebook I had it said that you could actual swim and climb around the falls. It was already around 4 pm in the afternoon and the park closed at 5 pm, so we decided not to pay the entrance fee which was around $15 if I remember correctly. We did spend some time wandering their gift shop and a pavilion area near the front. They had things set up for a wedding reception, so I took some time to poke around and be nosey.
Here is Kris near the front of the park:
There were a ton of peacocks around and I got some pretty good pictures. I only uploaded two to Photobucket for some reason though.
The only disturbing part about this area is that you would drive by several roadside parks and there were like tent cities set up everyone. I know they have a high rate of homelessness on the island, but it was very surreal to see it up close like that in such a beautiful paradise.
Around this time we decided to start heading back towards Waikiki. We were already getting hungry too. A few miles down the road we spotted a shrimp truck and Kris decided to stop off. Even though Im not a seafood fan I told him that he should at least get something. The prices were outrageous, so he decided to suffer along with me. About 10 minutes later we came across this hole in the wall place that I had read about in several of my Hawaii books. It looked like a little party store inside and you just walked up to the counters to order. All of the tables were outside on the patio. The thing I remember was all the people going in and out without shoes on. I kept thinking to myself of the signs back home, No shoes, no shirt, no service! Definitely a little different in Hawaii.
Since we had not gotten the traditional Hawaiian plate lunch which includes some type of teriyaki meat, rice, and macaroni salad we decided to indulge ourselves.
Oh, my goodness this dessert- chocolate haupia pie- was out of this world! It is a chocolate cream pie that has a layer of cream below the white whipped cream that is made out of coconut milk. It was so creamy and it melted in your mouth! :
After we finished our meal we packed up and headed back out. Here is a shot of Kris goofing around while he was driving. There is a story behind this stupid looking hat jester: We had been advised that the Polynesian Cultural Center where we had been the day before can be quite sunny (even though it ended up raining on our day there!) so you were advised to bring a hat. I dont own any hats and look ridiculous in them, so decided the night before we were going that I needed to purchase one since I didnt want a burnt scalp! (Which happens a lot since I am so fair skinned and have lighter colored hair.)
Anyway, I made Kris go in and out of shops with me for over an hour trying to find a cheap hat. This was the best that I could come up with since everything was so expensive in Waikiki.
On the way back I asked Kris to stop off at the Dole Plantation again because there were some pictures that I didnt get earlier because of the rain. I was also a little irritated that Kris had told me not to buy pineapples to ship home earlier that day
I told him that I was just going to buy them anyway when we returned, but the store had just closed! I was mad, but at the end of the trip I ended up getting some anyway! We spent about 20 minutes here just checking out the grounds a little more that we had missed earlier in the day.
A real closeup of a pineapple, finally!
Up next, our last day in Oahu before heading to Maui spending time in Honolulu exploring Pearl Harbor and more.