{Travel} Oahu - Day 6 - Coffee Farm, Dole Plantation, Local Food Trucks, Surfers, Waimea Waterfall & Luau

 Day 6

This was a jam packed day for us. We had a full day of sightseeing planned with our gang. One of them had planned our whole itinerary which was wonderful! This was another view from our room.

 

We had to make a decision about our flight out on Sunday night because it looked like it would probably be cancelled (this was Friday morning). We re-booked our flights before picking up our rental car (another Jeep!) and were running late with the group.

They were leaving Green World Coffee Farm as we got there so we said we'd meet up with them at the next stop. We grabbed a quick coffee and a look around before heading out to meet at stop #2.

Stop #2 was the Dole Plantation.  We spent some time looking around the grounds and the store (where I found my cute pineapple socks).

We *had* to try the Dole Whip here. They have a self serve kiosk system and you can pick all kinds of toppings. We shared one with raspberry sauce. It was good but I think Disney does it better!

We purchased tickets for the Pineapple Express Train Tour.

It was a fun 20 minute train journey through the plantation and very interesting.

The bromeliads were bromeliading. 

The scenery was breathtaking.

If you zoom in on this photo, you can see the baby pineapples growing in the field. It was so cool!

They get you at the beginning for a professional photo. It cracks me up!

Our next stop was the food trucks for lunch on the way to the North Shore and this was the only photo that I took. Chickens everywhere, just like in Kauai!  We had a nice outdoor lunch and the food prices were super reasonable. It's a good idea to get off of the resort areas and try the places that the locals eat.  

Our next stop was the Banzai Pipeline surfing area at the Ehukai Beach Park on the North Shore.  We parked on the street and found an entrance to the beach. Nothing is marked so you just have to look for beach access.

This is a world famous surfing destination known for the barrel shaped waves. 

{not my photo, someone else in our group captured this shot!}

From November-March it is extremely dangerous to swim here but perfect for brave surfers.  I could watch them all day. They were setting up stands for a competition so the conditions were perfect.   We were chatting with a surfer from South Africa and asking how they knew when to take on a wave, he said there's a line out there and locals have preference.

The sand was very deep and rough.

Our final stop was at the Waimea Valley to go see the Waimea Falls and attend the Toa Luau.

We took the short hike down to the falls. It's about 1.5 miles round trip.  The hike has lush beautiful botanical gardens as well as Hawaiian history stops along the way. It's mostly shaded too which was nice.

 Waimea Falls is a 45 foot waterfall.

There are lifeguards and life jackets if you care to swim at the bottom. We skipped this part and took the hike back to the visitor center.

We took our time and enjoyed the botanical gardens. I thought these Acanthaceae flowers were so vibrant.

We had time to freshen up and change into our luau outfits.

We were all ready for a lava flow by this point!

We made our way over to the Toa Luau area where we taken to our seats and given leis.  We had VIP tickets so we were seated near the front of the stage.

We were encouraged to learn some Hawaiian crafts and games and were treated to a cooking demonstration and an amazing tree climbing demonstration.

Dinner was served and then the show began. The entertainment was a 10/10! The food was just ok.

We really enjoyed the show and learning about the Polynesian culture.

Of course Mr. Click made a friend!

Are you still with me? Phew, that was a LONG day but a good one!

to be continued...

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{Travel} Oahu - Day 5 Sea Turtles, Pearl Harbor & Dinner

 Day 5

This was the first day of our real vacation now that the conference was over.  We had a tour of Pearl Harbor booked for the day.  

Here's a shot of the Rainbow Tower building where we were staying.  It was easy to spot.

First we went for a walk on the beach.

We walked out onto a jetty and saw this amazing sea turtle swimming by.

We got to tour the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.  It was quite a day.

We were on a group tour but it was pretty much self guided. We walked through the three museums. One represented before the attack, one represented the time during the attack and one was after the attack.  We stopped for a photo before we went in.

I think the most moving part of the tour is getting to see USS Arizona Memorial. You take a ferry over to the memorial.  We got to chat with some of the sailors stationed there.

It was sobering to see the many lives lost there in the span of a few minutes.

The rest of the tour took us around Waikiki and our tour guide gave us a history lesson for some of the key places.   It was about 4 hours in total and we were dropped off back at our hotel.

Mr. Click and I had dinner reservations at The Pig & The Lady.in the Kaimuki neighborhood of Honolulu.  Our taxi driver told us it was the foodie area.

The restaurant is Vietnamese inspired. We tried the famous Le Fried Chicken Wings.

The Charcoal Roasted Potaotes

and the Bo Kho Pappardelle

Everything was different and delicious. I was most excited about the P & L soft serve swirl.  It changes seasonally and this one was salted dulce la leche custard and coconut black sesame sorbet with crushed coffee brownie brittle. Wow!!

We met up with our group back at the Barefoot Bar for lava flows--the drink of our trip for sure! It's a pina colada with strawberry puree swirled in. Yum!

to be continued...

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{Travel} Oahu- Days 3 & 4

Day 3

I could get used to this view from the resort. 

Mr. Click was still in his conference so I was on my own again. I decided to walk into town by going along the beach for as long as I could.

I passed this ceremony, I'm not sure what it was because there were multiple couples being highlighted/honored.

I walked around the bougie shopping area of Waikiki. Every designer store you can think of, is there.   This was in a courtyard in one of the shopping areas.  It was so peaceful.

I stopped for coffee at Big Wave Dave Surf & Coffee.    The cafe had a real surfer vibe.

Welp, here's the next photo on my camera roll. I fell and hurt my wrist on the way back to the hotel.  I stayed in my room most of the day resting, icing and elevating my wrist. I enjoyed room service and watched a lot of tv.

I also sat out on the balcony and watched/heard these pretty green birds flying all around the resort.  I looked them up and I think they are rose-ringed parakeets.  

So cool!

I rallied later and met up with the gang for dinner.  I was now sporting a snazzy wrist brace.   

Day 4

Sitting in one my favorite spots at the resort in the comfy rocking chairs and enjoying my coffee from Chee Hoo!.

They had some interesting pastries!  Spam is popular in Hawaii.

My wrist was still very sore and my hand was swollen so I decided I should get an x-ray. I mapped it and it was only a 20 minute walk. This was my walk to the urgent care.  The x-ray showed that I had fractured my wrist. Boo!! The doctor told me to keep the wrist brace on and follow up with an orthopedist when I got home.

I took myself out to lunch at Waikiki Brew Co.
This spicy ahi poke bowl was so good!

These banyan trees are so cool and are growing right in the middle of the park I would cut through to get back to the resort.

I stopped back at Chee Hoo! to try their Dole Whip mixed with vanilla soft serve. It was yummy!

Later that evening, I got ready for dinner and packed up because we were moving rooms to the Rainbow Tower.  

[Side note: I've had this dress since 2018 and almost always pack it in my personal item bag when traveling somewhere warm. It folds down to nothing, is super lightweight and never wrinkles. I don't always wear it on my trips but it is good to have!]  $12 from Primark!!

[sightseeing in Boston in 2018]

The new tower room was a really nice upgrade and much quieter than our other room.

It also had a much better view!
to be continued...

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