Aloha and Mahalo !!

 The last time I was in Hawaii was 2009. I believe that was Oahu. I have been to Hawaii many times - Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii. I always had a great time. So, when my friend Mary invited me to Hawaii to celebrate her 50th birthday, I was all in.

We arrived in Oahu at 11:30 on Monday, May 1st. We landed at Daniel K Inouye International Airport. Then we got a van and drove about an hour to the North Shore, to a town called Pupukea. We stayed at a house called Hale Pono. It was actually a mansion with a private beach. It had four master bedrooms with en-suites. So everyone had a private bathroom and shower.

 

Before going to Pupukea, we stopped at Historic Haleiwa Town to get lunch. We ate at Teddy's Big Burgers. They lived up to their name - they were huge! Here is most of our group - Greg, Mary, Lysa and Linda.

There are chickens, roosters and chicks everywhere in Hawaii.

Hale Pono normally rents for $1300 per night, but Mary's friend let us have it for just the $500 cleaning fee, so it worked out to $78 per person for the week. Thank you, Morgan !!!

This is the guest house where the caretaker lived. 

This is the back of the house.

This is the front of the house that leads to the beach. If you want to stay in the shade, there were lounge chairs to relax on. There were also Adirondack chairs to kick back in and watch the waves.

Here's Mary in her really deep bathtub. It took an hour to fill it up.

This is the beach view to the south.

It rained every day for a bit, as is usual in Hawaii.

This is the beach view to the north.

This is the view from the beach looking back up at Hale Pono.

The house was in a gated community called Sunset Beach Colony. It was very peaceful. This is the gate.

I loved this piece of art in my bedroom.

This is the cook's kitchen. We cooked about half of our meals, usually at night, and all of our breakfasts.

This is the living room. We had TVs in our rooms, but no one turned them on all week.

This Buddha greeted us. But she had termites.

This is the hallway to the front door.

There were also magpies everywhere. This is the view from my bedroom window. I also had a sliding glass door and a private shaded balcony.

There was a nearly full to full moon for the entire five days we were in Oahu.

On May 2nd, we were met by other friends, Robert and Mandy May. They gave us a tour of all the best spots in the island. Robert was a drug rep and Hawaii was his territory, so he has been there many times. First, we went to Pupukea Shark Beach.

I climbed around a lot and posed for this beautiful portrait.

So did Mary.

Rob, Lysa and Linda waded out and tried to find some turtles and fishies.

The waves breaking over the breakwater were absolutely gorgeous.

Then we headed even further south to the famous Waimea Bay. I posed by the lifeguard station.

It was a beautiful park and we met a little lizard.

There was a monument to Eddie Aikau. He was a lifeguard who saved many people during a tidal wave.

Then we went back to Haleiwa. We saw this beautiful peacock. He was so proud!!

He did not like Linda.

We got back in the van and crossed Anahulu River.  

Then we got out and climbed on the rocks at Ka'ena Point.

After that, we headed up the Pali Highway and stopped at Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. I have always wanted to go to this site, but never had the chance.

This tree would make a great Halloween decoration.

This is the view toward the mountains west to Kailua.

This is the view of the town of Kailua.

The geography is fantastic!! Everyone kept saying that it reminded them of Avatar.

Here I am, wrapped in the mist.

This tunnel is part of the Pali Highway. 

When you emerge from the tunnel, this Asian pagoda greets you. 

Then we went to Manoa Falls. There is a reception room filled with artwork.

The trail is only 0.8 miles long, but it is mostly uphill.

When you reach the falls, there is a viewing platform.

But you can go down another little trail and get into the water.

Rob and Mandy May got in. They said that it was really cold.

I was there !!!

That night, I went for a nice walk. This is the gate to Hale Pono.

Bridal Veil lilies.

Night Blooming jasmine.

Hibiscus of all colors.

White Ginger.

Asian lilies.

I discovered another trail to the private beach. There are always surfers out there.

I met this sweet kitty. A lot of the cats were a mix of tabby and calico and this little doll was no exception.

She was very friendly.

The snails are huge. They excrete some type of caustic substance, and so you are not supposed to touch them.

We found a gecko on the wall. They are purported to bring good luck, so we left him there.

This is the neighboring house to Hale Pono.

On Wednesday, May 3rd, it was Mary's 50th birthday. She chose the activities for the day. We first went to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium, down in Pearl Harbor.

Then we had malasadas in downtown Honolulu. They are Portuguese pastries that are like donuts on the outside, and are sometimes filled with custard.

These Hawaiian cardinals are everywhere and super friendly. They will eat malasada pieces out of your hand.

Then we went to Koko Crater. It was beautiful.

We all posed on the volcanic rocks.

Then we went to Halona Blowhole Lookout. It was another volcanic beach.

After lunch at L&L Hawaiian BBQ, we headed around the south point of the island and back north to Kaneohe. Our first stop was the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. At first, I thought it was just a cemetery.

There was a mama wild pig nursing her piglets in the jungle brush.

Then I saw the Ahuimanu Temple. Here we are!!

I rang the gong.

Mary posed for her birthday portrait in her new dress from the swap meet.

There were lots of koi ponds. You could buy koi food and bird food in the gift shop.

This little offering to the gods was very pretty.

Inside the main temple sat a huge golden Buddha.

We met yet another peacock. This sign warned that the birds were wild and can behave like wild animals.

The black swans were also friendly. They swam over to see if you had any food for them.

More portraits at the Byodo-In Temple.

After that, we went to the macadamia nut farm. I wanted to get some coffee and some Wicked Wahine perfume. 

I also got some onion garlic macadamia nuts. They are good, but I stink like garlic for a long time after I eat them.

Then, more garlic!! We stopped at the famous shrimp truck at Punaluu Hale'aha. I had delicious garlic shrimp. I must have reeked.

I got this map for Doc. It's laminated, so he can use it as a placemat when he eats.

That night, I went for a walk with Greg, who is Mary's husband. We saw this gorgeous hibiscus.

This house had a widow's walk.

This yard was crazy!! We have a Hawaiian lady in our neighborhood, and her yard looks a lot like this.

Look at the color of this bougainvillea!!

And these beautiful plumeria !!

This is the sunset from Hale Pono beach.

On Thursday, we awoke to a rainbow.

We relaxed on the beach all day because we were going to go to a luau that night. 

On the way, another rainbow!!!

We went to Germaine's Luau at Kapolei Beach. 

The setting is wonderful. It's on the southwest side, near Disney's Aulani Resort.

Mary and Greg.

Of course, Mary and I posed in the cutouts.

The show started with the introduction of the King and Queen.

Then the torch bearer led us back to the pit where the pig was roasting.

They dug him out. First, they had a fight to see who got to remove the first hot rock.

Then a young man blew a conch to alert us to the dancing about to begin.

Rob entered the male dancer's contest.

This ten-year-old boy won!! He got a T shirt, a mug and a trophy.

Here's the food - Huli Huli Chicken, roast pork, teriyaki beef, pineapple coleslaw, macaroni salad, and of course, rice. It was all you can eat and drink.

Then dancers representing the various Polynesian islands came out in traditional costumes.

These are Hawaiian dancers.

These are Tahitian dancers.

These are Samoan dancers.

These dancers are representing New Zealand.

Then the Queen danced.

There were several numbers by the entire group.

Look at the full moon!!!

The men danced next.

Then more women.

Then the main act - the fire dancers!!

We had a great time!!

On Friday, Linda and I went back to Haleiewa. We got a Matsumotos Shaved Ice. It was good, but it was huge, and very sweet. I ate about a third of it.

We stopped in a few shops. I got an aventurine necklace at the crystal shop and a few goodies at the Green Gypsy Thrift store. I will show them to you when I wear them.

That night, we had a BBQ with a couple of native Hawaiians. They brought the best water that the island has to offer.

This is Roy. We asked him to bring a pig that he hunted and fish that he caught. The grocery store is called Food Land. Roy said "I hunt Food Land. I fish Food Land."

He called me "The Little Haole"

On Saturday. I wore this get up to go to Pearl Harbor.

It was too windy for the boats to go out to the memorial over the USS Arizona, but we looked around the museums.

This submarine was docked. My father was a Chief Petty Officer on a submarine called the USS Menhaden.

This giant anchor was from the Arizona.

This is the memorial in the distance.

We all posed again.

This ring is part of a submarine. This is the diameter of the vessel.

There was also a naval fighter jet.

Then it was back to Haleiwa. We wanted to eat at the food trucks there.

I got sweet chili lime shrimp. It was delicious !!!

Then we went up to Waialua to the Old Coffee Mill. The former mill has been converted into lots of tourist shops. I got some plumeria fragrance there.

Back to Pupukea in the Saturday afternoon traffic. Honolulu has a legit rush hour.

I went for another long walk. I stopped at the beach and watched more cute chickens.

Then we flew home on Sunday. We flew United Airlines and had no problems. I had a wonderful time and was very delighted to be invited. 

Happy Birthday, my dearest Mary!!!! I hope we are friends for fifty more years !!!