Oahu 2016

Finally, the long awaited blog update!

View from the hotel veranda of downtown Waikiki/Honolulu:

My favorite hike on Diamond Head crater, up to old pre-WWI bunkers overlooking the Pacific Ocean:

View from the top:

We got up at 5 a.m. to hit the trail early! (OK, actually only 8 a.m. Washington time)

Dole plantation:

We took the audio tour and compulsively listened to each segment in order, which was satisfying and informative! Though no one else seemed to be doing this.

On the same day we happened upon a coffee farm. These are the coffee bushes:

On another day we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which has various "islands" representing different ancient Polynesian cultures, connected by a river. It was actually pretty well done, and staffed almost entirely by local BYU students.

Koko-head (more on that later):

LDS temple in Laie, missionary town in Oahu.

We also went to the North Shore, known for its beaches and surfing. I did not surf but ate shaved ice.

Queen Emma Summer Palace:

One of my favorite moments was the Pali Lookout, in a valley that was incredibly windy:

Mom had to stand against the wall to keep from blowing away:

A favorite:

Even I was not immune to the wind:

The other hike I did was on a crater head called Kokohead. It's less of a hike than a death march up abandoned tram tracks. There's about 1000 uneven steps over a mile straight up the crater's side. I realize now this picture doesn't have the best perspective but I was trying to illustrate how at one point the track is so vertical you can't see the top of the mountain:

It was hard but I had to do it, given the name! This is the view from the top:

More abandoned military structures:

The rest of the crater:

I tried to get more pictures of the "trail" going down.

Basically this is the whole trail. You can see the top as you're going, which mostly seems like it never gets closer.

The view from the parking lot. You can make out the trail along the western edge:

And also tonkatsu!