Hawaii: Part 4

I guess I'd better finish blogging about Hawaii since it's almost April. I'm wishing I was there since it's snowing here today!

On Thursday, we went went to Hanauma Bay and went snorkeling. We saw some really cool fish.

On the way back from Hanauma Bay, we drove by the famous blowhole and stopped at this giant rock for a good view. The blowhole was nothing great (at least not at the time of day we were there) but the view was pretty good. It was VERY windy though- I thought we were going to blow off the rock!

We also drove up to the Pali lookout on Thursday. There's some cool history involved in this point that involves men being thrown over the edge by the dude who united the islands of Hawaii, but I won't go into that here. Anyway, it was also really windy up here, but very cool. The best part was the drive up there. It was like driving through a jungle the way the trees hung over the road.

On Friday, we started out the day by going to the Dole Plantation. Not everyone in our group was that excited about going, but I thought it was something you had to see if you're in Oahu!

We took a train ride, which Jermie of course loved.

We learned everything there was to know about pineapple:

And I found these cute surfboard wall hangings in the store. Normally, I can only find Jacob's name, but I thought it was funny that they had Kyle and Bethany (and no Jacob!) And apparently, we're supposed to have another girl named "Marie"

After the Dole Factory, we headed out to see the big waves on the north shore. There was a surfing competition at Pipeline. Those people were CRAZY. The pictures don't really do justice to how big the waves actually were.

On the way back from the north shore, we stopped by "Turtle Beach" Apparently the turtles love this hangout and there were tons- you could see them swarming around in the water. And this guy was catching some rays on the beach!

We stopped for the famous "Matsumoto's" shaved ice- except the line was too long, so we went next door to Aokis (because our book said it was just as good). Anyway, it was yummy.

Jeff stopped and got some shrimp at the famous "shrimp shack" - and yes, we did sign the bus.
We had plans on Saturday to go out and do some more shopping and sightseeing, but mother nature stood in our way. We were awakened at 6 am by a Tsunami warning (as a result of the earthquake in Chili). The tsunami was supposed to hit late-morning, so we went out and hit the pool before we got evacuated. We had a great view from the 14th floor of the hotel, but this is all we got....
Beautiful day right? Anyway, the tsunami didn't turn out to be anything, so we headed out to the famous Hilo Hattie store then to dinner at Duke's on the beach in Waikiki.
I don't have any pictures of us on Sunday morning, but let's just say I did NOT feel well (I think my body was rejecting leaving Hawaii). Luckily I felt better once we were on the plane.

Once we got home, we found that Bethany wanted nothing to do with us and was content to be raised by her Grandpa. We've since won her love back, but this is what we came home to:

Anyway, Hawaii was beautiful, wonderful, relaxing and fabulous. I definitely will go back someday!