Hawaii Day 5

We had to wake up early today to get down to Honolulu for Pearl Harbor. We’d heard that standby tickets weren’t difficult to get, and we wanted to see this cool site. When we got there, a little after eight o’clock, there was already a significant line to tour the USS Arizona. Worse, pretty much everything is changing and under construction. Still, we hopped in the line and were surprised that the 8:30 tour took about half of the people in the standby line. After another 30 minutes, we were happy to make the nine o’clock tour.  

Waiting in line wasn't too bad.

There was a short boat ride out to the ship, and then a reverent 30 minutes aboard. We walked quietly around, communicating only in whispers. Most of the folks on our tour were pretty good, but at one point, the ranger stopped some talkers by reminding them that there we were at a National Graveyard with soldiers buried below us. It was a moving few minutes as we looked down from the monument constructed directly over the ship. You could see the general shape of the ship, with buoys marking each end of the Arizona. There were even some puffer fish and a ray that we spotted swimming around the sunken ship. We really enjoyed it and were glad that we’d come.

We definitely felt reverent at Pearl Harbor.

We had no idea that we would be walking right above the boat remains.

The kids had read a ton about Pearl Harbor before we came, so it was very impactful for them.

Dax especially knew a ton about this monument.

It was such a neat experience.

When we got back to shore, we watched the movie that went with the tour. We were surprised that there is a lot of actual footage of the attack, including the explosion of the Arizona when its main armory was hit by an armor piercing missile. We learned so much, and the boys each reported three facts to earn a Junior Ranger badge, because that program is under construction, too. Finally, we walked through the museum, which gave us even more information. We were impressed with how even-handed the presentation was, with no heroes or villains, but lots of information about the individuals involved on both sides of the attack.

This ranger was one of the kindest we have met.

We ate a quick lunch in the car and then drove to a man-made beach called Lagoon 4. This swimming hole was built for the upscale hotels outside Honolulu. However, in Hawaii, private beaches are illegal, so anyone can visit. This particular cove was a nice swimming pool, but there were no waves for body surfing, and no fish for snorkeling. It was just a really large pool. Even so, we had fun for a little while.

Not much to do here, but we had fun splashing and swimming together.

After the lagoon, we headed back across the island. We’d driven on about every road on Oahu this trip, so that we could see it all, and we wanted to cross the island to Waimea Beach. We were lucky to find parking after only a few minutes waiting. However, as we walked over to the beach, they made an announcement about large swells on the North Shore. The beach certainly looked rough, with massive waves crashing into the beach, which is quite steep in Waimea. The lifeguard suggested that we move down to the far end of the beach where it was calmer. Then Dad, Dax, and Seth did some body surfing and built a sand castle, while Mom and Mark enjoyed watching in the warm sand. We spent an hour or so, and when we were thoroughly covered in sand, we loaded into the car for the ride back to the house. 

This beach was nice, but in winter the waves started to get too big.

We found the calmest place and let the kids try boogie boarding.

They preferred body surfing instead.

Dax absolutely loved being in the water.

Seth and Dad built some sand castles to be washed away by the waves.

Seth was happy to be at the beach.

Dad was good to play with the boys. And the water color is gorgeous!

We still had a lot to do, because we had to clean up and get things packed and ready to fly to the Big Island in the morning. But first, Mom had planned a nice anniversary dinner for Dad and her. We ordered pizza and McDonalds for the boys, and then set them watching a movie. Dinner was lovely at Turtle Bay with the sunset. We had a great week on Oahu.

Mom and Dad are celebrating 20 years!

It was a lovely dinner together!

Hawaii Day 4

We were excited to tour this bird refuge.

We spent a slower, lazier day on North Beach today. It was still a very exciting day, though. It started out at the bird sanctuary. There is a large sanctuary called James Campbell NWR. Volunteers at the refuge only give one public tour per week, and they only allow twenty individuals. Somehow, Mom got us tickets. There are people who have waited years for this tour (since Covid), and two men tried to show up and just go with us, and they were promptly turned away. 

There were a bunch of birds to see, some familiar to us, and some subspecies of birds we'd never seen before. We spotted night herons, stilts, and pheasants. There were also sandpipers, plovers, and gallinules. The people on tour were serious birders, too. They were really into their birds, and we felt a little like amateurs until Dax correctly identified a black-crowned night heron. Then we were okay. We really enjoyed our two hours on the refuge, and we added a bunch of new birds to our list.

Seth was excited to borrow some binoculars.

Mark was the most excited for the bird tour.

Dax knew lots of birds and impressed everyone.

Gallinule

Bristle thighed Curlew

Better look at the Gallinule.

Snail eggs

There were a lot of birds.

Someone's geese

Red Avadavat

These look just like the curlews we see here in Utah.

Sanderling

After the refuge, we drove up to Shark's Cove for some snorkeling. It was quite a bit better today, and we saw a lot more fish. The beach was rocky and left us with a few scrapes and bruises, but we saw really cool surgeon fish, a lot of bright yellow butterfly fish, and even some Achilles tangs. Seth spotted an eel of some type, but nobody else got to see it. We did get surrounded by a really large school of hundreds of shining silver fish, too. Eventually, we got tired of getting banged around on the rocks, so we piled back into the car. But the boys had a great time using their disposable underwater cameras, and hopefully got a few good pictures. We will add them once we develop them.

Next we stopped at a sea turtle lookout. We spotted a half dozen turtles just off shore. We were hoping they'd come in and land on the beach, but they stayed about ten yards off shore, poking their heads up or raising a flipper. It was difficult to get a good picture, because every time you'd see one, it would disappear in the water before you got the camera aimed.

This beach is famous for the sea turtles.

We saw a few turtles in the water.

We didn't realize until we looked at this picture that this one was eating a jellyfish! 

We stopped for lunch at a place called Teddy's Bigger Burgers. The burgers were amazing! We all got filled up for the rest of the day while checking scores of the MLB playoffs and college football games. It was a long lunch hour, but we needed to rest and just sit for a little while. 

The food was so yummy!

There was another beach just up the road, and when we pulled up, they were having a surfing competition. We parked and walked over to where they had shade pavilions and surfing fans set up along the beach. We scanned the water and saw tiny surfers! Then we realized that it was a youth competition for boys and girls under ten. We found a niche on the beach and watched while the boys played in the water. Mom and Dad watched a sea turtle in the shallows, while Dax and Seth tried body surfing, filling their swimsuits with sand on each attempt. Mark most enjoyed watching a chunky bulldog swim out through the waves after a tennis ball. It was very crowded, but somehow that added to our enjoyment. We were the only tourists, after all, and it had the feel of a little league baseball game back home.

Dax and Seth laughed and laughed as they body surfed.

We had so much fun watching.

They loved playing in the ocean.

This beach was lovely.

We left before the surf meet ended and took a short ride over to state park Mom had heard about. There was supposed to be a short hiking trail, but we never found it. Instead, we set out across the jagged lava rocks, which hung right out over the ocean. It wasn't long before Dax spotted the sea turtles. There were eight of them, and they were swimming right below the rocky outcropping. We were about 6 feet above them, and in the shallow water, they were perfectly viewable. We watched for a while until they eventually started to drift out to sea.

The walk along the lava rocks was awesome.

Dax found the sea turtles.

The water was crystal clear so you could see them all so well. 

We love when they poke their heads up.

It was so cool to see so many turtles at one time.

Then we continued down the rocky shore. There were a million tide pools with skittering crabs and tiny fish, but we most enjoyed the blow holes. Every once in a while you'd hear a large wave go right under you and splash up through a nearby hole in the basalt. Once Mom got sprayed pretty good by a lurking blow hole, and she laughed harder than anyone else. 

There were little blowholes all around.

There were also tide pools. It was a great place to wander. 

This crab was super cool.

We had a great time at the beach today.

It was a short drive back to Laie, but we still hadn't explored the temple. It was much more exciting than we expected. We took a few pictures, and then walked the temple grounds. There is a surprisingly long trail up behind the temple. It runs through an old graveyard and right past a massive banyan tree. We walked around for about a half hour, enjoying the gorgeous sunset behind the temple.

We ended our day with a short stop for ice cream right in Laie. It was a slower, easier day, but a great day for checking out he wildlife!

Can you see Seth behind the fountain?

We take pictures for all of their temple books.

Seth likes to pop into a picture and say, "I'm the favorite child."

Dad and Dax walked one way, and beat us back to the car.

This banyan tree behind the temple was so cool.

The views above the temple were awesome.

We saw some black slugs on our walk around the temple.

Another mini gecko. It's so tiny!

I love this pic of Seth!

The sunset turned out very nice.

We love Hawaii!