(more and higher resolution photos here)

On Wednesday we ate breakfast at a little coffee shop before heading north to the Dole Plantation.  We ate “dole-whip” (the same pineapple ice cream cones we had at Leonard’s, but double the price) while riding the Pineapple express.  No that is not a euphemism, we actually rode a train called the Pineapple express. Then we spent thirty minutes stumbling around the world’s largest maze.

 

After the maze we were hungry so we headed to Giovanni’s shrimp truck on the north shore.

After that Sam was still hungry so we went to Famous Kahuku shrimp truck on the north shore.

Since the sun was out we wanted to snorkel in Hanauma bay one more time before leaving Oahu.  However, the bay was on the opposite side of the island, so it took us about two hours to get there.

We stopped at a scenic point on the way there that showed us a side of the island we hadn’t seen before.  This was something much more beautiful than the touristy beaches near Waikiki.

Once down in the bay it took us maybe a half hour to find a teenage turtle.

We hovered near it for maybe ten minutes and watched it eat and swim, until some young humans came and started harassing it (touching it and screaming), so we watched it swim away as quick as it could.  Sam said there were two turtles at one point, which I didn’t see as I was fumbling with my camera, but I managed to catch them both on video.

After leaving the bay we went back around the eastern tip of the island to stop at Halona Blowhole.  At the right time of day you can see a rainbow in the spray coming through the hole.

Next to the blowhole was Halona Cove. If we ever come back to Oahu I want to spend some time in that cove, as we could see several turtles swimming in the tiny cove from our vantage point on the cliff.

Afterwards we headed to the scenic point on the west side of hanuama bay to watch the sunset.

After the sun had set we drove to drop off the snorkels and, like the little piggies on vacation we were, drove two blocks away to pick up even more Leonard’s Malasadas for “dinner.”