Oahu, Day 4
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2008
1
6
23
Trip End
Sep 30, 2008
Honolulu,
Hawaii,
United States
Sunday, September 14, 2008
After waking up early, we decided to take a walk down the beach to take in the early morning sun, soak our feet and maybe find a Starbucks...well, about 20 minutes into the walk, we encountered a low seawall. On the way over, Dart lost her footing on the sandy wall topper and fell to earth with a resounding "splat." Fortunately, she learned how to fall long ago, being a horse owner, and managed to distribute the impact over multiple points. That's a very dry way of saying multiple raspberries, a pretty scary looking laceration on her shin, and a lot of achiness. No worries, all is well - but tender. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at one of the beachside bars for some ice. This started that hotel's risk avoidance drill...we were visited by restaurant staff, security folks, and all manner of others all VERY concerned - about their own risk, of course. Besides the fact that it didn't happen at this property, we're both comfortable with whose fault it was really...after three rejections of medical care ("are you SURE?"), we limped back to our hotel.
Dart With Landing Damage
We did find a great coffee place, however...There was supposed to be a floral parade for the Aloha Festival at 9:00, but by 9:45 traffic continued to flow and no flowers in sight. We decided it was time to finish up the North Shore and bugged out. Driving up around the northern point of Oahu, we decided we agree with the tour book description of the place as a worn-out part of the island. Not that it is ugly, but pales by comparison to the rest.
We decided to snorkel at Pupukea Beach Park, hoping to see honu (sea turtles) up close. Alas, no honu, but the snorkeling was great and I was able to learn how to use the underwater camera case we got for the point-and-shoot (John P - I'm nowhere near courageous enough to submerge the D300 in ANY kind of case). We had a blast in our UV blocking swimwear and obviously new gear and stayed in the water for a couple hours.
Dart at Shark's Cove
Tom at Shark's Cove
Snorkel (3)
Following the snorkeling, we rode out to Kaena Point (or as close as the pavement allowed) simply because there was still roadway to cover. Quite bleak, dry, windy and hot. We met some folks from very near Galveston, Texas. They had decided to take this trip when it looked like the storm was going to Corpus Christi, and found out that their home was within 30 miles of the eye of Ike. They've been updated that there are trees down and their porch damaged and have a great attitude about the whole thing. Having left with some uncertainty about Ike's landfall ourselves, we understood completely.
Oh, well...enough for now...we're going to take a scenic drive up into the hills, grab lunch, then on to American Samoa! I really don't know how connected we'll be...we will update as soon as possible, but may not be able to until we return to Hawaii early on the 19th.
Aloha,
Tom & Dart
Comments
Such a dull time!
Loving the updates, and hope the scrapes heal quickly...seawater is good for those things. Keep enjoying the adventure, play and have fun! xoxo A
Snorkeling!
Now I'm jealous - I want to snorkel! The pictures are gorgeous, and you both look like you're having a lot of fun. I'm envious of your adventure.
We also have a waterproof case for our point-and-shoot and we've taken it diving probably ~50 times. We absolutley love it. Just be sure there are no hairs in the seal. Oh - J has a little 'trick' he uses for the possible slow leak so water doesn't slosh in the case. He puts a clean, unwrapped girl treat in there.
Ouch!!
Poor Momma...but like Mike said, now you have the vacation wounds to prove your time there :-) Miss you guys!!