But Pineapple can be delicious

So I kept putting off updating this since I kept getting busy or tired. Ended up uploading over  70 pictures out of the multitude I've taken so far over the three days of activity. A little ridiculous. If anyone wants to see something more from something I did, it'd be easier to ask. I'm taking it slower today (Thursday) also since I'm dealing with some banking things, left over house things, and prepping for my landing on Sunday. I'm not homeless once I land, Yay me.

Monday, being a little toasty, I took a nice drive around the eastern half of the island. I followed 99 north which became 83 east and south, before taking the H2 north back towards my cousin's. I stopped along the way at different places. Ended up at the Mormon church thinking it was a different temple. Nice landscaped property but felt really artificial with the natural beauty of the island. The rest of the stops were scenic lookouts along the coast. Passed the Turtle Bay Resort which is featured in movies. Could have snuck in but wasn't worth the hassle.

After the drive, I stopped at the Dole Plantation. Mostly since I know one person that would probably be jealous. This use to be one of the main pineapple plantations for Dole but a lot of the production has moved to another island over the years. I didn't go into the giant pineapple maze but took a ride on the Pineapple Express and walked through their garden. The plantation grows quite a few fruits: cocoa, sugar cane, bananas, lychee, limes, lemons, macadamia nuts, coffee, along with the pineapple.

The garden itself had a few different variety of fruits, but was mostly flowers and other plants. It also talked about the introduction of most of the fruit bearing plants that the plantation grows, like the pineapple.

And of course had to finish it off with their signature dish, pineapple ice cream with pineapple topping. Super refreshing on a hot day.

Tuesday I decided to go do some of the touristy attractions that were not beach and hiking. First stop was Pearl Harbor. Though I'm not much of a history buff, again I know at least a few people that would be jealous and when else would I get the chance to go. I decided on the SS Bowfin tour because submarines are cool and I like the engineering that went into making them. This included a audio tour of the museum which talked about the designing of the submarines from the World Wars until present. 

After that, there was also an audio tour of the submarine itself. As expected, everything was tiny inside with no real privacy for the crew. It's also fascinating the amount of work that went into making them work. Glad I got a chance to walk through it.

There were different monuments and other small museums along the shore, along with the memorial above the sunken USS Arizona and an in-service ship anchored along the actual military base.













After Pearl Harbor, I went to the Honolulu Zoo because animals. No real surprises there, lots of birds along with the standard zoo animals. Always love seeing animals. Lacked bears unfortunately but not surprising with the climate.

Look at the cute African penguins.

And being 35 C, had to get shaved ice which I ate while sitting in the shade at the Waikiki Beach.

To finish of the day, went for a hike to see the Manoa falls. Online listed it as a relatively easy 45 minute hike. It is one of the more popular hikes but definitely much shorter than 45 minutes. Gorgeous scenery walking through rain forest and bamboo forests. Met a few ppl at the top of the falls and talked a bit. Ended up taking pictures for like 5 different groups. It was a nice way to finish the day off.

Wednesday I was feeling much better with my burns and wanted to go snorkeling again. Cousin suggested Shark's Cove, which I think I found but without any great signs, could have been anywhere. The cove was full of a lot of snorkelers so was at least in a good spot. I also took my camera into the water since it says it's waterproof up to 20 m. Unfortunately the mask fogged up on me a bit so it was hard to see what I was shooting but overall it worked really well and got some great pictures.

 After that, I went to go find a hike. I choose the Kaena Point trail since it was at the tip of the west point and listed as a moderate hike. I did not realize how far 6 miles would be, especially since that was just to get to the end of the trail before you had to come back. I walked for about 50 minutes along a very rough road. The road was wedged between the mountain range to the south and the rocky shore to the north. Nice breeze off the ocean but the heat of the road offset it. By the time I got to the end of the road and hit the gateway to the bird sanctuary I was done. Still had the 50 minute walk back and needed more water and food. Overall a good day.

Depending how the next few days go, my next post may be from New Zealand.