Windward Coast-Beachtastic!

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Today we were up and at the grill for breakfast before heading down the windward coast which is on the East of Oahu. We have heard so many good things about this area and we weren't disappointed. Almost immediately as we drove the road from north shore to East, we were met with some of the most beautiful landscape I think I've ever seen. The mountains were towering green, whilst the beaches golden and the sea a clear blue, just breathtaking.



En route we passed Kualoa Ranch http://www.kualoa.com which is where Jurassic Park and a few other movies were filmed. Had we had more time it would of been an interesting place to stop. We wanted to get to the beach and on recommendation headed for Lanikai which has consistently been voted amongst the top beaches in the world. After a bit of a detour (not planned) we finally found our little bit of paradise and set ourselves up for a few hours of relaxation. Then it started raining! We sheltered under some trees, but it passed after about 15 minutes, so we sunned it up some more before taking the body board in the sea for a bit of a muck about.

It was a really shallow shore for a few metres, and apart from the occasional fast wave, was quite a gentle sea. If you could bottle it and sell it, I'd be the first to buy a little piece of this paradise, it was postcard perfection and we were so lucky to be there.

After a few hours we headed back up the coast, and stopped off for some pictures on the way, including an island called Mokoli'i or more commonly known as Chinamans Hat, as that's what it resembled.

Our initial plan had been to visit the Polynesian Cultural Centre on the way back as we'd heard the Luau and shows there were really good. We were a bit too late for the Luau and a bit too early for the show, so we decided to book another one for when we got into Waikiki instead. A bit of a shame now with hindsight as everyone we've spoken to has said how good it is. We stopped off at a few beaches on the way home to dip our feet and take some pictures, and back at the house we chilled out on the porch for our final night in North Shore. It had been a lovely lazy last day and I'm really glad we visited this part of the Island, but the bright lights of Waikiki were calling us tomorrow, and despite everyone saying how crazy busy and touristy it is, we were still looking forward to going to see the famous Waikiki Beach and enjoying the treat of a nice hotel for our last 3 nights.

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