Big Waves on The North Shore!

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Ka'Leo heaheai na manu e

There amidst the splendor!

Wow, I can't believe its Monday already. Time sure flies when you are having fun and we had a lot of fun today even though it was definitely on the cold and cloudy side. It kept looking like the clouds were going to burn off, but it never really did. The kids kept saying, " I thought it was supposed to be warm in Hawaii?" I had to remind them it had to be warmer than back in Michigan, in fact, the first local we met in the town of Haleiwa asked if we had come here to defrost. We were on the road 7:45 am today and immediately hit the Honolulu traffic so we quickly changed our plan of driving to the North Shore by going up the East side to exiting on the H2 and going up the middle.

I was happy we chose this way because, even though the kids were not thrilled about it, we were going to the Dole Plantation. It was still closed when we arrived so we drove down to Haleiwa to kill time. What an old historic town! We walked the beach and saw more Honu (turtles) and Maggie got really close to one in the water. We ventured further down the road, in fact, all the way to the end...literally on the map it says "The End of the Road!" It was actually Ka'ena Point and it's the furthest most point you can drive to the West on the island. The waves were gigantic and the tide pooling was amazing...snails, crabs, hermit crabs, ( yes, Maggie found another Hermie the crab...and lots of his friends) PuPu (seashells) and coral everywhere.

While on our way back to the Dole Plantation I had to get a picture of a coffee been tree so I jumped across the road and trespassed on the Waialua Coffee Plantation for a pic and a pick of a bean. Couldn't help myself. I am fascinated with trying to identify all the crazy trees you see here and what fruit is what. I really wanted to snatch a mango out a tree we saw, but it was in some ones yard and Aaron felt that might be going a little too far.

Okay...The Dole Plantation...Awesome! Never knew pineapples grow on the ground, thought they grew in trees. Never knew each plant produces three pineapples...one at 18 mo., 32 mo. and at 45 mo. They are still picked by hand on this plantation and that in the 1920's James Dole bought the island of Lanai so he had a larger area to grow more of his ever popular Hala Kahiki's (pineapples) so he could can them and ship them worldwide...back then in was called Pineapple Island! We had the most delicious Dole Whip EVER and spent way too much money in the gift shop. Loads of fun and super educational, even though the kids might have been right about the ride on the Pineapple Express through the fields being a bit silly.

Back on the road we almost drove by Turtle Beach (Becky you were right, if you blink you will miss it). There were honu all over in the water and two giant sea turtles with names, Brutus and Punahele, sunbathing. Awesome! We stopped at every beach along the coast, Waimea, Pupukea, Ehukai and Sunset Beaches. The red flags were flying at all of them and lifeguards were telling parents to keep kids out of the water because of the dangerous conditions. When we hit Sunset Beach the kids couldn't stand it, so Aaron stood guard, ready to rescue one of them, and let them play in the waves for a while. Brett had so much fun riding the waves on his boogie board and the girls kept running to the edge of the waves and trying to out run them. It was unbelievable how powerful they are and you can see how easy it would be to get pulled out to sea. We had been watching some kite surfers and when we were leaving noticed one had gone down and never came back up...kids were sure he drowned...

We finished the day by walking through the Waimea Valley and back to the Waimea Falls. This is a truly lush and tropical forest full of plants and trees from all over the world. Reluctantly the kids persevered and ended up enjoying it, even though this started out rough too. The falls were closed for swimming because the recent rain raised the water level too much, but we had a blast and laughed a lot while Brett and Aaron tried knocking coconuts (we thought they were papayas) from a tree with rocks. This had to be totally illegal too. Come to find out what we thought were coconuts where Hawaiian apples and when Brett finally got one down it was all busted up and Hanna wouldn't put the drippy thing in her bqckpack anyway. We found Keffir limes that smelled so wonderful and I finally found my Macadamia Nut tree and made Aaron pick me a few. We went back to Haleiwa so Brett and Maggie could brave the cold and ride the waves a little bit more...at least 4 or 5 honu were riding the waves too. We ate and headed back to the condo. When we arrived it was so windy and I mean crazy, ridiculously windy that Hanna thought we were for sure in a hurricane!

Wildlife Report: Honu, Honu and more Honu!!! And one Kohola (whale)

Dead Wildlife Report: one dead puffer fish

Hawaiian Knowledge: when leaving the Dole Plantation a nice woman asked if we would like to know our names in Hawaiian...Heck yeah I do...so here it goes:

Hanna: MaiKai which means good, generous, beautiful and kind. So Right on!

Maggie: Momi which means pearl. I love it! She is such a little pearl, isn't she?

Brett: Peleke which has absolutely no meaning. Don't believe it Brett, you have lots of meanings!

Monica: Kaikahi which means alone and supreme...Okay? Well, I'm never alone and certainly not supreme although I am the queen Mama in my house.

Now this brings me to Aaron and I need to make him the funny of the day...sorry honey...

Funny of the Day: Aaron: Mauna Kea which means white mountain. Yes. I did say White Mountain. Now I seriously bust out laughing when I heard this and I'm sure the lady thought I was rude. Then when I translated it all for the family we all, even Aaron were laughing our Ass-a-hole-a-holes off all the way to the car. White Mountain...really...how perfect! See not only in Alaska, but even as far away as Hawaii the mountains are calling him...Aaron, now which way will you go??

Not so funny of the day(or maybe kind of funny, you decide): At the Waimea Falls there was a billboard warning you about Leptospirosis. What is this? Well it is a nasty illness you get from consuming water contaminated with animal urine...is this what Brett had...one may never know...but the symptoms are flu like etc.etc.etc. maybe it was the turtle pee and poo? After he went for his last wave ride he felt nauseous again from the water he consumed. I keep telling him to keep his mouth closed. We'll, of all things the clam chowder he ate for dinner made him feel better. So glad I didn't have to witness that coming back up!

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Photos

MaiKai with Brutus and Punahele at Turtle Beach
Brutus is a 45 year old turtle weighing in at 190 lbs and Punahele is a 35 year old female who weighs 225 lbs.

The Travellers Tree from Madagascar
This was only one of the many, many enormous trees we saw while walking on the Waimea Valley Trail.

A homeless person "home"
Aaron and I agreed if I were homeless this would be the way to go. Just look at these views.

Peleke rock climbing
Notice the gigantic waves in the background

Brett being engulfed by a huge wave
Aaron standing guard so his little keiki (child) doesn't get carried off to sea

Dead Puffer Fish
We found this poor dude at the Haleiwa Beach