...Continued From Yesterday: The following day, Thursday, April 25, we were once again in the lobby of the Hale Koa before dawn, ...joining the other early risers lined up at the Java Cafe, ...to grab an early breakfast before heading out to our destinations for the day: The Maunawili Falls Trail and the Pupukea Beach tide pools. After a pre-trip cheer we passengered into our vehicles, …Maria, Justin and family into the snazzy red convertible they’d rented, …and the rest of us into our Ford Expedition. Then once again we had the chance to see Waikiki looking so pretty in the early morning light, …as did Honolulu and the misty hills off in the distance. The Maunawili Falls Trail was a half-hour drive from Honolulu through breath-taking landscapes. The trail head began on a cul-de-sac of a residential neighborhood, so we parked the cars in the the cul-de-sac, …and entered the trail, our plan being to walk two miles down to the Maunawili Falls, which was at the bottom of a valley and, according to our guidebook, one of the hidden gems of Oahu. Eventually the trail became very steep and muddy and treacherous with roots. Tom and I decided that, while we could most probably conquer the remainder of the trail if we had our hiking sticks, not having them we’d be wiser to leave the rest of the trail to the youngsters. So we turned back,
…and taking instead a walk through the neighborhood next to the trail, As I walked around this neighborhood I could hardly imagine what it would be like to live here in the midst of these panoramic views and natural wonders. But in truth, even though I enjoyed seeing this beautiful spot, I wouldn’t want to live here. Way too quiet and isolated for me. As it turned out the rest of our hiking party ended up eventually aborting the mission before reaching the Maunawili Falls, concluding, as Tom and I had at an earlier point, that, although this trail had been advertised in the guide book as family-friendly, it was becoming too treacherous for this family.
…stopping along the way in the town of Wahiawa for brunch at a little diner we found called Koa Pancakes,
...and the omelettes and potatoes were good, too. After brunch we continued driving for about another half hour until we reached the north shore, …and Pupukea Beach, …where the tide pools are. Tide pools are shallow pools of sea water left behind on rocky shores at low tide, ...in which one can find interesting fish, plants, and other forms of sea life. While everyone else played in the tide pools, ...I was perfectly happy to sit on the shore and watch our stuff and snap pictures.
...where we arrived in time for dinner at the Koko Cafe (see yesterday's post). After dinner we walked down to the beach, ...then we strolled around Waikiki, ...making a stop at the ABC Store (see post from 4/30/2019, "The ABC Store And A Poke Bowl Picnic"),
...to the Hale Koa.
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...Continued from yesterday: On most nights during our stay at the Hale Koa we had dinner at our favorite of the hotel's several restaurants, the Koko Cafe, which looks out over the ocean, ...could always quickly and easily accommodate all eleven of us,
...and offers the best dinner buffet on the planet. Baked potato bar
And then there were the desserts, ...and the ice cream sundae bar. After dinner a walk was usually in order. On Wednesday night the youngsters walked into downtown Waikiki, ...and afterwards those who didn't have children to put to bed came back to hang for a while at the Barefoot Bar, the Hale Koa's beach-side bar. Tom and I opted to walk along the beach, ...where Diamond Head looked surreal in the light of the setting sun.
...and walked to the Halekulani Hotel. We went out to the hotel's patio bar to see if by chance the wonderful Hawaiian trio we'd hear play there on our last visit to Honolulu might still be there. As it turned out that same band was playing, but they were on break when we arrived. A few minutes after we were seated on the patio it began to rain. The wait staff immediately rushed out to the patio with dozens of umbrellas, enough to keep all the patrons dry. After the rain stopped the Hawaiian trio returned to the stage, ...and were soon joined by a wonderful hula dancer. We stayed until the band finished their set, then we walked back, ...to the Hale Koa. ...Continued from yesterday: Wednesday afternoon, after our picnic lunch of poke bowls from the ABC Store (see yesterday's post), our group dispersed, some heading back to the Hale Koa to do some work or read in the lobby, ...others, after having spent the morning snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, to now try out the snorkeling on the coral reefs off the beach behind the Hale Koa. Those who tried it found the snorkeling on our hotel beach to be wonderful, maybe better than the snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, as the reefs here were deeper, which gave better views of the fish swimming below the surface of the water. My daughter Claire saw this strange fish, called a flying gurnard, at the Hale Koa reef. While the others snorkeled or relaxed my daughter Maria, my grand daughters and myself opted to walk to the main strip in downtown Waikiki, Kalakaua Avenue, ...for a shave ice. Shave ice, an iconic Hawaiian refreshment, is a mountain of pulverized ice over which fruit-flavored syrups are poured and typically served in a flower pot-shaped cup. Shave ice is considered a must-eat while in Hawaii, as Tom and I discovered on a trip to Kauai in 2015. Maria had researched the subject and learned that the best shave ice on the island could be found at a small stand on Kalakaua Avenue called Island Vintage Shave Ice. It turned out that Island Vintage Shave Ice offered not only the usual variety of syrups, such as strawberry, pineapple and mango, but more exotic flavors as well, such as lilikoi, lychee mint, acai, green tea, and mochi, which is a sweetened rice paste. But this place takes shave ice to a new level with its specialty items, ...such as the Tropical Island that I ordered, ...which consisted of a heavy snowfall of the powdery ice over a mound of soft ice cream and mochi then syruped with mango and pineapple flavorings, topped with a zigzag of icing, and a "snow cap" of fresh pineapple, ...and garnished with delicious little fruit juice-filled balls called popping boba (which my grand daughters felt entitled to pilfer from my dish), ...and some marshmallowy white things that I could not identify but which were also delicious (and to which the grand daughters also felt entitled to help themselves). Next to the Island Vintage Shave Ice booth there is a popular public park called the Royal Grove or Royal Hawaiian Center, next to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where we went to eat our shave ices,
Afterwards we walked back to the Hale Koa, ...but a few hours later the girls and I returned to the Royal Hawaiian Center for the free hula class being given in the Royal Grove. We opted to watch rather than participate, ...though next time I intend to learn to hula.
To be continued... |
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April 2024
I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
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