Toe Cozy
New member
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2004
- Messages
- 497
- Reaction score
- 102
Wow...I don't even know where to start. First, Darren is a most excellent host for a trip to Hawai'i. We asked him so many questions every day from, where should we hike, what is ,poke, have you done a glider ride on the North Shore, how do you pronounce that word again to what do the trail guides mean by "expert"? He had answers for everything and never led us astray.
Highlights:
1. The ridge hikes are stellar. The rocks are rotten (fall off in your hand as you try to climb), the mud slippery, the wind constant, the trails steep. Expert means expert...no messing around. Chip and I are not experts. Darren took us up Mariner's Ridge near his house for a warm up. Our first un-escorted hike took us to Makapu'u. We also hiked up Kuli'ou'ou Ridge and another ridge hike near Kolekole Pass. We went out to the north west most point of O'ahu to Ka'ena point. Views throughout the week included amazing trees and plants I've never seen before, ocean views beyond words, occasional breeching or blowing humpback whales in the distance, mountain ridges like something out of a fantasy movie, mongoose sightings plus albatross adults and chicks.
2. The beaches and ocean: We did not spend time on Waikiki, too crowded -ick. We did get a talking to at Sandy's beach by the lifeguard woman. She called us back to her and made sure we knew not to go into the waves there. Clearly our pale and sunburned skin revealed we were from the mainland and not ready for the wrath of Sandy's waves. Darren already warned us, so we were only there for the show. And what a show! Bodies lined up in the water bobbing with the waves they looked like bits of fruit suspended in blue jello! They were body surfing, body boarding and getting thrashed! Chaos of arms, legs, boards! Fantastic entertainment. Got to see some large waves up on the north shore (Banzai Pipeline) and wished the waves were "really" big so I could see what that looked like. I just can't imagine what "really big" waves look like! The ocean is beautiful and merciless in Hawai'i. The colors of the ocean were mesmerizing. The first day at the beach my brain felt fried by the intense blue/green colors. I think that part of my brain got saturated because by day 2 the ocean didn't make my eyes hurt anymore. Or maybe it was the sunglasses I bought!
3. The food: From Diamond Head Cove the fish salad, acai bowls, awa (okay that tasted weird, but was cool anyway), Kalua pig plate lunch, Kona Brewery IPA, poke, Darren's hot off the grill sesame and furikake ahi, coco puffs (not the cereal) and better than anything I've ever eaten anywhere in the world - hot malasadas from Leonard's bakery. Forty's of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on the beach were pretty darn tasty too.
4. The words. I loved trying to learn how to pronounce Hawaiian words. Kamehameha, Kalanianaole, Lunalilo, Kuli'ou'ou, humuhumunukukuapua'a. At the beginning of the week the words seemed strange and awkward to my ears. By the end of the week I could figure them out (mostly) pronounce them and they sounded like little songs. Street signs seem so boring back here now.
The first round of pictures have been uploaded to Webshots
here
I hope to add my pictures tonight.
Edit:Rest of pictures
The travel part was not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I would do the trip again tomorrow just to get some hot malasadas, fish salad from Diamond Head Cove and go all the way out to Ka'ena point to see the leina a ka `uhane - that's the rock where it is said spirits leap from the land to be with their ancestors after death.
What a trip! I don't feel like I'm fully back here yet.
Darren, your love of Hawai'i is contagious. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Highlights:
1. The ridge hikes are stellar. The rocks are rotten (fall off in your hand as you try to climb), the mud slippery, the wind constant, the trails steep. Expert means expert...no messing around. Chip and I are not experts. Darren took us up Mariner's Ridge near his house for a warm up. Our first un-escorted hike took us to Makapu'u. We also hiked up Kuli'ou'ou Ridge and another ridge hike near Kolekole Pass. We went out to the north west most point of O'ahu to Ka'ena point. Views throughout the week included amazing trees and plants I've never seen before, ocean views beyond words, occasional breeching or blowing humpback whales in the distance, mountain ridges like something out of a fantasy movie, mongoose sightings plus albatross adults and chicks.
2. The beaches and ocean: We did not spend time on Waikiki, too crowded -ick. We did get a talking to at Sandy's beach by the lifeguard woman. She called us back to her and made sure we knew not to go into the waves there. Clearly our pale and sunburned skin revealed we were from the mainland and not ready for the wrath of Sandy's waves. Darren already warned us, so we were only there for the show. And what a show! Bodies lined up in the water bobbing with the waves they looked like bits of fruit suspended in blue jello! They were body surfing, body boarding and getting thrashed! Chaos of arms, legs, boards! Fantastic entertainment. Got to see some large waves up on the north shore (Banzai Pipeline) and wished the waves were "really" big so I could see what that looked like. I just can't imagine what "really big" waves look like! The ocean is beautiful and merciless in Hawai'i. The colors of the ocean were mesmerizing. The first day at the beach my brain felt fried by the intense blue/green colors. I think that part of my brain got saturated because by day 2 the ocean didn't make my eyes hurt anymore. Or maybe it was the sunglasses I bought!
3. The food: From Diamond Head Cove the fish salad, acai bowls, awa (okay that tasted weird, but was cool anyway), Kalua pig plate lunch, Kona Brewery IPA, poke, Darren's hot off the grill sesame and furikake ahi, coco puffs (not the cereal) and better than anything I've ever eaten anywhere in the world - hot malasadas from Leonard's bakery. Forty's of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on the beach were pretty darn tasty too.
4. The words. I loved trying to learn how to pronounce Hawaiian words. Kamehameha, Kalanianaole, Lunalilo, Kuli'ou'ou, humuhumunukukuapua'a. At the beginning of the week the words seemed strange and awkward to my ears. By the end of the week I could figure them out (mostly) pronounce them and they sounded like little songs. Street signs seem so boring back here now.
The first round of pictures have been uploaded to Webshots
here
I hope to add my pictures tonight.
Edit:Rest of pictures
The travel part was not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I would do the trip again tomorrow just to get some hot malasadas, fish salad from Diamond Head Cove and go all the way out to Ka'ena point to see the leina a ka `uhane - that's the rock where it is said spirits leap from the land to be with their ancestors after death.
What a trip! I don't feel like I'm fully back here yet.
Darren, your love of Hawai'i is contagious. Thanks for sharing it with us!
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