Day 5: Sea Life Park/Germaine's Luau

Sea Life Park

It's another beautiful day as we drive out on the Kalanianaole Highway, arriving at Sea Life Park just as they open at 9:30. We take in three shows--first the dolphin show at the Hawaii Ocean Theatre, then we walk around the park a bit, seeing hang gliders off Makapuu. Next was the Kohohe Kai Sea Lion show featuring two sea lions. Afterwards, we grab a quick lunch at the Sea Lion Cafe; Teriyaki Beef Burger for me, Chicken Caesar for Patty--$23!! Next, the Dolphin Cove Show was great, featuring Atlantic and Pacific bottlenose dolphins...also a wholphin (part whale, part dolphin). Rating: 9

Back to the hotel by 1:45 but not before taking the wrong exit (again) off the H-1 and exploring an area we didn't intend to explore (again). One of these days I'll finally figure out the Ewa and Diamond Head bound entrances and exits off this freeway. Damn!

These pics, except the last one, were all shot at Sea Life Park: (1) Sea Turtle (2-3) Dolphins at the Hawai`i Ocean Theater Show (4) Cliffs at Makapuu; perfect for hang gliders! (5) Rabbit Island (6) Sea Lion feeding time and this guy's hungry! (7) Cute moment between Sea Lion and trainer at the Kolohe Kai Sea Lion Show (8-9) Dolphin Cove Show (10) View from the Koko Head lookout on our way back to Waikiki

Germaine's Luau

The bus picks us up at 4:45 sharp--it's packed because one of the other busses broke down. There are eigth or nine busses all descending on the Germaine's Luau site near Campbell Industrial Park in Kapolei, so we'll be in the midst of a 500+ person party. Our guide (Auntie April) keeps us involved and interested with pretty much constant oration during the 1.5 hour drive through rush hour traffic. How long is the drive out there? "15 Hawaiian minutes" April responds.

Everyone is seated at long tables, which is customary for this type of event, so we engage others at our table in talk. It turns out the guy sitting across from us went to high school at Silver Bay, just north of Duluth. Small world!

The food offerings are mediocre; chicken is good, beef is okay, Kalua pork and mahi-mahi are mediocre bordering on poor. Of the four luaus we've attended in Hawaii, the meal here is the worst.

The show was good, long but a bit on the cheesy side. I wouldn't exactly characterize this as an authentic Hawaiian show (whatever the heck that means), but there is considerable audience participation, which everyone seemed to enjoy. The audience participation included having three guys volunteer to get dressed up in coconut-shell bras and dance for the crowd, along with a hula dance contest involving the eight or nine tour guides. Overall, it's not a match for the Polynesian Cultural Center's Ali`i Luau and Horizon Night Show, nor the Old Lahaina Luau, but for Oahu, it's not a bad choice. Rating: 6

A late night return to Waikiki (past 10:00); found it had rained here during the evening. 11:15 before I finally crashed.

(1)Tiki torch lighter (2) Hoisting the kalua pig from the imu..but this is tomorrow's pig, not tonight's (3) The Kane hula contest (4) Bus Guide hula contest..our guide, Auntie April, is at far right (5) Main show

Day 6: Tantalus/Pali

Up and at 'em a little later today; we're out the door at 8:45 for a drive up to Tantalus Drive, finding two outstanding locations to take pics above Honolulu. The road up Round Top Drive below the Puu Ualakaa Park is still blocked, a result of the extremely heavy rains suffered in Hawaii 14 months ago which caused landslides in this area (among others). Spoke with a guy during our stop at Puu Ualakaa who said the local government and State Of Hawaii are in a dispute over who should repair the roadway, so nothing is happening on Round Top at any decent speed. He also warned us to be careful at the parking lot as the area is preyed upon by addicts...Ice (Methamphetamine) is a big problem here.

It's partly sunny and very windy (as it always seems to be) at the Nuuanu Pali Lookout. We hike down the Old Pali Road for about a mile; a good leg workout coming back up the trail! Hard to imagine that, at one time, this was how you once got over the Ko`olau Mountains from the Nuuanu Valley to the windward side of Oahu. That must have been some kind of thrill ride. After completing our brief hike, we depart this area, heading over the Kamehameha Highway and then taking the H-3 south through the Wilson Tunnel back into Honolulu. What an amazingly engineered highway the H-3 is. Fantastic.

Today is Patty's birthday, so we drive over to the Ward Entertainment Center for dinner at Buca di Beppo, arguably the best Italian eatery known to man. A quick note about the portions here; they are huge! Most dishes come in two sizes Buca Large (serving four or more people) and Buca Small (serving two people). We share a Caesar Salad and garlic bread, which in themselves are nearly a meal. Patty had the Spicy Arrabbiata Pizza and I had the Penne Arrabbiata; both were outstanding. We rolled out of there completely stuffed with tons of leftovers for tomorrow.

Driving back from Buca was a royal pain as part of Kalakaua Avenue was closed due to Spam Jam (can you believe this event actually has a website?!), an annual festival held in Waikiki. Ewa-bound traffic was mostly diverted to Ala Wai Boulevard and Diamond Head-bound traffic was funneled onto Kuhio Avenue, which was the direction we were crawling. An approximately four mile drive took well over an hour to complete.

(1) View from Puu Ualakaa State Park..they shot a scene in Blue Hawaii from this park (2) Cliffs at the Pali Lookout (3) Old Pali Road

Day 7: Waianae Coast

Driving the Waianae Coast in search of photo opportunities was something I had wanted to do during our last trip to Hawai1i in 2004, but time didn't allow such a venture. We weren't going to bypass this again, so off we went on another sunny morning, driving the Farrington Highway all the way to the end of the paved roadway a couple miles south of Keana Point (the northwestern tip of Oahu). In the process, we found a few tasty vantage points for pics along the way. It's an interesting area, one where, once you get past the Ko`olina Resort, you won't find many tourists. It's also an area where we'd been advised to be careful and keep as low a profile as possible. Let's face it; as tourists, we aren't welcome everywhere in Hawai`i, for a laundry list of reasons which I don't find necessary to examine on this site. It is what it is.

More sun and leftover Buca food in the afternoon; after a quick nap to recharge our batteries, we're off to Duke's Canoe Club. On late Sunday afternoon each week, they stage what is called Duke's On Sunday, usually featuring music by Henry Kapono and his band (when Henry is in town). We were both looking forward to seeing Henry in person after listening to so much of his music during the past couple years as part of Cecilio & Kapono (with Cecilio Rodriguez).

Getting to Duke's at 3:00, we find every railside table (overlooking the stage) is occupied. For that matter, every table at the Barefoot Bar is taken, so we wander down to the bandstand/dance floor area, sitting on a rock ledge and sipping our drinks. Soon, chairs are being put up on either side of the bandstand, and we find out they're not reserved, so we plant our okones (buns). Shortly, his band arrives and starts getting in tune for the show, followed briefly by Henry. "I should have brought my camera", a familiar refrain I used whenever we went somewhere sans camera. But nowhere did that statement ring more true than on this evening.

Henry's band was outstanding, featuring more of a raggae/Jawaiian (a mix of Jamaican and Hawaiian which has established a very strong footing in the Hawaiian music scene) sound than Contemporary Hawaiian or any other kind. They played from 4:00 until after 6:15. The setting is fantastic; you're right next to the beach with Diamond Head in the background. On a warm, sunny Sunday, this is as perfect a place to kick back with drinks as any other venue I can think of. Even the brief period of light showers couldn't diminish our enjoyment of this early evening.

(1-4) Various views from today's drive

Day 8: Windward Coast/North Shore

It was once again time to escape the hectic pace of Waikiki. Too many people, too much traffic. It's fun here in Waikiki but finding relaxation can be difficult, so we're off to do a circle-island drive today, looking for that "perfect picture". There are many great locations to shoot pics and just take in the serene sights and sounds of the ocean. We find places such as Diamond Head lookout, Sandy Beach, Lanai Lookout, Molokai Lookout, Makapuu, Waimanalo Beach, Kualoa Park (with Chinaman's Hat offshore), Waimea Bay and Haleiwa Beach. I managed to shoot over 100 pics; some came out okay, a small percentage came out better than I'd hoped. A nice relaxing morning and early afternoon. Ate lunch at McDonald's (of all places!) in Kaneohe.

It's a very refreshing change from the mass of humanity of Waikiki and hard to imagine such an area exists just an hour away. If you picture Oahu as being solely what you experience in Waikiki, get in your car (if you have one) or take The Bus to the North Shore. You won't be disappointed.

One thing which we have a hard time getting used to is how nice people are on the roads. I've heard maybe three or four car horns sounding the whole time we're here, and on those occasions it was likely idiot tourists who haven't learned anything about Aloha and the slow-paced living Hawaiians exhibit. This is unfortunate for those tourists who have to "get somewhere" as fast as possible. They're missing a large part of what this state has to offer. I mean, think about it; if you get to your destination five or ten minutes later, will the destination be gone? The journey is part of the experience. Slow down, turn on KINE-FM and soak it all in.

Dinner at TGI Friday's tonight--I had the Chicken Bruschetta and it was extremely tasty. Easily the best meal I've had at a Friday's restaurant, although that really isn't saying much.

We can't believe we've already been here a week. Where has time gone? We've done a lot, or so it seems, so we're planning on relaxing on Tuesday and Wednesday, our final days on Oahu.

(1) An almost overlooked (by me) cove at the Lanai Lookout (2) Sandy Beach (3) Overlook at Makapuu Point (4) Waimanalo Beach (5-7) Kualoa Park, featuring Chinaman's Hat (8) Beach at Waimea Bay (9) Haleiwa Beach (10) Ala Wai canal (11) Hilton Hawaiian Village Rainbow Tower

---

[ Days 1-4 ] [ Days 9-13 ]

last updated may 31, 2007