Also, to see more O'ahu Day 1 pics click here...
Aloha!
Hawaii, a place that I never thought I'd get to see...but I cashed in some airmiles and all hotel points and here I am! I still can't believe I am actually here...I have had a huge grin on my face all day!
I have heard from many of my friends, those who have been to Hawaii and remember it well, and those that are "mad" at me because I am here and they are not. I truly hope everyone gets to experience Hawaii some day.
I booked the cheapest room at the Marriott with my points...a city view room, which means no ocean view. However, when I checked in at 11pm Saturday, the lady at the desk informed me that I had been upgraded twice, to a junior suite with a partial ocean view! Woo-hoo! Score! Being a gold member of Marriott really paid off...
Here's the view from my room...
This morning I headed out on an adventure the would take me counter-clockwise around O'ahu.
I started the day heading out to the spitting cave of Portlock. The spitting cave is below a cool layered shoreline. Each layer represents a different volcanic explosion and the waters are so blue! The spitting cave is where the ocean has hammered a hole in the rock and the pressure of the waves causes it to blow or "spit" back out of the hole...here is a video I found on Youtube the was shot from the exact place I was standing...check it out!
It was pretty neat, but I wanted more...
Ahh, this is more like it...Here you see some young surfers on Sandy Beach...a few guys got up on their knees, but not much more. However, that is WAY more than I could have done.
Next I stopped to take this pic of Makapu'u Beach...
I stopped at Waimanalo Beach for a break and took this photo...I like it so much that I made it my computers wallpaper!
It's funny...I started the day wearing tennis shoes and socks...then I was wearing beach shoes and finally I just went barefoot the rest of the day...I never go barefoot! But, it seemed the thing to do and it allowed me to get my feet wet and then just jump in the car!
I noticed a few things today...O'ahu is MUCH bigger than I imagined, Hawaiians really do wear flowered clothing ( I thought it was just a stereotype) and there a lot of REALLY tanned people around here.
This rock formation is at a place called La'ie Point...that hole was created in one day, when mother nature pounded a hole through the island!
Here is a pic of a Hawaiian woman fishing off La'ie Point.
I had heard so much about these shrimp trucks that are all over the North Shore, so I decided to stop at Giovanni's Original Shrimp Truck...I was a bit leery, but there seemed to be a lot of people eating...
I ordered the lemon shrimp...it is fresh shrimp boiled in lemon juice with butter on the side and 2 scoops of VERY sticky rice. I really enjoyed it and I think I will go back for the coconut shrimp!
The sun was getting low on the horizon so I decided to stop on the North Shore at the Bonzai Pipeline. The Bonzai Pipeline is a famous surf break that can form perfect barrels to surf...There were quite a few people out surfing it today, but there were no perfect waves to be seen...
As the sun set on my first day in Hawaii, I reflected on just how lucky I was to be able to be here and I thanked God for the opportunity to get out and explore the awesome world He has created!
Stay tuned for more tomorrow!
Mahalo!
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