Today we drove to the North Shore. This area is much less developed and touristy than Waikiki and very popular with surfers. The day was cloudy and windy with the sun making an occasional appearance. Once we got to the North Shore, we put the roof down on our bright orange Mustang!
We came to the Dole Pineapple plantation first but decided not to go in the. We could stop on the way back if we had time. We stopped at a bay where the sea turtles come up onto the sand. There is no parking on the ocean side of the road so there were cars parked across the road. There is no pedestrian crossing and it became quite a traffic jam with people trying to cross & cars stopping. Unfortunately there were no turtles to be seen.
Our next stop was Waimea Bay. This is where big wave surfing became popular as the waves are powerful and dangerous during the winter months. It was very smooth today, though. All the beaches along the North Shore have a lot of rocky outcrops which Waikiki doesn’t have. It made some spectacular sights on the beaches that were rougher. We continued on stopping in at most of the beaches. They all had people on the sand but mostly no one in the water. They all had ‘dangerous current’ signs up.
After a while we could see Turtle Island. We first learnt about Turtle Island yesterday when we were at Kualoa Branch. It is aptly named as it looks like a turtle sitting in the water and now is home to a military base. We knew that we were close to Kualoa as we could see the beautiful mountains. The road runs quite close to them so we got a better look at them than when we were on the ranch. I could see the holes and caves in the cliffs which are lava tubes. Our movie guide told us yesterday that way back when the native Hawaiians owned the land, they placed the ashes of royalty in these caves. A convict or criminal was chosen to climb up the mountain, place the ashes and then jump off the cliff to their death. No one was ever to know the location of the ashes so this was seen to be the criminal’s redemption. To this day, no one is allowed to climb the mountains, even film crews who are willing to pay a lot if money.
We have now driven pretty much right around the island. The scenery never gets boring. There are so many wild chickens and roosters walking around. Today we saw lots of chicks too.
There were lots of food trucks and shacks around the North Shore. A lot of them were selling shrimp which smelt so good!! It was a pity we had already had a sandwich for lunch. Hopefully there will be some on the other islands.
On the way back we stopped at the historical village of Haleiwa. It was a pretty little town full of shops and galleries. There were also lots of foods trucks in a park. Hawaii’s version of a snow cone is called a shave ice. They are extremely popular and there was a huge queue at a store in Halewai. Another thing to try on another island!
There are fireworks every Friday night on the beach at the Royal Hawaiian Village Hotel which is practically next door to ours. We were having dinner when they started and could stand on the balcony to watch them. They were great!
Tomorrow morning we fly to Kauai. We could certainly fill a few more days here but it will be nice to go somewhere less hectic.