It was an early wake up this morning as we had a booked a jeep tour around the island for the 3 of us with a pickup time of 7am. Sun doesn't even rise till 7am here so it was dark and gloomy when we got up and when the sun did rise, it couldn't be seen as there were grey clouds everywhere with drizzly rain.

We met Tim our driver/guide for the day and first stop was Tantalus Lookout, which gave us an overview of the whole city from Diamond Head all the way down to the airport and Pearl Harbour and beyond. Didn't stay up here long because of the weather unfortunately. Next stop was Halona Blowhole which is next to Eternity Beach, a very popular movie filming spot...From Here to Eternity, Pirates of the Caribbean & 50 First Dates to name a few. Ocean was pretty churned up today so no chance of spotting any turtles in the water here.

Makapu'u Lookout gave us a chance to check out Rabbit Island although I really couldn't see the rabbit....all takes some imagination. Also beautiful views over Kaupo Beach which is near the SeaLife Park that also featured in 50 First Dates.

We had a stop at Waimanalo Beach which is very popular for wedding photos. We had fun watching a labrador wait for his owner to throw him a stick into the surf before he would jump in after it. Most times a wave would bring him back ashore. The weather really couldn't make its mind up today. Very windy at times, showery and then the sun would come out for a few minutes. Oh well, made for some good photos.

We then agreed to check out Byodo-In Temple which is a replica of one built in Japan over 950 years ago. Very peaceful. Mum and I both rang the bell for good luck before we headed towards another beach near Kualao Ranch which is another famous filming site, particularly for Jurassic Park. From the beach is another island called Chinaman's Hat. We could actually see people at the top of it. Hawaiian's love climbing things.

One last stop at Laie Point before lunch. Famous for it's Hole in the Rock. By now the sun was out and it was getting warm. For lunch we stopped at Fumi's Shrimp where mum and Adam had Butter Garlic Shrimp and I had Coconut Shrimp. Food trucks galore up here on the North Shore. Lots of choice but this was pretty good.

We couldn't come to the north shore and not see Pipeline. Waves weren't that big today unfortunately but plenty of people out trying their luck from young teenagers to some oldies. I guess it is just in their blood. There are no hotels out this way so apparently a lot of surf companies own houses along here and their stars can use them. We were watching the surfers from in front of the Volcom owned houses...the good one for the stars and the not so good one called the "Prooving Grounds" for those who still had to prove their worth I guess.

Drove past Waimea Bay which was beautiful before we got lucky and spotted some turtles at Laniakea Beach. 3 were out of the water warming up on the sand in the sunshine so that was a good ending to the day. On the way back to Waikiki, we drove through the town of Hale'iwa which looked like a good place to come and spend the day wandering through shops and galleries. We also drove through some coffee plantations and the world famous Dole Pineapple plantation. It takes 18 months for one pineapple to grow apparently.

The rest of the afternoon and early evening was spent by the pool relaxing of course. We all decided we weren't that hungry so decided to forgo dinner and just went for a wander through some shops where I picked up a Hawaiian charm for my Pandora bracelet and then we bought some takeaway cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for dessert back at the hotel. Another great day in Honolulu.