Saturday, June 6, 2009

ALOHA

We had a really great anniversary trip to Oahu. It is so beautiful there. We were constantly doing something. We visited the Dole Plantation (more than once, because we would crave the pineapple icecream. IT WAS SOOO GOOD),we went to a macadamia nut farm, we went to the buddist temple, we visited the USS Arizona Memorial, we went snorkeling in Hanama Bay, we went kayaking in the ocean to 2 islands "Moku-lua Islands", we visited Haleiwa the little North Shore town where all the surfers hang out, we did a shark cage dive (that was an experience that we will never forget), we visited Waikiki, we went to Kualoa Ranch where they film Lost, Jurassic Park, and 50 First Dates to name a few, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, we did a luau, and a sunset dinner cruise, we went to the swap meet at the Aloha stadium (the best place for souvenirs), we went to Waimea Bay and Valley where the waterfall is, we visited Laie and the LDS temple, and we even squeezed in a little tanning on the beach. We had a really full week!!!


This is our hotel, the Turtle bay Resort.


This is the view from our room. It was sooo pretty.


If we come back we will never stay on Waikiki because the North Shore is more our style!

One of the sea turtles we met on the beach.

This is Jeff diving off the rock in Waimea Bay. Robin wouldn't do it!!! It was really high!

The Byodo-In Buddist Temple. It was made without using any nails!

Fish we saw while snorkeling.


Sea urchins were everywhere. We had to watch were we stepped!!! Ouch!


Jeff in snorkel gear.

Hanama bay was great for snorkeling. There was so many different kinds of fish.
Kualoa Ranch. Do the mountains look familiar? They shoot tons of movies here, and Robin's favorite t.v. show, Lost!!! It rained the whole time there, that was the only bummer on the tour!

This is one of the Godzilla footprints from the US version. It was originally 10 feet deep, but they had to fill them in after filming because the cows on the ranch kept falling in and dying!!! Now they are only 2 feet deep!

These are the Moku-lua Islands. We kayaked to the one I am standing in front of, it was about a 2 mile trip one way. Man our arms were tired, my arms were more tired than Jeffs because he barely paddled the whole way back! This doesn't show how far of a kayak it actually was because we had to start way down at the end of the beach.

This is me getting ready to snorkel on the left "Nui" Island. We almost hiked around the whole thing, but didn't cross the place they call sharks cove. We didn't want to get the camera wet!!! Sharks cove is a great cliff jumping spot on the back of the island.

This is the Kalua Pig from our luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This was the one food Jeff missed most from his mission. It was really good!!!
Samoan fire dancer from the Cultural Center. He was really funny.

These guys are Samoan coconut tree climbers. They could climb a really tall tree fast. They had some mean tatoos almost all over their bodies.
This is a replica of a Hawaiian hut at Waimea Valley. How would you like to sleep in that?

This is our shark cage dive. We were really excited to see the sharks until we got sea sick and threw up in the cage. I guess you could say we provided chum for the sharks. Eeww!!!

They kept looking at us with their beady little eyes. It was really cool to see them up close in the water. Cool as long as they were on the outside of the metal bars!!!!

Us in the shark cage.

The Dole Pineapple Plantation. We went twice just for the pineapple icecream. Man, was it sooo good. We wish they had it in Arizona.

We want to fly back just for the pineapple icecream. See Jeff downing his!!!

They have so many different kinds of pineapples, even bright pink ones!

The LDS Temple in Laie. It was closed for renovations. There were boards on the windows, and it hadn't been painted. It was still pretty though.

This is Laie Point.


This is Jeff swimming in the waterfall at Waimea Valley. The water in the pond was freezing, but the water coming off the fall was hot.

Robin with the waterfall in the back ground.

Walking on Kealia Beach. It was so beautiful, and very deserted. There was only a few people there, and one Hawaiian Monk seal doing laps along the shore where we were walking.

See how beautiful it is, and no people.

This is the Hawaiian Monk seal doing laps right infront of us. They are protected because they are an endangered species, and we were lucky enough to see him.
Our last night in Hawaii we did a Sunset Dinner cruise. This is the boat. It was a lot of fun and had some beautiful views of Diamond Head and Waikiki.

This is the view of Diamond Head from the dinner cruise.

This is the sunset on the cruise. It was gorgeous!!! I was wishing at that moment we didn't have to leave!

We had a really great anniversary. One we will remember forever.

USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor

On our trip to Hawaii one of the first things we did was visit the USS Arizona Memorial. It was a very somber experience. All 1,177 men who are remembered on that beautiful white wall. I was glad we could see it and pay our respects for their bravery. The movie in the theater before you are boated to the site was also very educational. I learned alot about the bombing on Pearl Harbor, it was a great history lesson. We are glad we could take time out of our fun trip to remember that the price of freedom is not free, it has cost many lives, and we are greatful for those who sacrifice theirs everyday.