My second day in Hawaii, I was up even earlier than my first day. Since Linda took mom again, I had the car to get around the island. My first stop was Hanauma Bay, a popular snorkeling spot. I got there plenty early enough, but it was drizzling and cold (by this Florida girls standards). This kept the crowds away, though, and I heard this place can get pretty crowded, so that was probably a good thing.
Check out the guy feeding the chicken on the bench, I love it!
This is the Bay from the top of the hill.
It's $7.50 for an entrance fee into the park, and then you have to watch a 9 minute safety/conservation video about what to do and what not to do while snorkeling in the bay. Then you walk down the very steep hill to the bottom. These pictures just don't do any of it justice. You can see where the reefs are compared to the sand though by the color of the water.
I rented my snorkel and mask for $12, and passed on the fins. I don't care for fins at Disney, so I figured I didn't need them.
I was a little nervous at first. While there are lifeguards, the video kept talking about 'never snorkel alone' and 'find your snorkel buddy' over and over again, and well, I was all alone. Couple that with the cold air (again by Florida standards) and the cold water (also by Florida standards) and I thought to myself for awhile 'do I really want to do this?' But, eventually I talked myself into it, and I am SO. GLAD. I did. When I got into the water (after I convinced myself I could deal with the cold temperatures), I found it really was warmer in the water than out of it. I also discovered I didn't have to go out very far to enjoy the fish and the reefs. Most of the time I stayed in less than 3 feet of water, I did venture out about as deep as chest high, but for snorkeling by myself I was really cautious (probably more than necessary as the water was pretty calm). I'm so glad I did it too, it was really cool. I didn't see anything other than fish, but I got to see all kinds of colors and sizes. I also had one stalker fish who followed me pretty much anywhere I swam, he was cool.
When I got out of the water the sun was coming out, and I was getting a lot warmer.
So I hung out and air-dried. But people were coming to snorkel in droves now, so I headed out.
I did see a couple of fins and spouts from the whales WAY out there. Apparently it is a popular place to see them, but they are pretty common in the winter months around the island.
I stopped on my way back at some of the scenic lookout spots for a birds eye view of the island.
On my way back, I stopped at the University of Hawaii.
Calib had asked for a 'Rainbow Warriors' (The University of Hawaii Mascot) t-shirt, and I thought the best place to pick one up was the campus bookstore.
(That was my car, I really liked it!)
I also decided to stop at Leonard's Bakery. Hawaiians sure like their bakeries.
But this one is pretty famous for its malasadas. So famous in fact, there was a line out the door.
It was as good as it looks. They're warm, covered in sugar, and delicious.
I stopped back at the hotel to change out of my swimsuit. This is a picture of the convention center across the street, Lost fans-- this is the place they filmed the Sydney airport scenes!
Linda and mom weren't quite done yet, so I decided to go for a walk in the area around the hotel. While our hotel wasn't right on the beach, it wasn't too far from Ala Moana Park.
There's a big park....
..the yacht club...
Lots of paddle boarders..
And people using those cool Hawaiian canoes
..And some surfers...
There's some fun places to climb around..
And really pretty views..
I sat down to watch the boats and the water on the edge of the sidewalk above this rocky area (it doesn't look like it, but there's actually quite the drop off here, it was about 5 feet from the sidewalk down to the rocks.
I didn't notice it at first, because they blended in so well with the rocks, but there were crabs all over these rocks. It was cool, because you wouldn't really see any of them, then the water would splash up on the rocks and you'd see dozens upon dozens of them scurrying all over.
By now mom and Linda were done at their conference, so I headed back to the hotel to meet up with them.
Linda drove us around a small loop of the island, we did end up back at the University of Hawaii and saw some of the more scenic places on campus- and bamboo!
You know my mom and her flowers/trees/foliage obsession, so Linda was nice to point out a lot of those for her. (I have more than enough pictures of mom taking pictures of trees. I took a few, but she was too funny)
We headed up to the National Cemetery, tat the site of the Punchbowl.
There's quite a few of these.
And this Hawaiian was on the Challenger.
There is quite the lookout here, too.
It's actually much higher than it looks.
I didn't go to the Capital Building, but I got a good look at it from above.
Linda pointed all the sights out to us.
And on the otherside of the lookout, is the cemetery.
After that we headed over to the Pail lookout for a view of the windward side of the island.
Part of the appeal of the Pali lookout is the wind. It's SUPER windy up there.
Linda said this was actually the old Pali highway, and it winded around the mountains, she learned to drive here!
Since I hadn't had shaved ice yet, Linda said I had to have some.
Better than a snowcone, but no dole whip.
We continued a long the highway and stopped at some of the scenic spots.
This place is called the Halona Blow Hole. Not only is a good spot to watch for whales, the way the water hits the rocks, it creates a sort of natural blowhole.
We stopped by the grocery store on the way back around the island. Strawberries and blueberries were expensive, but as you might imagine pineapples are at rock bottom prices!
We stopped by the Jack Lord (or Hawaii 5-0) statue. He apparently shopped here a lot.
And we had dinner at this place that was featured on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins.
We got a Loco Moco Bowl. This was weird. It was rice, topped with a hamburger patty, topped with an egg, and covered in gravy. It was a weird combination for me. But, it wasn't bad. Not like the Spam sushi I tried. Ick.
But the Loco Moco was more of a 'had to at least try', and mom and I split the plate lunch of chicken, beef, and fish.
Linda dropped us off around 6:30. Here's mom with her lei made of nuts, and the various stages of said nuts before they're shined for the leis.
And Linda got a lei for me as well.
After that we headed over to the mall and down to the gift shop for some souvenirs for everyone.
I never fully adjusted to the time change, so 9 pm would seem ridiculously late for me. But, that's probably a good thing, since we were only there for three days.
Next Up: Day three
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