Hawaii Part 3 (of 3)

Day 5 we took the bus down Ala Moana Blvd to the Kewalo Basin for a catamaran ride. It was so much fun! There were about 40 people on the catamaran with us on a two hour tour and breakfast was served. We spent most of the ride topside, breathing in the fresh ocean air. This was definitely one of my favorite parts. I love being out on the water in a boat of any kind. We saw several schools of fish, including flying fish. They look like hummingbirds skimming the water! We also got to see several large turtles. It would have been cool to see dolphins and whales as well but it wasn't late enough - they are usually seen in winter months.

Catamaran

Matt and Heidi on the catamaran

Fish

Turtle

View of Waikiki from the catamaran

After the catamaran we decided to start walking back to Waikiki to see some more sights before we caught the bus back. We stopped at the Ala Moana shopping center for lunch. It is a HUGE shopping center but we didn't stay long enough to see much of it. We caught the bus back to Waikiki and headed for the beach. Sadly we didn't get to stay too long because the skies got really dark and it started to rain fairly hard. As soon as the rain started, the beach cleared out almost instantly. It didn't last too long though.

Matt and Heidi at the beach

Dark skies over the ocean

When we got back to our hotel it was time to get ready for Germaine's Luau! When you're in Hawaii you HAVE to go to a luau and Germaine's is supposed to be the best. We took another shuttle and our escort was very funny. He told us all about Hawaii and luaus and some of the food we would be eating. We had a great time at the Luau. There was tons of singing and dancing from all the Polynesian islands, we watched the kahlua pig being pulled out of the ground where it had been roasting all day, and the food was really good. Kahlua pork, BBQ beef, fried chicken, fish, rice, macaroni salad, several other kinds of salad, poi, haupia (coconut pudding) and cake. It was a really fun night. The best part was the fire knife dancer. He was the four time world champion of fire knife dancing! I wish we'd gotten a good picture of him and his fire.

Dancers at the Luau

Pulling the kahlua pig out of the imo

Fire knife dancer eating the fire

Matt and Heidi at the luau

More dancing at the luau

Day 6 was our last day in Hawaii so we rented a car (A) to go see a few more of the sights. Our first stop was Leonard's Bakery (B) since we hadn't gotten there earlier in the week. It's a Portuguese bakery but it's a must when you're in Waikiki. They make these malasadas (Portuguese donuts) that are so delicious! I wish we'd been able to try some of the other offerings at this bakery - pao doce, rolls with Portuguese sausage inside, coffee cakes and danishes. Everything looked so good. I think I'll be going back to Leonard's Bakery someday. Can you tell my stomach tends to rule my vacations? :)

Leonard's Bakery

Malasadas

Next we drove up through the middle of the island and saw some beautiful countryside on our way to the Dole Plantation (C). The Dole Plantation is where the Dole company grows a lot of their pineapples as well as other vegetation. We took a train ride around the plantation and saw mango trees, sugar cane, breadfruit trees, banana trees, and plenty of other plants. Oh, and lots and lots of pineapple.

Dole Plantation

Lots and lots of pineapple plants

Pineapples growing

Macadamia nut tree

Then we took a tour of the gardens and they were beautiful. Hibiscus bushes and Birds of Paradise, Banyan trees and Fox Tail Palms. And throughout all the gardens were more pineapples growing. We also went into the pineapple maze, part of which is indeed shaped like a giant pineapple. It has the world's record for the largest maze and you have to follow the map to specific points in the maze and trace an object on a card. It took us a good hour to get all the way through the maze. Good thing Matt is a really good map reader! I would have been lost for sure. Next we checked out the gift shop - they have a lot of interesting pineapple themed gifts, among other things. And we had to have some Dole whip while we were there. It's a non-dairy pineapple sort of ice cream and it's delicious! I wish they sold it here. I would eat it all the time.

Dole Garden

Birds of Paradise

Hibiscus flower

Middle of the pineapple maze

After the plantation we drove along the North Shore and watched the surfers. The ocean there is beautiful but there's not necessarily a lot of beach so it's not very crowded. The waves are amazing. Then we made a stop in La'ie at the temple visitor's center (D). The temple has been closed for two years while renovations are done and the open house followed by the dedication are in the next few weeks. The temple is beautiful and it was interesting to learn about the development of the church in that area. We drove past the Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU Hawaii but we didn't have time to stop. Next time...

Heidi on the North Shore

La'ie Hawaii temple

We drove along the Eastern coast of the island and saw more ocean and countryside and ended up back in Honolulu at Nico's at Pier 38 (E). We had wanted to try this restaurant since we saw it on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives but hadn't been able to get to it until today. The food was amazing! Fresh fish creations by a French chef served plate lunch style (rice & macaroni salad) for extremely affordable prices. I got a menu staple: Furikake Pan Seared Ahi w/ Ginger Garlic Cilantro Sauce with rice and a green salad instead of macaroni salad (I was sick of macaroni salad by this point!) and Matt got the catch of the day: Opah with a creamy watercress sauce. I couldn't decide which was more delicious. We will definitely be going back there again.

Nico's at Pier 38

Day 6 roadtrip map

After that it was time to head to the airport. It was so hard to leave Hawaii. The weather was perfect, the surroundings so beautiful. Everything is so laid back and I will really miss that. Our flight left around 9pm and got in about 7:30 the next morning. We didn't get much sleep and lost four hours so we were so so so tired when we got home but it was great seeing the boys again! Maybe next time we'll take them with us!

Early morning view from our hotel room

View of the street from our hotel room