Joyce and Paul's retirement travels

We drove along Kawaikui Beach where a couple was having their wedding photos taken in a rather unique place.

There was some pretty spectacular shoreline as we drove along the coast. A sunny day really gave some nice contrasts.

At Koho Head we saw a fabulous blow hole.

The Halona Blowhole is a natural ocean geyser located on the southeast coast of Oahu, Hawaii, near Koko Head and Hanauma Bay. Formed by ancient volcanic lava tubes, it shoots sea spray up to 30 feet in the air, creating a popular tourist attraction. Visitors can view it from a designated lookout, often visiting the adjacent Halona Beach

As we headed up the east shore, the landscape was more varied. With 20 days of rain before we arrived, everything was very green.

Our last stop on our tour was from inland, overlooking the windward side of Oahu. Our driver warned us it was windy, but I’m not sure we’ve experienced wind like we had there. We were at Nu’uanu Pali State Wayside. I had problems staying upright as I walked the 200 m up the paved path to the overlook. I saw a couple with two young children walking at the bottom of the path and wondered how they were going to get up. It was a beautiful view from the top however.

As I got back to the bus, there was this colourful chicken at the side of the trail. We had seen others along our drive, but this was the first I could capture on film.

When we arrived back at the pier, we took a shuttle ride a couple of miles to a mall. The Alo Moana Centre is the largest open air mall in the world. With underground parking incorporated into the design, just about every store you could imagine was there. Only Walmart was missing 😉, but there was a Target! Certainly nothing cheap here with high end department stores like Macy’s. We walked through it a bit and had a snack and then headed back to the ship. We leave Honolulu by midnight and have another 5 days on board before we arrive in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for Hollywood!

By the time we woke on Sunday morning we had already docked in Honolulu. We had ordered breakfast to our cabin since we had an earlier tour booked.

In Honolulu everyone had to leave the ship regardless of whether they had planned on going ashore or not, crew included. This was to go through immigration clearance. They were well organized from the ship’s perspective as well as from the USA immigration. Those who weren’t staying on shore during the day were notified when last call was since there wasn’t really anywhere to sit and wait until everyone was cleared with immigration before they could reboard. We cleared quickly and got on a coach for a 4+ hour tour of the south and east shores.