Waimea Beach

The beach is the site of the biggest rides able surfing the world. In the winter it can reach the height of 40 feet. This year the surf has reached 35 feet and is the biggest surfing season since 1983.

Waimea Valley,

The 1800 acre valley offers authentic insights into Hawaii’s cultural, botanical, historical, and ecological wonders.

Waimea Valley, Waterfall

The 1800 acre valley offers authentic insights into Hawaii’s cultural, botanical, historical, and ecological wonders.

At the end of the valley there is a tropical waterall. The waterfall features a pool witch is open for swimming.

KO OLINA

Ko Olina is a private development by Marriot 30 minutes just northwest of Honolulu. Beach access can not be restricted however.

There are 4 crescent shaped lagoon beaches, 5 star hotel and Marriott beach club condos.

Also includes are a golf course and a gated subdivision.

KAILUA BEACH

Kailua beach is a beautiful shallow strip od sand on the east side of the Oahu.

There is little or no surf perfect for swimming and kayaking. There is a reef for snorkelling and an island which is a green turtle habitat.

PALI LOOKOUT

Nuʻuanu Pali is a section of the windward cliff of the Koʻolau mountain located at the head of Nuʻuanu Valley on the island of Oʻahu.

It has a panoramic view of the windward (northeast) coast of Oʻahu. The Pali Highway connecting Kailua/Kāneʻohe with downtown Honolulu runs through the Nuʻuanu Pali Tunnels bored into the cliffside.

The Nuʻuanu Pali State Wayside is a lookout above the tunnels where visitors are treated to a panoramic view of the Oʻahu's windward side with sweeping views of Kāneʻohe, Kāneʻohe Bay, and Kailua. It is also well-known for the final battle for the unification of the Hawaiian Islands.
Apparently the king of the island of Hawaii was battling the chief of Maui. The Hawaii forces backed up the Maui warriors to the cliff and rather than capitulating they jumped off the cliff. Recently when the built the new highway the discovered 800 sculls at the foot of the cliff verifying the spoken record of the battle.

HUNAUMA BAY

Hanauma Bay is a marine embayment formed within a volcanic cone and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oʻahu (just east of Honolulu) Hanauma is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Island and has suffered somewhat from overuse (at one time accommodating over three million visitors per year).















In the 1950s, dynamite was used to clear portions of the reef to expand the area available for swimming. There are some 650 spies of fish and water wildlife in this bay. Specifically Hanauma Bay is known for its abundance of Green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, known as Honu. Hanauma is a nursery ground for the immature turtles, which have their nesting grounds at French Frigate Shoals It is also known for its abundance of parrotfish.









We parked above the rim of the crater and took a shuttle down a steep slope. We viewed a mandatory 10 minute film educating us on the dos and don’ts of the reef swimming. We spent an afternoon waking in the warm shallow waters with the colorful fish swinging around our feet.

Vog

Today we went back to the Makaha Beach for the afternoon. It is Friday and the locals surfers backed up their SUV’s to the beach, set up gazebo style tents, tables and chairs, put on some music and started the weekend partying.

On the horizon you can see the effects of the Vog. Vog is a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases and particles emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight. When the wind blows from the south east in the Hawaiian Islands, where the Kilauea volcano, on the island of Hawai’i, has been erupting continuously since 1983 Vog shows up in Oahu (Honolulu). Kilauea emits 2,000 - 4,000 tons of sulfur dioxide every day.

We enjoyed the activities and sunset anyway.

BARKING SANDS BEACH

To day we visited the Barking sands beach. It is just about the northernmost point of the west side of Oahu.




















There are no tourists here, too far off the beaten path, just some local boys surfing and a few couples getting some quality time.













Some young boys are bodysurfing near the shore others are just playing at the edge of the water.


















The surf is furious and loud, almost like barking dogs.









Then the seas are camly washing over the sands.




We stayed late and watched the sunset, while the surfers were still in the water after dark.

MAKAHA GOLF RESORT

The set up here is sweet! We are 45 minutes west of the Honolulu Airport near the Village of Waianae. This area is out of the tourist mainstream as the coastal road ends just a few miles from here.

The resort features a series of one and two story cottages with hotel style rooms and apartments on a slight hillside slope with lush tropical vegetation in a view of the Pacific Ocean about a mile away.

It also features an18 golf course, pool, restaurant and gym. The staff drives golf cart shuttles to service the guest who wish to ride to and from the main building and parking lots. The rooms have a fridge and coffee maker and a large furnished lanai facing the south west….a great place to sunbathe and chill.

There is a central court with BBQ and covered pick nick tables which we overlook.

The Makaha Country Club is next door.

Both courses are relatively inexpensive by Hawaii standards. Green fees are $60 and $65 including carts. I have already played a couple of games.

People play fast here, both games took less than 4 hours.

THE ROOKIE

The surf is hitting 35f+ft wave walls this weekend……a sceptical worth seeing. So Darliene and I ventured down to or local Makaha beach, a benign little strip of sand with some steep slopes frequented by the locals. The average surf was about 10ft with the odd wave much larger. The activities were furious and the surfing was amazing. The surf beckoned and I wanted to test the water to see how warm it was and how the wave felt. Darliene said don’t do it. I said why not and ventured forth fully clothed.

I stood at the edge of the water and got my feet wet. It felt good. A few waves later I saw they were getting bigger so I started to climb up the slope and as I turned I got hit by a wave that was up to my waist. My leg bad buckled and I want down. The undertow washed away my footing and I sat in a hole and could not get up as a second wave hit. The lifeguard was there in less than 30 second (driving an ATV) and he and a second man picked me up and dragged me to safety. I hurt my bad knee and drowned my cell phone. My pockets and everything else were full of sand.

The rookie learned all about the big surf today and Darliene did not say I told you so.

I iced down my knee and the next day I am still hobbling around.

Polynesian Centre

For the last two days we spent at the Polynesian Centre learning about and meeting many of the Polynesians who work and go to school here in Hawaii.

Hundereds of Ilsland forming several nations all retated to each other bewen Hawaii and New Zealand

Surf's up

For the last 4 days the surf on the North Shore has been 20ft+. what a spectacle. although there are major warnings about venturing out in these conditions there were a number of surfers out there.

OFF TO HAWAII

8am….. a reasonable hour…… everything went smooth at the airport…lots of time to spare….. they supplies glof catrs for us to get around and fast lanes through line ups because of my waking issues (cane) …almost 7 hrs on the plane …comfortable seats and arrived to 80F temperatures. Picked up the rental car ….drove to our resort ….checked in and crashed.

FAMILY RESEARCH LIBRARY, SALT LAKE CITY

It was cold in SLC but we stayed in a hotel across the lane from the Family History Library, which had a family restaurant on the premises and a shuttle which took us to and from to the airport and local attractions, including the grocery store. As a result we had no problem getting around when we were not in the Library.

The three days at the library were very successful for the Mueller family search. I concentrated on the search of my great grandmother’s family which come from Horb Germany near Stuttgart prior to 1850 when they came to directly to Vienna. I found a source of family history that went back 3 generations and included all her siblings of whom there were many.

I also found and photographed linearly hundreds of records of possible decedents of the siblings which still need to be studied, analysed and linked up in the future.

4AM

Early to rise so we can get to the airport hours before our flight. The airports are no doubt a disaster area.

We checked in at the counter and within 20 minutes we were at the USA Customs. At the first check point we triggered an alert. The bad news was that we were whisked away, to a private area for scanning along with an other couple. The good news is we went past an hour of line-ups for customs and immigration. Then came the check up! It seams we triggered a medical isotope alarm, Geiger counter, but nothing was found! My theory is that the other couple triggered the alarm for both of us and they could not determine exactly where the source was.

They then inserted us into the security line right in front of the scanners and 10 minutes later we were through. Now we had 2 hours to kill before or flight.

Getting ready

Today we are struck by the reality of travel to the US and all the hype associated with that. No carry-on luggage and 3 hr wait to get through security........

On Wednesday we are traveling with Delta, the ill fated airline which was a victim of the latest bomb threat. First stop is Salt Lake City for a few days to do family research and then on Sunday direct to Honolulu and the Makaha golf resort for a month of sun surf and all that stuff....

We are leaving this behind