North Shore Oahu, Hawai'i

View from our balcony of Three Tables Beach

March 23-27. After our whistle stop tour of LA, it was back in the air for the 6 hour day time flight to Honolulu.  Indeed the jet lag did make the 4.30 am start quite bearable and I think we were probably in better shape than many when we reached our gate at 7.30 am.  United has an entire terminal (one of seven) to itself at LAX.  This is air travel on a grand scale.  We had separate seats from the kids (not by design) and everyone was happy with their seatback TVs.  I got through C'mon, C'mon and Flee.  Both excellent movies, highly recommended.  As is United's coffee.  Very good.

After a bumpy approach we touched down in Honolulu and began our near 4 hour wait for our rental car.  Too many tourists, not enough cars.  The jet lag thing was starting to wear by the time we stopped for dinner and groceries and finished the 45 minute drive to the North Shore.  

We... need... sleep...

If ever you come to Oahu and choose not to visit the other islands, get out of Honolulu/Waikiki asap and get to the North Shore!  And where better than the Backpackers Vacation Inn and Hostel.  We are in the Beach House and although our room is simple and a bit dated, we have a beautiful veranda that is right on the edge of the Three Tables Beach.  The sound of the waves is constant, the deep yellow of the sand, the turquoise water, the crashing white surf and the succulent green leaves of the trees lining the shore, make this a pretty amazing tropical paradise.  There is a road right behind and it is busy with surfers and holidaymakers hurtling around, but mostly the waves drown out the engine noise.  

Dipping our toes

The kind of place that makes you want to do this

After a couple of busy days just after we arrived, all this ocean beauty has rid me of all ambition.  I could stay in our room, or on the veranda or hop over the wall onto the beach, day after day.  The first morning we were awake around 3.30 am so we took advantage and checked out the famous Pipeline beach (there were no surfers), as well as Turtle beach (we met a basking turtle).  This turtle had quite a story (see below...).  

Pipeline beach, not many surfers today, but no shortage of sand

Sometimes we tear them apart and get one kid to ourselves

It's stll really early in the morning

Kulihi has quite the story:

Drama at Three Tables Beach!  We were enjoying a quiet afternoon having been here less than 24 hours, the kids were at the top of the beach chasing chickens, and Crystal was eating an apple on the balcony.  She called inside to tell me there was a swimmer working hard a little distance off the beach.  I'd seen a swimmer not quite as far out earlier in the day who did just fine but when I came out and saw this women it was soon clear she was struggling.  Increasingly the sunbathers and beachgoers frolicking in the surf started to look concerned and when I asked Crystal if I should call 911 she said yes.  By now the bystanders had waved the woman to swim sideways out of the rip and she had made it to one of the table rocks but was getting battered by the waves crashing over top.  911 put me through to water rescue and 30 seconds later a lifeguard truck pulled up, quickly followed by a fire truck, and two more lifeguard vehicles.  The first lifeguard was quickly in the water with a surf board.  By now the swimmer had been joined by a man with a body board but while they were staying afloat they were making no progress to shore.  Another lifeguard entered the water with a float and mini fins.  He helped the man while the first lifeguard had the swimmer on his board and paddling laboriously back to shore.  The swimmer was clearly shaken and tired.  She was at the beach by herself and once the lifeguards had finished with her, Crystal went and had a chat.  Turns out she lives on the island, has been swimming for years and has never had this happen.  She knows people who do, but this experience has really shaken her up.  Our kids saw most of the incident unfold and although it's not a nice thing for them to see, it is probably a good lesson and adds some context when we are nagging them to be careful near the water.

I didn't take any photos but it seems like a good excuse to pay homage to the 'hoff

The second morning, still waking early with jet lag, we drove through the dark and rain to Diamond Head, where the dark and the rain abated and our earliness was rewarded with stories from fellow visitors of failing to get into the parking on more than one occasion. Diamond Head is part history tour, part geology lesson.  It is a huge ancient volcanic crater that the US military has used as a base for decades.  We enjoyed this particular outing with about a thousand other sweaty tourists.  Had a nice pineapple smoothy in a pineapple at the end.  Pineapples are not native to Hawai'i but Hawai'i is now a major producer of the fruit.  

The Pacific Ocean from Diamond Head

We humans are strange creatures

The only way is up

And the winner gets... a pineapple smoothie in a pineapple

We spent the rest of the day taking the far more scenic route around the east and northern shores back to base.  Along the way we listened to our Shaka audio tour app, learnt a little about land rights (after settlers bought up all the land, they realised they should make sure the Hawaiians had some but then taxed them on it and, since most did not have income or wealth, they were unable to pay, so lost their land) and Japanese replica temples, ate meat pies and local popcorn in a small shop after a splash at the windy Haleiwa beach, and landed back home pretty exhausted.

Toby attempting a roll, Haleiwa beach

At some point you go from wanting to be in the sand as much as possible to wanting to keep the sand out of you as much as possible

Saw these very small, very cool blur button jellyfish on Haleiwa beach

Refuel

The Japanese temple

The Japanese temple bell

Laie point and a hole in the rock 

Finally we were well overdue for a couple of days of island time, barely leaving our beach, reveling in all that cleansing saltwater, never straying far from the coffee pot.  We did manage to get to the famous Waimea Beach today to enjoy some safer body boarding, but that is just a five minute walk along the road.  

Daybreak

Surf's up! Sort of...

From the other end of the beach, our place is just to the left of the brown houses

Tomorrow we tackle the Polynesian Cultural Center.  But I am quite determined that we get as much of 'here' as possible over the next week.  It's quite a special place.