Oahu - November 2006

Our honeymoon continued with a week on Oahu (first week on Maui).  We stayed on the North Shore, outside of Haleiwa.  We ended up staying at a cottage on the beach owned by a family member.  It was a very, small one bedroom cottage, but it was nice and relaxing being on the beach.  We fell asleep listening to the waves every night.  We didn’t really splurge on food, we cooked at the cottage a lot. 

ACTIVITIES: 

Beach Walking - We walked the beach a lot outside the cottage.  We went from our cottage to the beach where the TV show Lost is filmed.  We saw smoke from a campfire in the tree line and some stuff, but we didn't get close enough to see anyone famous.  We also walked to Pipeline and watched some surfers.  We saw lots of sea turtles on our walk.

Driving Around – Oahu Reaveled – We discovered this book at the cottage and I started reading it.  I thought it would be a good idea to go out driving and making the recommended stops in the book.  While Mike drove, I read descriptions of the area and we stopped at several places from Haleiwa to a macadamia farm. 

We stopped at:

 Malaekahana State Rec Area – You can swim out to a uninhabited island and hang out, but we didn’t. 

Laie Point – there is a rock there with a hole in it that was caused by a wave. 

Chinaman’s Hat – There is an island off the shore of Kualoa Park that is shaped like a Chinaman’s hat.

Tropical Farms macadamia farm – This is a popular spot for tour buses.  There is a shop that sells a lot of things made with macadamias.  I think we bought some pancake mix.

Waimea Valley Audubon Center – We discovered this place in the book, Oahu Revealed.  We were looking for a hike to a waterfall, but didn’t want to go very far from the cottage.  It’s a great place to see some beautiful vegetation.  There is also a small waterfall and you can get in and swim out to it.  There was a lifeguard on duty to help tell you where to go or not to go.  The water was a little cold, but it was fun.

Waimea Bay Beach Park – We spent a day relaxing on the beach here.  The waves were pretty big.  In November, the waves start to get really big and draw surfers in from all over.  The beach also has a rock nearby that people jump off into the ocean.

Polynesian Culture Center – We spent 2 partial days here.  On our first day, we went around to all the different villages and watched presentations put on by each village.  The place allows you to learn about the life and culture of the different Polynesian Islands.  Besides the presentations, they teach you how to do different things, like play the ukulele.

Swap Meet – Held at the Aloha Stadium, it’s a great place for souvenirs and other shopping.  There are hundreds of vendor tents set up all around.  We took a couple of hours to go most of the way around.  After a while, you start to see a lot of the same stuff.  They also sell food and snacks.

Diamond Head Sunrise Hike – On our last morning, we got up early and walked to the top.  We had to use flashlights in the beginning as it was still dark.  At the top, we watched the sunrise and had great views of Honolulu and Waikiki.   

RESTAURANTS:

Spaghettini – We really enjoyed this place.  It’s a small place on the side of the road where you order your food at the window and sit outside under the awning.  It’s a great place to have some inexpensive pizza and pasta and people watch.  I thought the spaghetti was very good, better than the pizza we’d ordered also.

Pizza Bob’s – We ended up eating here twice.  The food was really good as well as the service.

Island Shack – We came across this place one day when we were out driving around.  It’s across the street from Sunset Beach and has a totem pole in front.  I wasn’t sure about eating there at first.  It’s basically an outside, covered eating area.  So, there’s grass on the ground.  There is a port a pot outside for a bathroom and a sink inside to wash your hands.  This place seemed to be pretty popular with surfers.  We had a chicken plate and discovered acai.  We had our first acai bowl here and absolutely looooved it!  We’ve since found that it’s becoming more popular in juice stores.

BBQ at our beach house:  We bought some chicken and veges at Foodland in Waimea and made kabobs on the barbie.