September, 2010 Archives

Ever since the first day I glanced at our Lonely Planet book I had one thing picked out that I really, really wanted to do: go to the Dole Plantation and do the world’s largest maze that happens to be shaped like a pineapple! If you go HERE you can see an aerial view.

But the excitement didn’t stop there. Oh no. Pineapple education is a fascinating thing. I love pineapples.

Tourist photo:

Here I am being excited and looking like I haven’t slept in 3 weeks…Yikes:

Pineapple plants only make 2 pineapples in their whole life! That’s crazy.

I had no idea how pineapples grew; they just come straight out of the top of the plant:

SO CUTE!!

Me and the pineapple:

They had a BUNCH of different varieties. I had no idea so many existed. (the one on the bottom left kind of scares me)

More pineapple education:

Together in the same photo thanks to the magic of Photoshop:

This is one of the coolest tree trunks I’ve ever seen:

We did not take the Pineapple Express.

The maze!

Inside the maze:

You had to find 6 stations that had stencils to prove you mastered the maze. It actually took a long time and we cheated just a little bit.

When we finally got out, we got some pineapple ice cream. YUM:

ENTIRE FIELDS OF PINEAPPLES, PEOPLE. Amazing.

Darek did some research and found Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples. (I love the name so I had to throw that in.) It’s actually a replica of a temple in Japan and was built to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants that came to Hawaii. It was a misty, drizzly day when we went which really added an amazing atmosphere. Totally beautiful and very peaceful.

For any of you Lost fans reading this, you might recognize it as the setting of Sun and Jin’s wedding.

Some of the mountains we passed on the way:

The temple is actually located in a cemetery.  I think I want to be buried in a cemetery with mountains and palm trees.

I like to take pictures of signs so I have a record of places we visit. Plus then I can just read it when I get home:

This is the color version of the first photo above but I think it has a different feel to it and I couldn’t decide which one to post:

Breathtaking, right? And you can see the Koi swimming around:

BABY PEACOCKS!!! Love their little mohawks:

This bird was totally giving me The Eye:

Us:

Darek took this one:

And because I’m feeling indecisive:

Every time it rained, I looked for a rainbow – and I’m pretty sure there was a rainbow in the sky every time it rained. Unbelievable.

Taken from our balcony:

At breakfast one morning (kind of hard to see, between the trees):

Walking back along the beach after dinner:

Lots of rain = lots of beautiful flowers:

I’ve only seen these in grocery stores and wedding arrangements until now:

So pretty.

Hawaii | beaches

September 10th, 2010

We went to several beaches but only took pictures at a few.

Makapu’u Point:

We actually spent several hours one day at this beach. When we were there, there were red flags saying “do not swim” but we did anyway (we weren’t the only ones). We didn’t go past our waists though, just stood in the water and played in the waves. It was wonderful.

The view from down at the beach, looking up:

A different beach – one we did not swim at.

The Halona Blowhole, blowing:

Sunset at Makapu’u Point:

I really want to know why a van full of orange-shirted kids pulled up to watch the moon rising over the hill. Really random.

I miss the beach.

Hawaii | sea turtles

September 8th, 2010

We were sitting on a beach, eating pie, debating on the crowd of people gathered on the far end of the beach. We finally headed down there and discovered what they had been gathered around: SEA TURTLES!

You can’t really tell from the pictures, but they were huge:

They all had names and they were old:

Some sea turtle information for you:

Our feet at Turtle Beach, where we watched turtle heads bob up above the water: