Hello again from Hawaii!

Hello again. We will take up from where we left off. We were on a tour going around the Honolulu area and we headed out towards the famous Hanauma Bay. This bay used to be a volcanic crater but one edge collapsed allowing the water in and now it is a beautiful swimming and snorkeling spot.
Upper parking lot at Hanauma Bay

Upper lifeguard tower

Eastern edge of the bay. If you look closely just above the waterline you can see a faint trail that leads out to the point. It is closed off now but Naomi's brother and sister in law, Quentin and Debbie were here one year out on this point and were heading back when a lone female hiker was swept off the trail by high surf breaking on the rocks and drowned. It has happened more than once so the Park Service closed the trail. That's the story Bob remembers...think he is correct.

Western edge, there is a good trail down to the beach but we did not have time to go down. If we ever come back to Oahu we will make a point of coming here to snorkel

And the center where the wall collapsed, forming the bay entrance

"Isn't this a perfect swim and snorkel spot?" asked our driver...YES it is!!


"Next time we go snorkeling here" says Bob
And some areas are not sandy!



A lot of the coastline is like this with beaches scattered along the coast

Has anyone seen the old movie classic "From Here to Eternity"? This is where they filmed Burt Lancaster and Debra Kerr's love scene as they "played" in the surf.
This what is on the other side of the road, all steep rocky hillside of lava rock 


Please use your imagination here and picture this as a giant lizard and we had just travelled down his spine. Someone on the tour bus said that the most recent Godzilla was inspired by this view?

Please note the beach behind these 2 people. Our driver said it was important??

Apparently this is the beach that Barack Obama would come to body surf at after working his shift at Baskin and Robbin ice cream store
Not a good shot but supposedly in the distance are 2 islands that look like a giant turtle chasing a Mac truck....ok if you say so...?



A very steep hillside to the beach...I took this shot from inside the bus.....the road here is very narrow and windy....reminded us of New Zealand
 The tour bus turned back at the Sea Life aquatic park. We could have gotten off here and toured the park but we wanted to do Diamond Head. We did stop at a shopping mall for a quick bite to eat and back on the shuttle with Christopher as our driver.

Diamond Head is the most visible landmark in Oahu. I had no idea that It is actually a volcano just like Hanauma Bay. It sits right at the eastern edge of Waikiki and the area is developed right up to its base. The road into the crater is cut right through the crater rim and the tunnel is a few hundred feet long.

Diamond Head got it's name from the Calcite crystals in the rocks on the slopes of the crater that early explorers mistook for diamonds. The Federal gov't acquired the land
In 1904 and gradually turned it into a military installation over the years, both as an observation point and artillery placement. Of note is no artillery was ever fired during any war.

The existing trail was built in 1908 and they originally used mules, then later a winch, to move building supplies up and down the 1.3 km trail. The vertical distance from the crater floor to the top is 560 ft. I am not sure of the elevation above sea level that the peak is.

Naomi and I only had 75 minutes on site until our shuttle arrived so hustled up the trail and spent just a few moments at the top and then down we went; we did it in 50 minutes but ideally plan on taking 1.5 to 2 hrs to really enjoy it.  It was a very brisk, steep walk with all the switchbacks.  This would be treacherous on a rainy day.  Naomi says we did our exercise for today for sure!


That is the volcano lip you see with the tallest peak as the lookout.  


The trail up to the lookout starts out fairly easy with wide concrete walkways....Naomi says this is to "trick" the tourists.



View on the way up


Walkway tunnel near the top

The Views





And here is the View from the top




The last bit of the trail can be taken a couple of different ways. Here I came out through this pillbox and went round the hill to the viewing platform. It was crowded with people so I took a few hots  and headed back down
The trail now is dirt and bedrock and hairpin turns






After our minimarathon hike....the knees are weak...the thighs and calfs warbly...with smiles all around
In the shuttle tour bus coming back out of the crater through the tunnel

We stopped just outside of the tunnel to feed the birds. A local fellow started feeding these doves a fewyears ago so now the tourists are getting in on the action


Another well timed shot by Naomi as she caught this bird in flight

Look closely and you can see the tunnel in the back ground


Christopher our driver kept us passengers entertained. He even stopped at a favorite bakery we we could buy some goodies
Thus ends our Diamond Head adventure. Next up is Pearl Harbor.
Goodbye for now

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