recent actitivities in kailua and honolulu

We went on a great hike one afternoon about a week ago in the Koolau mountain range (keep meaning to post the pictures). There were some wonderful views of the our side of the island (the "windward side"); this is the town of Kailua, where we are living, way down below...

another view from that hike - we loved the sharp peaks, and atmospheric clouds.

ummm.... read the sign ,Tony!

last Saturday afternoon, we visited Honolulu's Chinatown; here are some pictures from there...

as you can see - lots of interesting food! we had a great lunch at a little noodle shop.

and just a few pictures of close to home -- some of our apartment...

and our car - we rented one for the first week, then decided when we returned it, to rent another one for the rest of the month; they had no more compacts, so we got this monster! it is kind of fun, but hard to park in tight spots, including the spot we have in the driveway -- we are always a little afraid for the poor plants. But Hawaii seems to have lots...

there is a farmer's market every Thursday night, that is a great place to go for dinner - aside from fresh produce they also have stalls selling prepared food - some of the best food we have had on our entire trip, actually, is from this market; the moussaka, soul food, mexican, hawaiian.... it's all delicious! We have gone every thursday since we have been in Kailua

Tony working in our favourite Kailua cafe, the "Morning Brew"

this is Kawainui Marsh, in Kailua (yes, everything starts with a "K"; makes it difficult to navigate the streets - they all sound the same to us!)

and finally..... windsurfers on Kailua bay; part of the bay is filled with windsurfers and sail boarders on windy days (which are frequent); another part of the bay is popular for boogieboarding; other parts for surfing or swimming and kayaking - it all depends on the wind and wave conditions in certain areas. So, Kailua is not only a beautiful beach, but lots of interesting watersports!

tonight (Saturday the 26), we are going to a luau -- so I'm sure we'll have pictures from that (you know, Tony doing the hula and stuff like that), so more soon!
love, T & C

North Shore, Oahu

Our stand-up paddle board instructor told us that the last of the big winter waves would be Tues/Wednesday, so we drove up to the North Shore this past Tuesday to see them. The North Shore is where they get the biggest, expert-surfer waves.

Many interesing things to see on the drive up north, which takes about an hour from where we are living on the southeast coast (if you don't stop and take pictures at least!). This is Kualoa Beach Park, a  popular picnic spot on the east coast of Oahu.

At one of the beaches on the way, someone had left this amazing sand sculpture - Tony wishes it were his!

There are several roadside shrimptrucks on the drive. We stopped at this one for some lunch (a plate of barbequed shrimp and rice) - delicious and very fresh!

many of the North Shore beaches were roped off so that casual beachgoers wouldn't be swept out to sea on this especially strong surf day. Notice distinct lack of swimmers...

This is a spot that is popular for snorkelling and scuba diving in summer, when the surf is not so treacherous; this time of year, people are just there watching the waves.

At Waimea Bay, a premiere surfing destination. Here are the surfers waiting for the "Big one"!This area of the island is very busy on winter big-wave days, partly with surfers, but the road and beaches are also lined with people just watching them. It was amazing to see

and here is one of the big ones crashing on shore! (taken with telephoto). Tony already posted a shot on the last blog of someone surfing the wave (no, it was not me as reported! I need something a bit more challenging...)

after our north shore adventure, it was back to work the next day! Here is Carolyn at a University of Hawaii cafe. We are working on our laptops before Carolyn gave a talk to one of the psychology lab groups there.
I like the fact that a university cafe is called "Paradise Palms" - sounds so exotic
it is now Sunday - went into Honolulu on Saturday (pictures to come); we are doing some work today, then will probably hit the local beach around 5 for a swim and perhaps some boogie-boarding before getting our groceries for dinner (that has become our typical work day here)
More soon! hope everyone is well!

More Hawaii, including Waikiki

The Hula! (in downtown Kailua)

One of the beaches near our place is Lanakai, voted as the best beach in America.   And, oh, not just because of the people who frequent it.

Kailua beach is nice too!

Rainbow from our back balcony.  We expect rainbows are not infrequent here, given the weather is often variable and may include a quick shower followed by quick dose of sunshine.

.  The night of the tsunami we filled out fridge with bottles and pots of water, as it was suggested to us that fresh water may be scarce. Fair enough: Water is a main theme in Hawaii.... 

We spent a day in Waikiki, the famous neighbourhood and beach area in Honolulu.  This is an isolated bit of beach and pool of water off one of the Waikiki hotels

More Waikiki beach

More Waikiki beach

 

More Waikiki beach (+snowcone)

Launa Hills golf club near Kailua.  Crazy beautiful; crazy difficult

More Launa Hills

Tony chips in for a 9.

Skinny Canadian dude on a Hawaiin driving range.

We tried stand-up paddle boarding, and here we have our guide putting our boards in the water for us.  (No, he didn't also paddle for us).  

We are up!

And he's down.

Feeling a bit restless and hoping for more of a challenge, Carolyn sought out the last of winter swells on the North shore of Oahu.  If you look closely, you can see her mastering this 30 foot wave.  

made it to Hawaii!

Here we are on Oahu in Hawaii. We have an apartment in the town of Kailua, on the southeast coast. Kailua has a beautiful beach, great for boogie-boarding, which seems to be a huge thing in Hawaii. Here's Tony, joyous about getting into the water at Kailua beach

this past week was a pretty busy work week, as Tony gave a talk at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu on Wednesday - here he is on campus, reviewing his notes for the performance!

After Tony's talk, the group at the university took us to dinner at the Outrigger Canoe Club, a private club in Honolulu, near Waikiki - it was right on the water and gorgeous - Carolyn was happy to be a privileged "guest"

on Saturday we took some time to drive a little up the east coast to find this island...

recognize it through the mist? it is Gilligan's Island, the island that was shown at the end of the opening sequence for the TV show - the two tall palm trees in the middle of the island are still standing after all these years! (the island now houses a marine research station)
Sunday morning, we did a tour of the southern tip of Oahu to Diamond Head. As you can imagine, water sports figure prominently. Here are some outrigger canoes being readied for a Sunday morning race.

the scenery along the southern coast was very dramatic!

we went on a short hike, trying to get to lighthouse near here - here is a scenic view from part way up

but, it got a little "precipitous"

so we turned back! but the views were great while it lasted...

Further along the coast was "Sandy Beach", which is suppsoed to be the most dangerous beach on the island. Needless to say, although many locals were boydboarding and surfing the waves, we declined.

after forgoing the dangerous activities, we decided we were prepared to do the hike up Diamond Head crater

we're glad we were "ready to climb"; the view of honolulu from the top was amazing

the view of the big bald men from the top was amazing too!

and this is a telephoto shot of the Diamond Head lighthouse at the bottom of the crater

and that was our first weekend in Hawaii!
hope all is well with everyone!