Around Oʻahu January 30, 2022

 We met our tour guide, Weti, at 6:45am this morning and did not stop touring this whole island until he dropped us off at 4:30 this evening at our hotel.  After Pearl Harbor, our first stop was a coffee farm where they roasted and ground their own coffee…very good!

Our next stop was the Dole Plantation where we got a bowl of the famous Dole Whip

We then explored the more interesting side of Oahu, the North Shore, where there was a mixed feeling of surf and turf.  The surfing world is quite alive and well up there and the topography was awesome. The mountains seemed to be carpeted, just welcoming serious hikers. 

                                                                                             

        Turtle Island

                                                               

Chinaman’s Hat Island

                    Our guide, Weti, from Samoa and an IT  graduate from BYU, the campus on the North Shore of Oahu.  

The three amigos…Carl, our guide Weti, and Murray, the male half of the couple that toured with us.

Speaking of a few nice nuts, we next visited a macadamia nut farm…

Just north of downtown Honolulu, is the National Cemetery of the Pacific which is located inside of the Punchbowl Crater, an extinct volcano and the final resting place for 53,000 veterans (and eligible family members).  The grounds are well kept and solemn, similar to Arlington National Cemetery.

The predominant statue is Lady Columbia at the top of the staircase in the Court of Honor who stands on the bow of an aircraft carrier.  Many of the Pearl Harbor USS Arizona  ‘unknown’ victims are buried here.

Here is a view of downtown Honolulu from the Punch Bowl crater with Diamond Head in the background.