Oahu

Last night's sleep was not the best - no reflection on the hotel, with a nice view of Waikiki from our window - but when we got things rolling around 6:00 this morning the outside temperature was already 80 degrees only to climb to a high of 90 degrees. Now this is autumn weather!! We went out for breakfast around 8:00 and found people already in the water not to mention surfers waiting to take lessons. Waikiki for all its fame is not a really wide beach, nor is it very long (around a kilometre) but it sure is popular. Today's plan to drive up the east coast to the north shore and return through the heart of Oahu. By 9:00 we had the top down, the AC cranked up and we were off. The most dramatic shoreline we saw today was easily only 5 minutes from Diamond Head. There was also some decent surfing around the blow hole. At the numerous tourist lookouts along the route there was always something photo worthy. By the time we reached the north shore some of the famed beaches started showing up. They are truly beautiful, but today the surf was not worthy of the pros who surf here. Our only lengthy stop today was at the Dole pineapple plantation. Although their canning operation in Hawaii was curtailed in 1991 due to Asian competition, they still have a large pineapple plantation here, producing fruit for around the world. We took the Pineapple Express through part of their fields that gave us some interesting facts and history. Back in Waikiki, we went to Foodland for groceries, collected our luggage from the Queen Kapiolani and finally moved into our apartment. We are on the 16th floor of the Waikiki Banyan and as such have some fine views. Dawn doesn't care much for the ones from the balcony, otherwise it's a great spot, once again a mere block from the beach. Here are some shots from the balcony. To close out the day, we went for a walk along the extremely pedestrian-congested beach sidewalks. This statue of famous Sufer Duke Kananamoku is one of the iconic spots on the beach.