Hawaiian holiday, Post 5: Thursday's activities

Having picked up our rental car on Wednesday, the next morning we set off back to beautiful Kailua Beach (the one we'd caught a glimpse of when we were with Les and Sandi on Sunday afternoon). This time it was a clear, cloudless day, so we stopped at Pali Lookout again and took some more photos...









And then it was on to Kailua Beach. This is the top recommended kayaking spot on O'ahu, as it has a couple of small bird sanctuary islands just offshore that paddlers are allowed to land on. Our intention had been to go kayaking, but when we got there we couldn't be bothered and decided to just wander along the beach instead! I think this may be the most beautiful beach I have seen in my life so far (having not been to the Whitsundays yet!)...



































After this we drove north up the coast a short way to see the Byodo-In Temple (where we got told off for taking photos of it without paying the $3 to go in)...



...And in the late afternoon we hiked the Manoa Falls trail. This is a 1.5 mile hike through a rainforest to a narrow, 150 foot tall waterfall. Lots of awesome vines and bamboo! We had to do the hike in a hurry because the daylight was fading fast... but it was definitely not as dark as some of the photos suggest! The contrast between the bright and dark photos is due to whether or not the flash was on - the actual light level was somewhere in between the two...



















Click here for lots more photos...

To be continued!