Our flight home didn't leave until 11pm on Saturday, so we spent our last day exploring the west and north coasts of Oahu. After checking out of our hotel, we drove north up the west coast, intending to follow it all the way around to the North Shore - home of the monster waves that attract die-hard surfers from all over the world.
Driving up the west coast, we got our first glimpse of what life on Oahu is like for the locals away from the touristy areas. We passed small towns and long stretches of beach covered in tent homes and shanties - it seems a significant number of people live right on the beach!
After an hour or so, approaching the north west corner of the island, we abruptly discovered that we would not be able to follow the road around to the North Shore after all! The paved road suddenly turned into a rutted dirt track, so we had to head south again and drive up the highway in the middle of the island to get to the North Shore!
While retracing our steps, we found a side road with a very large puddle, which Ben is depth testing in the photo below...
...So that we could try out our camera's rapid shutter setting like so!
Upon reaching the North Shore, there were definitely no 30-foot waves in sight that day, but here are some of the things we saw...
In the late afternoon we arrived in Haleiwa, the main town on the north coast. We soaked up the laidback vibe and checked out the small but interesting Museum of Surfing.
Our last meal in Hawaii was at Haleiwa Joe's, recommended by Lonely Planet as the best restaurant on the North Shore. We had a lovely dinner and then headed back to Honolulu, where we drove up Mt Tantalus to get a last beautiful view of the city lights before flying home.
And that was our wonderful week in Hawaii!
Click here to see our Hawaii photo album in Picasa.
1 comment:
Cool surfboard art, cute chickens & yummy food!!!!!
Post a Comment