I haven't been to Hawaii since the sixth grade. Math Teacher hasn't gone to Hawaii since six years old. So it was time to make our own adult memories at Hawaii. The islands were stunning. I am an ocean person; Math Teacher is a mountain person. Hawaii combines both. We could stare at the ocean as well as the mountains for hours.
First up, Shaka!
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| Shaka |
View of the Waikiki Beach.
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| Waikiki Beach |
Kualoa Ranch was a ton of fun! There were a lot of tourists, but it was well-organized so it didn't feel crowded (except the gift shop). We joined the Movie Sites & Ranch tour. We were surprised to learn not only big action, adventure movies were filmed at Kuala
Ranch, but also rom-coms. In addition to movie sites, many tourists were here for outdoor activities. So there were lots of options for people to choose from.
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| Welcome to Jurassic World |
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| Kong: Skull Island |
Waikiki Aquarium: Highly recommend! It was only $12 per adult. It was very small, but very few tourists visited this part of Waikiki. We got to see a blind monk seal. He was so smart and cool! I didn't know when a monk seal lost his sight, he gained super hearing ability. Simply amazing!
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| Waikiki Aquarium |
Waikiki at Night: breezy and peaceful.
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| Waikiki at night |
It rained for three days when we were there. So we had to find indoor activities to do. We went to
Ala Moana Center. It was a huge shopping center, but it was farther away from Waikiki therefore fewer tourists and more locals. It was "outdoor" but with overhang to protect from the rain.
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| Yayoi Kusama's famous pumpkin |
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| ALOHA! |
Bishop Museum: beautiful museum to learn about Hawaiian history and culture. And great air-condition in the Hawaiian heat and humidity. BUT! We're getting old. The lighting in the museum is dim and yellowish. For $38.95 per adult, we would prefer to be able to read the signs and information.
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| Bishop Museum outside |
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| Bishop Museum inside |
Volcano National Park: Not recommend to visit when it was the day after three-days of raining. We assumed it would be all right, but the mist plus the wind in the face was uncomfortable. Everything was still wet and muddy. We were unlucky. The light bulbs at the lava tube burned out. Math Teacher described walking through the lava tube as "walking in a completely dark room with water pouring on us." I didn't see anything because I was too concerned about tripping over the wet ground. This was my whole point of the trip. I wanted to see volcano and lava! Instead I got the chills and almost got sick. We did see a rainbow inside the volcano crater. That was cool. We saw rainbows almost everyday in Hawaii.
USS Arizona Memorial: We were unlucky at the Volcano National Park then we got lucky with USS Arizona Memorial. I was checking every hour with tickets. Even when tickets were available, the website crashed so I couldn't reserve. Then finally, we got them! Highly recommend the last tour of the day at 3:30pm. No more rushing because no more next boat. We got to see the Memorial slowly. It was a solemn experience. It was saddening and I felt like crying.
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| On the way to Pearl Harbor |
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| Pearl Harbor |
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| USS Arizona Memorial |
Last day at Hawaii. Aloha!
