Anyway we were on our way and not long we were out of the city and into some lovely little towns. We stopped at one which was an historic town called Hale'iwa for a coffee which was one of the best we have had on this trip and then had a look in one of the local shops selling handmade jewellery and crafts. We had a nice chat to the lady who ran the shop and contributed to the local economy by buying a couple of gifts. As we were driving with the top down we could feel the sun beating down on us so more blockout needed to be applied and also try and find a way to cover ourselves in the back of the car. A tough feat with the wind blowing and trying to keep our hats on as well.
The town was established in 1898 when a businessman named Benjamin Dillingham opened a hotel there. He also built a railway from Honolulu to Waialua along the west coast which opened in the same year and ended in front of his hotel. The area was known for it's sugar cane and designated an historic district in 1984 which means that all new buildings must adhere to a design plan the reflects the architecture of the earlier sugar industry period. a nice stop off on our road trip.
We continue on and our next stop is a lovely seaside spot with gorgeous views. As we stand on the beach wetting our feet we see a couple of turtles pop their heads up in the water. Fabulous to see them so close to shore.
We continued our drive and saw a sign for the Waimea Falls in the Waimea Valley, so we decided to have a look. Last time Cheryl and John were here the falls were closed so it was great to see that they were open today. We made our way in and saw that it looked like people had been swimming at the falls, so we went and asked and yes you can swim at the falls so we decided to pay the entry fee and go for a swim at the falls. It was about a 20 minute walk to the falls through a lovely botanical garden on the way to the falls filled with lots of interesting cultural information along the way. It was a very hot and steamy day so we were very thankful for the shade of some fabulous shade trees along the way.
We got to the falls and it was very crowded and one of the rules was that you had to wear a life jacket in the water which we were all a bit dubious about but no jacket no swim. We get our jackets from the lifeguard and made our way into the water. There were lots of rocks we needed to negotiate before making our way towards the falls. It was a lovely refreshing dip after the walk. we lolled around for a bit with Peter taking a few photos with the underwater camera which unfortunately didn't get much of an outing as we couldn't do the snorkel cruise we wanted to.
We made our way back down the hill to the entrance and had a nice simple lunch before heading off again. Next stop was Sunset Beach which wasn't really signposted as such but we figured it out. This whole coast line is home to many of the surfing competitions that you see throughout the year but it was hard to imagine those pumping waves today as the water was lovely and calm, definitely my kind of swimming spot. A great first swim in the ocean here as we had been so busy that all of us apart from Peter hadn't been in the water as yet. The sun was beating down and I don't know how the people there could have stayed sitting in the sun with no shelter as it was intense.
Back to the car to continue our drive and the scenery was amazing, the coast on one side and these massive mountains on the other. We stopped at another well known location the Chinaman's Hat but Cheryl and I stayed in the car as we didn't want to cross the busy road. The time was starting to get away from us so we made our way back hem via the mountains and as is quite often the case there was nowhere to stop and take photos of these fantastic looking mountains.
Back home and what a fabulous day we had, if I ever go back to Hawaii it is definitely something I would do again as well as maybe visiting some of the other islands.
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