Day 11, Aug. 17 - Saturday

Today's highlight - Sea Turtles! Yes, that's right, the Wood family swam with sea turtles at Tunnels Beach on the North Shore. It was really neat. They were so graceful swimming in the water with all the fish around them. Andy was able to get a few good shots of one with our waterproof camera. We also saw lots of fish including a few Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, the state fish of Hawaii. It was definitely the best snorkeling of the trip - even better than Hanauma Bay. So, today was a beach exploration day up on the North Shore. We went to Anini Beach in the morning, as well as Tunnel's beach in the afternoon. Anini was nice. There was shade and a few fish but it was just a warm up to Tunnels. For lunch we went to Bubba Burger and then got some Shave Ice and ice cream for desert. All of this was in Hanalei on the North Shore. It was a lovely little town with some very nice shops and buildings. I enjoyed looking around the town. On the way, we also saw Hanalei Valley, where they have created a wetland and Taro fields that serve as a refuge for wetland birds. Taro is a plant that has been used by Hawaiians for centuries for food and other things. They use the root to make poi, a traditional food that isn't usually appetizing to most of us mainlanders. It is a beautiful valley, though, just like the rest of the island.

So, we spent most of the day on the beach and driving around the North Shore. On the way home, we found a couple of really neat caves. They were right near Tunnels and Kee Beach, which is the end of the road on the North Shore. Also, as we were leaving the cave by Tunnels Beach, we think we saw Pierce Brosnan. Both Andy and I thought this guy looked like him. I wouldn't be surprised. Andy wanted me to ask him but I refused. If it was him, I don't want to intrude on his privacy. If it wasn't, I wasn't going to look like a fool. So, Pierce, if you were there today, it was nice seeing you! We had dinner at Coconuts Bar and Grill, which served Island/Asian type food. It was ok, but not my favorite. We had a great time next, going to WalMart. We love WalMart and we don't have one near where we live so we enjoy going. Kind of sad, huh? We dropped off our waterproof camera to develop the film so we got to hang around an hour waiting for it. What fun. So, now we're watching Larry King who's interviewing "Diamond Joe" Esposito, Elvis Presley's best friend. It's interesting that we're here in Hawaii this week because it's the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death. Hawaii and Elvis go hand in hand in a lot of ways so it's kind of neat to recognize him while we're here.

 

 

Writing by Jenny Wood ~ Web Design by Andy Wood