Oahu

       All good things must come to an end, as must our sojourn in American Samoa.  We've enjoyed the island, saw new things, met great people and made new friends.  Now its time to go home and return to our former lives, older and hopefully wiser.

     Thursday evening we finished packing and of course had to rush to the airport - thanks to Ruth for a ride, we needed that!  Goodbyes all around - to Joe & Sarah, two up & coming lawyer stars; Kelly, a real go-getter, and all the staff at ASPD.  They bought me a kava bowl as a departure gift - figuring, of course, that if they give a present then I'll have to go!  Kava is a traditional Samoan drink, mildly desensitizing (like novocaine - your mouth gets numb if you drink some), used in ceremonies and prepared in a traditional way.  The bowls are used for the mixing, and so have taken on enormous value as symbols of the fa'a Samoa - the Samoan Way.  A kava bowl is representative of American Samoa - look on the back of the recent quarter issued for American Samoa.  Better yet, keep reading here because this is a photo of one:

     Best, come to my home and see one - it will be on the mantle with our other Samoan gifts - woven baskets, hangings, a fine mat, fabric and more.  As I said, Samoan people are among the kindest and most generous in the world.

     We flew overnight to Hawaii, rented a car, hung out awhile, then drove up to our resort on the north shore of Oahu where we will stay until Monday.  We went first to see Waikiki and had a delightful breakfast on the beach.  Here are photos:

Ala Moana Park in Honolulu - swimmers are out early here.

First good view of diamond head.

Surfer Dog at Waikiki.

Aspiring surfers waiting for their wave, Waikiki, 8 a.m.

Presenting to you - Waikiki Beach.

Waikiki Parrot Man - he rents parrots to tourists, then photos them!

Spectacular!

     Next we headed over to Diamond Head.  It's actually a volcano crater, almost exactly round, of which Diamond Head is the tallest and most prominent part since it overlooks Waikiki and the whole coast.  The military built a gun observation post on top, then several gun batteries all around it.  None were ever fired in a battle.  Now you hike up there on the old trail used by the Army.  Here's the trip, and what you see:

Diamond head from back - inside the crater.

Switchbacks on the trail up to Diamond Head.

Diamond Head crater; Koko Head in the distance.

Zooming in to Koko Head.

Informational sign at Diamond Head.

Cyndi at Diamond Head.

Now, a panorama shot of the view from atop Diamond Head looking toward Honolulu:

Honolulu; click to enlarge.

Here's a video from the top of Diamond Head:

     Then we got lost, got found, and drove up to Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu's north shore for a few days.  Here we plan to relax until our return trip on Monday evening.  Some photos are below.  An interesting little fact is that on December 7, 1941, an Army radar station located on the hill right behind this resort did in fact detect the Japanese airplanes almost 130 miles out.  But due to human error with new equipment (it had been put there 2 days before) the warning was misunderstood and ignored.  In the panorama below, look just above the palm tree in the middle; that's where the radar had been.

Turtle Bay Resort, from down the beach aways.

Beachfront east of Turtle Bay - sharp lava rock.

Beachside trail; much different from American Samoa trails!

Brazilian Cardinal; Suzy, you hooked us on birds.

 Here's the panorama from our lainai porch at Turtle Bay:

Turtle Bay Resort; click to enlarge.

     Down the road a short way are some local Oahu North Coast attractions.  We went snorkeling at Shark Cove, along with dozens of other snorkelers and scuba divers; we walked and saw the jagged lava rock that is all along the shore here; it's like razors if you are silly enough to walk on it; and we had lunch at a local "shrimp truck."  There is quite a bit of "aquaculture" up here, one major part is raising shrimp in small ponds all along the coast.  Awhile ago people would buy the shrimp from the farmers who sold it from trucks along the road; those morphed into cooking shacks with shrimp and other similar treats for sale.  I also saw the official Hawaii State Fish - the "humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa"  (I kid you not, that's it's name).  Of course we have photos:

Humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa

Shark Cove.  No sharks, lots of colorful tropical fish.
 

Shark Cove looking west across Waimea Bay to Kaena Point.

Jagged lava rock along shore.

Fumi's Shrimp Truck (the small white one.  Really.)

Weird overhang along shore.

     Last but not least was our sunset ride on horseback:

Rick and Cyndi, with Doug.

     Thus endeth our vacation at the completion of our Samoan adventure.  We fly home Monday May 16.  But keep reading and checking in, faithful followers, I still have a few posts to come.  Included will be my last installment on Courts; Samoan flowers, and maybe more yet.