In order to see more of Oahu than just Waikiki, we rented a couple of cars and hit the road. There are about a dozen main roads, and only 3 highways on the island so getting from the South to the North side was pretty straight forward. As we left downtown Honolulu the scenery drastically changed from skyscrapers to pineapple fields to lush mountains. The North shore of Oahu seemed way more laid back, and nestled right off of the coast was a small, unsuspecting road that led to Waimea Valley. After parking the cars and heading towards the hiking path we were greeted by one of the local residents…
The main attraction of the valley are the Waimea Falls, and in order to get there you have to take about a one mile walk through the most beautiful and lush scenery.
It was a very easy hike on a paved path, and who could get bored with views like these?
As if the exotic flowers and fantastic trees weren’t enough to marvel at, there has been a small Hawaiian compound perfectly preserved for tourists to walk through.
A certain image comes to mind when thinking about Hawaii, at least it does for me. It’s not the image of surfers, or hula-dancers or even Pearl Harbor. It’s this…
Perhaps it’s because the few movies I’ve seen that take place in Hawaii always involve people swimming in an incredibly remote pool with a gorgeous waterfall. I never gave a second thought to the actors who were having the time of their life swimming around in that exotic pool, that is until I set foot in it. The first hurdle you have to jump over at Waimea Falls are the incredibly sharp rocks that surround the pool. So, swim shoes are required, which are not the most fashionable accessory, and you can bet your bottom dollar that you won’t see the actors in the movies wearing them. Second, because the water is running down from the mountains it’s absolutely freezing! Britt was able to work up the nerve to jump in and get over it…
but it took me a good 45 minutes to wade into the water, and I remained chilled to the bone for the rest of the day. Nevertheless, it was an exciting experience, but whenever I see a scene in a movie that takes place at one of these pools in Hawaii, I’ll know that the actors feet are being torn up, they’re absolutely freezing and are not enjoying themselves near as much as they seem to be!
The Wild Rose 