12th. day - day 12 (for English scroll down)

30 shades of green! Today there were at least 30 shades of green. But it all started very windy. We drove to the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout. A place of historic importance where hundreds of soldiers fell down the cliffs during a battle. We almost suffered the same fate, but for a different reason. It was incredibly windy! And I mean very, very, very windy!

The view was breathtaking, even though there was definitely no shortage of air! The green phase began. Whether in the water or on land, the many different shades of green were incredible - see photos! After that, we continued to He’eia Fish Pond, a cleverly designed Hawaiian aquaculture. The east coast of Oahu is dotted with beautiful beaches. The moist trade winds bless the mountain slopes with lush greenery. So the drive north was a true delight. Halfway there is the Kualoa Ranch. Its huge area, consisting of three valleys and dense rainforest, has served as a location for several Hollywood blockbusters (Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Jumanji, etc.).

Apparently, there are many great activities there, such as horseback riding through the valleys, e-biking, off-road jeeps, ziplining, etc. But as is the case in my blog, when the word "apparently" comes up, we didn't experience it. All activities were fully booked for at least two weeks. Well, too bad, but the day was not over yet. We continued to La'ie, a place known for its shrimp farms. And so it happened that we stopped at Romy's street stand and indulged in some butter-garlic shrimp for lunch. What a mess, but it was delicious 😉 With full stomachs, we went to Ehukai Beach Park - the epicenter of thundering waves. There you can find the legendary surf break Banzai Pipeline (a big hello to Maxi), the scene of major competitions and a great vantage point for watching surfers. But we still needed a little more activity, so we hiked up the Waimea Jungle Valley with its hibiscus gardens to a picture-perfect waterfall with a bathing pond. Wimea Valley was conquered by Kamehameha and handed over to the priest Hewahewa, and then inherited by his granddaughter Pa’alua. Zoe had to read this out loud from the travel guide while I was driving. We laughed our heads off. A refreshing dive into the pond, a brief flirt with the Brazilian lifeguard, and back to Honolulu. A Mai Tai on a rooftop bar at dizzying heights with a view of Waikiki Beach heralded the challenge of the evening: eating Japanese udon noodle soup with chopsticks!

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30 shades of green! Today we saw at least 30 shades of green. But it all started very windy. We drove to the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout. A historic important place where hundreds of soldiers fell down a cliff during a war. We nearly suffered the same destiny but the reason was different. It was incredibbly windy! I mean WTF windy! The view was breathtaking – eventhough there was really enough air. So the green phase began. Be that in the water or on land – the variaty of green was really mind blowing – see pics.We then proceeded to He’eia Fish Pond a cleverly designed hawaian aquaculture. The eastcost Ohau’s is full of amazing beaches. The humid Passatwinds enriches the hills with lush greens. The drive towards north was therefore simply amazing. Half way up there is the Kualoa Ranch. It is a massive areal with 3 valleys, rich rainforest and host of many Hollywood-Bluckbuster as location. (Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Jumanji etc) were taken here.

Apparently there are many great activities here, like back horse riding, or e-biking or off road with a Jeep through the valley, Ziplining etc. but as it is in my blog, when there is the word “apparently” we did not manage to do it. All activities were totally booked out for the next 2 weeks. Oh well it’s a shame, but the day is not over yet. We proceeded to La’ie a village known for its shrimp and prawn breed. Clearly we had to have the full fledged butter-garlic Prawns at Romy’s street-stand. What a mess – but yummy 😊 With full belly’s we proceeded to Ehukai Beach Park – the epicenter of monster waves. There is the legendary Surf-Break Banzai Pipeline (greetings to Mäxi) stage of big competitions and box seat when watching the skilled surfers. But we also needed to move a bit ourselves. So we walked through the Waimea Jungle-valley with Hibiscus gardens up to a magic waterfall with a pond. Wimea Valley was conquered by Kamehameha and donated to the priest Hewahewa who then passed it on to his nephew Pa’alua. Zoe had to read this out loud from the Travel guide whilst I was driving. We laughed tears. A refreshing dip into the pond, a brief flirt with the Brazilian lifeguard and back to Honolulu. With a Mai-Tai on a Rooftop bar with view over Waikiki-beach we prepared ourselves for the greatest challenge of the day: eat Japanese Udon nudels with sticks!