Day six of our Hawaiian adventure was not just Thursday, it was our 32nd wedding anniversary. It was a perfect day for such an occasion, and we celebrated by taking a tour bus with our friends to the north shore of Oahu for a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center in La’ie.

The drive there in the tour bus took over an hour, but the driver was fun, and gave us interesting facts about the island and places we passed through to pass the time. Once at the Cultural Center and after our much needed restroom break we started finding our way through the multiple exhibits. Each of the Polynesian islands are represented here with all having a large area to showcase parts of their culture. Think small theme park but learning about Polynesia.

We were interested in learning more about Fiji since we had visited there last year, and just so happens there was a demonstration of how to make coconut oil. Tammy and I both were interested in this as we use it frequently, and both took a turn with the tool that removes it from the shell, and then learned the remaining process.

We strolled through other island’s exhibits as well, even got to weave a fish from palm leaves, taste traditional Hawaiian poi, and other things.

Later in the afternoon came dinner and a Luau. We both changed into better looking evening attire, I think we cleaned up well, at least Tammy sure did 🙂 Dinner was great, lots of options including two traditionally cooked pigs that were ceremoniously brought from the pit to the carving table. Afterward was a show that captured the essence of each culture in a story. Really fun night.

The next morning we didn’t rush out, but was our day to explore more of Honolulu. We bought day passes for The Bus, the public transit on the island, and headed to Diamond Head. The volcanic crater is iconic overlooking the Honolulu skyline, and we wanted to see it up close.

We had ridden public transportation last year in Sydney so after quick bit of research on how the routes work, and an app download, we were on our way. The bus dropped us at the base/entrance of Diamond Head, and we took the walking path the rest of the way in for our reserved time slot. To get inside the crater we walked through the entrance tunnel, once inside it was like being inside a giant football stadium. The hike to the top wasn’t long, but was steep at parts. Really great views from the top, and neat to learn of the history. We took both routes up to the top, including the famous yellow stairs into the now unused bunker.

After walking out of Diamond Head the original plan was to head back to Waikiki for lunch, but we found another place we had to go see, Spitting Cave, so we change the destination on the app headed off.

We boarded a different bus line toward the East Honolulu and Portlock side of the island. Along the way we were surprised at the number of folks that use public transportation, including middle school kids after school. We realized after seeing the kids hop onto the bus we hadn’t seen a single school bus on the island, and seems this is why.

After being dropped off as close to our destination as possible we started our 2.5 mile walk, also stopped for a quick snack and a reapply of sunscreen along the way. Although the Spitting Cave was a long way it was well worth it. The ocean would surge into a cave and after would spit out the swell. Was an awesome spot.

The following day, Saturday, we said goodbye to Waikiki and Oahu heading to the big island of Hawaii. I know that sounds odd, the state is Hawaii and one of the islands is called the same. It gets a bit confusing at times but we are getting it.

Our stay here in Kona is on a cliff of lava rock overlooking the ocean with amazing sunsets right from our patio, just wow!! After dinner we grabbed supplies at the local Walmart, met this great Hawaiian chef while there who made some good suggestions for food, yum!!

Sunday was an easy day of lounging around on the patio and enjoying the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. Of course we had our Sunday night nachos as well, couldn’t be a Sunday night without them, even in Hawaii.

Monday came and we were off to the local bike shop, Bike Works, to pick up our rentals and head toward the north side of the island. Our bikes were great, adjusted to fit us, and after driving to our start location near Waimea we began our ride. We didn’t plan for a long ride, but more scenic.

We started at just above 2500 feet above sea level and the route continued us up even more toward the top of the local mountain, to the tune of almost 1500 feet up in just short of 7 miles. At the top were vast fields with cattle, who would have thought cattle farms in Hawaii, and much colder temps dipping into the high 50’s, time to head back down. The decent back down was fast but we had to be careful as the road was damp and on thin road tires could be dangerous.

As we neared the finish point we could see the vast ocean as we rounded the last corner, so majestic. It was much warmer too, and after changing and getting our bikes stowed away we enjoyed a couple malasadas from the local Tex Drive In. We had them in Waikiki as well but these were much better and as one local put it, much more the traditional Hawaiian donut. We also learned the tasty treat was in import from Portugal many years ago.

As we continued our day we headed toward Hilo, and its Rainbow Falls, but also stopped along the way at other sites we found. One of those sites was Laupahoehoe Beach Park. It’s a park now, but in 1784 it was a launching point for King Kamehameha in his quest to unite the island tribes.

After several scenic stops we made it to Rainbow Falls, just before dark, and was able to get some photos before finding a local place for dinner. Was such a fun day, lots of driving and even more as we traveled the nearly two hours back to Kona, but well worth the effort for the fun we had.

Full album of pictures: https://photos.destinationsawait.com/Hawaii-Part-Two