30 October 2012
Hawaii - Hale'iwa
About 20 minutes from the Turtle Bay resort we stayed at is the small surf town of Hale'iwa. It's fantastic, a step back in time, all coloured shacks selling tourist wares, art, surfing essentials and some great food too. I think my photos should do the talking......
28 October 2012
Hawaii - Waimea Beach Park
As mentioned in my previous post about the North Shore, the Waimea Valley Falls sit opposite my favourite beach, the Waimea Beach Park. It is beautiful, with a jump rock to the left and sheltered cove to the right leading into the Valley Falls park. It has a good sized soft sandy beach with barbeque areas and shaded picnic tables set at the back. The lifeguard station is posh with their own roped off garden!
My sister and I arrived late morning and set up whilst the guys played golf the day. You can see from the first few beach photos the sea wasn't rough, the waves about manageable and a very blue sky. During the day a big swell started to move in and the whole island started to get very excited as it was the first of the season, by the end of the day you can see the spray clouding the sky, the part of the beach my sister and I had our photos taken was getting serious shore break and the waves increased to about 10-15ft. Where everyone is standing on the first photos is about a 6ft shelving drop down to the sea so the wave photos don't look quite as impressive size wise. I wasn't going to risk losing myself and my camera to one of the rogue waves!
The park ended up being shut 4 hours early as the waves started to get out of control and the lifegueards were having to work extremely hard keeping silly people safe. We had been in the sea the day before with waves half this size and came out with bruised heads, one lost wedding ring, back bruises and knee grazes - the sea is not to be messed with kids! I was more than happy just watching, it really was spectactular.
If you go to Oahu, you must visit this beach!
My sister and I arrived late morning and set up whilst the guys played golf the day. You can see from the first few beach photos the sea wasn't rough, the waves about manageable and a very blue sky. During the day a big swell started to move in and the whole island started to get very excited as it was the first of the season, by the end of the day you can see the spray clouding the sky, the part of the beach my sister and I had our photos taken was getting serious shore break and the waves increased to about 10-15ft. Where everyone is standing on the first photos is about a 6ft shelving drop down to the sea so the wave photos don't look quite as impressive size wise. I wasn't going to risk losing myself and my camera to one of the rogue waves!
The park ended up being shut 4 hours early as the waves started to get out of control and the lifegueards were having to work extremely hard keeping silly people safe. We had been in the sea the day before with waves half this size and came out with bruised heads, one lost wedding ring, back bruises and knee grazes - the sea is not to be messed with kids! I was more than happy just watching, it really was spectactular.
If you go to Oahu, you must visit this beach!
26 October 2012
Hawaii North Shore
Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii, specifically the North Shore of Oahu where we spent our first 5 days. The North shore is a surfing mecca you might have seen the huge waves on tv for the surf competitions or maybe on tv as the island was the setting for Lost and some of Jurassic Park.
We rented a condo in the Turtle bay resort at the most northernly point which was great after a weeks hotel in Vegas. We barbequed, played cards into the night and planned the next days beach hopping.
It's very easy to get around the island as it's so small, we drove from one end to the other in less than an hour. Each day we stopped off at beaches we passed along the road, never driving for more than 15 minutes in one direction, took out our picnic kit and relaxed in the sun and waves.
Further down the photos you'll see a few from Waimea Valley which was such a lovely afternoon. You arrive in the visitor centre pay your entrance fee and enter another world. The trees are skyscraping, the flora and fauna so tropical and you expect dinosaurs to pounce at any minute. You take a series of trails up towards a waterfall where you can swim, this was also another location in Lost. It was so refreshing to strip and wade into the pool and although the waterfall was at it's lowest it still gave enough of a spray if you got close.
Our condo backed onto a beautiful golf course.
Boards stacked up to rent
We watched him ride 15ft waves in
Sunset beach where the pros gather
Waimea Valley
Hiking up to the waterfall at the top
I'll never tire of palm trees
Or Hawaiian sunsets
Sharks Cove
We rented a condo in the Turtle bay resort at the most northernly point which was great after a weeks hotel in Vegas. We barbequed, played cards into the night and planned the next days beach hopping.
It's very easy to get around the island as it's so small, we drove from one end to the other in less than an hour. Each day we stopped off at beaches we passed along the road, never driving for more than 15 minutes in one direction, took out our picnic kit and relaxed in the sun and waves.
Further down the photos you'll see a few from Waimea Valley which was such a lovely afternoon. You arrive in the visitor centre pay your entrance fee and enter another world. The trees are skyscraping, the flora and fauna so tropical and you expect dinosaurs to pounce at any minute. You take a series of trails up towards a waterfall where you can swim, this was also another location in Lost. It was so refreshing to strip and wade into the pool and although the waterfall was at it's lowest it still gave enough of a spray if you got close.
Our condo backed onto a beautiful golf course.
Boards stacked up to rent
We watched him ride 15ft waves in
Sunset beach where the pros gather
Waimea Valley
Hiking up to the waterfall at the top
I'll never tire of palm trees
Or Hawaiian sunsets
Sharks Cove
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