VACATION 2016

It was a long and hard spring, so after we finished bringing the cows home and processing calves, Dave and I took a much needed vacation.  We headed over the ocean to Oahu HI.

We stayed in a cute little condo right on the beach in a little town on the West side of Oahu called Maili.
​ We tried out the snorkel gear in the condo.  Oh we are sexy.. haha

We toured Pearl Harbor.  It was an amazing and emotional experience. Here are a few pictures of the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial.

The Pacific Aviation Museum.

USS Bowfin Submarine.  

We went snorkeling with the dolphins.  Actually, Dave and the others on the boat did.  I got a little panicky of drowning and got back on the boat.  They soon found me a float board and I got back in to snorkel with the turtles and fish.

The views from the boat were beautiful.

One day we spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was fun and interesting.  They have replicas of eight Polynesian Islands set up, with representatives native to those islands as the hosts.  They do demonstrations and shows teaching of their native traditions and life styles.

Of course I loved all the flowers.

They had a river parade with each island village preforming on a little raft.

It was interesting to learn about the ways of life and some history of these islands.

Next we visited Kualoa Ranch.  It is an interesting place with a lot of history. I will copy some of the information.
In 1850, King Kamehameha III (Keaweaweʻula Kīwalaʻō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa) sold approximately 622 acresof land at Kualoa to Dr. Gerritt P. Judd.Later, additional acreage in the Hakipuʻu and Kaʻaʻawa valleys were purchased by Dr. Judd’s son Charles Hasting Judd from Queen Kalama’s land holdings. 

This is the remnants of an old sugar mill. 
Between 1863 – 1870, the Kualoa Sugar Mill was built and operated by Charles H. Judd and Samuel G. Wilder. 

An old WWII bunker
During World War II, the United States Military operated an auxiliary Army airstrip at Kualoa with many of the large monkeypod trees providing natural hangars for small planes.
​

Monkeypod tree

Hollywood films such as Jurassic World and  Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor, Godzilla, Tears of the Sun and 50 First Dates. TV shows including the old and new Hawaii Five-O, Magnum P.I. and LOST have also been filmed at Kualoa.

And of course there are a few cows there.  
Here is a little of what they say about their cattle:
​Kualoa Ranch has been a working cattle ranch since the 1870’s.  Raising beef cattle for export carried Kualoa Ranch as the main source of income for over a hundred years.  Though cattle ranching is not the primary source of revenue today, Kualoa Ranch is still a working cattle ranch raising beef cattle on all parts of the property.​ All of our cattle are local.  They are not brought in from out of state.  The cows are born and raised on Kualoa Ranch property and bulls are purchased from within the state of Hawai`i.
We have six different breeds of cattle at Kualoa Ranch.  We have Black Angus, Brahma, Brangus (Brahma/Angus cross-breed), Hereford, Limousin, and Charolais.

No blog is complete without pictures of cows.

Of course they do some farming. They raise a large variety of fruits and vegetables.

We were told we had to visit Giovanni's Shrimp Truck on the North Shore.  We did, and sorry to say, we were not impressed.  Maybe it was just what we ordered.

We found ourselves in Waimea Valley. There were 35 themed botanical gardens and the 45 foot tall, Waimea Falls.  We also found it interesting to see replicas of the ancient civilization that were once there. 
Here is what they say about it:

• Ancient Hawaiian Archaeological Sites: Seventy-eight sites of interest have been identified here, highlighting religious shrines, housing sites, agricultural terraces, and ancient fishponds.

One day we took off on a hike to Kaena Point, which is the westernmost tip of the island of Oahu.

 The State of Hawaiʻi has designated the point as a Natural Area Reserve to protect nesting Laysan Albatrosses and wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Hawaiian monk seals, and the fragile (to vehicular traffic) native strand vegetation that has been restored there.

The hike was pretty hot on the way back, but it was still enjoyable and fun to see.
We avoided the big city of Honolulu and the crowded beaches of Waikiki,  it's not our speed.
We spent the last night at our condo, sitting on "OUR" beach, drinking wine and watching the sunset.  In fact, this is how we spent every single night that we were there. It was the best part of the trip.

It was a magical trip and we got some much needed rest and relaxation.