Kualoa Ranch

Thursday took us to Kualoa Ranch.  There is so much to do and see here and every tour costs something more.  The reason for our visit was to go ziplining.  But let's take a tour of the ranch itself.

A lot of movies have been shot here.  The above photo is a "footprint" from Kong.  The workers have to weed it occasionally so it remains a footprint.

I can't remember which movie the ATVs are from.  It isn't something I've seen.  It is interesting how the shot is done.

The remake of Jumanji was shot here as well.  I really liked that movie.

Kong, Skull Island left behind some good props on their set.  

We were able to drive through this part of the ranch to get to our zipline.  So bonus that we got to see some things that are part of another tour. 

I love the mountains!  They are so different from the Rockies.

Windtalkers was shot here.

Just the view of the plains between the mountains.  

This is an original WWII bunker.  It is now used to store props.  

Some of these props were from Pearl Harbor.

While up by this bunker, the view of the ocean is magnificent.  Pictures to follow.

I do not recall why these huts were built.  Kong?

Either way, they were kind of neat. 

Again the view from the valley.

This head was from a National Geographic  documentary.

The building in the distance is the front entrance in Jurassic Park!

The log is also from the original Jurassic Park movie.  It is where Dr. Grant and the kids hid from the oncoming dinos.

Prior to getting on our tour, there were some dinos in the park.

This one was at the top of the hill where we got dressed to go zipping.

Clever girl!

I thought the grandchildren would like these photos.

Nice dino!

A statue of King Kamehaha.

These tree create great shade while we waited.  I believe it may be Monkeypod which is not indigenous to the islands.  

Here are views from the top while near the bunker. 

The ocean was so calming but I know that it has power that can be deadly.

Still, I love the look of it. 

USS Arizona Memorial

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to Pearl Harbor and tour the USS Arizona.  It was indeed a sacred experience.  We got on the boat to go across the harbor and I already felt I was headed into sacred territory.

It's only about a 5 minute ride out to the Arizona. We got to stay about 10-15 minutes and then another group arrives and we get on their boat to go back.

This is the anchor that was brought on land.

There are parts of the ship still visible above the water line.   

The little white buoy in the water behind my head is the end of the ship.  

There was a retired military serviceman on the memorial who was telling the story of this ship.  Back  when WWII was being fought it was a hit and miss type of war with bombs.  Today we can pinpoint and tell the bomb where to go and detonate with accuracy.

This particular bomb was let go and was a direct hit on the ship.  The thing that did the most damage was the fact that the bomb hit one of the magazines where the ordnance was kept.  This caused a massive explosion that killed many instantly.  

The battleship Missouri.

Many of the ships that were hit on Dec 7, 1942 were raised and put back into commission.  This was not possible with the Arizona.  I think, also, that the powers that be did not want to disturb the final resting place of so many.

Oil bubbles every few seconds.  It has been 80 years and still the oil rises to the surface as though there is still life there.

Inside the Arizona is a wall with all the names of the men who went down with the ship.

So many names!

Beside the wall there are two more "benches" with names engraved.  These are men who survived but have decided they wanted to be buried at sea with their buddies.  

Even now almost two weeks later, I feel the power of this sacred site. 

The flag flying unfurled over the top of the memorial makes me feel a sense of great hope for our country. 

 

Sea Turtle

When we arrived at our beach in Punalu'u, we found this visitor on the beach.  

We weren't certain he/she was even alive.  Then we saw his head move.  Guess it's alive!  He spent all day there.  The next morning it was in a different spot on the beach.  On Wednesday it was gone but returned on Thursday in yet another spot on the beach.  I wonder how old it is as it has barnacles on it's shell.  I'll bet it weighed easily 300 pounds.  It was huge!
 

Waimea Falls

Tuesday morning dawned for us before the sun as we were still on Central time zone.  That meant we were awake and alert about 2:30am.  After breakfast we sat on the beach and enjoyed the surf.  Actually, we did that every day.

Our experience for the day was Waimea Falls.  It was a little rainy, more like misting. We found that to be every day as well.  It didn't last long and we enjoyed our hike to the top of the Falls.  

Along the way we saw beautiful trees and flowers that we don't have here in the Midwest. 

Everything was lush and green.

I enjoyed the variety of flowers and scents along the way.

Evelyn wanted pictures of palm trees.  There are so many varieties.

I love the vivid colors and odd shapes!

It seemed like vines grew around and up most every tree. 

I did get the name of this plant.  

We both felt this flat, grassy area reminded us of the garden of Eden.

These vines made for sheets hanging from the trees. 

The place at the bottom of the hill was called something that meant peacock.  Gee, I wonder why?

These types of trees are everywhere on the island.

Saw the sign and the bird.

The falls was beautiful.  We changed and got in the chilly water.  We were warned not to go to the left as rocks fall there quite often.  That's enough warning for me. Also, it is 30 feet deep so don't drop anything. 

We were required to wear life vests.  I stood up long enough that when I got back into the water it was cold all over again.  The sights were totally worth the climb up to the falls.  It was an easy walk.

Food

An early morning got us to Appleton to the airport and then on to Chicago for a quick dash through the airport.  Then a line to check our vaccination status for the trip to Honolulu.  Unfortunately the vaccination cards did not upload and we had to do all of that prior to getting to go to the gate.  We weren't the last ones on the plane, but we were near the end.  

An 8 hour trip from Chicago to Honolulu made me crazy.  I napped and watched movies and tried to move my legs as much as possible.  It was painful just sitting.  

We picked up our Turo car in the airport parking once we found out how to get across the street and into the garage.  Finding our condo wasn't nearly as difficult.  Its a nice place right on the ocean with the sound of waves crashing onto the shore.  I love that!  

We went out to eat at Pounders.  That was another experience.  We had to produce our vaccination cards as well as an ID before they would seat us.  Pat had the Huli Huli chicken.  A nice meal but obviously not enough to have any leftovers.

I had the nachos which by the way, had no nacho or any other kind of cheese. The taro chips were covered with shaved scallions, smashed avocadoes, cilantro and pineapple.  I don't know what the sauce was but that's where the spice was. 

I didn't realize that the scallions would be raw.  It was delicious and I had enough to take home and eat for breakfast the next morning.  FYI, I do not like cilantro but since having Covid I cannot taste it.  Lucky me. 

A trip to the Dole Plantation where we were able to get a pineapple whip.  Pineapple ice cream is not my favorite but it was tasty.