Weekend Activities

Today is Sunday here. I chose to stay in my room and rest. I took this chance to watch tv too. They have 78 channels, amazing. Anyway, I went several places yesterday. We went to the Dole Plantation which produces pineapples in Hawaii. They have amazing souvenir shop with many items based on pineapples. I wonder why we don't have this even though we are the largest pineapple producer in the world (I'm not sure if we are still now). They even have the train service to see around the plantation and they have the world's largest maze (I did not get in though). Apart from cultivating pineapples, they also cultivate other crops such as banana, coffee, and several others. This place is just amazing and better then what I anticipate about plantation that should look boring. They are so many people visiting this place. After visited this place we went to the beach and see turtles. There are so many of them in the wave and two of them manage to land on the beach. They are bigger than what I imagine it would be. They have conservationist group who look after the turtles and ensure that visitors would not harm the turtles. They set a temporary boundary around the turtle and it's path so that people would not touch them.

Then we have our lunch at Shark Clove before moving to the Waimea Valley. Waimea Valley is one of Oahu last partially intact Ahupua'a and is significant in the history of Hawaii Nei. It continues to be a repository for Hawaiian spiritually and traditions. We can have the opportunity to experience Hawaiian culture on a site stretching from the mountains to the sea. It encourages us to experience a natural pristine environment while learning of the values and traditions of Hawaii heritage. We encountered cultural, botanical, ecological and historical wonders including the only fully restored heiau (temple) dedicated to Lono, the deity of agriculture, fertility, peace and music. This Hale o Lono heiau dates back to 1470 AD and is considered very sacred, and continues to be a place of worship to this day. At the end of the valley, they have a waterfall where visitors can enjoy the cool fresh water. After that we went to Waimea Bay before heading back home.