The private beach at Koolina resort.
Riding the tourist train at the Dole plantation.
Friday
Swim in the Lagoon
Since I had to check out of the hotel by 10 am I didn't really have time to do much, so I decided to stick around the hotel for the morning. As part of my morning workout I jogged up and down the beach before I used the gym. After the gym I went for a swim in one of the lagoons. I'm out of shape, and swimming in a straight line is boring, so I only did one length of the lagoon. It still took about 10 minutes to swim across. These weren't little lagoons.
Scenery from the Dole plantation train.
Dole Plantation
After heading out of the hotel I drove up the center of the island. The ground has a deep rusty tone to it from the iron in the soil. I stopped at the Dole Plantation to be a tourist and bought tickets for the "train" and also for the garden. The train provided some interesting information on the development of pineapple harvesting and the agricultural history of the island. The garden had some wonderful plants. I thought of my grandma and all of the flowers she grew.
The famous Haleiwa beach.
Haleiwa Joe's for Lunch
Once through the body of the island I arrived at Surf City, Haleiwa. Not knowing where else to go I stopped for Lunch at Haleiwa Joe's for lunch, which I later realized is one of the famous businesses in the area. I had a Cajun fish sandwich, which was very good and a great view at the marina as I relaxed in the restaurant.
Surf Museum
While driving around the north shore I stopped at a set of shops and wandered into a surf museum. There were lots of old surf boards and photos depicting the history of surfing on the islands and the technology used to ride the waves. There was a motorized surf board designed for life guard use that was the forerunner of modern Jet Skis. There was a great photo titled the largest wave ever ridden, which is about 60 feet high. Stephen, the museum curator, told me he had caught an 80 footer earlier but it wasn't on film. With waves that big it takes motorized equipment to catch the wave and Stephen said the rider was going 50 mph when he was let go to catch the wave, and he accelerated down the face. I didn't catch any waves that big while I was there.
As a token souvenir I picked up a new pair of shades at a local shop and then I headed to Laie to stay at my cousin's house.
Laie
My cousin Bill works in the financial aid department at BYU Hawaii and lives in the faculty housing between the campus and the Hawaii Temple. It is a very convenient location and I am glad they let me come stay with them. As I arrived the first thing I did was ask about the BYU Alumni broadcast which was scheduled for 4 PM local time. It happened to be on TV, so I watched it at the Oldroyd's house. President Hinkley was one of the speakers as well as several other members of the Education Board.
We all gathered for dinner (all the dinners were excellent) and I was re-introduced to my cousin's family. I hadn't seen them since they lived in UT and their younger kids didn't remember me, nor I them.
BYU Hawaii Volleyball
I don't know how many team sports BYU Hawaii has, but Volleyball is one of them; and I am a big fan of volleyball in general. Once I got over the fact that they are the BYU Seasiders and that their colors include RED (who's idea was that) I had a great time. The won in 5 sets, but they dominated the beginning and the end and got clobbered in the middle.
