the beck family: Hawaii Day 4

December 11, 2011 – Sunday - We woke up around 6:30 a.m. so we could rent a car from Dollar Rent A Car across the street. We ended up getting a car for $35.00 – luckily Byron asked our activities desk if they had any discounts and they gave it to us for half the price that we would have gotten if we had rented directly from Dollar Rent A Car. Byron downloaded a GPS app onto his phone which made driving up to the North shore very relaxing and enjoyable. The roads were completely empty and the ride just gorgeous!

Our first stop off in Haliewa was at Matsumoto to get a shaved ice. They are known for having the best on the island. Byron asked what was the most popular way of having them and the lady said to have the red pinto beans that are candied with the ice-cream. So Byron told them that we wanted it that way. I almost immediately lost my appetite. So there was vanilla ice-cream on the bottom, beans and then tons of ice with Hawaiian flavors all over it. We enjoyed sharing one together. As soon as we got near the beans Byron was done. I went and scooped them off and enjoyed some yummy ice-cream all to myself.

We went first to Haleiwa to see the sea turtles. We were told about a beach area where turtles were prone to come up on the beach. We ended up going there – walking around on the beach finding nothing. Then we decided to head over to some people in a rocky area and found a sea turtle sleeping on the beach. The ladies roped him off so nobody would step on him. He is a frequent turtle there. These ladies actually tag the turtles that come up and said this one of the oldest sea turtles that come up - His name is Brutus and was the first green sea turtle they ever tagged. He is beautiful – I love looking at the cute face.

After waiting around that area for a little time, I looked into the water area and saw another turtle just eating off some rocks close to the shore. That turtle never came up on the beach, but was fun to watch for a little time. We ended up leaving and heading to Alli Beach that was also a place we were told where turtles could be found. Upon arriving there – there were many people surfing. It was fun to watch them for a while. We found another side of the park where the surfers weren’t at. After walking around near the ocean for a short time, we started noticing large sea turtles near the beach. We probably saw about 8 different ones about 10 feet or so from the sand. We didn’t get great views of them, but it was fun to see a face pop out of the water every once in a while. Byron got up to his waist in the water and was about 5 feet from one of the turtles. It was really cool to see them.

We decided to eat and went to find some of the shrimp trucks that are known for having amazing shrimp on the island. We found one that looked good. Byron got half shrimp and half fish while I got their fish and chips. The food really did taste good, but had probably one lb. of fat dripping from it. I lost my appetite quickly and couldn’t believe how much fat I just ate. Byron & I were sick to our stomachs for a short time after.

We enjoyed driving around the rest of the island. We stopped off at Laie and saw the beautiful temple. The country side is absolutely gorgeous! The road ran right along the ocean for some amazing and breathtaking views.

We headed back to drop off the rental car around 3:45 p.m. We ended up going on a sunset catamaran ride. It left close to our hotel around 5 p.m. and we came back at 6:30 p.m. There were about 25 of us on the boat. We really had a great time. The views were amazing! There was a lot of wind and pretty overcast during the ride. We didn’t see a huge sunset, but still enjoyed our time. Free drinks were included with our tickets. We didn’t get our money’s worth like those that drank alcohol, but enjoyed some soda and were definitely less tipsy. Once they put up the sail, we started booking it along the top of the water. Every once in a while the waves splashed up a little, but overall it was very smooth. There was a roped part that could be sat on, but it was a little scary to be sitting on where we could see down straight below us. It was definitely a trip well worth the money.

We ended up walking around downtown Waikiki enjoying the night life and the people all around. We ended up eating dinner in a food court at a shopping area nearby. Byron got Sbarros – pizza with pizza sticks. I got a yummy mandarin chicken salad that was so refreshing after our very fatty lunch.