Hawaii – Day 6

Posted byPeter IrelandPosted inHawaiiTags:, , , , ,

First, we headed to Waialua Coffee where we drank fresh coffee, had a tour of their small coffee and chocolate making facilities, and found souvenirs with reasonable prices.

Today’s plan had originally been a sunrise hike before spending the day on the Windward side of the island on a beach. The last couple of mornings being wet made us cautious of a morning hike, and even Samuel was feeling tired. The thought of driving > 1 hour to get to a beach, when there was a near-perfect one right by the house, was also unappealing. So we changed plan and decided to get a local breakfast somewhere before hitting Waimea beach again.

This coffee shop, in an old warehouse on the edge of town, was the vibe Jett was looking for. Ironically, five of us had fantastic coffees while it seems they messed up Jett’s which was meh.
The shop really was just a warehouse.
One guy, Evan, seemed to be doing everything in the store. He opened the door, made our coffee, checked out our purchases, and gave us the mini tour. He showed us cacao and coffee plants.
Evan explained the various cleaning and drying processes for coffee and cacao, and why it is different in Oahu due to the humidity.
Evan gave us multiple samples of chocolate and coffee, taught us why Kona Coffee is so expensive and special, and the difference between “extra-fancy” and “prime” coffee qualities. Evan had by grown up in multiple African and European countries as his Dad was in the army, and didn’t move to Oahu (the first time he lived in the US) until he was sixteen when his Dad retired. I sensed that integrating into the culture was not straight forward. I could relate!

Next up was breakfast, for which we had no plan. The closest place with good reviews was about a mile away, and the area felt very non-touristy. The Smoking Boar and the Coconut did not disappoint.

I loved my Spam musubi with eggs, rice, and teriyaki sauce. Yum! Good Spam!
On the way back to the house, it was fun to see someone’s fruit stand with produce from their garden and an honesty box.
Janet and I dropped the kids off at the beach then headed home with the purchases. I used the opportunity to photograph the beautiful entrance into our little neighborhood.
The kids had fun on the beach.
Janet and I went to check out a geocache that was close to the house. It was close to a local temple from about 250 years ago.
There was a great view down to the beach that the kids were on. In the bay, you can see people jumping off a rock, and if you look closely, you might see Samuel jumping.
Here is a closer photo of him jumping. They had a great day on the beach which included snorkeling with over twenty dolphins that were talking to them!

Next for us was a bit of shopping. Guess which shop looks like this!

It’s a Walmart with the US and Hawaii flags. The Hawaii flag includes a Union Jack because of historical relations between Hawaii and the British Navy and dates from 1845. The inside of Walmart was much the same as anywhere else, except …
…. this Coke advert which showcased what Samuel had just done!
We were excited as we found some plumeria cuttings that we can try and grow.

On our way back home, we checked out a beach that didn’t look great but was always crowded. We discovered it often has turtles! We enjoyed watching a few.

We picked up the kids from the beach, and after a quick turnaround, headed back to the Stonefish Grill in Haleiwa. Most people had great meals. Jett and I had the catch of the day which was “ono”, which the waitress described as firm with a light flavor. We realized that was accurate, but the texture was closer to chicken and it was almost flavorless. Oh well!

Once again, we are in time to hit a beach for sunset, but this time we took the kids back to see the turtle. There was a volunteer there this time, preventing people getting too close and explaining one was a 20-year old female. They eat here and maybe sleep, but lay their eggs elsewhere.

To round off the day we enjoyed a Lilikoi (passion fruit) and a Chocolate Macadamia Nut pie from Ted’s Bakery.

And that was another day in the books, though that was our final night. It had worked out extremely well considering we completely changed the plan. It was fun to wing-it, especially as it worked out well! After pie, it was time for everyone to pack before collapsing, once again, into bed.

This page is linked to from my Hawaii-Oahu home page.

Please follow us on this journey by subscribing below, and we would love to hear your encouraging feedback.

Published by Peter Ireland

"Cajunlimeys" combines Lousiana (Janet) and England (Peter). For "limeys," check out scurvy in the English navy. We love adventures and use blogging to write a photo diary to preserve our memories. Some crazy friends enjoy following us and my notes might help others plan.

Leave a comment for the Cajunlimeys