Hawaii Day Three--Diamond Head, Dole and North Shore

Colby and I got up at the crack of dawn to hike Diamond Head today. (Okay, so we still have adjusted to the time difference and we were both up by 5:00 AM anyways.) This photo does not do justice to how sweaty and moist we were. It was overcast as we were hiking up the trail and despite the fact the trail is only 1.4 miles, everyone forgets to mention the stairs you have to climb. That's right, stairs. The trail switchbacks for some distance and right when you think you are getting the hang of the trail you come to the first set of stairs. (I was thinking, hey, this isn't so bad . . . right?) At the top of the stairs is a tunnel that you cannot see the end of, it turns so you can't see the other end. The entire tunnel is lit but it has a very closed in feeling and on the way down there were several people (besides our selves) inside so it smelled strongly of sweaty bodies. (Not so pleasant!)

After the tunnel you come to the real stairs, that's right, the first set were just to loosen you up so you could make it to the second set. Straight up for a good three flights of normal stairs. The stairs are concrete but so many people have taken them that the right side is more worn than the left. There is only one hand rail and if you meet someone coming the other direction you pray they are thin because there really isn't that much room. After this flight of stairs you come to another tunnel, this one made of concrete. Then you reach the two flights of spiral stairs inside Diamond Head itself. You finally reach the top of the spiral stairs and the way to get to Diamond Head is by bending over almost double to crawl out this tiny space to get to the trail again. At this point you can see the top, where you want to be, but there is another flight of stairs between you and your goal. Finally, you reach the top and it is a beautiful view of the island but wow . . . no one warns you about the trek up. I normally don't admit to sweating, I only glisten, but this morning it was not pretty! A storm was rolling in and the air was humid. I am used to Utah where if you are hiking and get sweaty you just rest for a minute and you cool off and aren't wet anymore. Not in Hawaii, you just stay wet. I enjoyed the down trek but I always do prefer the easier path.

Looking down from Diamond Head you see this great lighthouse that has been standing there for years, warning ships of the shallow waters. The lighthouse is still in use but is run by electricity instead of candle and manpower. I wish we would have had more time to go visit it but unfortunately we don't have time to do everything.

After hiking Diamond Head we went back to the hotel to clean up before we headed inland.

We drove to the Dole Plantation. For those of you who don't know, pineapples grow on bushes. Prior to coming out here I thought they grew on trees like most other exotic fruits such as oranges and bananas. Nope, they grow on bushes. The plantation was great and they had a 20-minute narrated train ride that took us out past the pineapple fields. The word Hawai'ian word for pineapple means "foreign fruit" because it was brought here by explorers and is not native to Hawai'i at all. (An interesting fact I did not know before the train ride.) I have also discovered my new favorite dessert that I don't think I will be able to get anywhere else. It is called a Dolewhip and it is fabulous! Light and cold, they should sell these in St. George, they would make a killing! [Editor's note: the Hawai'ian word for pineapple is "halakahiki."]



To end out our day we wend to Pupukawai Beach and rented snorkeling gear. I have never been snorkeling and was a little bit nervous about it (every Jaws movie and shark week special immediately came to my mind) but it was great. We spent most of the time in the kiddie pool (as our rental guy stated) but I was okay with that. To begin with Colby let me choose the path through all of the rocks and sand. It is an interesting experience because your world really narrows when you have the goggles on and it is hard to remember that you need to lift your head out every so often to make sure you are going in the right direction. The paths that I led us on were interesting and while occasionally it got a little tough to get past all the rocks, we were able to do so without any problems. On the way back to where we had left our gear, Colby took the lead. He led us on some interesting paths and we saw some great fish but he forgot to look at the big picture and we ended up having to walk over some rocks to get back to where we could swim. Now by rocks I mean large lava rocks that have been pounded by the ocean into sharp, jagged monsters that are mostly covered with moss/seaweed and are very slippery, especially if you are trying to walk in flippers. Needless to say, I fell and scraped up my arm. Salt water in an open wound does not feel good! (Enter the Jaws thoughts again) Colby felt really bad and even offered to stop at the Dole Plantation on our way back to get me another Dolewhip to make me feel better. After that I took the lead again and got us back safely to our gear. I have to admit that as we were swimming back I started thinking about Colby and I and who leads who and I wondered if this was a sign of how our relationship goes, when I lead we are okay but when Colby leads we sometimes end up places where we didn't mean to go. But then I thought, Jessica, stop being a dork you are just swimming! :)