Capturing the Moment

Lea Ready to Roll   On my circle island tours I drive past the huge Kualoa Ranch all the time, yet I have never ventured deeper into the ranch itself. There are several tours that allow you access to the ranch lands varying from movie location bus tours, to ATV tours, to horseback rides, and jungle vehicle tours. I knew that Lea is always on the lookout for famous movie locations so we jumped into the remodeled school bus for an hour long tour through Kualoa and Ka'awa Valley, or as I like to call it 'Jurassic Valley.' Sugar Mill Ruins WWII Bunker   On the way to the movie locations we passed the ruins of the old sugar mill, hearing the story of how the 9 year old son of the plantation manager slipped and fell into one of the boiling vats of syrup back in the 1860's. We passed WWII pillboxes and a massive bunker that housed some rapid fire guns that could have aided in the defense of the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. ATV exploring On the Set of Jur...

Bo and Holland   One of the wonderful things about living in Oahu, Hawaii is that so many friends and family stop here on their travels. So from time to time I get surprise calls from long lost classmates, friends of friends, or in this case my cousins! I was pretty surprised to hear that my cousins Josh and David where here with their families and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Bruce. I don't get to see them very often since I have been working and living around the world so I jumped at the opportunity to catch up. Josh and I figured out that it had been 15 years since the last time we saw each other! So crazy how time flies. And after a wonderful Hawaiian style dinner at the Side Street Inn, and a wild bit of surfing at Waikiki Beach, we did a little flying of our own...in a helicopter! Erica and David Diamond Head   For many of them this was their first time up in a helicopter. Everyone did great. I've seen Maui and Molokai from a 'copter before but never Oahu. ...

Manoa Falls in Action   There are two types of sightseeing trips that you can do on a really rainy day in Oahu. The first is just to accept the rain as part of the tropics and get soaked, while the other options keeps you in the dry confines of you car. Either one can be pretty incredible, and who knows, maybe you will be lucky enough to have two rainy days here to try both. Rainbows and Honolulu Kualoa Ranch   Hiking to waterfalls can be a muddy endeavor but the payoff will be a fierce amount of water boiling over the falls. Throw in some rainbows that we typically get in the valleys on rainy days and you will have a Hawaiian day to remember. But if you aren't the getting wet and muddy type the alternative can be just as breathtaking. Here is what I suggest. Drive up and over the Ko'olau mountains into Kaneohe and make your first stop the Byodo-In temple. The picture I took on this page was from inside the car without ever getting wet. It is always a beautifu...

Relics of the Sugar Era Waimea Falls I have been training and researching to run different tours around the island of Oahu. Yesterday I went for a ride along on the Waimea Falls round the island tour with one of the other guides. It can be great fun playing the tourist for a bit. The planned stops on this trip include the Waialua Sugar Mill, Waimea Falls, Bonzai Pipeline, Fumi's Shrimp Shack for lunch, and the Macadamia Nut Farm outlet. Botanical Gardens inside the lush Waimea Valley   This tour seems like its right up my ally. It has a little taste of everything. Hawaii-made sugar and chocolate, a lush valley walk complete with waterfall, one of the most famous waves in the world, one of the settings for the filming of Jurassic Park, macadamia nut cracking, and of course lunch included! And I can feel good about eating shrimp since I can trace where they come from...about 30ft behind the shrimp shack in aquaculture ponds. I learned some new things along the way and...