30th Anniversary Hawaii Trip

A statue of King Kamehameha I stands in front of Aliʻiōlani Hale in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 Hawaiʻi trip I told about our visit to Aliʻiōlani Hale in Part 9 of the trip report. However, I had taken lots of photos during our visit, and I did not want to clog up the trip report with photos. So I chose to save most of them for a separate post.

Looking down at the coastline of the island of Oʻahu from the top of Makapuʻu Point during our 2023 Hawaiʻi trip. Yes, if you are keeping score at home, I have posted another photo from this location in addition to the photos in Part 6 of the trip report. But to a guy who has spent most al of his life in flat, dry West Tennessee, I could never get enough of views like this one.

We have done some traveling this year, and those travels have taken us to both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Putting those together, one thought ran through my mind: From Atlantic to Pacific, Gee the traffic is terrific! “Home for the Holidays” by Al Stillman and Robert Allen (Made famous by Perry Como and the Carpenters, among others) Except that we went from Pacific to Atlantic, chronologically speaking.

The sun sets above the rocks and waves of the Ko Olina lagoons on the first night of our June 2023 Hawaiʻi trip. In the trip report, I shared several sunset photos, but I also intentionally held back several other photos to be able to share later on. One reason was so that I would have more to post throughout the winter. And another reason was that I wanted to spend a little more time working on some of these photos.

The Diamond Head lighthouse is seen from the top of Diamond Head on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, seen here during our June 2023 visit. From way up here, the lighthouse looks rather small. Named Lēʻahi in Hawaiian, you probably recognize Diamond Head from all those beach photos from Waikīkī, with the volcanic mountain looming in the distance. The lighthouse out in front of the mountain is not as well known, and as you can see, the mountain towers over the lighthouse.

A rock formation rises in the distance as a stream flows through the Waikolohe Valley at the Disney resort of Aulani in Hawaiʻi. Actually, the Waikolohe Valley is the name of the pool area in between the two Aulani towers. If you know Disney, you know they have a name and a backstory for everything instead of just “pool area”. So the mountain off to the side is known as Puʻu Kilo, the stream (a lazy river tube ride) is Waikolohe Stream, and the main pool (that is not visible here) is the Waikolohe Pool.

We saw lots of natural growth on the trail to Mānoa Falls on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi during our June 2023 trip. Looking at this photo, you would almost expect an Ewok to jump out from behind one of those trees. Or maybe Bigfoot. Except that everyone knows Bigfoot does not live in Hawaiʻi. And Ewoks are on Endor. The overgrown tropical rainforest look of the trail was perfect for me.

Waves crash into rocks along the shoreline at Kaʻena Point State Park on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. We visited Kaʻena Point State Park early in our trip, as we were looking to check out some of the beaches of Oʻahu. If you have not already done so, you might want to read about it in Part 4 of the trip report. I always enjoy seeing waves splash high when they crash into rocks, and this beach provided a good show of that.

Lanterns hang from tree limbs at the Four Seasons Resort along the shore on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. As you might know from reading our Hawaiʻi 2023 trip report, we went for a walk every evening of our stay at the Disney resort of Aulani. On our very first night there, we walked past the Four Seasons Resort, which was right next door in the Ko Olina resort area.

A lifeguard station on the beach at Kaʻena Point State Park on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 Hawaiʻi Trip. During our visit to Kaʻena Point, we happened to walk by the lifeguard station, which looked to me to be a good photo opportunity. For whatever reason, lifeguard stations are interesting to me, such as this one at Cocoa Beach, Florida and this one on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi.