Ohau

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.

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.

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.

The view from Makapuʻu Point on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 Hawaiʻi Trip. During our trip, we had hiked up the trail to see the Makapuʻu Lighthouse. But before we climbed, I was not quite expecting to see the view that we found there. I like wide vistas, where you can see for miles with the sky above you, and that was certainly what we found.

The sun sets past the lagoon and ocean near the Disney resort of Aulani on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 visit. As you may know from reading the trip report, we went for a walk just about every evening that we were there. Part of that was to work off some of the calories we had eaten (do vacation calories even count?), part of that was to unwind from the day (not that we were stressed, but it is always good to relax at the end of the day), and part of that was to enjoy the beautiful scenery and sunsets.

Looking down the shore at Kaʻena Point State Park on the island of Oʻhau in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 trip. If you have read part 4 of the trip report, you may recall reading that I took lots of beach photos, but that I did not include all that many in that post. This is one of the many that I did not include. Not that it was not good enough to “make the cut”, but just that I had too many to choose from.