Hawaii trip - day 2, part 2

Monday April 9 - driving tour of the north shore

If you remember back to part 1, Bill had agreed to show me around the island of Oahu while K and Susan had their "spa and shopping day".

One of our objectives for Monday was a tour of Oahu's north shore, the less developed and less congested side of the island. The north shore features dramatic scenery, accessible beaches, and some of the biggest waves you'll see on the islands -- in fact, the north shore is widely regarded as one of the best surfing locations anywhere in the world.

Ominous signs warning of rough water are posted along most of the north shore beaches.

A small crowd was on hand at Sunset Beach to watch the surfers...

Several photographers were on hand, hoping to get shots of the surfers.

Parts of the north shore coastline were rocky, and were incessantly smashed by large waves.

The north shore's single highway was blocked by a rock slide near Waimea, so we had to turn around and head back east. We'd have to go all the way back to Kane'ohe and back through Honolulu and then go north to complete our tour.

Roadside "shrimp shacks" appear to be sort of a north shore trademark; we stopped for lunch at Romy's in Kahuku for a feast of shrimp and prawns, which are harvested daily from ponds adjacent to Romy's "shack". The prices were a bit on the high side, but the shrimp was delicious... it was well worth the time we took to stop.

Romy's Shrimp & Prawns in Kahuku (Oahu north shore)

Later, we enjoyed the scenery as we headed back east toward Kane'ohe...

eastbound on Highway 83

a windblown tree near Kane'ohe

After circling around through Honolulu and then heading northwest, we concluded our tour at Matsumoto Shave Ice in Hale'iwa. Matsumoto's is widely regarded as one of the best -- and is certainly one of the most famous -- of Hawaii's shave ice establishments. A family-owned business, Matsumoto's has been around for over 50 years. Customers can choose from a variety of flavors, and can even specify the addition of ice cream (recommended!) or "Azuki" beans to their shave ice. While you wait in line (there is always a line) you can scan the walls, admiring dozens of Matsumoto t-shirt designs, which are of course available for purchase.

The legendary Matsumoto store...

After making our obligatory shave ice and t-shirt purchases, we headed back to town for dinner.

On Tuesday, K and I left Honolulu and caught a flight to the Big Island. Stay tuned for more...

WSC

np: Junior Brown - "Surf Medley" from the album "Semi Crazy"

nr: Ruby El Hult - Northwest Disaster