On our third day, our main goal was to make it to the temple for a session or sealings.
As we drove to the North Shore of the island, we were able to see some of the sites along the way.
The first place we stopped was a little beach area that gave us a good view of the Chinaman's Hat or the Mokoli'i islet. Behind the Chinaman's Hat you can see another mountain range that looks like a giant sea turtle. The views were pretty amazing. While we were at this beach, we found some cool shells and coral. We also found more crabs that blended right into the sand. You couldn't even see them until they ran to the water. Another cool thing we found was a tiny hermit crab. We picked up the shell because it looked cool and then we noticed the little crab inside. We decided to put it back in the water.
Next we drove to the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Farm.
While we were there, we got to sample different flavors of roasted macadamia nuts (cinnamon and Carmel were the best), and we also got to crack open some of our own nuts. Macadamia nuts are really hard so you have to use a rock to crack them open. There is also a technique to do this because if you smash too hard, it will smash the nut and if you smash too softly the rock will not break the shell. The first nuts we cracked got smashed and the wild chickens snatched them out of our hands! Finally we got the hang of it and got the perfect nuts out of the shells.
Next we drove up the coast a little way and explored the Kahana Bay Beach Park. This was a really secluded beach. We were the only ones there. There is a legend on the island that there was a giant disrupting the islanders and they had to feed him to keep him happy. Then the islanders worked together to kill him and you can see his profile and body along the ridge line of this mountain. To tell you the truth, I can't really see it but Russell says he can. Anyway it was a cool story.
Finally we made it around to the North Shore, the city of Laie, and the Temple!
The sessions at this temple start every hour on the hour. We arrived at about 11:20 so we missed the session. Instead of waiting for the next one, we decided to do sealings. The interesting thing about it though was that we needed three temple workers to do sealings and they were all helping with the session so we had to wait for a little while for them to finish. We are truly spoiled in Utah and should take advantage of the temple more often. It was okay for us though because we got to wait in the beautiful Celestial Room for the sealers. The workers were so nice and helpful too.
The temple grounds were so beautiful! We loved walking around the temple and seeing all of the lovely plants and waterfalls. We loved visiting the temple. This temple was the 5th temple built in this dispensation. It was built after the St. George, Logan, Manti, and Salt Lake temples. The missionary work was spreading so fast in Hawaii that they knew they needed to have a temple for these Saints to go to. The land the temple, BYU-Hawaii, and the Polynesian Center are on was purchased by the church for relatively cheap. However, there was no water there at the time and was rather desert like. Then the church leaders discovered an artesian well in the mountains on this property. They were able to pump the water down and build the temple. The temple, BYU-Hawaii, and the Polynesian Center still get their water from this artesian well.
After spending some time at the temple, we continued around the island and found a nice beach to just relax on.
We spent most of the afternoon on the Sunset Beach. This was a nice quiet beach with only about 10-15 other people. We had a great time swimming in the ocean, relaxing on the beach, and getting a tan. We also got a ton of sand stuck in our swimming suit and our bathroom floor was full of sand when we got back to the hotel that night. We really loved the view of the ocean as we chilled on our beach chairs.
The next place we stopped was Shark Cove.
This was a really rocky cove that was great for snorkeling and low tides. Unfortunately we never made it back to this side of the island early enough for low tides. One awesome thing we did see at Shark Cove was two sea turtles!
This was so cool because it is really a once in a lifetime opportunity! We would have missed them all together if I had not taken a second glance at what I thought was a kid swimming in the water. The turtles really looked like a snorkeler coming up for air every once in a while. But when I paid more attention, I saw the shells on their backs. We rushed over to where the turtles were and sure enough, there were two large sea turtles trying with all their might to swim against the waves back out to sea. One poor turtle got thrown in between two rocks by the waves and was struggling to get free as three or four strong waves pushed against him. Finally the waves died down and he was able to get free. Then we watched the two turtles swim out of the cove. It was so cool!
The last thing with did this day was visit the Waimea Valley.
The Waimea Valley is a beautiful Botanical Garden full of gorgeous tropical plants and flowers. As you walk through the Garden, you learn about all of the different kinds of plants as well as the natives that used to live here and their way of life.
The trees and plants were so amazing and everything was so green. The tree in the first picture is a monkey tree. Doesn't it look like monkeys could climb and play in those branches all day?
At the top of the trail though the Botanical Garden was the Waimea Falls.
These falls were also beautiful. The water coming from the falls was actually fresh water from a spring somewhere rather than salt water from the ocean.
Russell was able to swim in the water around the waterfall. Here is Russell swimming right near the bottom of the falls. The only bad part about the water in this fall was that even though it was fresh water, you could not drink it because there was bacteria or something in it that would make you sick. Don't worry we were not planning on drinking it anyway.
By this time, we needed to head back to Waikiki and turn in our rental car. We headed back to the city and ended another fun day in Hawaii.
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