The hike took about an hour and change, and it was definitely a hike. I consider myself a... decently fit person.. and I was even huffing and puffing by the time I reached the top. Not recommended for the faint of heart, lungs, or shoes. The path was advertised as paved.. which it was... but only where it was level hah. The rest of the way up was pretty rocky and muddy from the rains we've been getting (and the downpour I'm hiding from) and it was a little slippery but, yay for guardrails! There were a couple tunnels and a few sets of stairs to climb up, including a lighthouse-style spiral one that lead to the fire station (or lookout, whatever it was, some army thing that had to do with fire) at the highest point - 760 feet. Isn't much compared to Mauna Kea on the Big Island (~15,000 I believe), which I'm hoping to drive/trek up over the summer. There's an observatory up top... and snow! My doctor told me once that since I'm anemic I can't climb Mt. Everest. But that's fine, because technically Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world.... most of it is just underwater. So ha! Eat that.
The view from the top was even more awesome than the Tantalus drive, though certainly more crowded and less lush. The crater is pretty dry due to the fact that... well it's a crater. Rain and wind have a hard time cutting through the walls. I overheard one women say there used to be concerts in the crater and people would climb up the sides to watch it... baller! Would have loved to check that out.
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The crater
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Down was a little easier.. though my legs were already sore from walking 23 flights of stairs as the elevators in my hotel were conveniently broken half the time.... I worked up a pretty good appetite and found down the road the Diamond Head Market and Grill. Pretty much shack-style food... what I've been eating all week sans the bread, eggs, and jam I bought for my room, but it was delicious! I got a portobello mushroom sandwich with a side of classic Hawaiian Mac/Potato salad and a cup of pineapple-sweetened iced tea. Mmmmmm.
Went back to my hotel and had me a shower. I planned on checking out Byodo-din and taking the scenic route to the North Shore but by the time I left it was getting late and I wanted to get to the beach before dark. Plus, I discovered the temple was really just a memorial and tourist destination and not a real one so... eh.
I discovered on my drive north that Honolulu is like Miami by way that rush hour starts at 3pm... but SO unlike Miami because people know how to drive! They use turn signals! They don't cut you off! They don't honk! So nice. I drove past the Dole plantation up and down a 2-lane road. I realized that my car didn't coast very efficiently... at all.. so I started shifting it back and forth to neutral every time I went downhill. I head that gets you better gas mileage too and... on the way back drove like that the entire way and sucked up next to no gas as opposed to the way there hah. Could be a crappy gas gauge though... Digressing!
I went to Waimea Bay which is the world famous surf spot... though winter isn't quite the season for waves there.. and there really wasn't much waves. Cool rocks though.
Went to Haleiwa after and wandered. It's a small little shacky town with boutique stores and surf shops all about... there was a surf museum but I got there a half hour after it closed. Didn't do much but wander.. ate dinner at a sandwich place.. more Mahi (they were out of Ahi =[ ). Chatted up the dude in the skate shop to see what locals did for fun at night and he pointed at the bar across the way... went there for a hot minute and it wasn't really anything and it wasn't really my crowd at that time (it was like.. 8pm), but I didn't want to be North all night so I just drove back down. The area seemed pretty cool but I got there too late and parking was nowhere and a giant mudhole when it was somewhere and I wasn't surfing or about to pay some ridiculous price to surf so.. yeah. I'm sure over the summer it'll be cooler and I'll get a chance to check out Laniakea beach too - famous for green turtles hanging out there.
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Facebook album where most of the Diamond Head pics are:
Clicky!
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