I dropped down onto Hawaii last night after a long day of plane rides from Boston. Today I reaped the reward, as the drenching rains of last night led to a sunny day with occasional puffs of cloud.
I stayed at a house on Kaneohe Bay, overlooking a sheltered cove, with ranges of green forested mountains in the view above the bay. After a leisurely breakfast, I borrowed my friends' kayak and set out to explore the bay closeup. At first, I hugged the shoreline, but as my paddling got more comfortable, I turned out toward the center of the bay. Below were strips of white coral and a near phosphorescent green in the deeper stretches.
Later, my tour of the area continued by car. We drove about 10 minutes along the coast to a spot where we had both mountain and ocean views. Ahead, was the corduroy green pattern of mountains shaped like a bowl. Along the ocean, we had a good view of an island called Chinaman's Hat; later I got a view which made clear the aptness of the name.
We then continued on down the road to the quaint little village of Kaavaa. It sets along the ocean in an area where the surf kicks up against a seawall. We stopped at a little place called Bobo's where we picked up a coulple of barbecqued sandwiches. We were able to stop back across the street to eat our food in a park by the ocean. We took a short walk after lunch, then continued the tour. The succession of amazing views continued. The mixture of forested hills and green ocean surf is quite unique; I've never seen anything like this anywhere else.
We then retraced our steps back to the bay. Truly a day to remember.
