Cass, Rob & Kira - 20 Hours at Aulani and other Oahu Adventures July 2024

[Timon]

Part 2

My animal-loving kid made a beeline for the horses.

You can take horseback tours here too. This would be amazing but it's way too hot for me to even think about it!

"Hello, my name is Kira and I love you already!" Sums it up basically.

Happy girl.

Kira and I both noticed this horse, way over in the corner, by itself, in the shade and we both had the exact same response.

Same, horse, same!

I had to drag her away from the horses because I wanted her to check out the rest of the area.

I loved this amazing wooden sculpture.

So many tv shows and movies were filmed here at the ranch. They have a special spot that showcases all of the stars that have filmed there.

We recently re-watched Pearl Harbor for the billionth time and she has discovered how cute Josh Hartnett is. I've known for about 20 years now.

As we wandered over by where we check in for the tour (you have to check in twice, once at the main location and then again where you board your tour vehicle) she spotted a horse. She was sad to find out that it was not real.

But it didn't stop her from hugging it.

Here's a very big hint as to what kind of tour we are taking.

I love the theming here, check out the fence sign.

Eventually, you do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right? ​

The ranch is just so gorgeous, I love it here!

We headed over to the check in area for our Jurassic Adventure Tour. This tour was a lot longer and a lot more expensive than the Movie Sites Tour but I am a HUGE Jurassic Park movies lover so I just had to book it! I have very fond memories of seeing the original movie with my dad in the drive-in theatre back in 1993. I saw it once in the regular theatre and then twice at the drive-in and loved every single second of it. I have probably seen the original movie over 50 times, at least! It is my second favourite movie ever.

While only one scene from the original movie was filmed here, (the T-Rex chasing the Gallimimus) many of the scenes for the Jurassic World movies were filmed here and we all love the new movies.

Here is a look at the vehicle for the JA Tour.

We checked in with our tour guide and then hung around until it was time to board. We had some fun too.

They had this glorious MP tree that kept us in the shade while we waited and I noticed that there was a palm tree that grew right in the middle of it.

Time for our tour! Our guide, Nick was awesome. He gave us a brief introduction to the tour and then off we went.

It was two per seat so we sent the extrovert of the family to sit with the stranger.

The ranch has cows, pigs, chickens and other animals and we saw lots of them.

You can probably guess one reason why I love it here so much.

This is the Battery Cooper, which used to be the first stop on this tour but sadly, they no longer stop here. We stopped long enough to grab a photo but didn't go in. Rob and I went in and explored last October and it was very cool!

If you want to see it, I made videos from that trip, here's the Oahu day:

You can see the highway down below.

Caught some surfers.

And then you go around this bend and you are met with the most gorgeous scenery ever!

Stay tuned for what they call the Jurassic Valley, which is truly spectacular!

Unfortunately for you fine folks, you will have to wait a couple of weeks as I am headed back to Florida tomorrow to meet up with my bestie.

See ya later, gator!

 

[missjackiemcg]

We recently re-watched Pearl Harbor for the billionth time and she has discovered how cute Josh Hartnett is. I've known for about 20 years now.

Oh, yes, ma'am. He's adorable!! I LOVED him in The Faculty and Hallowen H20. Definitely wore out my VHS tapes with how many times I rewatched those in high school!

 

[Timon]

Part 3

Welcome to Jurassic Park.

This is what they call the Jurassic Valley and it has been used in countless film and tv shows. If you are a movie lover, chances are you have seen this valley in a movie or two. It has been used in Jurassic Park (the T-Rex and Gallimimus chase scene, where Dr. Grant and the kids hide behind a log), George of the Jungle, all the Jurassic World movies, Mighty Joe Young, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Windtalkers, Godzilla (you can still see the giant footprints), Kong: Skull Island, Jumanji movies, Hawaii Five-O, Magnum PI, Lost and soooo many more!

This was our first stop so we got out and took some pics. Just beyond those trees is where Tim said "They're uhhhh flocking this way."

In the background, you can see two other tours going on, the Raptor ATV tour and the bike tour.

We got back into the vehicle and drove for a very short amount of time to the next stop.

Here is the Kissing Gorillas mountain, used in Mighty Joe Young. You can also see it very briefly when Dr. Grant and the kids hide behind the tree trunks if you have a keen eye.

I was taking more photos while Rob and Kira got back on the truck.

Our next stop was one of my faves. This deck was built for Jurassic World and although most things that are built for movies usually come down after filming, the Ranch had asked the filmmakers to leave this one (and another big one you will see in the next chapter) still standing.

This is the loading area for the Gyrosphere ride, where Zach and Grey boarded just as the park was being shut down.

It was only used for a very small part of the film, here is one of those scenes.

Every time we stopped, Nick would pull out an iPad and show us some scenes of a movie that was filmed in those exact spots. It was a little hard to see because it was so bright out but it did the job.

It was a short walk to get up to the deck.

But the views were so worth it!

Me and my kid enjoying the scenery.

Nick took a family pic of everyone who wanted one, including us.

Back onto the truck and down the hill, we could see our next stop, the radio tower bunker from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, where they went to track Blue.

The cows were enjoying some shade.

You could also see the base of the tower from Fallen Kingdom just down below. This is also where they were running down the hill to escape the volcano eruption.

I believe Nick said that this is what's left of the tree trunk that Dr. Grant, Tim and Lex hid behind in the original Jurassic Park movie.

Kira would not last in a real Jurassic Park because she would just try to hug all of dinos.

I could spend all day here, it is just so beautiful!

Back onto the truck we went and we headed out of the Valley. We drove by the Kong: Skull Island area that we stopped at on the Movie Sites tour. Rob and I got some great pics here last year. They also have a reproduction of the tree trunk from JP.

On this tour, we only drove by.

Back onto the road, where the Cooper Battery is and we headed over to the other side of the Valley.

These are the four main Tiki Gods in Hawaiian Culture. They were working on the last one.

I am at my image limit, so stay tuned to see the other side of the Valley and another very cool shooting location from Jurassic World.

 

[Timon]

Oh, yes, ma'am. He's adorable!! I LOVED him in The Faculty and Hallowen H20. Definitely wore out my VHS tapes with how many times I rewatched those in high school!

LOL! VHS tapes! Those were the days! It's nice that we can see him in 4K now.

 

[Timon]

Part 4

As we headed over to the other side of the Valley, the views were different but just as gorgeous.

I tried to get Rob to look for this selfie but he was too busy enjoying the view. I don't blame him.

The ponds were used for the Mosasaurus scenes, although they were heavily CGI'd.

This is the tiny island of Mokoli'i, also known as China Man Hat Island.

This part of the ride was wild. You see those roads? The downhill, twisty one? Yeah, we went down that! It was very fun and this part of the ranch was just FILLED with MP trees, it was so awesome!

As we went down into the very lush part of the ranch, under some very gorgeous MP trees, we ended up at a very cool leftover set piece from Jurassic World.

This is the area where the Indominus Rex would have roamed.

And then through the trees, we came across the Indominus Rex enclosure.

We drove through the gate that the panicked park employee opened to get away from the Indominus Rex.

And then we parked on the other side of it and walked over.

We walked up the stairs that you see Claire and Owen going up, to where Claire shows Owen the IR for the very first time.

Rob was wearing his lava dirt shirt that he got 24 years ago on this island.

At the top was the area where you can see the IR pad and it had tons of photos of all of the scenes that were shot on this part of the ranch.

I made Rob and Kira recreate the scene with Claire and Owen waiting to see the IR.

Everyone from our vehicle was in there at the same time so I couldn't get it exact but it was close enough.

And here is the scene with Claire.

Kira recreated it for us.

Standing at the top of the stairs, look how lush it is behind the enclosure.

Looking down at the claw marks from the IR.

They also have a map of the island from JW.

We headed back down to explore where the IR would be. We didn't spot him but Kira did find some raptors though.

Looking back up to the control room. This was so neat to see, I am glad they kept this on the ranch.

Close-up of the claw marks. They took the top part of the fence down after filming, for safety reasons.

It was still massive though, hard to understand the scale of it until you are standing next to the gate.

Right in front of Rob and Kira is where Owen hid under the vehicle, smothering gasoline on himself to mask his smell from the Indominus Rex.

That was our last stop of the tour so once we were done, we headed back. They definitely saved the best for the last because that was freaking cool.

More massive MP trees.

By the time we got back, we were hungry so we decided just to eat there.

Remember I was going to show you our view that we had for breakfast? Well, we had the same view for lunch.

We got some fries, an Acai bowl and a shrimp plate and we just shared it all.

It was all delicious and it filled us up enough for our next adventure.

Rob takes a little longer to eat than Kira and I so he stayed to finish his lunch while Kira and I did our shopping and then we met him outside the front entrance.

I cannot recommend Kualoa Ranch enough! They have something for everyone and you could keep going back over and over and do different things each time. And if you are a movie lover, you definitely need to make a stop here. The JP tour was a little on the expensive side but the Movie Site Tour is about $50 USD per person and is definitely worth doing!

We said goodbye to the Ranch and headed to our next stop. We were basically doing the same things, in the same order, that Rob and I did last October but this time we got to share it all with Kira. There was so much beauty today, the Ranch was just the beginning.

Stay tuned to see where we headed next.

 

[missjackiemcg]

This is absolutely precious! I love that Rob snaps candid pictures of you and of Kira on your trips! I'm lucky if I can get my husband to actually smile and pose to be IN a picture, let alone taking any!

Everything looks absolutely gorgeous! I have friends who recently did a Jurassic Park tour in Hawaii (not sure if it's the same one), but came back with nothing positive to say. Just the views alone would have me stunned!! I'm just not sure what there is to be grumpy about visiting a place so incredible!

 

[Kanga2Roo]

That tour looks sooo cool! I would be in heaven with all that. And the scenery...just gorgeous

 

[Gamedog]

Following along. Seems like quite the trip!

 

[Timon]

Part 5


Our next stop was the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden. Rob and I drove through this surreal place last year and I fell in love with it so I just had to make sure that Kira saw it too. Many people will spend hours here, have a picnic, walk to the lake, etc., but it was just too hot here so we just elected to stay in the car and enjoy the lovely A/C and check out the amazing views.

I could have taken eleventy billion photos and well, I probably took just short of that but I won't share them all with you, instead I shall share just a few of my faves. I will say that these photos just don't do the place justice, so if you are ever in Oahu, please go visit this amazing place.

It was actually designed and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood protection and each area has plantings from tropical regions around the world. Each area is marked and you can stop at the Visitor's Centre to learn all about it. Rob and I had stopped there last October but we knew it would be lost on our teenager and we still had one more stop before heading back so we didn't want to push it so we skipped it and just drove all the way to the end and back.

The main road at the entrance is an iconically gorgeous spot and so many people used to stop and take photos and videos in the middle of the road so they had to put signs up saying that there is no stopping allowed.

It really is much better in person, even if you just drive through like we did. You can walk and hike and there's many places to take really nice photos.

Now it's time for our final stop before we headed back to the resort.

Back in 2000, Rob and I ended up eating at a McDonald's that was just across from this place. The internet was in its infancy back then so I had no idea that we ate right across from this little gem.

Rob and I had visited here last year and I thought it was just beautiful and worth a second visit to show Kira. It's mostly a memorial park or cemetery but at the very back of the park is the Byodo-In Temple, a replica of the one in Japan and was dedicated in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii.

Byodi-In translates to "Temple of Equality" and it although inside the temple, sits an 19-foot Buddha, it is not a functioning temple and it is open and welcome to all faiths.

There is parking near the Temple but there's only so many spots and it is often busy. We were visiting about 30 minutes before closing so parking was not an issue for us. Kira and I went ahead while Rob was doing something at the car.

There is a $5 fee to enter but when I got my wallet out and told the guy "three adults, please", he just waved us by. I guess we were close enough to the end of the day, he didn't care.


When Rob finally did show, we were waiting for him just past the admission booth and he asked the guy if we had paid for him and the guy replied "Oh, they are free but it's double for you, chief!"

Right past the admission booth is the bridge over to the temple.

So pretty! If you are a fan of the TV series Lost, this temple was used a couple of times in the show and was also used in the film Pearl Harbor.

Kira and I rang the bell before entering as it signifies peace and happiness and prosperity to those who ring it three times.

You must take your shoes off before entering.

Both Kira and I lit some incense and did the prayer offering.

Rob, who is a devout Catholic, chose not to enter the temple at all.

We then bought some fish food at the store so Kira can feed the birds and fish. She was too hung up on the birds to even get to the fish.

Needless to say, feeding the birds in her hand was the best part for her.

They had two black swans swimming around, both of whom were gorgeous.

This, by the way, is my 1000th photo in this trip report. I have never gotten past 800 photos in any particular trippie, and I still have a couple more days to go still!

We tried to get more fish food but the store had closed by the time Kira had almost ran out. I hit up the washrooms and as I was coming out, Rob was over past the stores helping the ladies haul their boxes and and pack up for the day. That right there, folks, is Rob summed up in a nutshell. He is always and forever the gentlemen with the biggest and kindest heart.

He's also a people-person and enjoys chatting with all of the strangers. Kira and I are introverted non-people persons, so thankfully we have a token people-person in the family to handle all of the extroverted stuff for us.

Kira was in her happy place and kept finding more birds to feed.

Once she was done, we headed out.

It was a short visit but a very good one. Kira talked about feeding the birds for the next two weeks.

We were heading back to the resort next but had one quick stop for a treat on the way back. Stay tuned to for that and the rest of our evening.

 

[bcwife76]

I'm so glad you got to visit the temple! We visit every trip to Hawaii, it's a must see for my husband.

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

Every day I look forward to your updates. We were thinking of adding the garden and temple to our upcoming trip and your post made me 100% want to go there. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us, I always look forward to your trips but this one is just extra special to me.

 

[NAB]

We went to the ranch loved seeing the pictures. Did both tours ,the one you just shared and the movie one. Had a great tour guide who took pictures for us using a dinosaur head to be in the pictures like it was chasing us.

So much fun.

 

[Timon]

This is absolutely precious! I love that Rob snaps candid pictures of you and of Kira on your trips! I'm lucky if I can get my husband to actually smile and pose to be IN a picture, let alone taking any!

Everything looks absolutely gorgeous! I have friends who recently did a Jurassic Park tour in Hawaii (not sure if it's the same one), but came back with nothing positive to say. Just the views alone would have me stunned!! I'm just not sure what there is to be grumpy about visiting a place so incredible!

Hahaha, yes, I am very lucky! He will pose if I ask and he takes photos too, usually of me taking photos. I always laugh at how many photos he takes of me while I am taking photos. He says, well, that's what I see all the time.

I can't imagine taking that tour and not enjoying it. The views alone are gorgeous and then you obviously must be a JP fan if you take that tour, which just elevates your experience.

Even a big curmudgeon has to enjoy that view.

That tour looks sooo cool! I would be in heaven with all that. And the scenery...just gorgeous

You would have loved it! You would have had to bring your big fan though! Kira and I each had our own and we used them the entire time in the truck, it was soooo hot!

Following along. Seems like quite the trip!

Welcome!

It was an amazing trip!

I'm so glad you got to visit the temple! We visit every trip to Hawaii, it's a must see for my husband.

Not for you?

Every day I look forward to your updates. We were thinking of adding the garden and temple to our upcoming trip and your post made me 100% want to go there. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us, I always look forward to your trips but this one is just extra special to me.

Awww, thanks! I will update today but it will be later as I have a medical thing this morning to get through.

You definitely need to see the gardens and the temple, you can do both in an hour if you are pressed for time but I would recommend an hour for each.

We went to the ranch loved seeing the pictures. Did both tours ,the one you just shared and the movie one. Had a great tour guide who took pictures for us using a dinosaur head to be in the pictures like it was chasing us.

So much fun.

I am so glad you enjoyed your tour and had a great guide!

Oh my dog! Yes! He took those pics for us too! Now I have to find them! I don't know why I didn't add them in the first place! Sometimes when I download everyone's pics, some just don't download properly! It's funny because I was just looking at Kira's insta yesterday and saw the dino-eating pic and was like WHERE ARE THOSE PICS!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh I enjoy the temple and the grounds, too. But for me it's the beautiful surroundings, for my husband it's much more spiritual and zen. Kind of hard to explain ..or not, really, since you have been there

 

[Timon]

Part 6

Let's start this chapter off with two photos that didn't download the first time and that had forgotten about until last night when I was perusing my daughter's Instagram account and then was also reminded again this morning by the lovely @NAB.

So remember when I said the tree trunk photo with Kira was what's left of the original one they used in the first JP movie? Well, I can't remember now if it was that one or the one below. This stop was the second stop of the tour, where we saw the sign that said Private Nature Reserve, which was very close to where they filmed that scene so I am thinking that THIS trunk was the original one.

Nick reenacted the scene where the T-Rex was chasing the Gallimimus with everyone in the group. It was quite cute. He told everyone to look scared and then he had a T-Rex puppet.

We asked him to do something a tad different with ours, Kira wanted to try to hug the T-Rex, while we were trying to stop her.

Then we posed for a normal one.

I do remember seeing this on our Movie Sites tour last year and being bummed that we didn't get to stop here, so yeah, it's most likely the one they used in the movie and the other two (one near the radio tower bunker and one near the Skull Island set) are replicas.

Okay, so last year Rob and I did the Ranch, the Temple and the Gardens and then stopped at this food truck to try the famous Leonard's Bakery Malasadas. They are Portuguese donuts that are very popular on the island and the original bakery is down near Waikiki but it's always so busy. I had discovered that they have a few food trucks scattered around the island, which aren't as busy so that is where we went next so Kira could try them.

We got some original, some Haupia, Custard and Dobash to try. I enjoy the Custard one the best and I think Rob and Kira enjoyed the original one the best. But Kira said she prefers the chocolate croissant from Liliha. I would have to agree with her.

The malasadas are good, especially when they are hot and fresh but yeah, if I'm going to eat something sweet, I would prefer to eat those amazing chocolate croissants.

It was now time to head back to the resort. Such a beautiful drive.

We hit some traffic on the way back.

Rob and Kira had eaten most of the food we got at the Ranch. I only ate a very small amount because I was worried about my tummy getting upset so by the time we got back to Ko Olina, I was starving.

I decided to pop into the ABC Store and get a club sandwich to go.

Close-up pics of the menu for you....

It took awhile to order it and then for them to make it but it was so worth the wait. It was absolutely delicious! Kira filled up on snacks and didn't really have any dinner and I shared my club with Rob.

Kind of off topic here but I thought I would show you a photo of where we put the table. It was a little squishy but worked well for us. It gave Kira so much more room on her side and it gave us a place to put things on.

It was now time for sunset so we headed down to the lagoon and I snapped another photo of a flower on the way. This one is a Hibiscus flower and Kira and I were debating on how to pronounce it. She was saying Hih-biscus and I was saying Hi-biscus. Then somehow we ended up in a big laugh fest and couldn't stop laughing.

For the rest of the trip, we kept calling each other "Hi, biscus!"

God, I love her! We have the same sense of humour and we laugh a lot together. I am so lucky to have her.

Can you tell I am missing her? One more week and I get to put my arms around her and squeeze the crap out of her.

Tonight's sunset was another glorious and gorgeous Hawaiian spectacle. Rob and Kira enjoyed it just from the beach and I enjoyed it from the water.

These next two photos were taken on my iPhone inside the water-proof case. I can't believe how well they turned out. I was so worried that they would all be blurry from the water on the pouch but none of the them were!

It was now time for the hot tub! Kira joined me and embraced the water massage.

I like to jump from hot tub to pool, over and over. Rob enjoyed some chill time, reading his book in "our" spot while I enjoyed every second of this glorious pool and hot tub.

Kira then chilled beside her dad until I had had enough of the pool and then we headed to bed.




And that's a wrap on another amazing, fun-filled, incredibly adventurous day.

It also might have been my favourite day of the trip.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure. It was something that I had planned but wasn't sure if we would actually go through with.

 

[lucas]

AWWWWW! Rob is so sweet helping the ladies pack up! A definite keeper, I tell ya! Cass, you are one lucky lady.

 

[alohamom]

Can you tell I am missing her? One more week and I get to put my arms around her and squeeze the crap out of her.

I hope Kira has been doing well at school. I know how hard it is, my daughter and son both lived away for Uni and my daughter in particular had a very tough go of it. There is nothing quite like the feeling of a hug from your kid after having weeks of those pent up "missing you" emotions

Okay, so last year Rob and I did the Ranch, the Temple and the Gardens and then stopped at this food truck to try the famous Leonard's Bakery Malasadas. They are Portuguese donuts that are very popular on the island and the original bakery is down near Waikiki but it's always so busy. I had discovered that they have a few food trucks scattered around the island, which aren't as busy so that is where we went next so Kira could try them.

I had told a fellow Canadian friend about that Leonards food truck so she stopped on her way to Ko Olina to get some. Some how she had the idea that they were like Timbits (donut holes) so she ordered TWENTY FOUR! LOL, at least her and her family got to try every flavour hahaha

 

[Timon]

Part 1

I had planned a bit of an adventurous thing for today, knowing that there was a very decent chance that we wouldn't actually do it. It only cost $25 so if we decided against doing it, it wasn't a huge deal.

When I originally booked this trip, one of the first things that came to mind for all of us to do was to climb Diamond Head. Rob and I did it way back in 2000 and I feel like it's one of those iconic things one must do when you visit Oahu and since this was Kira's first trip, I felt it would be a great thing for her to experience. She could look at Diamond Head and say "I climbed that!"

As the trip grew closer and closer, the idea of it became less appealing. When I climbed Diamond Head in 2000, I was 28 years old. The climb was not horrible. It was tough but doable. I was much healthier back then though. I was diagnosed with Lupus at 25 but I was on medication that helped with my symptoms. I also have chronic lower back pain from a birth defect that has gotten so much worse as I have aged. I get cortisone injections, which help me a lot and I had just had them done before we left for this trip but I still deal with a lot of aches and pains on a daily basis.

I told Rob and Kira that I had purchased tickets and the parking pass online but was not sure I would be going through with it. They said they were both fine either way. The night before, I had made the decision to do it. I figured this might be my last chance to do it and I really wanted to have the experience with Kira. I would just push through and get it done.

When booking the tickets, I wasn't sure what time to choose. I had wanted to do it early enough before it got really hot out but I also didn't want to be stuck in traffic as the morning rush hour into Honolulu can be atrocious. You are only allowed in within 30 minutes of your booked time so I chose 10:00 am and hoped for the best.

Rob got a coffee down at the Marketplace and had some pastries and Kira had her chocolate croissant and we were all ready to go by 9am.

Every time we pushed the button for the elevator we would all choose which elevator we thought would be there first and stand in front of it. It was a fun little thing to do each time we headed down. There were four elevators and they all were kind of loud and the loudest one was not always the one that came up to our floor, so it made for some hilarious outcomes.

We were driving by 9:10am and thankfully traffic was light and would put us at DH just before our 10am slot.

In case you were wondering what Ko Olina meant.

It's such a pretty drive, heading out. I would never tire of it. Each time we passed, I admired all of the trees, spotted where a family of black swans was and counted all of the ducks.

In case you don't already know, Diamond Head, one of Hawaii's most recognized landmark, is a crater that erupted about 300,000 years ago. The trail to the summit was built in 1908 as part of the island's coastal defense system. It is required, for non-residents, to book tickets and parking in advance. Tickets do sell out quickly, especially all of the morning ones.

Here's our first good glimpse of the crater and where we will be once we reach the top.

You literally have to drive through it.

We found a parking spot and then walked over to use the bathrooms before we climbed.

This is the before photo.

They have a small store here, big bathrooms and lots of vending machines in case you didn't bring water. There's also a place to fill your bottles. We had thermos bottles of water and we made sure to wear hats and good running shoes. You will often see people wearing flip flops or even high heels and wedges, which is CRAZY! This is a moderately challenging hike and you need to be prepared. It is paved a lot of the way, in order to keep erosion at bay but it is not even in many places and is quite steep and strenuous at times.

Nice open air bathrooms.

There are plenty of signs to warn you about the hike. It is about 1.5 miles, or 2.2 kms but you will ascend almost 600 feet and will be at 761 feet at the summit.

The first part is easy enough, flat, uphill surfaces.

I should mention here that Kira said she was good to go for this adventure. I did tell her that it was steep at times and that there were a lot of stairs. She's not a physical activity kind of girl but she said she was all in. She has asthma and we did bring her inhaler just in case.

Still paved and flat but now we are starting to ascend a little.

She was struggling a little so we took a few small breaks.

The surface was now quite bumpy and very twisty.

It was starting to get hot out so we took water breaks and enjoyed the view as we got higher.

We stopped so Rob could take off the lower part of his pants. I haven't seen him zipper these suckers off in years!

The views were very pretty!

We got to a little lookout area and grabbed some pics.

It was very windy so they took off their hats so as to not lose them.

I just held onto mine.

You can see here that Kira was getting a tad bit grouchy.

She wasn't loving it, exactly. It was challenging, for sure, but a good challenging, you know what I mean?

We encouraged her to keep going and she did.

The trail was quite busy and was about to get much steeper.

Looking back down, you can see the trail.

The first set of 74 stairs was quite busy but it also gave us the opportunity to take them slow.

Here's Kira's happy-not-happy face.

And in the same place, looking back at Rob.

The stairs lead to a 225 foot lighted tunnel.

A little blurry but it gives you an idea of what the tunnel looks like.

Once you exit the tunnel, you have a choice of going up another set of 99 steps to the Fire Control Station...

Or going left for the longer, easier way. There were a lot of people stopped here in this tiny little area. I'm sure this is the spot where more than a few decide to head back down.

Stay tuned to see which way we went.

 

[Timon]

Part 2

Everyone was going left and it was quite crowded so we decided to go right, up the 99 stairs.

Looking back down from the top.

Then you enter the Fire Control Station and head up the spiral staircase to the 3rd level.

And then exit out a very small space.

Quite the view already.

Took a quick pic before heading up the stairs to the summit.

It was quite crowded, so I stayed at the very top level while Kira and Rob went down to where everyone wanted to be for photos.

A great view of Waikiki.

There is a bunker at the top but it's not accessible to the public.

The lower level was too crowded so we headed up to the top level to take some photos. She was still a little grouchy.

Rob tried to take a selfie of the three of us but it was so bright out, you couldn't see the screen. And he accidentally hit the Portrait Mode.

At least she posed for some photos. I could tell she was done with pics so we only took a few. It was so hot out anyway and you really couldn't see the phone screen at all, we just kind of aimed and hoped for the best.

I zoomed in as far as I could with my phone. I am fairly positive that the three towers on the left is the Marriott, then that Beach Villas condo and then Aulani.

The crowds down below had dispersed a little, so I went down and took photos of all the plaques.

Kira had copped a squat on the little bunker thing, while Rob and I were enjoying the views and taking photos.

She was happier now that she was at the top and sitting down somewhere, so I thought I would take advantage of her better mood to take some pics.

Rob spotted this sticker on the bunker, close by to where Kira was sitting. I thought it was totally appropriate for her.

Rob then joined her and we just took in the view until we had all had enough.

Then we headed down, the other way.

We made it to the bottom. Here's two photos that I meant to add to the last chapter but I forgot.

Here's the after pic with the sign. She was in a much better mood now and I think she was feeling very accomplished! I was proud of her for doing it and not quitting. This was totally out of her element and it wasn't easy but now she can see Diamond Head in movies or pictures and say "I climbed that!"

In the end, my back and joints were fine. I walk quite a bit with my dogs at home so the only thing that I struggled with was the heat, after all. But now I can say I hiked it at 28 and again at 52 years old.

From the first sign pic to the second, it took us 97 minutes. Not bad considering we stayed at the top for at least 20 minutes.

This is the little store that had some merchandise to buy. We did look at it but we didn't find anything we liked.

Back to the parking lot, Kira pointing to where we climbed.

After that adventure, we decided to stop for breakfast. I had done some research on good places to eat that were nearby and settled on a locals spot.

Stay tuned for that and the rest of our day.

 

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We did it at 60 . I could not believe all the families with little kids to babies did the climb. One guy had a baby on the front and a toddler on his back . He was just starting out I thought good luck and don’t fall .

Did the right…lol wondered where those stairs went too. Did see people climbing into a small whole near the top and told my husband nope….lol

I also didn’t like the tunnel, one part was dark and then the turn where I could not see freaked me out a bit.

All the memories Kira has. Hope she is enjoying University life.