Women's Day at Fallbrook Church

Today was was a special Sabbath at the Fallbrook church. It was a Sabbath that both the Sabbath School and the Church Service was dedicated to women. Only women participated.
I had the privilege to participate with the mission story.

After a great Potluck was time for the afternoon seminars. There were nine seminars to choose from. Men's Health, Women's Health, Preventing Health Medicine, Emotional Health, Healthy Marriages, Technology in our World, Financial Health, Youth Session, Children's Program.
Gordon was the speaker for the Technology in Our world. He presented on the Information highway in our church.

Last Post of Our Trip to Oahu

A view of Honolulu. Waikiki is where you see all the tall buildings. The tall buildings are all hotels by the Waikiki beach. We really enjoyed our vacation here. One week is not enough to see and do everything in this small inland. We had a list of places we still wanted to visit but ran out of time. Need to go back and finsh the island. I think:-)

We visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation

The plantation train. It takes people deeper into the plantation as they learn all about the science of pineapples

We had fun doing the plantation maze. It took us about 45 minutes to do it.

Gordon about to enter the maze

Pineapple plant and flower

The flowers turn into little pineapples


Among pineapple plants at the plantation garden

Pineapple fields

We got to go in the field an plant pineapples

Oahu Rain Forest

Beautiful and Cozy Rain Forest and Water Falls. of Oahu

We enjoyed a few drives to the mountains and rain forest of Oahu.
The mountains are gorgeous!
I am glad we rented a car because we were able to stop and enjoy the view when ever we wanted. Driving through these mountains we coud not help to stop and enjoy the different view points. They are just are so beuatiful.

We went for a hike at a trail of the Waimea Valley. It is a botanical forest.

I love places with lots of trees so I was in heaven here.

At the end of the hike there is the Waimea Falls and swimming hole. We sat here and watched the people swim and rested some.

Beaches of Oahu

We drove around the island the days we were here and stopped at the different beaches we would find along the way. We found lots of secluded hidden beautiful beaches. We also went to the beaches where the surfers go but it was crowded in that area and were not able to find a place to park so we kept on going. Following are pictures of some of the beaches we enjoyed.

Here is Gordon at a beach on the west side the island. There are no waves on the beaches on this side of the island. The coral reef is so close to the beaches. The dark areas on the water is coral reef. It is just gorgeous!

This side of the island is not rocky but the mountains are close by.

Gordon enjoying a walk at on of the beaches we stopped on the north side of the island.

This is a beach on the north side of the island. This is the closest we got to the famous beaches where the surfers go (no place to park at the surfer beaches). See some of the waves behind me. Somehow they don't look as big in the picture as when we are actually there. I am sure the waves are better where the surfer's are.

This is the sand at this beach, beautiful small little rocks. We took some to bring to my students and for our classroom rock collection.

We decided to booked a two hour Kayaking trip.
Here at Kailua Beach is where we began our Kayaking trip to the Flat Island.
The sand was so fine and soft and the water clear. Love the light blue color of the water. The darker blue color of the water indicates the coral reef is there.
As we kayaked we saw turtles swimming by us and poking their heads at us.

This picture by our Kayaks was taken by our tour guide as we arrived to the Flat Island.
It looks like the main land is not that far but it took us half an hour to kayak to this island.

We walked around the Flat Island. It is an island made out of hard coral rock. So as we walked around it there are all kinds of beautiful coral rock holes and formations. The two islands in the distance are the islands that the four hour tour people go. They are much further. They were not taking people there that day because the water was too choppy.

Gordon having fun snorkeling at Lanikai Beach

This is the East side of Oahu. This is the rocky side of the island.
We were surprised to find that even in this rocky side there are hidden beaches.
There are great views from the different rocky mountains that stick out into the ocean.

Hanauma Bay is a bay that is partially protected from the open ocean here in the east side of the island. It is a very popular place. We tried to come here in the morning but the parking was full and were not letting any more people in. So we came back in the evening and was able to be there when the crowd was gone but since they close at 6:00 in the evening we were not there long.

I got to go in the water a little here in Hanauma Bay before they chased us out.

It is very shallow. The water here is not completely clear but I can see the coral reef and the fish from above the water. The water was a little cold when you first get in but later did not fee cold at all.

Cultures and Dances of the Polynesian Islands

One of the biggest attractions in Oahu is the Polynesian Culture Center located in the small town of La'ie, on the north side Oahu. This center was created by the Mormon church to attract visitors and help subsided Brigham Young University students from all over the Pacific Islands . They do a recreation of island life from around Polynesia. This is not a Disneyland. This is a laid-back collection of recreations from various island villages from around Polynesia. We learned a lot about the culture of the islands.

At one of the ceremonies from a tribe of New Zealand, Gordon was chosen as the chief to represent the group of people that were there, in a ceremony customary of peace welcoming. He had to pickup some green leaves (he is holding in his hands) as a symbol that he and his people are coming in peace. There is a formal ceremonial greeting where they had to shake hands and touch heads and nose. He then had come down to where I was seated in the front row and do the formal head and nose formal greeting with me too. It was very interesting.

New Zealand girls doing ceremonial singing

There was a parade of dances from the different Polynesian cultures at the canal.

There were different shows that explained about the cultures and customs of the villages of the different islands

We took a boat ride on the main canal

We were seating on the second row at the two hour evening show.
This show summarises all the cultural costumes that we had learned as we walked and did the different activities during the day. They do dances from the different Polynesian islands.
A very lively and colorful presentation.