Pineapple Plantation and the North Beach

Having been in the city of Honolulu for awhile, it was time to venture further out.

We hopped on the 52 bus to go to the Dole Plantation. While boarding the bus, a nice lady in a motorized wheel chair also got on.  Schäfer was fascinated with her mode of transportation. One our way to the plantation she told us some facts about Honolulu, showed us the “Twin Towers” of Hawaii (two apartment buildings the Japanese used to find Pearl Harbor), and gave us some tips on visiting Haleiwa (near the Dole Plantation).

An hour later, we arrived at the Dole Plantation.

First on the agenda: riding the pineapple train.

Of course, Schäfer selected this outfit for the occasion.

The pineapple train took us on a 20 minute loop around the fields of pineapple (aka: halakahiki), mangoes, sugar cane and other tropical fruits. I was amazed that the pineapple plant is actually quite small. The dirt is naturally red from iron.

James Dole started growing pineapple in Hawaii in 1899 knowing that pineapple was bound to have a huge market. He utilized the technology of the day – canning – to enable shipping pineapple around the world. This machine was created by Mr. Dole. It allowed men to pick the pineapple and send them up a conveyor belt so that other workers could pack them on a crate for shipping.

Another major crop that played a major role in Hawaii is sugar cane. Almost half of all the crops grown in Hawaii were sugar cane.

Note: They also have a red train which your three-year-old might beg to ride.

Sianna loved riding the pineapple train.

Pineapple parents.

Pineapple kids.

Can you believe how small the pineapple plant is? Picking pineapples is not easy. They are quite prickly.

After the train ride, we were ready for a picnic lunch and the famous Dole whip. Dole whipped is an “ice cream” made from pureed pineapple. Yes, the Dole Whip at the Dole Plantation is better than anywhere else in town!

Hubs ordered a Dole Whip with fresh pineapple.

Schäfer and I shared Dole Whip Float (floating in fresh pineapple juice). We couldn’t finish it.

Bellies full, we entered the Dole Plantation Maze…the world’s largest.

Schäfer was mostly interested in filling his pockets with rocks.

After about 10 minutes Schäfer and I had to go back inside to escape the heat. Sianna slept in the ergo and went with Hubs further into the maze.

The goal is to find eight stations within the maze and return to the front gate.

After thirty minutes, Sianna woke up and expressed that she was tired of the heat, so Hubs had to call it early having only found half of the stations.

Hubs returned to find us in the gift shop reading books.

We finished by visiting the plantation garden which features hundreds of tropical plants found on the Hawaiian islands.

This was my favorite flower. We saw it all over Hawaii. I love the hot pink stem with bright orange tips. Pink and orange are one of my favorite color combination’s. Of course, the white petals make it even more dramatic.

There were flocks and flocks of Bird’s of Paradise.

Every once in a while, we’d come across some pineapple equipment which seemed odd in a tropical garden, but completely made sense if with the audio tour.

I’m obsessed with color and shape and lighting.

That wraps up our visit to the Pineapple Plantation. Both the kids were hot and tired… I think we might just need to become a 2 Ergo family.

We boarded the 52 bus and continued on to the famous North Shore of Hawaii: Haleiwa.

In the winter months I imagine that Haleiwa would be packed with crowds of surfers taking on the massive waves. In the summer months, when the water is flat, it’s a sleepy town with the occasional groups of tourists coming through to visit the shrimp trucks and eat “shave ice”.

We stopped off at the famous Macky’s Shrimp truck and order a plate of Lemon-pepper shrimp and one plate of Butter Garlic Shrimp. Both fabulous! (For those Lost fans out there, you’ll recognize Macky’s as where Sawyer visited once.)

The menu is simple.

The food is serious.

We then walked down the road to find Matsumoto’s Grocery Store. But wait, there is a line of 50 people outside waiting to order the famous “shave ice”.

We ordered a Rainbow and a Matsumoto combo. It was a hard decision.

While we waited in line, Schäfer spun this spinner. They have these “penny machines” all over Hawaii. If you put in a penny + 50 cents, it will engrave your penny with a location. I’ve never seen this before, but LOTS of kids are into this. Everywhere we went, these machines were very busy. Souvenir pennies, who knew?

Speaking of busy, Matsumoto’s shave ice machine hasn’t had a vacation in a very long time.

Schäfer was very happy with his “rainbow” shave ice.

Hubs enjoyed his “Matsumoto combo with condensed milk”. Meanwhile, Sianna slept.

Wow. Shave Ice. Thank you.

After a long day, we hopped back on the 52 bus and rode it back to Honolulu. Then, with two very tired kids, we switched to the 17 to get back to the guest flat.

Today was a good day.