Very early Wednesday morning picture off the balcony. This was probably around 7am,
just before taking the Circle Line Tour ... a near all-day event.

Our first stop was a beach called "The Cove"

This is where "Blue Hawaii" and "From Here to Eternity" was filmed.

At the time of this writing, I haven't seen either film. Still a neat spot, though. :-)

We spent about 20 minutes taking pictures at The Cove, before heading onward...

We never did make it to the Polynesian Cultural Center ... but I liked their mascot. :-)

I don't remember the name of this scenic spot, but the tour bus driver stopped
and let us out so we could enjoy the view and take some pictures...

Then there was this random group of Japanese Schoolgirls... :-)

For lunch, we paid a visit to the Dole Plantation...

Katya and I found a little cafeteria in the back with some nice people and good food...

After lunch, we wandered the grounds and took goofy pictures...

There's apparently a maze on the grounds, but we didn't see it right off,
and probably wouldn't have had time to enjoy it fully.

Lunch lasted about an hour, after which we re-boarded the bus and headed onward...

This is a view of Oahu's famous "Turtle Bay North Shore" ... as seen from the bus.

Despite the popularity of this scenic location, the tour bus company apparently didn't think
it was worth actually stopping the bus and letting us check it out for even a few minutes.

The waves out on the North Shore are known to be gigantic, we're talking 20 feet or more!

This was not quite high tide, but the waves still looked pretty big (from the bus)

Yep, King Kamehameha has his own highway, that runs by the North Shore...

Our next stop was a small set of shops that sold a variety of macadamia nuts, as well as Kona coffee.

These are just some pics of the surrounding areas, and another friend Katya found. :-)

This was primarily a shopping stop, but they provided free coffee, and we got to sample a variety
of macadamia nut flavors. There was also a man in the back who'd cut open a coconut for you...

Our next (and last) stop on the tour was The Byodo-In Temple.

We really didn't get to see much of the inside, we were a little too busy
taking pics outside, and playing near the koi pond.

We did ring the gong for good luck, though...

That ended our tour. It was a very long ride on a fairly cold bus, with a mostly monotone tour guide.

The sights were still very nice, though...

The tour bus dropped us off at our hotel. We cleaned ourselves up and then went out looking for dinner.

We stopped at a nearby Mexican restaurant for "Taco Tuesday"...

This restaurant also had a karaoke setup in the back ... in a private room.

There's this theory that Katya can talk a person into anything ... so here's the two of us singing an
Elvis/Ann Margret duet, "The Lady Loves Me" ... which was featured in "Viva Las Vegas".