'Iolani Palace
King Kamehameha I Statue

'Iolani Palace: We decided to start off our last full day on the island by seeing some more of the sites. Our first stop was at 'Iolani Palace, the residence of the former kings of Hawaii. Peep and I had taken the tour the last time we were in Hawaii, and my sister felt the kids wouldn't get enough out of it for the price, so we decided to spend some time just enjoying the palace's grounds before heading across the street to view the statue of King Kamehameha I located there.

Pali Lookout

Pali Lookout: From downtown Honolulu, we headed up Pali Highway to view Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. Battling the ever-present winds we made our way to the edge of the viewing platform for breathtaking views of the scenery below. It was here that King Kamehameha I defeated the Oahu tribes in the Battle of Nu'uanu, drivng hundreds of the enemy forces over the 1,000 foot cliff.

Kualoa Beach
Nate Throwing the Ball
Samme Throwing the Ball
Chinaman's Hat

Kualoa Regional Park: We continued our journey along Pali Highway and headed for the eastern shore for some more ocean swimming. However, the first place we stopped at, a state park, had no sandy beaches, so we continued north along the coast until we reached Kualoa Regional Park with its sandy beach. The water was shallow and the sand reached only a short distance into the ocean, leaving rocky ground that was rather uncomfortable to walk on. Despite that and the overcast weather, Nate and Samme made the most of it by tossing Sam's new squish ball he purchased at the luau the night before. The rest of us just enjoyed the view of the ocean and Chinaman's Hat, a well-known island sitting a short distance from shore. We didn't stay as long at this beach as we did at Sunset Beach, but instead headed into town to make stops at both Burger King and Taco Bell for a late lunch, and then on to Aulani for the evening, where the kids finished up their scavanger hunt while Peep and I went to the beach to watch the sunset.

Kailua Beach Sunrise

Kailua Beach: Since we had a morning flight the next day, Peep and I retired early and got up well before the others. We said our goodbyes to my sister and niece before heading out to Kailua Beach for our final Hawaiian sunrise. After returning the rental car, we checked in at the airport for our long trip back to Laos.

Trip Home: Just as with our incoming flight, we had layover in Shanghai and an overnight in Bangkok on the way back. Rather than spending the night in the airport as we had done on the trip out, we entered Thailand and traveled downtown to sleep in a hotel. Our luggage didn't show at the carousel because, as we learned later, the handle fell off along with the tag and it got lost in Shanghai. By the time we finally arrived at our hotel, after dealing with our lost luggage, it was well past midnight and our room had been given out. However, one of the employees there walked us down the street a block to their sister hotel, where we were able to get a room for the night. We had brunch with some Lao friends vacationing in Bangkok before making the return flight to Savannakhet. Our luggage arrived several days later.