A relaxing day, no need to go anywhere in a hurry and our last day on Kailua. Our first stop was at Agnes Portuguese Bakery for masalades, (we’re really loving these), only one flaw with our plan, they are closed on Monday. Luckily we had eaten breakfast so weren’t going to fade away, instead we headed next door and bought a couple of decorations for the Christmas Tree.
Then a short drive to Byodo-In Temple at Valley of the Temples. This is a non practising Buddhist temple and one I was quite keen to visit. It is a beautiful space, a massive Buddha and a gorgeous bell that you can ring before entering the temple. Doing so will cleanse your mind and allow for a more peaceful meditation.
We both had a ring of the bell, it was beautiful, so melodious, quite loud (depending on how hard you hit it!) and the sound just went on and on. We were having a lovely time, so peaceful and quiet….and then….the family from hell arrived. A million kids, okay, maybe half a dozen, it was hard to keep track of them all, ranging in age from possibly 2-10, and a mother that yelled at them constantly. Actually yelling is probably too gentle a description – BELLOWING….is probably more apt!
Everywhere we turned there was mum, at least two of the kids and bellow, bellow, don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t get too close to the edge…ooops too late the kid has fallen into the pond, that was the 10 year old!
Then the two older boys found the bell and rung it, and rung it, and rung it, and rung it, and….well you get the idea. Quentin and I had to have a wee word with them, all about how this was a place for quiet peace and contemplation and they were not helping with this so quit hitting the bell!
From here we left to visit Ho’omalhuia Botanical Gardens, which was a little disappointed as there wasn’t many flowers it was mainly trees. The gardens were huge and to get between each area you could actually drive, which we took advantage of as it was another very very hot day!
Later in the afternoon we headed to Lanikai Beach for a swim, just up from Kailua this beach is named one of the top beaches in the world. It certainly is a lovely spot, but not sure about the label of top. It is in a very quiet neighbourhood, no beach parking or anything, you just park in the side streets trying not to encroach on peoples driveways, apparently the area is chaotic come the weekend. Certainly a lovely area and great views.
When we stopped to take some photos we saw a gaggle (is that the right term!) of seqways coming down the hill. It was a group on a seqway tour of the area, very interesting way to see the sights!
A quiet evening, dinner from yummy Whole Foods again and getting the bags packed for moving out on Tuesday.
Nothing to report for Tue or Wed as we will be shopping, shopping, shopping, oh and flying home!