Tuesday, September 29, 2009

When we were in Kaneohe last week we saw a sign the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden. We did some research and found that it created years ago by the Army Corps of Engineers as a flood protection area. It's managed by Parks and Recreation and doubles as a park. For details you can find info at Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden, Official Web Site for The City and County of Honolulu.

We stopped at the visitors center for a map and talked to the ranger on duty for a while. There is a "lake" and a dam about a 10 minute walk away, but we passed on that after we saw people spraying bug repellent on their way down. The drive takes you to several areas along the road with vegetation from Hawaii, Polynesia, Melanesia and Africa. Mostly trees and large bushes rather than small flowering plants although some of the trees were in bloom. A quiet place in the shadow of the Pali mountains.

We went to Kailua Beach Park later but the winds were still blowing pretty hard and the beach was posted with warning flags for Portuguese Man of War. Bev found the remains of several washed up on the beach and saw a sea turtle near the shore. We came back to the "Tree House" until dinnertime then went into town to the Big City Diner. Bev is developing a thing for baby back ribs since we've been here.

Only two full days left so we are going to spend it right here in Kailua, weather and winds permitting.

Aloha