Hawaiian Cruise: More Oahu, Launch and Maui (Day 4-Day 5)
On Saturday morning and our last day touring Oahu, we went south and east to East Honolulu and our quickie, first stop, The Koko Crater Lookout and its popular hiking trail. Like so much of Oahu, the view was spectacular, and even though the day started out cloudy, it was still warm enough to get away with a light jacket–the heaviest clothing I would wear the entire trip. (Note here: my Facebook buds back in the DMV posted that the weather there had turned decidedly wintry.) We next arrived at the Byodo-In Temple, located at the foot of the Ko’olau Mountains in Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. Its website describes the temple as “a smaller-scale replica of the almost 1,000-year-old Byodo-In Temple, a United Nations World Heritage site in Uji, Japan.” The temple and grounds were incredibly beautiful. I did my best to capture its beauty in a number…