Kayaking at Lanikai and the Byodo-In Temple

Erik and I got a day to ourselves today. No one was brave enough to try kayaking in the ocean, so we dropped Kayleigh off in his parents' room and off we went! We took the Pali Highway across the island, and stopped at the Look Out. It was one of the sites of a battle for Oahu. It is also very windy! The wind could probably blow a small person over. Hopefully you can tell how windy it is in the picture. When we were close to Lanikai, I called the aunt and uncle of one of Kayleigh's teachers, and they let us borrow a kayak. That saved us at least $50! They were super nice and didn't mind they they didn't know us at all! The island that we wanted go to was about a half mile away from the shore. You would think that it wouldn't be so hard to paddle that far, but I thought my arms would fall off by the time we got there! The water was beautiful, and so was the island, so it was worth the pain. It island is a seabird sanctuary, and there are little caves all over the island where birds are nesting. Erik and I wandered around the island, but we could only go about halfway. The waves can get pretty big, and if you're not careful, they can sweep you out to sea! Oh, and the island is made out of lava, which would not feel good if you were slammed back into it! Erik and I probably spent close to an hour on the island before heading back to the beach. The way in was still hard, but at least we were going with the waves. We probably made it back in half the time it took us to go out.
After returning the kayak, Erik and I went to a park next to the beach to hose off and eat lunch. We didn't stay there too long because we wanted to head to the Byodo-In Temple. It's an exact replica of a temple in Japan. It was neat, and the building was made without nails! Erik and I bought some fish food to feed the koi. Those fish are crazy about their food, let me tell you! Some of them were getting out of the water to get the food! They are fat and happy from all of the tourists feeding them, that's for sure!
When we got home and cleaned up, we headed out to the Hula Grill for dinner. It was right on the beach, upstairs from Duke's, where we ate the first night we were here. The food was excellent!
I know we ditched Kayleigh for the day, but it was really nice to spend time with just Erik.