Day 9 - Stopover on Oahu

This part is back to my normal way of travel. I have a car reserved and no hotel. Plan is to sleep in the car if it's suitable, or find a place if not. On check-in at Thrifty I get upgraded to a full size SUV (a GMC of some sort), so my accommodations are set. Time to go lay on the beach and I know just the one, on North Shore.

Once you get out of Honolulu, it looks very much the paradise it is.

My beach of choice is Polo beach. Out of the way, not crowded, and the fact that I didn't pack a swimsuit is not an issue :)

The air and water are perfect. There are maybe a dozen other people here, at most. Despite much sunblock I end up getting burned just a bit, but I actually wanted that in a way. It is supposed to snow at home on return.

Done with being a beach bum it's time to drive around a bit and figure out where I'm going to sleep. There are chickens and other birds on the path leading to the beach.

After driving around a bit I randomly take a side road towards something that looks like a touristy valley. It is late in the day and everything is closed, but I decide to check it out anyway.

Pulling into the parking lot, a surprise. A different kind of 'chicken'. Peacocks are not native here (this one is Indian species), but they wonder around freely in this little area. Looks a bit Jurassic.

Then onward to Shark's Cove to watch the sunset, and back towards the North-West part of the island to look for a place to park for the night.

As I was picking out a spot, in the dark, I saw lighning flashes in the distance. And then...

What was supposed to be a quiet night car camping by the beach ended up the most intense lightning storm Ive ever witnessed. It started around 8 pm and was still going off in the distance at 6 am the next day. At the peak, lightning flashes were only 5-10 seconds apart. For several hours. Plus torrential rain at times.

It was hard to capture. Around 1 am I started the car so I could see what the ocean is doing and circulate the air since windows had to be closed. I took dozens of video clips, but none really captured the experience. This one kind of gives you an idea.

Sometimes there were horizontal webs of lightning covering the entire sky. Here's a short video clip. And as much as I would have liked to share it better, I am very grateful to have experienced it. What a night.

After all that, the morning is quiet and peaceful, complete with bright double rainbows.

The flight home leaves at 11:25 am so around 8:30 am I start heading towards the airport. A bit of a hassle to top up the fuel (while there are a couple gas stations near the airport, getting to them is convoluted). Car return is smooth, as is the flight.

A lot of experience to pack into ten days. And memories that will last for years. Will need a breather before next journey.

EDIT: found someone on Instagram who got a better video of the lightning storm. Here's the link and some screen caps from the clip are below. I remember those specific strikes.