Said Abd El Gawad

DillinghamRanch, which currently hosts an equestrian center, lies just off the Farrington Highway on Oahu's North Shore. From the highway one can see a fairly large palm grove which has been part of several LOST shoots, most noticeably the pilot. This is where Sawyer "shot a bear!" Guys, this isn't just a bear. That's a ... polar bear.

Another of our drive-by LOST sightings was the tree at which Richard Alpert buried his wife's pendant in the 1860s, and under which he encountered Isabella's spirit in 2007. Below photo courtesy @Lottery_Ticket The area has a very interesting and unusual look as seen from the road. It seems to be a combination of the tree's scale relative to its neighbours and the vividly green vegetation that surrounds it. I remember thinking the tree looked fake when I first watched Ab Aeterno . I guess this is another example (the London scene with Widmore and Sun also comes to mind) where reality seems unreal. I didn't fully catch it on first viewing, but I believe these two shots are meant to capture the same location separated by 140 years. Presumably the little 1860's sapling grows into the majestic 21st century tree.

Our first North Shore stop was the Waialua Sugar Mill , a former sugar mill which closed about fifteen years ago and now houses several retail stores. It (with some aggressive colour timing) stood in for Mr. Eko's Nigerian village in the episodes The 23rd Psalm and The Cost of Living . The mill also appeared briefly in the Sawyer-centric ep The Long Con . The 23rd Psalm is one of the strongest season 2 entries, and the unique look of the soil and landscape around the mill helped sell the African backstory. This structure, no doubt part of the sugar production process at one time, now sells various locally-made soaps and other items. I picked up a few gifts here.

Just before heading to the North Shore, let's visit one more downtown Honolulu LOST location -- St. Andrew's Priory, home to the Cathedral Church of St. Andrew. This area was used on several occasions, representing several different locations. It first made an appearance in the first Charlie-centric episode, The Moth , from season 1. I missed the opportunity to visit the Church interior, which I believe was used for this scene with Charlie and Liam. St. Andrew's re-appeared briefly in the Eko-centeric episode ? . In season 3's Catch-22 , St. Andrew's transformed into the monastery at which Desmond attempted to become a man of God. Notably, it served as the backdrop for Desmond's first meeting with Penny. St. Andrew's stands-in for Oxford University during Desmond's search for Daniel Faraday in the season 4 stand-out The Constant . Des returns to Oxford looking for answers in season 5's Jughead. St. Andrew's makes a final appearance during Farad...