Hawaii-Kayaking

Yesterday was our last day in Hawaii and we packed it full of fun! We took a morning stroll on the beach. Then headed out kayaking. We went from Kailua beach over to the Flat Island and then to the north island of the Twin Islands (Mokulua's). I was pretty nervous at first, but Taylor was really excited. After a while I got used to it and really enjoyed the ride. However it was SO tiring and took about 1.3 hours to get out to the island, but only 50 minutes or so to get back.

Flat Island

Flat Island

Moku Nui (North Twin Island)

The island was really pretty and I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to race back to check out of the beach house. We did see a sea turtle, finally!, on the way out to the island and then I saw another while Taylor was returning the kayak and I was laying on the beach/enjoying the ocean one last time.

Bird Sanctuary on Moku Nui

One sad thing about this morning is Taylor and I both got burned! We had both completely avoided any burns up until this point. But I got greedy for more tan before we left and didn't use sunscreen so my legs are completely fried from sitting in the kayak all morning. But everything else came out ok. Taylor actually put sunscreen on 2 or 3 times that morning and still burned his legs.

After lunch we drove up to the Dole Plantation near Wahiawa. The tour was interesting and we learned wonderful facts about pineapples. Also Dole has the largest maze in the world so we did that and got some pineapple ice cream. We also had ice cream at lunch and for dinner...mmmm.



By this point we were so hot and tired and ready leave so we just drove down by 'Ewa beach across Pearl Harbor. The waves were really cool there and these little boys were just riding them all the way up the shore.



Then we took our red eye flight home in which I slept wonderfully and Taylor got a little shut eye. So glad we went, loved the vacation, loved all the hikes, loved peaceful non-tourist Kailua beach, so happy I fulfilled my pretty much life long dream of going to Hawaii!


ps. Hannah was mad at me this morning and would just snuggle with Taylor and give me smug looks. But she got over it. And she still doesn't walk. =]

Hawaii-La'ie Temple

This is the whole reason for our trip to Hawaii. Very sadly it is closed pretty much all year for renovations (which we were aware of ahead of time), but we still got to see it behind the lovely chain link fence.



On each of the top sides is a stone carving depicting figures from New Testament, Old Testament, Book of Mormon, and modern day times. They had small replicas in the court yard with plaques naming each person pictured which was very interesting. Then we just stared at the temple. And we drove by it about 5 more times crossing the area for sacrament, hike, lunch, etc.


Once we arrived I of course found out I had forgotten to replace the SD card after blogging before we left the beach house so we had a total of 11 pictures on the internal drive that we could take all day. It was weird to have to conserve shots again like in the old days of film...the one good thing was if you find something better you could delete an inferior picture. So the ones shown here are the best of the best.

Back to the beginning of the day we started with a walk along the beach. Pictured for the boys are a white crab and a jellyfish.




Then we headed to the temple and a sacrament meeting. The speakers really do say Aloha at the beginning of their talks and the audience answers back in tired, sleepy voices. Also it was weird driving through La'ie because everyone was wearing church clothes in the yards and along the streets...they had like 11 wards we could choose from and the town is not that big. The guys had a great mix of pants, their "skirt" things (sorry I don't know what they are called), dress shoes, sandals, flip flops, etc. The gals just wore dresses and sandals. Nothing exciting.

We had lunch at some shrimp shack and then went on a hike at Hauula Loop Ridge. It was so beautiful on the ridge looking right at my favorite, the Ko'olau Mountains.




Then we decided to drive around the whole island which was a really fun to see all the different coast and beaches and then we noticed on our map that the highway was actually a dotted line at Kaena Point. When we arrived it seriously turned into a dirt road for 2.5 miles around the point which our rental car was not up for. However it is right on the west side and it was about 6:30 so we stopped and watched the sunset with only about 8 other people there. It was very beautiful.

Hawaii-Polynesian Culture Center

We woke up at 4:15 to look up the time for sunrise on Google. Then we went back to sleep until 5:30. When we woke up again we ran, literally, down to the beach and sat watching the sunrise. It was really beautiful, but very cloudy. Of course this morning the sky was perfectly clear, but it was still a great sunrise yesterday.





Then we went to Lanikai beach to snorkel some more. I really like this beach because the coral was so pretty and alive whereas in Hanauma Bay it was all dead. However, there were a lot less fish at Lanikai. We only stayed couple hours and then got ready to head up north to La'ie and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

(I love these Ko'olua Mtns)

The PCC was really cool and I loved watching all the presentations and hearing about customs and traditions. We talked to some great people and learned a lot about Polynesian culture. Taylor liked the spear throwing in Tonga and he also got to participate in playing the drums there. Here are pictures, but I've been forbidden from posting the video because it has confidential information contained in it.




My favorite is the Tahitian dancers because they have so much more hip action going than the Hawaiians. I have no hips, but they still taught me how to do their dance.




On the way back to our beach house Taylor and I had a great discussion about culture and traditions. And talked about those things we want to pass on to our kids from our own culture...after we had a big discussion on what our culture is. Being white and all it was a big debate, but we came up with some really good insights and ideas of who we are and what we have to pass down even though it's not dancing and screaming. Or, unfortunately, climbing coconut trees.

Hawaii-Another Day in Paradise and/or Snorkling

Yesterday we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I have mixed feelings about snorkeling...I do not like breathing while underwater. It's hard for me to not hyperventilate and so I spend a lot of time focusing on my breathing rather than looking at fish. Also I really don't like being in water too deep for me to stand in so we'll swim out over some coral into a clearing so then all of a sudden the water is so deep to the bottom and I'm expected to be breathing while under the water and I have to try to stay calm and swim to where I can touch bottom or coral. I really like solid ground. And breathing air. But other than that it's pretty cool to be swimming with fish. We really want to see some cool animals like turtles and squid. Maybe when we go out today...



On the way back to the beach house we stopped at the Halona Blow Hole just because it happened to be along the road and we're carefree so we pulled over to have a look. It was pretty cool.




Other than that we just spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach house, playing the the sand, boogie boarding some more and hanging out at our beach. Here is a picture of the walk from our beach house to the Kailua Beach...






For dinner we went down to Kanoehe Bay and found this amazing place called Haleiwa Joe's Seafood Grill. It was so beautiful...we ate right there in the restaurant in the trees with the view in the next picture of the Ko'olau mountains. It was so amazing.



And the food was the best we've had on the island so we'll probably go back one other time. So delicious. We had Ahi Poke which was just sashimi grade tuna (meaning it was 100% raw) with a sauce on it...so soft and yummy. Then we had the Haleiwa Paradise Salad, local greens with mandarin oranges, citrus vinaigrette and candied walnuts. Main course was Monchong (native Hawaiian fish) encrusted in coconut with a green curry and mango chutney. For desert was Macadamia Nut ice cream with caramel sauce and fresh fruit. Everything was incredible and amazing and so delicious. And the view was amazing. Here are some more pictures of the Haleiwa Gardens that we walked through below the restaurant