Hawaii Day 6 (Part 2): Hawaii LDS Temple, Sunset & Fireworks

After a quick clean up we checked out of our Airbnb and ventured up the northeast side of the island to the highlight of the day: the Laie Temple. Being here in Korea, we are lucky to have a temple within an hour of us, but the difference is we are only able to catch an English session 1 time a month. The Laie temple is located in the Northeast side of Oahu, nestled close to BYU Hawaii and the Polynesian cultural center.

It was such a wonderful experience to go through the temple here. The day was beautiful, but it made us appreciate once again the knowledge, power and protection that the temple ordinances provide.

We left from there to spend our final night in the heart of Waikiki at our final hotel. We had hotel points we could use for this one, so we figured we would use it. The place was nice, but what we had planned for, was the great view of the Friday night fireworks that occur on the beach. We had a spectacular dinner at a restaurant on the beach - including any really tasty and fun unleaded speciality drinks!

Since the restaurant was right by the beach, Heather ran out to the beach to get her last sunset there!

We went out to the beach for the fireworks. After having been to a whole lot of different firework shows, quality sure varies. You can have your stadium of fire experience, or your at home experience, but this one was one of the coolest because of the setting - beachfront, sand, your best friend sitting next to you.

It was a perfect way to end the trip, and welcome in the thoughts that you have to go back home, back to work, back to juggling the chitlins!
-Kevin

Hawaii Day 6 (Part 1): Diamond Head Hike

So on our final day, after waterfalls, cut feet, hikes, kayaking, sunrises and sunsets, luaus and fun, we wrapped up our final day with a jam packed day of awesomeness. We woke up early (which is what we did everyday we were there) and drove over to Diamond Head National Park. Now you are probably asking, "if you are on vacation, why do you wake up so early to start your activities?"

Hawaii is packed, and these areas such as Hanuwa Bay and Diamond Head national park have parking lots that only fit a small amount of cars. So if you want to get there to do what you wanted too, you need to start early and beat the traffic. We started the morning at Diamond Head, a trail head that takes you on a small few mile hike to the top of the mountain.

Like most hikes in Hawaii, it starts off rather easy, but then you hit the ascent and climb climb climb. The best part though was seeing all the older people doing the hike, so if you get tired you just have to remind yourself of the 80 year old that is coming up on your tail!

The morning was beautiful, the hike took us a little over 2 hours up and an hour or so to get back down, and as you can see, the views were spectacular! You can see the whole west side of the island from the top, making you appreciate all the beauty of the island, and just how packed it really is.

We were so glad we went early too, since when we finally pulled out of the parking lot there were hundreds of cars waiting to get in so they could do the hike too. It was awesome.
-Kevin

Hawaii Day 5: Kayaking to the Mokes

Our neighbor in Korea came from Hawaii, and she highly recommended renting some kayaks, and kayaking to the Mokes. The Mokes are the Na Mokulua Islets off Lanikai Beach.  We packed our bag full of water and our lunches, and went off to find a kayaking rental company.  The company is a few hundred yards from the ocean, so they give you the kayaks on these little trailers and you pull the kayaks over to the ocean.  Kevin did the honors of tugging the kayak, we opts to do a double kayak, just to make it easier to stay together.

Once we got to the ocean, we had to figure out how to get the kayak into the ocean between the waves.  We have gone kayaking many times before.  We actually owned kayaks while living in Texas, so we considered ourselves pretty experiences kayakers, however the waves coming straight at use while trying to get out into the ocean, definitely humbled us.  It only took us a few tries, but we got out without flipping the kayak or getting too wet.

The kayak rental company said it would take more then an hour and half to get to the Mokes, but we made it in about an hour.  There were full waves, currents and rocks on our little adventure.  At one point you are directly above some monstrous coral reefs, and I felt we would smash into them at any second.  The ocean was crystal clear and absolutely mysteriously beautiful!

We made it to the Mokes and docked our kayak on the first try.  There isn't much that you can see on the Isle, because it is a bird sanctuary, the island is fenced off except for a little beach area.  We took about a 45 min rest as we ate lunch, relaxed and enjoyed the sun, waves, and each other.

As we were getting ready to launch back into the ocean, a seal came up on the the island to sunbathe! We were able to enjoy the seal from afar for a few minutes until we went back into the ocean.  The tide was in our favor, so the trip back we made extremely good time!  Directly in front of our docking beach was a second island, called the flat island.  We had plenty of time, so we made a second stop at the flat island.  This island is exactly as named, it is just a long flat strip of land in the middle of the ocean.  This island is also a bird sanctuary, was was fenced off except for the perimeter of the island.  We didn't see any birds, go figure.

We got back in our kayak, now feeling like professionals at launching in and out of the ocean!  We made it back to the beach in less than 15 minutes because Kevin and I would time our rowing just right so we would ride the waves.  It only took about three waves to make it back.  It was a thrill to paddle as fast as we could to keep up with the waves, then paddle as we kept at the very top of the wave, feeling our speed increase and the kayak rocking on top of the waves!

This was another great day in Hawaii!  We are both very much outdoor enthusiast, so we loved our day in the ocean and on the different islands!

Since our arms were pretty shot from kayaking all afternoon, we decided to relax next to the beach the rest of the evening.

We both enjoyed resting and reading next to the ocean until the sun went down.  It was a pretty good sunset to an amazing day!

Hawaii Day 4 (Part 2): Spitting Caves & Polynesian Cultural Center

Someone told me to stop at the spitting caves while in Hawaii, so our next stop was to find said caves.  I was able to find a location in google maps, so off we went in search of a cave that spits.  Google maps lead up to a rich subdivisions cul-de-sac.  I was disappointed because it looked like we were lead astray.  I kept studying the maps to try to figure out where we took a wrong turn.  As we went around the cul-de-sac a second time, and right when we decided we wouldn't be seeing the spitting caves today, I notices a narrow trail between two houses.  We didn't notice it before because the house to the right of the trail is begin built, and is surrounded by port-a-potties, large machinery and a big dumpster blocking the trail.

We went down the narrow trail, wondering the entire time if this was the correct way and if we were trespassing.  We figured we would see where the trail lead.  The trail opened up to the ocean!

The ocean was as far as the eye could see.  The houses were built on a cliff of rocks.  We were able to walk around the rocks.  Kevin is very much uncomfortable of heights, so he wouldn't get very close to the edge, but I walked right up the the edge and leaned over then sat down and took some selfies.

Under the cliff were some caves, and when the waves came crashing in towards the caves, it caused the water to come shooting up, hence the name, spitting caves.

We hiked back up the little trail with smiles on our faces and a sense of accomplishment at finding the spitting caves.

Next Stop: Polynesian Cultural Center.

We spent the rest of the day at the PCC.  We had a tour guide that took us all round the different Pacific destinations in the park.  We were able to enjoy four of the villages.  Each of the villages had a musical show, a demonstration, and hands on activities.

There were different buildings that we could go in and see. We saw Fiji, Hawaii, some Islands, Tahiti

Tonga and a few more.

We were able to go on canoe ride.  The river went around the villages and under a few bridges.  We had our own Tongan rowing the boat at the back.

After our canoe ride, we enjoyed a buffet dinner and Hawaiian show.  The show had hula dancer, some fire, and singing.  At one point, they asked if anyone was celebrating an anniversary.  To my horror, Kevin raises his hand.  All those celebrating an anniversary were brought on stage and we danced a slow song in front of everyone.  I am a very non-PDA type of person, so to dance in front of a bunch of people, then be kissed after is like a nightmare.  Kevin was just laughing the entire time, seeing me crawl in my own skin.  I'm glad we went up though, it wasn't too awful.  It was nice dancing in Hawaii with Kevin.

We ended the day with the day with the PCC's show: The Breath of Life.  By this point, I am fighting 4 days of jet lag, I just ate a lot of food, and I am tired.  I actually fell asleep during the majority of the show.  It's definitely more of a theatrical performance, then a show.  I was expecting something exciting and entertaining.  Don't get me wrong, it was put together very well, and the actors were good.  It just wasn't what I was expecting.  There was one part in it where there was some fire dancing!  That part was definitely super cool!!

Hawaii Day 4 (Part 1): Hanauma Bay

We woke up bright and early today to make it to Hanauma Bay.

I was told that you want to get there early because they only allow a certain amount of people in the bay at a time.  We got there a little before 7:00 and found out that if you enter the bay before 7:00, you don't have to pay the entrance fee.  The Airbnb we stayed at also supplied snorkels, so we were really glad we saved $40 a person by not having to rent the equipment.

When we got into the bay, I was excited to learn that the bay had a perfect view of the sun rising!  There were some clouds, but not as many as our first attempt at a sunrise, and it wasn't raining and cold!  We found a bench and cuddled up to watch the sunrise in Hawaii at Hanauma Bay.

We were now ready to conquer the bay!  We put our snorkels on, grabbed our GoPro, and brought our fins in hand and went out into the waves.  It took some shuffling, falling and jumping about to get into the ocean after we put our fins on.  We learned the hard way, that its better to get in, then put your fins on and walk out backwards into the ocean.

We then spent the next 2-3 hours exploring the beautiful fish and coral of Hanauma Bay.  This was, by far, the coolest thing we did in Hawaii!  We found a spot that they called the "keyhole" where fish were aplenty!

There were "big fish, small fish, one fish, two fish"!

The waves and the current were not bad at all, it was kind of neat being gently swaying with the fish and the ocean as one.

This experience ranks up as one of my top 10!  We both agreed that this was the highlight of our trip!

Hawaii Day 3 (Part 2): Dole Plantation

We made a stop at the Dole Plantation today.  We decided it would be fun to take the Dole Pineapple Express Train around the plantation.  We were really glad the train had a roof because it kept lightly raining on and off.  The train takes you all around the property to see the different plants and fruits that are on the property.

The grounds were very beautiful with peculiar trees and different colored bushes.  There was also a large lake on the property.

Seeing the pineapple plants was especially educational!  I had no idea that pineapples were grown on bushes on the ground.  For some reason, I always thought pineapples were grown on trees.  It was so neat seeing the rows and rows and rows of bushes on the ground with pineapples all over them!

When we got off the train and walked back to the gift shop, we saw a sign that showed the distance to different towns!  We were 4,530 miles from Seoul!!

Hawaii Day 3 (Part 1): Wakiki Beach

We decided to eat breakfast on the beach strip.  We chose seats that had a beautiful view of the beach.

We were able to smell the salt water and feel the mist of the ocean in the air.
I ordered some French toast and it was absolutely amazing!  There were macadamia nuts on them!  I never would have thought that would be good on French toast, but it was amazing!

We decided to spend the morning relaxing at the beach.  The Airbnb that we were staying at provided beach chairs, towels, hoodies boards and a cooler.  We donned on our swimsuits and grabbed all the beach essentials and walked out the door to the beach.  I had a relaxing time just reading a book and loving the sun, fresh air, and sounds of the waves.

Kevin, on the other hand, grabbed the boogie board and went running into the waves.  While he was out he made a friend with a fellow boogie boarder.  The guy showed Kevin how to get the most out of a wave.  He also noticed that Kevin had a pretty beat up board, so he let Kevin use his board.  By the time we were ready to leave, Kevin's new friend actually gave Kevin a nice boogie board and some flippers.

Unfortunately, there were lots of coral and Kevin's feet took a pretty bad beating!

Hawaii Day 2 (Part 2): Pali Lookout & Maunawili Falls

We check out of the hotel (bye-bye rooster) load up the car and drive to Pali Lookout.

 There are still clouds looming, but we were still able to see a beautiful Hawaii.

Our last stop for the day was to the Maunawili Falls hike!  Kevin and I love hiking and being outdoors and having adventures! Kevin had broke his water shoes earlier that morning while kayaking, so all he had were some flip flops.  I looked the hike up on my phone and it said it was a short hike, and some people do it barefoot.  We decided flip flops should be OK.

After walking for only 10 minutes, we realized flip flops were going to be nearly impossible.  But, as with our motto for the day, we had already started, so we were going to finish this short hike.  It ended up not being short, at all.  It took us a few hours because the ground was completely and totally a muddy, slippery mess.  Tree roots stuck up along with rocks and dirty nasty water.  Since flip flops have zero traction, Kevin was slipping, sliding and falling with every step.

I could tell he was uncomfortable and I was seriously feeling super bad for him!  He didn't want to take his shoes off and go barefoot, because there were huge signs posted everywhere that bacteria was present in the water.

Despite the lack of proper footwear, the terrain was so beautiful!  The changing of the scenery and the lush trees made it well worth the trip!

We saw crazy trees,

bubbling streams,

and beautiful look-out points.

We got to the waterfall and were able to get in the water for a very quick picture.

The water was very chilly, so we opted not to swim.

The hike back seemed to be a little easier, since we knew exactly what to expect.  At one point on the walk down though, Kevin slipped in a puddle, completely lost his shoe and took me down with him.

We were covered in mud! Completely covered in mud!

We get back to the car and lay down grocery bags to try to keep the rental car from taking some of our mud.

For the remainder of our trip we are staying in an Airbnb by Wakiki Beach.  It was super embarrassing to have to check in wet and covered in mud.  I'm just grateful they still let us check in.  The bums on the beach looked cleaner then we were!