More Hawaiian adventures!
I forgot to mention, I'm so grateful to be able to fly standby.
I couldn't take these trips otherwise.
But one of the downsides is, you don't know if you'll
actually make it to your destination. It's a risk.
So I don't want to book tickets to things that might
end up getting wasted. And on Oahu, some of the things
I wanted to do required advanced tickets.
So I didn't get to see:
Pearl Harbor (which I heard later you can go to parts w/o a ticket)
Haunama Bay (best snorkeling on the island)
Diamond Head (best hike on the island)
Here's what I did get to do! :)
I slept in a bit and decided to head east of my hotel.
While driving, I came across this makers market.
I quickly turned around and visited.
So fun!
Then stopped at Wawamalu Beach Park
I just walked around a bit.
It was beautiful.
AND--I could see whales in the distance!
I didn't get any pics, but it was thrilling.
Next stop:
one of the most picturesque places I've ever seen.
Makapuu beach
Wow. Breathtaking.
From there, I headed north to Kawainui Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary
for some more birding. And got a few more lifers there.
Brant
I'd never seen this one before, but he's in Wingspan
and they do such a good job on the illustration that
I knew exactly what it was just based on the card!
Hawaiian Duck/Mallard (?)
I actually saw THREE Black-crowned Night Herons
Common Gallinule
These Hawaiian Coots were everywhere--I saw 41!
I love Black-necked Stilts!
More of the beauty of the island.
One of the places my app recommended stopping
was Nu'uanu Pali Lookout.
It was beautiful.
But you had to pay for parking and there wasn't
a whole lot to do that. Not sure that I'd do it again.
This was a cool tribute to the Hawaaian Warrior Women.
Next I headed back to my hotel and walked back to the beach.
I was afraid to go snorkeling by myself, so I just hung out for a bit.
So pretty.
And then it was time to get my boy from the airport!
Yippee!!
I love hanging out with B and it was so fun to have
time with just me and him in such a beautiful place.
I took him back to the poke bowl place for dinner.
Then we walked around Waikiki for a bit.
They have really pretty stores with gorgeous window displays.
Me and my boy!
Aren't these fun?
Even the planters are cool.
You don't see these at home.
And, as expected, everything is pretty expensive there.
$19 for a bag of gummi bears???
The next morning, I was up before sunrise again.
I woke up B and we hit the road for our
ONE day together on the island.
Stopped to watch the sunrise at Sandy Beach.
We were introduced to Dana and her dog, Nalu.
Dana became our best friend and told us her whole life story.
Gorgeous!
I cropped this one below our waists...
Because Nalu was in all our pics!
What the heck?
Oh, I love it so much.
Then we went on a little hike to the tiniest
little lighthouse that you ever did see--
Makapu'u Point Lighthouse.
It's a short, easy hike with gorgeous views.
And we could see whales from up there!
It was AMAZING!
B had his good camera and took a few
awesome pics for us.
When I was here the day before, there were people
snorkeling and that's where I wanted to bring B back to.
Unfortunately, when we got down there,
the lifeguards told us that it was too windy
and they didn't want people in the water.
Boo!
We went back to the tide pools near Wawamalu Beach Park.
While we were walking around, I FELL.
Noooo!
It could've been worse.
But my hand was cut up and bleeding pretty badly.
So we went to church early so I could
use their first aid kit to patch up my hand
We listened to choir practice and took the sacrament.
Forrest recommended stopping to try Malasadas.
If you insist!
They're a yummy donut-like treat.
Stopped for lunch at Musubi Cafe, also
walking distance from our hotel.
And also yummy.
Then we walked down to the beach to try our luck at snorkeling.
We had zero expectations because it's super busy.
We were blown away! We saw amazing fish, some of
which we'd never seen before and an adorable sea turtle.
Loved it so much!
Cool tree near the beach.
Bye, Honolulu!
We went back to the hotel to shower and pack our wet clothes up. We both caught red-eye flights home that night. It was a whirlwind adventure and I loved it so much! Apparently B did, too, because two weeks later he and Reagan came back to Honolulu! Ha!
