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Lanai: Day 3

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On our last day in Lanai, we decided to do a hike and check out the Lodge at Koele (one of the two Four Seasons on the island). We started our morning with breakfast at Hotel Lanai and then walked about a mile to the Lodge, as the trail started behind one of the two golf courses there.

The Lodge at Koele. Beautiful!
Love the architecture of this building.

We hiked the Koloiki Ridge Trail at a pretty brisk pace as we had to get back for Becca and Ben to catch the shuttle to the harbor. We wanted to make sure we had time to get stuff together and maybe grab a quick snack before we all left Lanai. It turned out to be a beautiful hike! We weren’t expecting much, as we had done everything else on the island. It was recommended by someone staying at Becca and Ben’s b&b as something fun to do but not a necessity. It turned out to be a blast and a great workout! We got a little lost on the way back, but still made excellent time.

Josh found a pinecone!
Becca, Ben and Josh hiking the trail.
Naio Gulch.
Absolutely love this picture.
Beautiful view of both Molokai and Maui on Koloiki Ridge.
Maunalei Gulch.
Becca admiring Maunalei Gulch.

After our hike, we stopped and had smoothies and an açaií bowl at Anuenue Juice Bar & Cafe in Lanai City before heading our separate ways. Becca and Ben headed for the ferry to Maui and Josh and I enjoyed wandering around the shops looking at different things before we headed to the airport. It was such a great trip and even though I feel like we successfully crossed off this island, I would LOVE to go back!

Açaí Bowl
Smoothie special of the day…I can’t remember exactly what was in it besides chocolate, chia and cinnamon.
A memorial for the fallen soldiers from Lanai from multiple wars.

Lanai: Day 2

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On our second day there, we got up and had breakfast at our hotel before venturing out for some more off-roading. We had granola, fruit, coffee and orange juice.

Our breakfast at Hotel Lanai.

Our breakfast at Hotel Lanai.

After breakfast, we met Ben and Becca and headed to our first adventure of the day in the jeep…the Munro Trail. We were hesitant about this trail because the rental car company said it was closed to jeeps. However, after much research we established that it could be driven and that people did it all the time. It turned out to be the easiest off-roading adventure we had our entire time on the island. It also was the prettiest!

Looking into an offshoot of the Munro Trail.
The incredible views begin…
Josh and I.
Ben and Becca.
Becca and I in the back of the very dusty jeep. We were covered in red dirt.
The Munro Trail.
Random gate that we went through to check out the view.
Pretty awesome view from the jeep.
The Munro trail marker at the end.
Trees along the highway…Ben’s favorite thing.

After the Munro Trail, we headed back to Lanai City to grab some stuff for a picnic and headed toward Shipwreck Beach (Kaiolohia) on the northeast corner of Lanai. We sat on some rocks and enjoyed the views of the 1940s oil tanker that still sits on the reef today after being beached there for the past 70 years. We also were joined by numerous sea turtles hanging out in the water near us. Quite a surreal lunch!

The sign before Shipwreck Beach. I love this picture.
So awesome!
Becca making us lunch!
Enjoying lunch!
Love this one!

After having a peaceful lunch with the turtles, we headed to South Lanai to do some snorkeling along the beach at Hulopoe Bay. Ben had never been snorkeling, so it was a first for him (even though he’s scuba dived). We got some great video footage of our snorkel adventure!

Hulopoe Beach Snorkeling Video

The view of Hulopoe Beach on our way to Pu’u Pehe Rock.

After a couple hours of snorkeling, we hiked a short trail to the left to Pu’u Pehe (Sweetheart Rock). I was expecting it to be a cool iconic rock, but we turned the corner and were blown away by the how striking it was. There is a reason it is one of the most photographed places on Lanai. We walked to the top of the cliffs (where someone was actually proposing right as we got near the top). We had a great view of the small beaches down below. We could also see some of the bright yellow fish we had seen snorkeling earlier from all the way up there (about 100 feet).

Panoramic of Pu’u Pehe.
Small beach.
A long drop!
Looking back at the beaches.
Sea cliffs near Pu’u Pehe.

After climbing back down from viewing Pu’u Pehe, we packed up the jeep and headed back to Lanai City. We returned the jeep, showered and got ready for dinner at Lanai City Grille (which conveniently for us was located in our hotel). I had read nothing but great reviews and wanted to make sure we made a stop here on our trip. The restaurant did not disappoint! We all split entrees and they were still huge portions! It was a great last evening on our vacation :).

Josh and I’s appetizer: Crab Dip with Tortilla Chips.
Becca and Ben’s appetizer: Ahi Poke Tacos.
Pecan Crusted Fresh Mahi Mahi that Josh and I shared.
BBQ Baby Back Ribs that Becca and Ben shared.
Dessert! LCG Bread Pudding.

A Walk in the Country

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On Saturday, a few of my coworkers and I volunteered at BGCH’s biggest fundraiser of the year in Ko Olina. We took a few of our awesome kids as well. It was a beautiful event!

The beautiful set up.
Windward clubhouse staff and kids.
Gorgeous sunset!
The event in action.
Maureen, Jenn and I enjoying our shave ices!

Tripler Ridge to Haiku Stairs

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On Saturday, we hiked Tripler Ridge to Haiku Stairs. This is a hike that Josh and I both wanted to do, but hadn’t done yet (we’ve both hiked the stairway at night/early a.m. but not hiked to it then down it during the day). Since Bailey and Kyle were here, we thought it would be a great time to go so they could join in on the fun. Josh’s friend Tony also volunteered to come and be our tour guide since he had just completed the hike a few weeks before. It turned out to be one of the BEST hikes on the island yet. It took us about six hours to complete from start to finish. We hiked from Tripler hospital up the mountain on the ridges and back down the Haiku stairs on the other side of the island to Josh’s car (which Tony and Josh had staged the night before). It was EXTREMELY muddy and we were covered by the time we were finished (Bailey and I maybe slipped and fell a few times…). The views were unbeatable from the top and the pictures can’t even begin to do them justice. With the views, came a few scary portions along the ridge. We definitely put Kyle’s fear of heights to the test, but he made it the whole way without any issues! It was such an awesome way to spend a Saturday and we could not have asked for better weather!

The beginning of the hike looking through the fence at Tripler.
Bailey hiking through the woods.
The start of seriously scratching our legs up. TONS of thorns!
Kyle…he didn’t even know what was ahead of him yet :).
Pretty picture of the valley.
Cool moss along the trail.
Cool tree along the trail.
Josh hiking under a tree.
Group shot!
I think this picture is hilarious. Josh and I are both making ridiculous faces.
Bailey and I tended to be a bit slower as we were trying not to fall…so we stopped and took a selfie :).
Love the shadows of the clouds on the mountains.
Kyle and Josh hiking.
Hiking into the clouds!
Kyle concentrating!
The trail looking back.
Kyle doing a celebratory dance at completing part of the hike. Little did he know what lied ahead.
Incredible views before the scary ridge hike to the top of Haiku stairs.
Bailey and I.
Bailey and Kyle.
Josh and I holding our blow pops that Bailey provided for all of us!
Love this picture. Waiting for Kyle to join us.
Cousins plus Josh!
Josh and Tony..holding hands…
The start of the tough stuff…my favorite part!
Heading towards that power line.
Kyle and Bailey hiking along the ridge.
Looking down!
Made it to a bit of a platform with some old radio tower or something.
This looks much less scary than it actually was. it was SUPER steep and even I started to freak myself out a bit. Josh said “pause right there”. Oh ok no big deal Josh.
Bailey climbing along.
We made it to the top of the stairs!
SUPER muddy. Somehow I think I was the worst out of all of us.
Josh making PB sandwiches at the top…it was difficult b/c it was SO windy.
LOVE this one!
Starting to head down the stairs.
Loving spending time with her!
Bailey heading down the stairs.
The H3 tunnels and highway.
Heading down.
First platform on the way down.
View of Josh’s base.
Tony leading us down.
Pretty flower along the stairs.
A piece of the wooden ladder. What the stairs used to be made of…that would be terrifying!
The bottom of the stairs looking back up!
Josh and Tony in the bamboo forest.
The bamboo forest…where I slipped multiple times the first time I hiked the stairway
The entrance to the stairway.

Atlantis Submarine

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On my last Monday field trip for summer, we went to the Atlantis Submarine in Waikiki. I was actually pretty excited about this, because they go about 100 feet under water to the reefs below to check out the marine life off the coast. The water was pretty cloudy, but it was still awesome!

View of Waikiki from the boat on our way to the submarine.
The submarine.
Diamond Head.
First sighting of fish!
Our submarine.
An old plane. It didn’t crash down here, they placed it down here as part of the artificial reef for wildlife conservation.
All the bubbles as we rise up to the top!

The Day of the Honu

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This past week, I had friends visiting Oahu after the wedding in Maui. On Saturday, we did the tour of the North Shore and on our way stopped at a beach close to Haleiwa to check out all of the sea turtles (Honu). There were probably about 20-30 turtles in the water that we could see and many of them came up on the shore. I hadn’t ever seen anything like it and am so happy I got to see these unique creatures up close while I live here!

Loved this one!
Turtles of all sizes in the water.
Thinking about going back in….

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 3

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Laura and Jim’s Wedding Day!!!

On Monday, we woke up and headed down to have breakfast at the resort. After that, Josh and I drove to La Perouse Bay to hike around and see what it was all about. It was beautiful, but very windy. Snorkeling is supposed to be great in the bay, but the ocean was pretty rough. On our walk, we saw several goats just hanging out on the beach and in the wooded area. It was kind of hilarious to see goats hanging out on the beach. I feel like that would happen only in Hawaii.

The bay.
Looking towards Haleakalā.
A little sea arch.
Tiny beach. I loved this little beach. It looked so small compared to all of the black lava rock around it.
Goats!
Goats like the beach too.
One day he will learn to like having his picture taken.
Looking at the storm clouds coming in.

After we got done with La Perouse Bay, we went back to the hotel to grab lunch at the pool bar and then got ready for the wedding! We went to the wedding around 4:00. It was in such a gorgeous location! Everyone looked so beautiful and it could not have been more perfect! I am so incredibly happy for both of them :). Towards the end of the night, Laura and I even got to dance to our song (Wouldn’t It Be Nice by the Beach Boys). The night could not have been more perfect for the two of them!

The backdrop for their wedding.
They did it!
Colleen and I.
Josh and I.
After the ceremony.
Rainbow!
First dance.
The food was amazing!
Me, Laura and Colleen. Boiler up!

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 2

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On Sunday, we woke up and had some time to kill before I hung out with Laura. We drove down to where the road ends at La Perouse Bay to see if it was something we wanted to check out on Monday during the day when we had more time. After that, we headed to Kihei to have lunch and to meet Laura. Since I didn’t get to go to her shower or to her bachelorette party, I wanted to treat her to a pedicure and spend some quality time with her before the wedding. Josh and I had a quick lunch at Cafe Olei and then I met Laura.

Lettuce Wraps
Maui Onion Soup

 

After getting our nails done, we headed back to the hotel and had a drink at the pool bar before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. It was so good to sit and catch up with Laura. After that, we changed and headed to the Wailea Beach Villas where her parents were staying for the rehearsal dinner. Her uncle had made AMAZING food and we all got to enjoy it in the beautiful surroundings of the villas. After dinner, a few of us wandered to the beach area to see the views. We got to see the sun setting behind Lanai. We then went to catch the shuttle back to the hotel, but missed it…so we ended up walking three miles in the dark, many times without a sidewalk. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you don’t exactly have the right shoes and are carrying leftovers from the dinner, it was a loooonggg walk. We had all had a lava flow upon our return and then headed to bed :).

The sun setting on the beach.
The view of the pool and the beach at Wailea Beach Villas.
We walked all the way back to the hotel with some leftover pasta salad. It was quite comical at this point.
My delicious drink with Laura at the pool bar.

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 1

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On Saturday, Josh and I arrived bright and early on Maui to celebrate my friend Laura’s wedding. Our plan was to meet them around 9:30 to do the Four Waterfalls hike on the Road to Hana. Since we landed a few hours before that, we decided to stop in Paia for breakfast and to kill some time. However, before we even made it out of the airport Josh’s bag decided to quit on him. In a matter of 30 seconds he had all three straps break. First, the carry strap, then he picked it up by the handles and one of them broke and then finally we started walking again and the last one broke. He had to carry it the rest of the way without any handles. This early in the morning, we found it absolutely hilarious as it just disintegrated in front of us.

Josh and his disintegrated bag in the Maui airport.

Josh and his disintegrated bag in the Maui airport.

We headed to Charley’s in Paia because we were starving and it had great reviews for breakfast. I ordered the breakfast burrito and Josh had an omelet. We had planned on sharing (thank goodness) because mine was HUGE. I ate about 1/4 of it and made Josh eat the rest. All of it was delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone. To top it all off, it is Willie Nelson’s favorite place for breakfast and we are 98% sure he walked in as we were finishing and hung out at the bar.

Delicious Orange Juice.
My giant breakfast burrito.
Josh’s Omelet

After breakfast, we changed and headed towards Hana to where we would start our hike. The hike would take us to four waterfalls. Two of which you could see staying dry. If you wanted to see the third and fourth waterfalls, you had to swim. We came prepared with our dry bag so we could take our camera to take pictures. We met up with everyone (SO HAPPY to see some of my best friends) and then started the hike. There were about 20 people total of friends and family that had come for the wedding. We hiked to the first and stopped for a bit to take pictures, then continued to the second to take more pictures. After that, we hiked up a ladder (with the help from a few ropes) then boulder hopped to the stream where we had to jump in to swim to the third waterfall. It was a BLAST!!! We all jumped in and swam up to the third waterfall. After that, we had to climb the falls and boulder hop again upstream to get to the final and biggest of the falls. It was beautiful! But I will say, the journey is what made it so fun. It was a great hike to do with a big group of people. See the pictures below!

The first waterfall with everyone hiking over boulders.
The view downstream from the first waterfall.
The second waterfall.
Brent and Colleen at the second waterfall.
Laura, Colleen and I at the second waterfall.
The beginning of the boulder hopping.
People starting to boulder hop after climbing up the ladder.
The fourth waterfall.
Swimming at the fourth waterfall.
We were a large group!
Fourth waterfall.
The beginning of the hike was almost all bamboo forrest. It was beautiful.
Loved this picture looking at the sky.
A little bridge we had to cross over to get to the first falls.

After returning from the hike, we changed and drove back through Paia for lunch. We stopped and ate at the Paia Fish Market. It was delicious! Josh had a sandwich and I had blackened cajun fish. We then wandered around the town and headed to our hotel in Makena to check in and take much needed showers.

My blackened cajun chicken. Delicious!
Josh’s fish sandwich.

We checked in and then headed over to Big Beach to hang out with everyone for the rest of the day. It was beautiful and the sun was setting. After that, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We all met at the bar in the hotel to just hangout and eat. I had one of the best cocktails ever (Dancing Koi). I don’t even know what was in it but it was fantastic. After hanging out and dinner, we all called it a night and headed to bed. It was a long day!

Big Beach
Laura and Jim hanging out on Big Beach.