Oahu: Part 2

Posted on June 2, 2015 by sandersnm

After a couple days of volunteering, it was the weekend and time for some hiking! Our goal was to do some of the hikes that we didn’t get to do while we lived there. The first one we started with was the South trail to Kaena Point. We had taken the North trail a few times but hadn’t ever explored the South side. Our drive there was stunning. It was our first time to that side of the island and neither of us realized how pretty it was!

Just beautiful!

Very open trail. Lots of sunscreen was needed!

Really cool rock bridge.

Abandon truck along the way.

Incredible view looking back.

Albatross inside the sanctuary.

Monk seals!! Josh’s first time seeing a monk seal! I took many pictures.

After a pretty awesome trip to Kaena Point, we were both starving and went straight to get some poke at our favorite – Ono Seafood.

Poke!

We went back to the apartment and showered before deciding what to do for the evening. We decided on eating at House Without a Key at the Halekulani hotel in Waikiki. We sat outside and enjoyed the amazing weather and a really great meal to end our day!

Drinks!

Beautiful sunset

Coconut shrimp

Ahi

Tomato Basil Soup

The next day, we got up and hiked Kuli’ou’ou Ridge. This is one of our favorite hikes on the island and we were really excited to get to hike it again. The view of the Windward coast at the top of a hike never gets old!

Always such an incredible view.

After the hike, we got lunch near Diamond Head at Bogarts and then had my favorite açai bowl from Diamond Head Cove Health Bar.

So delicious!

After a shower, I met some friends from BGCH for dinner at Side Street Inn while Josh did homework. We tried tons of different food as it was family style. So fun!

Mushrooms

Wings

Fried Rice

Garlic Chicken

Ahi

On Monday, we had a laundry day and then met Andy and Anna at Bellows beach to hang out. I sadly didn’t take any pictures at the beach…too much fun catching up! A great way to end our long weekend!

Family Fun at Manoa Falls

Posted on October 25, 2013 by sandersnm

As one of our last activities before Jan and John left, we hiked to Manoa Falls and enjoyed the birds, flowers and waterfall. As someone who usually hikes this pretty fast to get to the endpoint, it was so good to hike with Jan and John. Since they had never hiked it before, they took the time and kept their eyes open for exotic flowers, plants, etc., which made me slow down as well!

Pretty purple flowers on the vines.

Love this photo.

Jan and John in the tree arch.

Makapu’u Lighthouse & Seaplane Sighting!

Posted on October 24, 2013 by sandersnm

On Monday, while my uncle John headed out for a sea plane tour, my aunt Jan and I hiked the Makapu’u Lighthouse trail. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. One of the highlights of our hike was that we were at the top of the lighthouse trail when John flew by on his seaplane! I loved getting to do this with Jan. It’s great to have family and friends come visit who are elated to be there and experiencing everything. We had a blast!

Jan enjoying the sights!

First view of the lighthouse. Love the red against the blue!

Such an amazing view…gets me every time.

John flying by!

Jan and I at the top of the trail!

Diamond Head Round Two

Posted on October 20, 2013 by sandersnm

Last week, I hiked Diamond Head for the second time with my mom and Josh. It was great, because the last time I hiked it, it was super rainy and the views were not all that wonderful. This time it was a HOT and sunny day, so the views were great and it was a decent workout! Afterwards, we headed to Diamond Head Cove Health Bar for my favorite açai bowl and then to Diamond Head Beach Park to see what it was like.

Great view of Waikiki.

My mom and I with Waikiki in the background.

Josh and I at the top of Diamond Head.

A helicopter landing. Pretty cool.

So many boats!

Lots of stairs!

My favorite Acai Bowl!

Diamond Head Beach.

Gunstock Ranch

Posted on October 8, 2013 by sandersnm

Today, we went on a field trip to Gunstock Ranch on the North Shore for fall break. We had a blast hiking, watching the kids swim and leading them around on the horses!

The pregnant goat that LOVED us!

Hiking on the ranch.

Horses!

Donkey..roaming around freely.

Fun time in the pool.

Sunshine the cat.

Jenn and Elise!

Kauai: Trip 2 – Day 2

Posted on September 17, 2013 by sandersnm

On Sunday, Josh and I got up super early to hike to Hanakapi’ai Falls. The hike is about eight miles round trip and we wanted to have enough time to come back and shower before we checked out. We were both really excited to be back on the Kalalau trail for the first time since our “first date”. We had MUCH better weather this time…no rain at all! The first two miles of the trail, we had already hiked when we hiked to Kalalau beach last year. The views of the Na Pali coast are stunning even a half mile in.

The start of the trail..the first half mile is all uphill on these boulders.

View of Ke’e beach (where we began the hike).

Beautiful morning.

The first glimpse of the Na Pali coast. Never gets old.

This was a much steeper drop off than it seems in the picture!

Hanakapi’ai Beach. This beach didn’t exist when we hiked last time.

We made it to Hanakapi’ai Beach in about an hour. It was amazing to see the beach as it was completely covered by the ocean in the winter when we hiked last year. It was practically empty when we got there.

We took a picture of this sign on the way back from our hike last time. It marks the number of people who have lost their lives at the beach.

Last time we crossed this river we had a rope tied around our waists holding us together. We also had water up to our chests and there was nothing but rushing river water and open ocean. Terrifying.

So calm.

Looking at the river on the day we hiked, you would think these signs weren’t necessary!

Hanakapi’ai Beach.

After we crossed the river, we veered to the left instead of the right to hike to Hanakapi’ai Falls. The hike itself wasn’t too bad…we crossed the river about three more times on our way to the falls and it took us about an hour and a half to get there. The waterfall itself was absolutely amazing. The most beautiful waterfall we have hiked to yet (and we’ve hiked to A LOT). It was HUGE! Definitely worth waking up early for! We spent about 15 minutes at the falls and then started on our way back. Most people hike there to swim and enjoy the pool, but we didn’t have time to stay that long. Maybe next time!

An old wall at the beginning of the trail.

The valley we were about to hike in.

Giant frogs everywhere!

HUGE bamboo. Tons of different groves of it.

More warning signs.

The first glimpse of the falls.

Amazing.

There was one other person there. He is standing closer to the falls. I took a picture with him in it to show how large the waterfall is.

We found a cat on the trail back. So sweet!

After we finished our hike, we headed back to the hotel to quickly shower and change. We were both starving, so we visited Kauai pasta. It was so delicious, but we were so hungry I completely forgot to take pictures of our amazing food! After stuffing ourselves, we headed north again to visit the Kilauea lighthouse. We visited this last year, but it was under renovation. I wanted to go back and see it now that all the renovations were completed. Surrounding the lighthouse is a bird sanctuary. It’s absolutely stunning with water on all three sides of the lighthouse and beautiful birds flying all around!

Kilauea Lighthouse.

Birds flying everywhere.

Nene!

So beautiful!

After that, we headed to the airport to catch an earlier flight than planned. We were exhausted and ready to come home!

Dead Man’s Catwalk

Posted on September 7, 2013 by sandersnm

Today, Josh, Becca, Ben and I hiked to Dead Man’s Catwalk in Hawaii Kai. It’s a quick hike that is paved for most of the way and is almost entirely uphill. It has a really unique, beautiful view at the top and luckily for us, it was a gorgeous day. Definitely a fun, efficient hike I would do again!

The start of the hike from the neighborhood.

The incredible view!

Enjoying the view of the windward coast.

Dead Man’s Catwalk!

Lanai: Day 3

Posted on September 5, 2013 by sandersnm

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

Posted on September 4, 2013 by sandersnm

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.

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 :).