Hawaii 6/26/10 - 7/4/10

We got back from Hawaii this past Sunday and had all day Monday to mourn the loss of our vacation. Josh and I mourn by sleeping. We had such a wonderful trip, its hard to face reality and get back into the swing of things. I posted a bunch of pictures on facebook if you want to look, but I will post a few here along with some stories. Facebook Pictures

Josh was such a great sport going along with all of my touristy plans. When you live somewhere, you don’t usually visit local landmarks, so it was good that Josh got a chance to explore the place where he grew up. We went without a plan, but with my research/ideas and Josh’s local knowledge we managed to fit a lot of great things into the trip. So here are some of the highlights.

First off, it was so great to meet Josh’s family and friends and to see where he grew up. His Mom and Dad were so nice to us. We got to have a few dinners together, go the local Swap Meet, visit the Polynesian cultural center, and have a big BBQ at his house! We never got a picture all together, but here is Josh, his mom, and his dad.

One of my favorite things we did on the trip was the hike we did with all of Josh’s friends. We hiked to a place called Maunawili Falls, a water fall that is about 1.5 miles out. The views were gorgeous and jumping off the “HUGE” 10 foot waterfall was fun. The natural spring water was chilly though.

Can you believe Josh has never been to a Luau? We booked one at a popular spot called Paradise Cove. A bus picked us up from the hotel (Mai Tai’s all around) and took us to the Luau. Our guide on the bus was great, although Josh snickered when he was teaching us how to say Hello (Aloha) and thank you (Mahalo) in Hawaiian. Josh was the only Kama’aina on the bus. That means local…duh.

We got to the Luau and they let you wander around for the first hour to play games and view demonstrations. I made a grass flower bracelet thing and Josh practiced his spear skills. I think if we got stranded, he would definitely be able to catch me a wild boar. My hero.

Dinner was great! The main dish was Kahlua pork, which is a whole pig cooked underground on the beach. It was followed with a show with different Polynesian dances and performances. It was so fun and just enough CHEESE!

Hanauma bay is a cove formed when the ocean eroded one side of an ancient volcano, which is now a marine life preserve. (I got this info off the back of a postcard, not something I just knew so don’t be too impressed) It was so beautiful and clear. We rented some equipment and snorkeled for awhile. We saw lots of pretty fish and coral. I had to put the camera in a locker so know Haoles (pronounced Howlie) would take our stuff, so there aren't too many pictures. Hoale is a term for touristy white folk. Come on, keep up people.

By the way, did you know that Hawaii has wild chickens? I didn’t. So weird.

I think my favorite activity was the ATV tour we took of the Kualoa valley. We look so badass here, right?

It was so gorgeous and right on the ocean.

Lots of movies and tv shows where filmed there. We visited Hurley’s golf course from Lost and a spot where they filmed a famous scene in Jurassic park, the one where they duck behind a log to hide from stampeding dinosaurs.

The guide judges your skill on the atv’s and takes certain paths depending on your comfort level. Obviously Josh and I were naturals, so the guide took us on some gnarly back roads.

We also went to Waikiki, took a boat out to a sandbar, visited a Buddhist Temple, drove through some botanical gardens, drove to Pali lookout, shopped, visited Old Haleiwa town and had some world famous shaved ice, visited Dole Plantation, had some amazing Macadamia nut pancakes, and watched fireworks on the beach.

Oh, and heres a hot pic of me and Josh making out.

Later folks.