Hawaii just makes me love life, everything about being there was Boss and I am definitely going back some day. It is soo worth it and the vacation is sooo nice, especially when you totally got the hook up and you are staying with a military family.

Sooo for my spring break trip (Hiking, rock climbing, and caving) down in Tennessee I said that I was going to do a play by play of the days one at a time. I only got through day one, so this is my Hawaii adventure all together all of the days in a row. Hopefully it won’t be that long.

Day 1 Airport Day-

Well I can’t say that we did get off to a good start because when M and I were buying our tickets to Hawaii to make a long story short, we did not get the same flight and had to fly down and back separately.

But, the good thing is that both of our flights left almost at the same time and so we were able to go to the airport together and come back together which was very nice to say the least. My plane departed at 8:35am and her’s departed at 9:05am. We both had one layover and then continued on over to Hawaii.

I made a lot of friends at the airport because I am just that person. I saw a man carrying eukolale’s and convinced him to play a song even though he wasn’t going to Hawaii, I talked with a family of Germans, and I met a women named Pat who works in D.C. that was going down to Hawaii to stay at her friends condo. (VERY GOOD VACATION). My seat partner on the plane had a lap baby named Audrey and we had one seat in between us which was definitely nice and we had a lot of room, even though I could not sleep AT ALL on the way down. M arrived at Honolulu 3 hours before me and was picked up by Eryn who game her a real lai and showed her around some before it was time to come back and get me.

After I was picked up we went back to her house for dinner which was very good, homemade meatballs with pasta, and we talked with her family getting to know them.

Eryn was also interning with another girl down there that didn’t really have a place to stay and she is in the forensic science program at our college so Eryn decided to let her stay with us, which was nice. Overall when we got to Eryn’s house we were utterly exhausted and decided to go to sleep shortly afterwards.

Day 2- Pearl Harbor

On Tuesday morning, Eryn and Rachel woke up early for work and M and I were both up early because its a six hour difference from the East Coast to Hawaii and we couldn’t sleep any longer, so we decided to get a head start and go over to the Arizona memorial earlier, then hit up the mini museum, the battleship Missouri, and the Aviation museum. All of these were quite interesting, and quite sad, they made me cry a little and I was fascinated by all of the history I learned there. I also bought a book at the small store at pearl harbor about the search for truth for the Captain of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. exciting!

At the aviation museum, which as it turns out, is only a few streets away from Eryn’s house which was nice because then we could just sneak off and walk over there since you aren’t allowed on base without a special pass, and then we could go back and get lunch and wait for her to get off work. We convinced one of the guides there to take us out to a back hangar where we saw an F-14!!! In case you are unaware that’s the plane that Tom Cruise flew with Goose in Top Gun, which was really exciting, and I called my dad to tell him the news. He was impressed.

Later that day we went with the girls when they got off work to Kailua beach where we relaxed and I got my first taste of clear waters. I love clear Water!

ALL OF US!!!

After that we went to a local restaurant for some Kilua pig which was way to salted and pretty bad, but O-well. Local food is local food. After that we headed home and pretty much called it a night.

Day 3- The Aquarium and Hostel

Day 3 we were up early again and we headed out as soon as we prepared our bags for a three day trip. We had previously booked a hostel for two days so that we could get a feel of the night life and this hostel was one block away from Wakiki beach and only $25 dollars a night. Sooo worth it.

We got up and left to catch the bus in the hopes that we would be able to find Wakiki beach in the morning and the aquarium later on. Well, as it turns out we got off at the wrong bus stop, the one for Ala Monoa mall, so we walked around there and found a beach right across the street and decided to hang out there for a few hours before we continued our search for downtown Wakiki.

We ended up having to change into our bathing suits in a park and and relaxed all afternoon it was a good day. After I had enough of the sun, we set out in search of the aquarium to check out the fish they have there. After talking to a helpful bus driver, we were able to find the aquarium and as it turns out it was located on the strip of Wakiki beach right by our hostel. That was good news. We went in and enjoyed the fish, I loved the Jellyfish!, and then headed back to check into our Hostel. We arrived at the street by luck and actually walked to the wrong one at first so we had to go down the street a few feet to get to the right one. After checking in we got put into an all girls dorm but when we went there every bed was taken. That was ridiculous so we went back down and asked to be put into a Co-ed dorm with less people. The man liked us, so he did as we asked and when I opened the door to the new room I got my first look at Constantine. Constantine, from Munich Germany, doing a world tour and stopped at his second stop Hawaii, to do some surfing.

Now I was loving life. After we got all of our things unpacked, we went downstairs for a BBQ with people form the hostel and then went walking along the strip of Wakiki beach which only had Designer stores that I can’t say I’ve seen in person! That was exciting and I took lots of pictures.

When we arrived back at the hostel we decided that we were exhausted and were going to bed. Constantine had three friends over that were each extremely hot in there own way and I was loving it. Let’s see, there was Sam from Germany working in Vancouver, Elyas from Germany doing a world tour as well, extremely funny, and Steven from Switzerland, a speaker of German and cute in his own way. After talking to them for five minutes they decided to go smoke out on the porch. I was so exhausted I fell asleep and didn’t wake up till the morning.

Day 4- Diamond Head

Again we were up early, but this time it was planned. We woke up and got our book bags ready then set off to climb to the top of Diamond Head the huge volcano they had as a headquarters for the Navy in WWII. We set off from the hostel and ended up hiking all the way to the top from there which was quite a long walk and by the time I got to the top of it, for only a dollar, I was breathing heavy and sweating profusely. The view from the top was absolutely magnificent. We loved it and you could see the coral reef in the ocean. Soo worth it.

After hiking and taking a bus we came back to Wakiki and decided to hit up this beach today. One thing I can say about Wakiki beach is that its absolutely positively jam packed with people. I was loving it that day, but to be honest that would not be a top pick for me everyday of the week.

We arrived back at our hostel and there was another edition in the night an Australian boy named James, again extremely hot, and he was still there and he wanted to come down to the beach with us so I happily obliged him by saying of course.

We went down there and took boggy boards then swam out hoping to catch a good wave. M is deathly afraid of sharks and it was hard trying to get her into the water which is funny but we did and she freaked out the whole time which made it even funnier. We all laughed alot, well minus M.

What I didn’t realize is that as soon as  you walk into the water two feet you hit reef and it is extremely hurtful to your body. I didn’t like that too much so I had to swim out really far so that I didn’t hit the reef in such shallow water. After we swam out for awhile, we came back and laid out on th beach trading stories and enjoying the sun. I was really really liking James. haha. If I ever head over to Australia for a visit, I’m definitely planning on hitting him up.

Then, I remember I had brought a pair of my swim goggles so I decided to head out and see what I could find in the sea. As soon as I headed out just a little I could already see fish and it was very exciting. After swimming out even more I saw a family of Angel fish and started freaking out. James was laughing and I showed him the fish with my goggles. I was loving it. Then when I least expected it, I somehow caught a wave body surfing style, and I lost my goggles in an instant. I was very sad. After a few more hours I opted to go back around 1:40 so I could watch game four of the Stanley cup finals. James came with me and he was actually catching a flight to Canada that night so we only had a few more hours together.

AUSTRALIAN JAMES AND I.

We watched the game then headed up for showers. M came back and got ready as well since we were meeting up with Eryn and Rachel for dinner. We said our goodbyes with James and then he headed out and so did we to meet up with them.

M had found this really great looking restaurant that was located in the bottom of a hotel, and it was a fancy place with a huge aquarium in the center of it so that while you were eating you could watch huge fish and stingray’s swim around while we ate. When we arrived we were informed that they were only serving the buffet and it was 40 dollars. We decided to live it up and get it and it was one of the best buffet’s I’ve had in my life. We even got to see a show when a scuba diver jumped in to feed the fish. He was loving it and we enjoyed the whole show. After dinner we walked down the strip again and stopped for a drink then Eryn and Rachel headed home.

When we arrived back at the hostel M decided it was time for her to go to bed and so she fell asleep quickly and I went and got some beer and came back to have a few drinks before sleeping. Constantine was there and he asked me if I wanted to go down to the beach and hang out with his friends. I totally did and told him I would go. I was totally crushing on Sam and so we walked down and I talked with all of them, showed them how to give someone goosebumps and we just hung out. Sam was catching a flight back to Vancouver the next day and that was sad, but he had to go so we enjoyed the time we had and then that was it. A very good two days in a row with very good looking boys. I was extatic. You don’t come by that in my small town. haha.

Sam and I!

Day 5-Snorkeling

We rose early again, packed all of our things and then headed back to the Ala Moana mall to meet up with Eryn. It was kind of hard since the mall is huge but I said nothing and waited for her to find us. Then we headed over to Hanuma Bay for some serious snorkeling which I was sooo excited for. On the way we stopped at this scenic view of big rock craters that were quite awesome, and Eryn told me that they had shot a scene from Lost here. That was quite exciting. We got tons of pictures then went over to Hanuma Bay which was right up the road. After watching a video and getting our snorkel gear we were our to sea and we used the budee system, a fail safe way to stay which a budde by means of popping your head out of the water and screaming budee at the top of your lunges until you get a response.

I was loving the snorkeling, M was afraid as usual but she still went out which was good. At one point, I was swimming along a ledge of reef when it dropped off and as it dropped down I was swimming across and almost collided with a sea turtle. WOW! That was an awesome sight to see. It was huge and M, Eryn, and I followed its progress for a good while. We were loving it.

We saw beautiful schools of fish and all kinds of awesome things. soo worth it. After coming back to relax on the towels a chicken and a rooster were running around on the beach. SAY what!?! A chicken and a rooster which we obviously had to get pictures with them so I ran around trying to get in the pictures but they kept running away. Finally I gave up and laid down on my towel. Then, these two Chinese girls came running up to us screaming and I jumped up. As it turns out, chicken laid an egg on the beach!! We all started screaming and taking pictures  and it was extremely funny and quite hilarious.

Chicken Laid and egg, on the BEACH!

After snorkeling we went back to Eryn’s, got ready and then went to a hotel for some appetizers and drinks although we were really going because we heard a thing on the radio that said 60’s and 70’s music and we wanted to dance it up. When we arrived we realized that we were the youngest people in the whole place and that was awesome so we danced it up anyway with all the older guys and gals. It was great fun and there were quite a few Japanese people there that were funny as well. After that we went to a Hawaiian style diner for dinner and then to a frozen yogurt place for some frozen yogurt. That was the end of our 5th night.

Day 6- STOMP Market and Luau

In the morning we went over to the stadium where the pro bowl is played every year because 3 days every week, they set up shops around the stadium making one big giant flea market. Here we bought all of the things for friends and family and enjoyed our morning bartering for good deals.

After we went back for lunch, watch part of game six of the stanley cup finals, then headed out to Paradise Cove for our scheduled luau. Now this was great fun. They had all kinds of events before dinner which we attended and these included learning out ot hula dance, watching a guy climb a tree, watching hula girls dance, and watching the roasted pig be carried away so they could prepare it for dinner. The dinner was huge and very good and we got a little toasty this night with all of the drink tickets we somehow got ahold of from some people who didn’t want them. After dinner there was a huge show, a beautiful sunset, and gorgeous dancer’s. They even had fire dancers!

Self Explanatory.

Day 7- Surfing Lessons

For four hours on Sunday I battled with my inability to surf and to this day right now I still huge welts on my arms and legs from the surfboard rubbing on my body. We had a 45 minute lesson over at Hickam airforce base, then we headed out on a small boat with the two instructors to give it a spin. Well I did stand up a few times but I failed miserably more times then I succeeded and I wiped out big time. It really sucked having that rope attached to your foot because when I fell off the board I didn’t want to be pulled along with the board and die because I couldn’t get air. Overall I still would have done it knowing what would happened, but I probably won’t be trying that again anytime soon.

On the plus side, I finally used the surfer shirt I bought during senior week in 2005. I just wish it had long sleeves so then my arms wouldn’t have so many chafe marks.

Pre Surfing, looking like  pro… on land.

After the surf lessons and too many wipeouts to count, we headed back to Eryn’s to get ready for a Sushi dinner with her family. It was soooooooo soooooo soooooo good I loved every second of that and we just ate it all up. At the end Eryn’s family had to pay and definitely didn’t want them to so we tried to give them money but they refused and there was nothing we could do. We then headed home for our last night at Eryn’s house as tomorrow evening we would be catching a plane home.

Day 7- Kayaking, Japanese Temple, The return trip

In the morning with got a ride with Eryn and Rachel to work and while they went in on the job, we went to the hickam beach near where our surf lessons were and we laid out in the early morning, then we went and rented some kayak’s for 5 dollars and hour. Totally worth it. We paddled out and around and it was very enjoyable. We took pictures with the waterproof camera and M ruined her phone by bringing it out and getting it in salt water. It was a terrible idea but hey, I can’t be responsible for it. haha.

At lunch we then got a ride to the bus stop and we caught a bus to a japanese temple that was filmed on lost season one as the engagement place of the two Japanese characters. I can’t remember there names.

We walked to it and it was extremely breathtaking and there was a huge budda in the temple. There were large amounts of coy under the bridges and the birds would eat the fish food right from your hands. I was loving every second of that trip. After a few hours at the temple we headed back to the bus stop and started getting frustrated because the bus was not coming. Needless to say, I started freaking out and we ended up getting a bus back to the other side of the island and Eryn and her mom picked us up at Aloha tower. We went back to the house, got our things together, ate a quick dinner of slow cooked beans her mother had made, and then we headed out to the airport.

At the airport I practically ran through customs and to the gate where my plane was leaving from and that was scary but I made it. I got on the plane sat next to my seat partner J who had been in Hawaii for a magic tornument and then we took off shortly after. Once in the air I decided to sleep through the night and thank God I did.

Day 8- Homebound

After arriving in the place that I had a layover I ate some food, and prepared for the next flight. I boarded that second plane, fell asleep instantly and when I arrived back in my city, I got off the plane and walked out the door. My dad was right there waiting, so I got my luggage and headed home. I was back in my small town hours away from Hawaii in just over a day and a half. My trip was at an end, but the memories and friends I met along the way made for extrememly enjoyable experience.