Hawaii
I will now talk about Hawaii. Carolanne and I were in Hawaii for two weeks: one week in Oahu (the most populated island) and one week in Maui.
Our first day on Oahu, we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We did the Maze, which was kind of silly, especially because it was like 99 degrees out. My favorite part about the plantation was the Pineapple Whip, which was dairy-free! We also had some of the most amazing fresh pineapple, as well as a sample of Noni Juice. The Noni Juice lady was like "Try some. It is reminiscent of Bleu Cheese." WHAT?!! That made me want to throw up, but I tried it anyway. Eh. After that, drove further north and decided to go wherever the wind took us. We saw a few cars parked ahead and a sign for a beach, so we decided to take a dip. Little did we know, this beach was a favorite of sea turles! They were as huge as hula hoops! We weren't supposed to get close to them, but one totally creeped up on me from behind and scared the crap out of me! Later, we drove to a nearby town called Hale'iwa and had an awesome Thai dinner on the porch at a cute, trendy little place.
Honu is the Hawaiian word for sea turtle!
We went snorkeling three times. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it because I wear glasses, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that optical goggles exist. Two of the three times, we went to Hanauma Bay, where we saw lots of cute, little colorful fish. One time, these two huge (1.5 feet long) translucent/blue fish circled us several times. They were so beautiful, but I seriously thought they were about to eat us. Or maybe they were just curious. The last time we went snorkling was with a group from our hostel in Maui. It was truly magical. The water was super-deep, maybe 20-30 feet, which was scary because I was half-expecting a whale or shark to come up to me about be like "what's up?" That didn't happen, though. We saw some beautiful, colorful coral..purple and yellow and red..and big, beautiful fish. There were lots of pufferfish in the water, which was a little scary because when they puff up, they're kinda poisonous. I saw a sea turtle swimming maybe 10 feet below me.
Hanauma Bay.
We didn't like our Maui hostel at first, but we loved it by the end. They had a jacuzzi and hammocks to lay in, but the actual town we stayed in was boring. At least we had a car. My favorite part of Maui was this tiny town called Pa'ia. Really, it was just because they had an awesome vegetarian vietnamese restaurant called Fresh Mint. We went there several times. Their food was so flavorful and incredibly fresh. Mmm. I also loved going to the top of Haleakala, which is a volcano. It was freezing cold up there! It was so cool to be above the clouds and not, like, on an airplane.
Haleakala
While on Maui, we drove the famous Road to Hana. We re-named it Road to Hell. It was a terrifying, narrow twisty road along the side of huge mountains. Ocean on one side, mountain on the other. This was pretty much while the hurricane hit the Big Island, which meant that it was raining and the ocean was fierce. It was 60 miles long and it took us 3.5 hours to drive, one way. That was a long fucking day. There were some highlights, though: we saw a black sand beach, the 7 sacred pools, many gushing waterfalls, and we got Taro burgers from a roadside stand. The sign said "Vegan Burger" so I was real psyched. But, it came with cheese. Real Cheese. I could tell. It stunk. WTF? I held in my tears and scraped it off while gagging, managing to salvage maybe half of my burger. Bad day.
Road to Hana.
So, it was a really great experience. I liked Hawaii more than I thought I would. We were SO productive. We seriously drove ALL OVER both islands. The one thing I regret, though? Not finding out where LOST was filmed before we went! We pretty much drove right past it!
Our first day on Oahu, we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We did the Maze, which was kind of silly, especially because it was like 99 degrees out. My favorite part about the plantation was the Pineapple Whip, which was dairy-free! We also had some of the most amazing fresh pineapple, as well as a sample of Noni Juice. The Noni Juice lady was like "Try some. It is reminiscent of Bleu Cheese." WHAT?!! That made me want to throw up, but I tried it anyway. Eh. After that, drove further north and decided to go wherever the wind took us. We saw a few cars parked ahead and a sign for a beach, so we decided to take a dip. Little did we know, this beach was a favorite of sea turles! They were as huge as hula hoops! We weren't supposed to get close to them, but one totally creeped up on me from behind and scared the crap out of me! Later, we drove to a nearby town called Hale'iwa and had an awesome Thai dinner on the porch at a cute, trendy little place.
Honu is the Hawaiian word for sea turtle!
We went snorkeling three times. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it because I wear glasses, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that optical goggles exist. Two of the three times, we went to Hanauma Bay, where we saw lots of cute, little colorful fish. One time, these two huge (1.5 feet long) translucent/blue fish circled us several times. They were so beautiful, but I seriously thought they were about to eat us. Or maybe they were just curious. The last time we went snorkling was with a group from our hostel in Maui. It was truly magical. The water was super-deep, maybe 20-30 feet, which was scary because I was half-expecting a whale or shark to come up to me about be like "what's up?" That didn't happen, though. We saw some beautiful, colorful coral..purple and yellow and red..and big, beautiful fish. There were lots of pufferfish in the water, which was a little scary because when they puff up, they're kinda poisonous. I saw a sea turtle swimming maybe 10 feet below me.
Hanauma Bay.
We didn't like our Maui hostel at first, but we loved it by the end. They had a jacuzzi and hammocks to lay in, but the actual town we stayed in was boring. At least we had a car. My favorite part of Maui was this tiny town called Pa'ia. Really, it was just because they had an awesome vegetarian vietnamese restaurant called Fresh Mint. We went there several times. Their food was so flavorful and incredibly fresh. Mmm. I also loved going to the top of Haleakala, which is a volcano. It was freezing cold up there! It was so cool to be above the clouds and not, like, on an airplane.
Haleakala
While on Maui, we drove the famous Road to Hana. We re-named it Road to Hell. It was a terrifying, narrow twisty road along the side of huge mountains. Ocean on one side, mountain on the other. This was pretty much while the hurricane hit the Big Island, which meant that it was raining and the ocean was fierce. It was 60 miles long and it took us 3.5 hours to drive, one way. That was a long fucking day. There were some highlights, though: we saw a black sand beach, the 7 sacred pools, many gushing waterfalls, and we got Taro burgers from a roadside stand. The sign said "Vegan Burger" so I was real psyched. But, it came with cheese. Real Cheese. I could tell. It stunk. WTF? I held in my tears and scraped it off while gagging, managing to salvage maybe half of my burger. Bad day.
Road to Hana.
So, it was a really great experience. I liked Hawaii more than I thought I would. We were SO productive. We seriously drove ALL OVER both islands. The one thing I regret, though? Not finding out where LOST was filmed before we went! We pretty much drove right past it!