Sky of Blue, Sea of Green: Hawaii Part Two: Playtime

So we weren't weeding and stuff the whole week. We also managed to squeeze in all of this during our seven days in paradise:

The Polynesian Cultural Center

This was my second trip to the PCC but I could probably go six more times. We visited New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, and snuck in a canoe ride. We also got dinner and saw the night show! One of my most favorite places.

Beach Time

What with all the service we were doing, most of our beach time happened in the evening. But luckily it was Hawaii so the water's always warm! The beach we were living on was gorgeous, so we spent most of our beach time there. But we did venture to another beach (thank you McDonalds employees for the advice) one day that was equally stunning. I think we were able to go swimming five different times, which is pretty good considering our schedule! I know there are prettier, and certainly more famous, beaches on Oahu but we were really lucky to have one as our backyard and to see the sunsets and sunrises from our camp. Our beach also seemed to be a popular place to learn to surf, so there were many near-death experiences dodging surfboards while swimming and boogie boarding. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Snorkeling

We got to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay which was a dream come true! I have never snorkeled somewhere where it was so easy to see...everything! You didn't even have to try. You just stuck your head under the water and ta-da! Tropical fish galore. Some people in our group even saw turtles. We snorkeled for quite a while and made it out pretty far into the water which was so dreamy. Thank you, fishes, for sharing your home with us for a few hours! That gray mound in the first picture is a Hawaiian monk seal.

Hiking to Maunawili Falls

If you are super daring, like a couple people in our group, you can jump off a huge cliff into a tiny watering hole. Or you can just jump off the shorter rocks, like I did, and it's still fun. What a beautiful spot!

Car Time

We spent a lot of time driving back and forth across the island, which gave us time to enjoy each other and the gorgeous scenery! There is no where I would rather drive.

Pearl Harbor

This one's kind of a downer, but I did love the ferry ride to the Arizona. Fun fact: I'm a sucker for ferry rides. I didn't realize how much oil is still in the harbor, and we also learned that there are cases of oil still waiting to burst. War is not good for living things! That is all.

Out to Eat

We had every meal planned, but still ended up eating out a lot and getting treats because we couldn't pass up the delicious opportunities all over the island. Our dining adventures included Hawaiian food at L&Ls which was suggested to us by kids at the Boys and Girls Club and was divine. We went to the one in Haleiwa which is the most famous surf city on earth, basically. I would also suggest the mahi-mahi at Zippy's, suggested to us by our shuttle driver. At Zippy's we also indulged in an orange waffle that was literally gone in 38 seconds. And of course you can't go to Hawaii without multiple servings of shaved ice, pineapple ice cream from the Dole Plantation, AND Chocolate Macedemia ice cream in Haleiwa.

The moral of the story is...ask the locals!

Swap Meet

Honolulu hosts a big outdoor flea market type thing outside of the stadium. We sure got some attention in our matching "I love boys who volunteer" shirts. I'm not a big shopper, but I am a big fan of being outside and free samples of GREAT food. It's all about the food.

Our Last Night

We made the most of our last night on the island by taking a nighttime trip to the temple, making s'mores and kabobs on the beach, and swimming in the dark ocean. Which was still warm at midnight, by the way!

Yurt Life

It's time we discuss our living situation. Let me backtrack and talk about the first night we got to Hawaii. We had been flying all day and time traveled four hours ahead. We had to get our rental vans and spend longer than planned at WalMart, scanning $600 worth of groceries TWICE. We got to our campsite at 2 am Hawaii time...6 am SLC time. We were beat, and we still had to hike our luggage through a jungle to get to our....wait for it....yurts. Things always look pretty bad in the dark. We thought we were going to get attacked by the wild cats, or worse. We went through a lot during the next few hours, and when Lauren, Kenna and I finally got into our wet, scary, cold bed, it was 4 am. In Hawaii. We rolled out of bed just an hour and a half later and looked everywhere for a bathroom, only to find that there wasn't one. Things were not looking good, but then we saw the sunrise! So...still in the clothes we wore on the airplane...and slept in...with 90 minutes of horrible sleep....we took a beach walk. And I was a happy camper! Literally.

We ended up getting to spend two nights in a cabin...which was just as gross but had a toilet and shower so to us it was a 5 star resort. Then we ended up getting kicked out and almost arrested for trespassing and breaking in. So it was back to the yurts with all the chickens, one legged roosters, and stray cats.

But honestly? We fell asleep to the ocean, so I wouldn't have traded our view for a more comfortable bed. Plus, our living conditions included the bonus feature of getting to use the word "yurt" on an hourly basis.

One last thing I would like to share....on our way home we had a stop in L.A. We were taking a tiny airline to SLC, so our terminal had absolutely no restaurant options, only vending machines. Some of us were very upset by this and dying of hunger. Lauren put her dollar bill into the vending machine, and before she pressed any buttons, pork rinds came out. She put in another dollar, pressed the wrong buttons, and potato skins came out. The two grossest things possible in the vending machine...that's my girl! I am mostly documenting this for myself because it makes me laugh so hard.