Hawaii: Part 11 (Pineapples & Plumeria)

As you can tell from all my other posts, when it comes to vacations Antoine and I tend not be the most touristy of tourists.  And that was especially the case when we went to Hawaii.  We didn't go to the beaches and lay out in the sun for hours.  We didn't go surfing, snorkling, or anything like that.  We didn't go to a luau or the Polynesian Cultural Center (because it's run by Mormons...nothing against Mormons, but that just took away all the authenticity for me).  Instead, we went hiking, went to botanical gardens, and did the non-touristy things we typically enjoy when we go on vacation...with the exception of three things.  We did get tiki drinks in Honolulu before heading home, we did visit Pearl Harbor (I'll cover that in my last Hawaii post), and we did go to the Dole Plantation.  Really, the Dole Plantation was THE most touristy thing we did on our entire trip, at least in my book!  But we knew that is was going to be...and really, we were mainly going for the dole whip!

Here's the thing about Dole, the main stuff is free...the gift shop, cafe, and pineapple garden.  Where they get you is with all the other stuff...train ride, pineapple maze, etc.  None of which we did, so our trip was free...well, except for the stuff we bought in the gift shop (which is horrendously overpriced) and the delicious, delicious pineapple soft serve!

Antoine showing off his hula and his uni-boob!

Pineapples everywhere!

We were totally in awe of these trees, which were all over the property...I mean, look at them!  They're so pretty!

After we checked out Dole, we walked next door to a smaller, more quaint pineapple plantation which was completely free and had gardens filled with kitschy stuff like this...

I made him pose and then he made me.  Is this married life?!

...and foo dogs...

...and roses

...and a giant pineapple, of course!

On our last day in Hawaii, before heading to Honolulu, we stopped at this pull-off for a bit to take in the view of the windward coast one last time...

Then we headed over to Koko Crater Botanical Garden, another one of Hawaii's beautiful, free gardens/parks.  We didn't stay too long since we hadn't had breakfast yet or put on enough sunscreen...but that didn't stop me from taking a ton of flower pictures...

Did I mention that Koko Crater has an entire grove of plumerias?!  It smells amazing!

I think this might be one of my favorites!

Alright, one more post to go!  It's the final stretch, you're almost there!  Stay tuned tomorrow!  Then instead of Hawaii posts it'll go back to the usual: flowers, bees, and maybe some pictures of a certain basset hound named Cheese. 

Hawaii: Part 9 (Ka'ena Point State Park)

Yesterday I shared our first day in Oahu, which was pretty relaxed and low key.  For day two I had a little more planned!  We started our morning off right by walking to Moke's Bread and Breakfast, which was only a couple blocks away from where we were staying.  I had read that their lilikoi (passion fruit) pancakes were amazing so I was eager to try them...unfortunately, there was a passion fruit shortage while we were on the islands.  Insert sad face!  But as a substitute they were serving up mac-nut pancakes, which were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  See for yourself here, though the picture doesn't begin to capture just how magical they were!  If you're on Oahu definitely make a trip to Kailua for some pancakes at Moke's, because they are awesome (and I know my pancakes!).  Plus, our waitress was probably the nicest person we encountered on the whole island!

Anyway, after breakfast we made our way to the most western part of the island, Ka'ena Point State Park.  I had read great things about the park and that it was THE spot to see monk seals, but that the hike was a little intense because there is absolutely no shade.  Eh, who needs shade?  Who me...the pale white girl who burns just looking in the sun's direction?!  Nah!  I'm good, I've got my SPF 70, I'll be fine! [Lies, all lies!]  As I kept saying to Antoine..."ADVENTURE!!"

When you're hiking on the trail to your left are these beautiful, bright green cliffs/hills...

...and to your right is gorgeous, blue ocean!

Hiking selfie!

The ocean side is kind of a mixed bag...most of it is rocky with tidal pools (like this) and walk outs but every once in a while you'll come across a nice little beach area.

Here's the cute, private little cove where we decided to take a break and go swimming!

A lot of the trail was mud from some previous rain they had, but it was quickly baking in the sun, which I thought was kind of neat...

A rock with bits of coral embedded into it.

We hiked for about 5 hours...it was pretty intense!  And the whole time I kept saying "ADVENTURE!" the whole time, until the end because I was just plain exhausted.  We didn't get to see any monk seals, which was a bummer.  And this is the hike that left us both so badly sunburned that we were miserable for the rest of our trip.  FYI, Antoine didn't put on any sunscreen (BAD!) and I put on two thick applications of SPF 70 and still burned!  Not fair.  But even with the sunburns and the exhaustion I had a great time and I'd definitely do this hike again!  There were only a couple other people there and I loved the bright blues and greens and the crashing waves!  I'd definitely recommend it, but bring a sun hat and the highest SPF you can find and apply it every 30 minutes!

Well, that's it for this week.  And yay because today is essentially Friday for me (and I'm guessing most people out there)!  It's been a long week and I'm so ready for three days off!  We really don't have any plans this weekend, besides me resting up my back.  Have a great 4th everyone!

Hawaii: Part 8 (Our First Day in Oahu)

Before planning our trip to Hawaii I had always assumed that you could easily hope between the different islands via a ferry.  But as it turns out, that is not the case.  Really the only way to get from one island to another is to fly, which I was initially bummed about.  But in the end it wasn't bad at all.  We got tickets for about $70 each and it was the shortest and prettiest flight ever!

Once we landed in Honolulu the first thing on our list, after getting our rental car, was to grab some lunch at Hank's Haute Dogs (a Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives spot).

Their food truck that was parked in the parking lot next door.

The crazy mural beside the parking lot!

We each got a dog (I got the chili dog and Antoine got the fat boy) and then we shared some onion rings and fries.  Sorry I didn't get a photo of the actual hot dogs...I might have been a little hungry.  Everything was tasty, but my favorite things were the garlic aioli and the furikake ranch dipping sauces!  They were amazing!

Also, while we were eating we were being stalked by this guy!

And after a while his friends joined him...it felt a little like The Birds (except instead of smoking cigarettes we were eating hot dogs).

After lunch we made our way to Kailua where we stayed all four nights we were on Oahu...and I'm so glad we did.  Neither of us really cared for Honolulu or Waikiki.  It was too congested and felt far less authentic to us.  But Kailua was a nice alternative to staying in the capital, since it was only about 30-40 minutes away and still had plenty of places to stay, eat, shop, and go to the beach.  For our first two night we stayed in this adorable little micro-house, which was great!  It was quiet and comfortable and within walking distance of a lot of great food options.  After we checked in a got settled we hoped in the car and headed down the coast to explore for a bit.

I think this is from the Wawamalu Beach Park.

I think this is at the Halona Blow Hole...maybe?

Awesome little swimming area that was teeming with sea turtles.

And I have no idea where this photos are from...it was just a small beach park that we decided to stop at and dip our feet in the water for a bit.

And then we say a rainbow, which is always cool (and apparently very common in Hawaii...since it's on their license plates).

Isn't it crazy that it's already Wednesday?!  I totally meant to have a post for you on Monday, but the last couple day/week have been rough.  Apparently, my fall the first day of our trip did a little more than just bruise my tailbone...it apparently left me with an inflamed disk in my back that has been causing me a bunch of grief over the last couple weeks.  But I'm on the mend and back to posting, so yay!