Hawaii: Part 2 (The Waipio Valley)

I think of all the areas we visited on the big island and Oahu the Waipio Valley area was definitely our favorite.  Now we might be a little biased seeing as how that is where we ended up getting married.  But at the same time, there's a very obvious reason why we chose the Waipio Valley as our elopement sight...I mean, look at it:

Perfection and paradise are the words that come to mind.  After seeing pictures of the area and reading up a little about it's history and legends, I found out that there was a tour that went down into the valley (which can only be accessed by a very steep, winding road that requires 4WD and has an average grade of 25%) and that there was a B&B that sat on the rim, overlooking the valley.  I was sold!  I fell in love with it immediately, before even seeing it in person.  And lucky for me Antoine was totally on board with eloping there!

So we were both very excited to head to the Waipio Valley on Saturday.  We had plans to take the Waipio Valley Tour and then check into the Waipio Rim B&B!  Unfortunately, on our way to the tour the GPS decided to take us down an unmarked, unpaved road which was slightly terrifying and made us late for our scheduled tour time.  But the tour people were super cool about it and there was room for us on the next tour.  Since we now had a little time to spare before the next tour started we headed over to the Waipio Lookout (where the above photo was taken)...

(Left) View of the Waipio Lookout, the road on the left leads you to the B&B where we stayed and also to the super steep road that takes you 2,000 feet down into the valley.  (Right) This requires a little explaining. The main reason Antoine was nervous about our upcoming nuptials was because he was concerned he wouldn't know how to pose for the photos.  He kept joking that he didn't know what to do with his hands, which if you've ever seen Talladega Nights you'll get!  If you don't know what I'm talking about watch this.

After snapping some photos at the lookout and taking in the gorgeous view, we still had extra time before the tour started so we just started driving around. It's a pretty small area so we shortly stumbled across this cute, little park.  It was basically just a field with some trees and a couple picnic tables, but it was next to a pretty ranch and you could see the ocean and the valley.

A prime example of what happens when I have the camera (left, pictures of random natrure-y things that have no real purpose) and what happens when Antoine takes the camera hostage (right, pictures of me making faces or being weird). 

That's better!  Look at my hip soon-to-be-husband, looking all kinds of cute in his Ray-Bans.

On our way to the tour we spotted this cute little gecko, they're everywhere in Hawaii!

Time for the tour...

(Top left) The tour met up at the Waipio Valley Artworks, which had a great selection of art, books, and souvenirs.  (Bottom left)  The tour consists of a guide driving you down into the valley in a large 4WD van (with the doors and windows open), showing you around the valley and telling you about its history.  It's pretty cool!  The only bummer was that the tour does not take you down to the beach (I don't think they can, legally).  (Right) A sleeping hibiscus flower from the valley which I pressed and kept!  Unlike other hibiscus, the sleeping hibiscus blossoms never fully open.

Two of the many waterfalls in the valley, though only the one in the center was really flowing when we were there.  Our tour guide shared a really touching legend about these two waterfalls with us.

(Top) One of the many taro farms in the valley.  The conditions in the valley are ideal for growing a variety of crops, fruit trees, and other plants.  (Left) One of the types of fruit that grows in the valley is the noni fruit.  Our tour guide found us some ripe noni to try.  It was one of grossest things I've ever tasted...it smelled/tasted like sour Jarlsberg cheese in fruit form!  BLECH!! 

(Left) The tour took us through several streams, some of which can get really high and are not passable.  (Right) Our fantastic tour guide taking pictures of us in the van in the middle of the stream!

We loved the tour and I'd recommend it to anyone.  It was definitely worth the price!  We originally thought that the tour would take us to the valley's black sand beach and were slightly disappointed when we found out it didn't.  But before we left the area we had the opportunity to hop a ride down with a local and we were so excited to get to explore the beach for a bit!

Locals were surfing, swimming, and fishing but the beach wasn't very crowded at all, which was awesome!

There's something about the valley that feels so magical.  I'm not sure what it is about it...maybe how beautiful it is, maybe all the history, or maybe it's that the valley itself isn't commercialized and feels more like authentic Hawaii.

Stayed tuned next week for a little bit more of the Waipio Valley, specifically the Waipio Rim B&B where we stayed and got married!  Happy Friday everyone.  I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 

Hawaii: Part 1

We'll call this, "Our first 24 hours in Hawaii"...yeah, that's right, I took this many photos (well more actually) in the first twenty-four hours!  And 9 hours of that was sleeping, trying to recover from a day's worth of traveling to get to Hawaii.

We spent the first half of our trip on the big island (Hawaii Island) and the second half on Oahu.  The big island was definitely our favorite of the two, and not because that's where we got married.  The big island was more relaxed and easy-going, way less touristy and crowded than Oahu.  It felt more authentic and less commercialized, which we really liked.  After a day of traveling, flying from Cincinnati to LA (with a three hours layover), we arrived in Kailua Kona around 5:30pm (on Friday).  Once we got our rental car and found some food for dinner, we checked into the Kona Reef Resort, got showers, and pretty much crashed.  The Kona Reef Resort is basically a condo unit on the beach in Kailua Kona.  It's not the most luxurious accomodations ever, but it's an affordable place to crash for the night or if your want a reasonably priced, comfortable place for a couple of days that's on the beach and is near town.

After recuperating from our travels, we woke up before the sun!  I think I woke up around 3:30am that day. But in general, while we were in Hawaii we almost always woke up before the sun and went to bed around 9pm...and I think most of the locals do too.  So, after we woke up we lounged around a bit until right before the sun decided to come up, then we went out to the beach to investigate...

You can see part of the Kona Reef on the left.  Most of its beach consisted of lava rock except for a small sandy beach off to the side (right by our room).

Plumeria, which blooms all over Hawaii and comes in a variety of colors...this being one of my favorites.

A little bit of reef I found.  Now, I think right after I took this photo is when I slipped on a rock and fell flat on my butt!  It hurt so bad, but luckily I cradled my camera as I was falling so I only had a bruised butt not a broken camera!

The sun coming up.

Little crabs EVERYWHERE!  But they were skittish and fast, so it was hard to get a good photo of them, unless they were already dead.

A better view of the Kona Reef Resort and the beautiful palm trees that lined the property's beach!

The most eventful part of that morning (besides me falling on my butt) was our very first turtle sighting!  Antoine spotted this guy among the rocks, I think he was feeding on something in the shallow waters because he pretty much stayed in one spot and would pop his head up occasionally!  It was adorable and exciting for us!

These crazy, beautiful trees where everywhere in Hawaii and their bright orange blossoms were huge!

After exploring the beach at Kona Reef and grabbing some breakfast, we checked out and slowly made our way toward the Waipio Valley (on the northern coast of the island).  Our first thing on the list was to pick up our marriage license in Kona (!!).  Once that was done we headed to the Kekaha Kai State Park, which was on the way and I had read some pretty good reviews about it.  It was a very pretty beach and I wish we had had more time there (we were on a time-crunch), BUT...the road to the beach is horrible (and kind of fun, if you have a rental car).  I had read the comments in the reviews mentioning how pitted and bumpy the road was, but boy, oh boy!  

It was an absolutely beautiful day, as it was most of our trip...though we had a little rain here and there.

I loved how the rock had been carved out by the waves over time...it actually extended pretty far out and we could have easily walked out there if we had had our swimsuits on.

The big island has a lot of beaches with lava rock or a mix of lava rock and sand.  I thought this looked really cool, especially against the bright blue water!

My soon-to-be-husband posing all cute and whatnot on the rocks!

Here's the video of us leaving the park, so you can get an idea of what the road was like...

And that's just 15 seconds...it was a long road, very winding and narrow too!

After the Kekaha Kai State Park we headed over to the Waipio Valley, which was hands down the best part of our trip!  Partly because it's where we got married, but also because we absolutely LOVED where we stayed and we loved the valley itself.  It was perfect!  So stay tuned because the next post (or two) will be all about Waipio!

Panoramic Crazy!

While we were in Hawaii I obviously had my DSLR with me most of the time, but sometimes I'd find myself putting it down or even leaving it behind to take some photos with my iphone.  Now, most of the time that was so I could post something immediately to instagram (you can see/follow me here), but I also found myself going a little pano crazy!  I mean, you're in Hawaii surrounded by these spectacular vistas, crashing waves, lava rock, green grass/mountains, palm trees, etc. why wouldn't a person go a little panoramic mad?

The beach at the Kona Reef Resort, where we crashed our first night after flying all day.

Kekaha Kai State Park, near Kailua Kona (Big Island).

View from the Kukuihaele Park, some little park we stopped at while waiting for our tour of the Waipio Valley.

Early morning view from the Waipio Rim B&B (the day of our wedding).

Evening view from the beach of the Laupahoehoe Point County Park (Big Island).

Kolekole Beach Park (Big Island).

View of the Onomea Bay from the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens (Big Island).

We stayed at airbnb places for most of our trip and this Kailua Kona one was by far our favorite (and a total steal for the price).

The Pali Lookout (Oahu).

Ka'ena Point State Park, ocean side (Oahu).

Ka'ena Point State Park, mountain side (Oahu).

Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden (Oahu).

Waimanalo Beach Park Lookout (Oahu).

Are you like me, do you love taking panoramic photos with your iphone maybe just a little too much?  Or have you never taken one?  If so, you're missing you and you need to start!   

We Eloped!

Hi, everyone!We are officially back from Hawaii and somewhat settled!  If you're not my facebook friend then you might not know that we secretly eloped while we were in Hawaii, just the two of us!  I say secretly because we only told our parents, siblings, and best friends before-hand so it would be complete surprise to all other family and friends.  Yesterday was our two week anniversary...crazy huh!?

A little info about our elopement.  We got hitched on the big island of Hawaii, overlooking the Waipio Valley.  I originally found it while we were planning, saw pictures of how beautiful it is, read a little about it (and found this tour), and knew we had to go there.  Then I found the Waipio Rim B&B and a light bulb went off in my head.  I asked Antoine, "what if we got married here, overlooking this amazing valley?"  His response was obviously, "yes!"  Now, a little about this incredible B&B (though I'll share more later).  It had/has the best reviews on Trip Advisor and the photos (like those of the valley itself) were unreal.  I contacted the proprietors, Steve and Nancy, via email to see what they thought of two people eloping in the their back/front yard.  They were so sweet and said yes!  Then we tracked down a photographer, Karen Loudon and an officiant, Cheryl...and we were pretty much done.  We wanted to keep things as simple as possible.  I got a dress from Modcloth, did my own hair (which decided not cooperate the day of, but oh well) and makeup, and went barefoot.  Antoine wore a simple button-up he got at Macy's on sale and some khakis.  Easy-peasy!

Here's some of the sneak peek photos we've received from Karen...

I was kind of terrified to get in the swing, but those photos ended up being my favorites.

There's our elopement in a nutshell.  So far, since we've been back, people have been so congratulatory and happy for us.  I've been blown away by everyone's generosity, just like they've been blown away by our ability to keep a secret.  I think eloping was the absolute best way to go for us.  Neither of us likes to be the center of attention and we don't like parties really, so the idea of a normal, traditional wedding kind of made both of us freak out.  Plus, what better way to celebrate your love and relationship than just the two of you, without all the stress and commotion?  I'll probably have another post about our wedding day later, maybe once we get more photos back.  Until then, happy Monday and stay tuned for a huge wave of Hawaii photos.  I took nearly 3,000 photos this time around and spent a good part of my weekend organizing and editing (and barely made a dent...so there's much to come.