Hawaiʻi Five-0

Our last day on Oʻahu.

To check out of the condo, we just entered a code in the keyless entry to let them know that we were leaving - totally contactless! We would definitely stay here again!

Then we drove over to Diamond Head Market and picked up some goodies from the bakery.  Clockwise from the top left:  Diamond Head torte (peanut butter cheesecake, chocolate pudding, bananas, Oreo crust), chocolate ganache cake, blueberry cheesecake scone, and lemon crunch cake. Although we are all about the food, dessert for breakfast is a little much, even for us. So they all went straight into a cooler bag for later enjoyment.

Climb Every Mountain

One of the things that was on our must-do list for Oʻahu was a pillbox hike. So after we finished lunch, we drove over towards the windward side of the island to tackle the Kaʻiwa Ridge Trail up to the Lanikai Pillboxes in Kailua.

Mighty Mo

Remember how I said that tours to the USS Arizona Memorial were set to resume in time for our tour today? 

Well, yesterday the NPS posted on their Facebook page that all programs out to the memorial have been paused "out of an abundance of caution." Since the safety concerns were in regard to the shoreside dock, we wouldn't even get the opportunity to board a shuttle boat for a "float by" viewing. So disappointed! 

Time for Plan C - visiting the Battleship Missouri Memorial ("Mighty Mo") instead. 

Rainbow Connection

R was up and out the door early this morning so that he could get malasadas from Leonard's Bakery for the fam before the lines got too long. What a guy!

And in case you were wondering if the four of us ate all of those malasadas in the picture, the answer is "NO!" He bought enough to share with his cousins, who were coming over to visit today.

Backup Plan

Knowing that tours to the USS Arizona Memorial have been cancelled in the past due to high winds or dock repairs, when I made reservations eight weeks ago, I bought tickets for both today and Monday, just in case. The cost was minimal ($1/person), so it was well worth it to give us two shots on goal.

As it turned out, all tours out to the memorial were suspended the day we arrived on Kauaʻi because the shoreside dock required repairs. I have been stalking the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Facebook page for updates ever since. Yesterday I saw a post that visits were set to resume tomorrow. Yay!

So, our backup plan for today was a scenic auto tour around the island!

Island Hoppers

K is usually on her way to work by 7:00AM, so the boys got up early to take a pic with their cousin since we were flying to Oʻahu today.

After saying our goodbyes and packing up the rest of our stuff, we decided to head to the airport early, return the rental, and wait in the terminal until our 9:35AM Hawaiian Airlines interisland flight. 

Surf's Up!

R's cousin A arranged for surf lessons for M and J with his buddy Kevin, owner of Heʻe Nalu Surf School. Since Kevin scouts out several locations for the best conditions each morning, we were up early, eagerly awaiting the notification about where to meet up. By 8:30AM, we were at Kalapaki Beach in Lihue. A was already there, ready to go out on his foil.

End to End

We were out the door early this morning to visit Waimea Canyon and Kōkeʻe State Parks. It was raining steadily as we drove around the southern end of the island, but when we stopped at the Hanapepe Valley Lookout, we were treated to this sight.

Totally Tubular

When I started planning out our itinerary, one activity I really wanted to do was mountain tubing. The pics I've seen of friends floating through irrigation ditches looked so fun! The 10:00AM tour was the only thing we had on the schedule for today, so we didn't have to be up too early since it would only take us about 15 minutes to drive to Hanamāʻulu. (Stupid chickens didn't get the memo! Grrr!)

After we checked in with Kauai Backcountry Adventures, we were provided with helmets, head lamps, and gloves. Then we boarded the truck with the rest of our tour group and headed up to the lands of the former Lihue Plantation.

Up the Creek

Yesterday we saw so many different varieties of wild chickens roaming the island and thought they were really fun.

This morning at 3:00AM, not so much.  

Hey Siri, can you kill feral chickens on Kauaʻi?

Cock-a-doodle-booooo...

The Garden Isle

One thing to love about UCLA being on the quarter system is that the boys were finished with their finals on December 10. This meant that we could time a trip to Hawaiʻi before the prices on lodging and rental cars went up for the holidays. Another incentive to traveling off-peak would be avoiding crowds (and hopefully COVID!)

On the topic of COVID - all four of us have been vaccinated and boosted, so we were exempt from having to pre-test or self-quarantine upon arrival per the state's requirement. United even had a customer service counter in the terminal at LAX where we could show our proof of vaccination to get a wristband to bypass the verification line after landing in Lihue.

Aloha, A Hui Hou...

Since we're taking the red eye back to the mainland tonight, we got almost an entire day as a bonus to our time on the Big Island. Rather than finding another spot to snorkel and having to pack wet swim stuff in our suitcases, we decided to hike out to Kīholo Bay instead. The scenic viewpoint just off Highway 19 gave us a great view of the bay...

Find Your Beach

No rush to get out the door this morning since our only plans were to go to the beach. Instead of breakfast at the hotel, we went to 808 Grindz Cafe. There was a bit of wait to get seated, but it was worth it! R was the only one who ordered something we hadn't already eaten on the island.

Macadamia nut pancakes

Ring Around the Island

There was no need to get breakfast after we checked out of the hotel because R's cousin gave us a big bag of "made in Hawaii" snacks last night. Maebo's One-Ton Chips are my new favorite!

Kona Chips were a big hit, too!

Before leaving Hilo, we stopped at Big Island Candies to buy some of their signature dipped shortbread cookies to bring home. Added bonus - free samples!

Last stop - Two Ladies Kitchen to fetch more mochi. Pre-ordering is definitely the way to go, since we could skip to the front of long line that had already started forming this morning. Their strawberry mochi is so good!

Another Day in Paradise

Our itinerary for today included a couple of popular tourist spots, so we were out the door early to beat the crowds. Since our hotel stay didn't include breakfast, our first stop was Hawaiian Style Cafe. Two of us had boring run-of-the-mill dishes, but the other two ordered more local fare: Kalua hash (left) and Hawaiian sweet bread french toast with, what else, SPAM!

Lava, Lava Everywhere

We got another early start this morning, because we were moving to another hotel on the Hilo side of the island and spending the day at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park along the way. 

But in reality we were late. Eleven months late, to be exact. Erupting nearly continuously since 1983, the last time Kīlauea actively emitted lava at the surface was in early September 2018. How cool would it have been to see molten lava?! From a very safe distance, of course. Bummer.

Sleeping with the Fishes

Of all of the things we wanted to do during our time on the Big Island, night snorkeling with manta rays was at the top of our list. R's cousin and her family were on the Big Island a couple of weeks before and had a great time doing this, so we decided to use the same tour company, SunLight on Water.

📸: J

Kohala Coast

In planning our trip to Hawaii, our friends recommended that we download the Shaka Guide app for the Big Island. It is an audio tour guide that uses your phone's GPS to automatically play the segment that corresponds to where you are, complete with turn-by-turn directions, suggestions for places to stop, and even music for traveling in between points of interest. There were five tours covering different parts of the island, so we bought the whole bundle for $9.99. 

Our destination this morning was Pololū Valley on the northern tip of the island. The drive along Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway was gorgeous! The Kohala Coast tour audio kicked in once we passed by the resorts at Waikoloa. The tour narration was really interesting, and the app worked well (offline, so no cellular data needed) - totally worth the price paid!

City of Refuge

After our paddling (mis)adventure, it took awhile for my seasickness to subside. So as I waited to get my land legs back, the guys loaded our stuff into the car. Then we left Nāpōʻopoʻo and continued south to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau NHP.

☑ Park #153 for me, #151 for R, and #148 for the boys

Under the Sea

Kayaking was one of the things that was on the boys' must-do list. So I made reservations for two double kayaks (no time limit) with Bay Side Adventures. We've done it once before as a family as part of a ranger program at Whiskeytown NRA, but that was on a lake. With Hurricanes Erick and Flossie passing by the Big Island within the past few days, I was concerned about the ocean being rough. They assured me that Kealakekua Bay was sheltered, and that the water was calmer in the early morning.

If you say so...