Oahu, Hawaii (Dec 2014)

Last Christmas I took a trip to Hawaii to get away from the cold and gloom of Washington (although in hindsight, we had a mild winter in Ellensburg). I spent half a week on Oahu, and half a week on Maui. I ended up completely falling in love with Maui, but Oahu was nice too. Since I’d already been to this island once before, I skipped some of the main sights such as Pearl Harbor and the Dole Plantation.

The first full day I was there, we got rain. It ended up being kind of nice because Waikiki was deserted. I had the whole beach almost to myself except for about 4 other people. And the water felt so warm!

Later that day I took a little drive along the coast.

The following day, I made friends with 2 women from my hostel and together we went to Haleiwa on the North Shore. This was a town I’d really enjoyed visiting with my aunt 5 years before.

We went to Laniakea Beach (known to be a great place to spot sea turtles coming ashore). Last time I came I did see one come ashore. This time we saw 3 swimming in the surf but I’m not sure you can tell in the photos.

Upon returning to Honolulu, one of my new acquaintances went back to the hostel while myself and Janet decided to hike up Diamondhead. The view at the top was spectacular! I was so glad I did it.

Once at the bottom, we rewarded ourselves with snow cones.

Later that evening, I enjoyed some Ahi Poke at LuLu’s – delicious food and an amazing view! Where else can you sit at an open-air table overlooking the palm trees and water of Waikiki?

Finally, I explored some of the Christmas lights around town with my 2 new acquaintances.

The next day, after relaxing for the morning at Waikiki, I had a flight to Maui. The plane I was on was tiny – it sat 9 passengers total! The low altitude flight made for wonderful views.