Heaven Days 4-8

Warning - massively long post ahead.

Day 4 - Thursday

Today we saw what I think was the prettiest sight in Hawaii. The Blue Pool. Getting to the pools was actually pretty amusing. We literally drove through the jungle for several miles to get to where you walk to the pool. When we got there, there was a roadblock with a sign that the pool did not exist and that it would be trespassing if we passed the sign. Mindy was insistent that it was not private land so we ignored the sign and went anyway. And I'm SO glad that we did. At first I couldn't imagine what the appeal was - we had to drive through rough terrain to get there and then had to hike across a rocky beach in flip flops to get to the pool. But it was totally worth it. The blue pool is a freshwater waterfall/pool right on the edge of the ocean. Amazing. Once again, we couldn't resist swimming in the COLD waterfall. It was really quite stunning.

On the way back to Hana we went to Wainapanapa State Park which has a black sand beach, caves that lead from the beach to the ocean and blowholes where the ocean shoots up into the volcanic rock. We packed a lunch and wanted to play in the water but the waves were pretty big and rough so we didn't get a chance to swim. As we were walking back to the car, Al and I discovered some caves that led down to the ocean. The beauties of Hawaii never cease to amaze us. On the way home Mindy and I stopped in at a roadside stand and bought chocolate covered bananas. yum! It is so interesting that all along the road in Hana, locals set up stands and sell lots of yummy food.

Day 5 - Friday

This day started bright and early with a decision to walk down to the coconut groves that is on the shore just below the house. Al and I attempted to walk down to the ocean on our first morning in Hawaii but after navigating through the cow pasture and rough terrain in our flip flops we decided to turn around and try again with better shoes. As we were getting ready to leave we just all happened to be on the deck and noticed a humpback whale breaching right in front of us. It was amazing!!!! We knew it was migration season but also know of people who look and look to see the whales and are never so lucky. We all just stood their awed as the whale breached about 8 times. Mindy was furiously taking pictures with her camera. It was so awesome.

The walk to the grove was a bit treacherous. Mindy had never been down there but knew that other members of her family that went there often. We knew there had to be some kind of path to get us down there but Al plowed us right through the jungle. It was gross stepping over massive cowpies and navigating through spider webs. Once we got there, it was really great. There were great blowholes and lots of pools filled with crabs and tropical fish. As we started to head back up to the house, we realized that there was in fact a very well defined path back to the house. On the way home Al knocked a coconut out of a tree and wanted to bring it home to eat it. He used a machete to hack away the outer husk and actually successfully got to the coconut. He tried the juice and said it was nasty and then tried to choke down some of the coconut. I don't think it was ripe enough so it wasn't very good. I think it was mostly the novelty of doing it and and an excuse to play with a really big knife.

Late in the morning Charles and Mindy dropped us off at Hana Bay where we met up with our kayak/snorkel guide. Al found this guy before we went to Hawaii and we were thrilled to have someone take us out while we were in Hana. Neither of us had ever been sea kayaking or snorkeling before but we LOVED it. It took me awhile to get the hang of paddling the kayak but it was awesome. We kayaked out to a reef in the middle of the bay and then we just dropped over the side of the kayak to snorkel. We were surprised at how easy we took to the snorkeling (not that it is hard) and loved swimming around looking at the beautiful tropical fish. I will have to post pictures from that part of the trip later, after we get our underwater camera developed. We went out with one other couple who have traveled and snorkeled extensively and they said that after Fiji, Hana was the best snorkeling they had ever done. We had an awesome first experience.

On the way home we wanted to stop off at a roadside stand run by one of the members of the Hana branch. Unfortunately by the time we got there he was sold out of most of his food. Al got the Salmon and I must say it was really delicious and well prepared. We were bummed to miss out since he only does food 1 time per week. But the family was extremely gracious and performed some traditional island music for us. It was delightful to watch them perform together and people traveling on the road were slowing down to listen. We felt so lucky to have gotten a private performance.

In the late afternoon we headed to the red sand beach. The beach is unique in many ways. First, it is hidden in this cove that is difficult to get to. You have to hike a pretty high, shear cliff to get there (always scary for a heights scared person like me). The beach isn't really a "beach" in the traditional sense. The beach is made of tiny rocks that kill when you walk on them. And of course, the most unusual aspect of the beach is that it is clothing optional for some people. I guess the relative privacy of the beach makes people uninhibited. Understandably, we didn't take too many pictures on that beach. The water is very calm in the cove so Al, Charles and Mindy decided to swim. I was still pretty wiped out from the other activities of the day so I decided to relax on the beach. The guys were climbing around on some rocks and the next thing I knew, Mindy was waving frantically at me and yelling for me to bring Charles his shoes. He had sliced his foot open on a rock while climbing around. We still had to hike back to the car and his foot was bleeding pretty bad so I sacrificed my tshirt and Al ripped it up and tied it around Charles' foot (really, it was no sacrifice, it was a sick, grubby tshirt that I have had for years that Al has been bugging me to chuck). We made our way to the cute little Hana Clinic (where Mindy had already been that day to have her stitch in her hand removed) where Charles received several stitches. It was a tiny clinic but was in all honesty one of the most quickly handled medical emergencies I have ever seen. Poor Charles was stuck in socks and shoes for the rest of the trip.

Day 6 - Saturday

We had a much more laid back day today. We chilled at home for awhile and then headed in to town to have lunch at the Hana Restaurant. Afterwards we hit Hamoa Beach (the best play beach in Hana). I have to say that when Al goes to the beach there is really no lounging and relaxing for him. He is all about the waves, all the time. He was a maniac on this trip with hours of body surfing. I think he LOVED the waves in Hawaii after having a few low key beach trips in the past few years. This is him body surfing at Hamoa. And he did this for several hours this day. Mindy, Charles and I hung out on the beach, trying to get a little bit more tan on our last beach day. Mindy and I finally swam out to a more quiet part of the beach and swam around for awhile. I read lots of magazines and finished a couple books I had been working on. It was a great relaxing day.

Day 7 - Sunday

Today was our last day in Hana. We were all so sad to be saying goodbye to our long planned and anticipated trip in Hawaii. We spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry to get the house ready for the next guests. Some time in the morning Charles was online and announced that there had been an earthquake in the Solomon Islands (about 3000 miles away from Hawaii). Charles immediately started to check websites for Tsunami information. We found out that there was a Tsunami advisory for Hawaii and I immediately freaked out. I had visions of leaving my children parentless. It was horrible. Of course, my freak out was short lived as the advisory was called off within the hour. But it was scary for awhile. We took a break from packing and cleaning to go into Hana to have lunch. Here are Al and I on the balcony of the house right before we drove to the airport. (And yes, I know my top looks like a maternity top, but I assure you that it is not).

This is my favorite view between the house and the town of Hana. Again, the pictures just do it no justice but it was really gorgeous and I loved that we passed it a couple times a day. We made it to the airport with no issue and said goodbye to Perschons. We feel so fortunate to have such great friends! Love you guys! Al and I took a quick flight back over to Oahu and then had a nightmare trying to get transportation to our hotel in Waikiki. It's a long story and I'll just sum it up by saying that we were both pretty grumpy when we finally got there.

Day 8 - Monday

We got up bright and early to get ready to head to Laie for the day to see the temple and go to the PCC. We got our first look at Waikiki and I honestly feel sorry for people who only have Waikiki as their Hawaii experience. Al summed it up nicely when he commented that people paid a lot of money for plane tickets to go to what is just like Southern California. But, I think a lot of people love the hustle bustle of the city but I'm glad we had a much different experience. Anyway, we picked up our rental car and drove through the interior of Oahu to Laie. Once out of the city it was really beautiful. The waves and beaches on the north shore were amazing. We first stopped by the temple and were just awestruck by how beautiful it was.

We had a little tour of the visitor's center by one of the sweet sister missionaries and walked around the grounds. We were really sad that we weren't able to do a session but the temple was close on Monday, of course.

We also drove up to BYU Hawaii but didn't have time to really get out and look around. We finally got to the PCC and started our tour of the facility. It was awesome. Definitely something everyone should do at least once in a lifetime. We had purchased a tour package that included a guided tour and we had a great tour guide who was a freshman and BYU-H. He did a really great job and had a fun personality. We were able to meet a lot of other people in our group and made some funny connections (another couple from Seattle and a family from a remote area in CO where Al served part of his mission). We really loved seeing all the different villages, seeing the canoe pageant (each of the 7 islands have a canoe and native music/dancers - amazing) and the night show was incredible. Here are Al and I during our canoe ride.

The thing that impressed me the most about the PCC and Hawaii in general is how dedicated the Polynesian people are to each other and to their cultures. It made me a little jealous of how they are so steeped in the traditions of their forefathers that are centuries old. It was really impressive and I felt a longing to stay and learn more about them. Our only complaint of the PCC was the food at the luau. We definitely thought it was overpriced for what we got. But overall, we had an excellent experience.

We left Laie and drove straight to the airport. We had an uneventful but long flight back to Seattle on the red eye.

Overall, we just had the best time. I'm sure you can tell for how much I've raved in my posts. Also, I have tons more pictures (all thanks to Mindy) that I need to download off of Al's laptop. I will add more pictures to this post later so check back!!