03/01/2023 From Calgary, Canada to Hawaii, USA

Hawaii – here we come!

With two kilos less in our backpacks but two kilos more on our hips, we were off to Hawaii 😊. Our first flight was at 6.20 a.m.. We both had a déjà vu from almost six months ago when we sat at the exact same gate going to Costa Rica – the first country on our world trip – not knowing about all the incredible adventures that would await us in the next few months.

Boarding without us?

We nearly missed our second flight in Vancouver, where we had 1.5 hours to get to the international gate. Technically, it would have been enough time to get there. However, I got held up at the security check since they double checked my bags. By the time we were done there, boarding had already started. But we still had to get through customs. After some waiting time, I got through immediately, but it took longer for Blake. When I turned around to see what took him so long, I saw him go into an office with the man from customs! At this point we had 15 minutes until our flight was going to take off!

Keep calm

Usually I’m pretty late (very un-German of me). But when it comes to flying I make sure I’ll be there extra early. “Understandably”, I was in a full on panic mode here! I was close to tears (okay, I cried). So I sprinted to the gate to tell the ground staff that my boyfriend might take a little longer. When we only had ten minutes left until take-off, I was already going through flight alternatives in my head.

Mature as usual

And then Blake came running through the door towards me. In my head he came running in slow motion with some romantic music playing in the background. In reality he was sweating like crazy and I was sobbing when he finally reached me. I’m such a grown up!

But we did have a happy ending after all: We both made it onto the plane and together we were (more than ever) ready for some relaxation at the beach with probably multiple cocktails after this adrenaline ride. 

O’ahu, Hawaii

Aloha!

After six hours and hardly any turbulences we made it safely to Hawaii – unfortunately without Blake’s backpack. Fortunately, Blake’s friend Jon picked us up from the airport who we were going to stay with for the next six days. Still running on 1.5 hours of sleep, Blake and I only managed to do a little walk along the beach that ended at a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner.
Luckily, Jon’s place is only one street away from the beach – we couldn’t wait for the next few days here!

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04/01/2023 O’ahu, Hawaii

Rainy day

And then we woke up to rain in the morning. It worked out pretty well for Blake as a “very important” American football game was on TV. Somehow, I have the feeling that all sports games are “highly important” to Blake 😉. Lucky for him, his friend Jon is a sports fan, too. So he finally has a buddy that can share his enthusiasm with over sports.

The glass is always half full

Instead of being sad about the bad weather, I put on my raincoat and went for a walk along the beach. When I got to the end of the beach, I turned around and was in full awe: There was a huge rainbow above the palm trees right in front of me! I totally would have missed that if I had stayed at home all day. Sorry Blake😉.

No more restaurants for us

Since prices are “a little” higher on the island than in Bolivia, we wanted to buy most of our meals from the supermarket (which is still expensive, but cheaper than eating out). After watching sunset at the beach together, Blake and I enjoyed our supermarket-sushi (me) and salad (Blake – at least it had meat inside for him).

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05/01/2023 O’ahu, Hawaii

So generous

Besides letting us stay for free at his place, Jon was so kind to let us borrow his car for our time on the island. His wife Mel even took the bus to her work today so that we could have the car all day. Guess we need a bigger thank-you-gift for them than just chocolate and alcohol 😉.

Go on a road trip around the island

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On the way to North Shore, we stopped at different lookout spots. And all of them were stunning! The road went along the coastline, from where we had amazing views almost the entire time.

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Eat at one of the many food trucks

We also stopped at a few food trucks that all sell (very expensive) smoothies, acai bowls, seafood and other tasty stuff.

Explore North Shore

At North Shore we first relaxed at Sunset Beach Park and later on at Waimea Bay Beach Park.

Go surfing

…or watch the surfers catch some big waves

North Shore is known for its great waves and surfing competitions. While we relaxed at the different beaches, it was fun to watch the pro-surfers catch some big waves. This time we decided we’d leave the bigger waves for the real surfers 😉.

Watch sunset at Sunset Beach

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It was such a fun day exploring the island and stopping at different viewpoints!

Finally some clean clothes for Blake again

When we got home, we found out that it could: Blake’s backpack finally got delivered (after they had dropped off the wrong bag first – a black suitcase instead of a red backpack?!).

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06/01/2023 O’ahu, Hawaii

From 0 to 100

Hike up Koko Head

Although it is a short hike of 1.4 miles, it is grueling with an extreme incline that will have you doubting you can ever reach the top. A relic of World War II, the military constructed Koko Head Railway to transport supplies and soldiers. The site has had many functions until it was finally passed onto the City of Honolulu and became Koko Head Regional Park in 1966.”

hawaii-guide.com

When we hiked downhill again after an hour at the top, we could already feel our legs burning.

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Hike up Lanikai Pillbox

The next hike was in Lanikai. The beach on this side of the island was much calmer than at North Shore, but also seemed more turquoise! It was beautiful! Luckily, this hike wasn’t as hard as the first one, but the views from the top were just as breathtaking, if not more!

Expensive supermarket costs

On the way home Blake and I stopped at a supermarket to buy some groceries for the BBQ tonight with Jon and Mel to thank them for their generous hospitality. It wasn’t much that we bought. But in South America the two of us could have probably eaten out for more than a week for the same price!
Even though Blake and I love eating out, it was actually fun “cooking” again after six months of eating out in restaurants. The small things in life 😉.

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07/01/2023 O’ahu, Hawaii

Very sore

Blake and I woke up with very sore legs from the two hikes yesterday. I guess after all that eating and relaxing in Canada, our bodies were just not used to being active anymore.

Visit Waikiki

So many people

In Waikiki we walked along the famous Waikiki Beach. However, in comparison to all the other beaches we have seen on the island so far, this one wasn’t anything special. But it was by far the most crowded beach! I guess location matters as all the big hotels and shopping malls were right here.

We walked a bit through the streets and looked at different shopping malls, before Mel gave us a ride home again.

“Me-time”

Since Blake and I are mostly on the go, I came to appreciate my “me-time” aka down-time so much more! So when the boys watched one of those “very important” American football games on TV, I used the time to walk down to the beach to have some time for myself. And I loved it! Everyone around me seemed to be very active: Dogs running around, kids playing together and people going kayaking or stand-up paddling, while I just lay at the beach reading my book – I didn’t feel bad for one second 😉.

Bath in the Makapu’u Tide Pools

In the afternoon the four of us drove to the Makapu’u Tide Pools. We first walked up a paved hill, in order to climb down on the other side again. Our goal was to get to the natural pools at the bottom of the hill, which involved going down some adventurous unpaved path.

Spot some whales

On the way to the pools we spotted some whales which was so amazing! If you want to see humpback whales on Hawaii, make sure you get here between November and May as this is when they travel 3000 miles from Alaska to mate, give birth and nurse their babies while in Hawaii. This hike had already been so worth it!

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Bathing in the pools as the only ones (since we got here so late) was awesome and very refreshing after the hike.

On the way “home”, we watched a beautiful sunset before eating typical Hawaiian poke bowls at home (at least me, Blake had lasagne – maybe not so typical for Hawaii😉).

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08/01/2023 O’ahu, Hawaii

Relax at one of the many beaches

Today is already the last day on this island! So far I loved getting to know the Hawaiian island vibe! After being quite active in the past few days, it was time to relax, which meant beach time for me and watching sports on TV for Blake 😉. 

Later Blake joined me at the beach. We finished our last day on O’ahu with sushi and pasta and with good company at Jon’s and Mel’s house. Let’s see how we are going to like Maui next. But I have a very good feeling about it…

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09-14/01/2023 Maui, Hawaii