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Old 14 Oct 16, 09:45 PM  
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NatsyNoo
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Four States, One Big Adventure: Day 10 - The Day We Completed Three Hikes

Now before I start this day, you need to understand something. Matt and I are not walkers. We don’t walk for fun. We walk because we need to. We don’t mind walking on holiday or around theme parks but we don’t go out for walks on weekends, etc. We certainly don’t hike. Ever. I don’t think I’ve hiked since I was 11 on my primary school end of year field trip. And Matt had had knee surgery 3 months before we came away. Right, I think you get the idea, so on we go…

I can’t believe it’s day 10 already! Our time here in Hawaii had just whizzed by, and we were sad that today was our last day. Of course we wished we had longer but equally, we did find that we had enough time to do everything we had wanted to do/see, and this fleeting visit has of course whet our appetites to return!

This morning, it took an alarm to wake us up at 6am. Typical, just as we get used to the time zone, it’s almost time to go forwards again! Anyway, we didn’t have time to lay around as we needed to get to Diamond Head PDQ before it got too hot.

We arrived at 6.45am, paid our parking ($5) and tried to find a parking space, which we did after about 25 minutes (even at that time!).

There isn’t really too much to say about the ‘hike’. It was tall and not particularly easy but we were glad we did it nonetheless. It was great to see the vistas from this altitude. I was surprised that it wasn’t a crater though, I don’t know why!

























We were back down by 8.10am (so it only took an hour to get to the top and back down again), so we took some photos, bought a magnet ($3.95) before we were soon on our way. We stopped for fuel just around the corner, and it cost $21 to pretty much fill up the car. We still can’t get over how cheap fuel is in the USA, the cashier was shocked when I told her it would be about $70 to fill up a car of a similar size in the UK!



Anyway, our next stop today was to be Hanauma Bay…except it wasn’t to bed, as the car park was already full. It was a shame that we couldn’t visit, but there were still plenty of stops on our list, so not the end of the world.

Instead, we moved onto Lanai Lookout, followed by Hanoma Blowhole and Sandy Beach. There were plenty of parking spaces at each of these stop offs, which are fairly well signposted, and we took lots of photos. I loved seeing Sandy Beach as this is where they had ‘another first kiss’ in the film ’50 First Dates’.

Lanai Lookout













Koko Head





Hanoma Blowhole















Sandy Beach







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Old 14 Oct 16, 09:47 PM  
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At 9.40am, we arrived at Makapu’u Point. This was supposed to be a quick stop off, but I hadn’t anticipated this being another hike! Nothing I had read had told me this. That’s because I had read about Makapu’u Point Lookout and not Makapu’u Point Trail. But I didn’t realise this until after we had done the hike. In the blazing sun. With no water. Don’t panic, we were both fine, and in fact, this was one of the best things we did on the whole trip! I mean, look at these views! They just epitomise Hawaii to me. Absolutely stunning. It was tough getting up there in the heat and direct sunlight but we both agreed that it was well worth it.





























The road along that stretch of the island was gorgeous too





We were back in the car at 10.50am, and we both agreed that a drink and something to eat were in order. I directed us to Kailua Shopping Center (as our next planned stop was Kailua Beach) but Matt didn’t see anything he fancied. California Pizza Kitchen, Panda Express, Target, Whole Foods, Subway…nothing. Needless to say, in my hungry and thirsty state, this was where we had our annual holiday argument. We only tend to have one every year, and this was it. We left without food or a drink. I did however insist that we stop at a Walgreens down the road to get a drink and refused to direct us anywhere else until we did. I think I got a Snapple for about $2.

We were soon over it, and we stopped off at Kailua Beach, which was really pretty.

















Our next stop was Kualoa Beach to see the Chinaman’s Hat. It took about 30 minutes to get here, I think. I loved it here too, again, the tiny islands just shouted ‘Hawaii’ to me. Together with Makapu’u, this was one of my favourite areas of the island.





































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Old 14 Oct 16, 09:48 PM  
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Here was our little car – it was a bit battered in places but served us well





And we loved that the number plates all had little rainbows on them



Hunger got the better of us as we started to make our way back down to the south of the island, so McDonalds it was. We each got a meal and I got an extra cheeseburger, and it came to $18.19.



It was quite disconcerting seeing wild chickens waddling around whilst eating mu nuggets!







Properly fed and watered, we made our way to Manoa Falls, our third hike for the day. We arrived at 3pm, where we paid our parking ($5), and commenced probably the most difficult (not because of altitude, but it is very rocky and uneven) and definitely the most muddy hike of the day/trip. It was so worth it though, the waterfall was so beautiful.







































We were back in the car at 4.10pm, and headed back towards Waikiki. We had planned to have a nice meal in Waikiki tonight to mark our final night and also needed to get repacked, which wasn’t going to be easy as we had done a good amount of shopping during this leg of the trip.

We both showered and changed, and I did a bit of packing, before heading into Waikiki. What we hadn’t appreciated was how busy Waikiki was at night. The wait for a table at Cheesecake Factory was 1 hour 40 minutes, and at California Pizza Kitchen was 40+ minutes. We didn’t want to wait that long. We’d had a long and busy day and an early start tomorrow. We didn’t try anywhere else, as we could see by the crowds outside that it would be the same, so we instead headed for the Food Court at the Royal Hawaiian Center. How glamorous, I’m so glad I got dressed up!

We did get to see this guy though



That being said, we had a very scrummy meal at Panda Express! This was Matt’s first ever Panda Express. He was hesitant to say the least but left a convert. Do you remember that Teriyaki Chicken he kicked off about on the flight to New York?! Well guess what my darling husband chose to eat here…yup, Chicken Teriyaki, Beijing Beef and Fried Rice, and I had Chicken Teriyaki, Orange Chicken and Chow Mein. For both ‘plates’ plus a large (and I mean large!) soda, it was $23.35. Fantastic value and very tasty. Matt loved it and now wants to open a franchise here lol.



We didn’t stay out too much later, so stopped off at ABC to top up our water supply for the night ($1.10) before heading back to the hotel for the night. We were in bed not long after 9pm, sad that our time in beautiful Hawaii had come to an end.

Steps: 29,125 (19.83km)
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Old 15 Oct 16, 07:39 AM  
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That food looks yummy! Lots of lovely pictures, looks like perfection all over Hawaii! I'd love to see a pic of your magnet board please!🤗
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Old 15 Oct 16, 08:44 AM  
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Well the hikes were worth it, the views from the lookout trail are just beautiful with all the turquoise sea. I love all the mountain views too; must have been near the filming points for Lost & Jurassic Park as that scenery looks just like it.
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Old 15 Oct 16, 11:23 AM  
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Hawaii just looks amazing. My DH wanted to go on our honeymoon but I didn't fancy the long flight from LA. How I regret that.

Anyway, another fab day!
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Old 15 Oct 16, 02:01 PM  
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NatsyNoo
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Originally Posted by princess_chazy View Post
That food looks yummy! Lots of lovely pictures, looks like perfection all over Hawaii! I'd love to see a pic of your magnet board please!🤗
Haha I'll definitely post one at the end of the report!
Hawaii truly is perfection (except for the traffic in the south )

Originally Posted by Disney Wishing View Post
Well the hikes were worth it, the views from the lookout trail are just beautiful with all the turquoise sea. I love all the mountain views too; must have been near the filming points for Lost & Jurassic Park as that scenery looks just like it.

That turquoise sea sure made the trek up there in the blazing sunshine worth it! We didn't know what we were going to see and we were absolutely blown away!

You're absolutely right. Lost and Jurassic Park were both filmed in the Kualoa Ranch, which is behind the Chinaman's Hat

Originally Posted by margyloveswdw View Post
Hawaii just looks amazing. My DH wanted to go on our honeymoon but I didn't fancy the long flight from LA. How I regret that.

Anyway, another fab day!
It's totally worth the journey! It's unbelievable that it's part of the USA! To do it in one trip would take a long time so that's why we broke it up! Hopefully you'll have another opportunity to go!
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Old 15 Oct 16, 10:27 PM  
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Wow, what a full on day, you really packed lots in! Can't wait now
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Old 16 Oct 16, 06:22 PM  
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Impressed you manged 3 hikes as non-walkers! Worth doing for those views, just so beautiful. The colour of the ocean is insane!

Not surprised you argued with Matt over food, I would not of been happy either!

The waterfall is gorgeous, shame I missed it, obviously not as good with the planning as you, but we were hindered a bit as didn't drive.

Ah Panda Express, love it! You picked the same entrees as I would go for. Fans from the Dibb should invest together to open one in UK
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Old 17 Oct 16, 08:04 PM  
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Originally Posted by TracyW View Post
Wow, what a full on day, you really packed lots in! Can't wait now
Haha yes, our motto is 'we can sleep when we get home'

Originally Posted by amymiller View Post
Impressed you manged 3 hikes as non-walkers! Worth doing for those views, just so beautiful. The colour of the ocean is insane!

Not surprised you argued with Matt over food, I would not of been happy either!

The waterfall is gorgeous, shame I missed it, obviously not as good with the planning as you, but we were hindered a bit as didn't drive.

Ah Panda Express, love it! You picked the same entrees as I would go for. Fans from the Dibb should invest together to open one in UK
We were impressed at the hikes too, we reflected on the day and recognised that we were nuts! That being said, Matt is on his feet all day at work, and I may not look it, but I'm pretty fit, as I run 4 times per week (I have a medical condition that makes it hard for me to lose weight) so given that we're pretty active at home, it made it manageable. We saw some fairly obese people climbing Diamond Head though and really struggling. It's not something you should go into blind. It's no joke. You're right, the views were all totally worth it, Makapu'u Point was all the more special as we just weren't expecting it.

In fact, that whole day I wasn't particularly looking forward to as I got it into my head that that side of the island wasn't as pretty and that the North Shore was 'where it's at' but I actually felt the total opposite! It was one of my favourite days (even with the argument It was good in a way though as he had been in a slightly weird mood all holiday and he seemed to snap out of it after that when I told him he was being an ungrateful ********...funny that!).

The waterfall was just stunning, I wanted to dive right in but the signs said you shouldn't (though plenty were) and I didn't have any swimwear!

I'm game for Plan Panda Express!
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