After spending the Christmas holidays at home with my family, I was excited to head back to the USA for more exciting adventures. Before I started my second semester I still had time to explore and had trips planned to Hawaii and Seattle. Flying to the USA this time was made more interesting by having the company of Sonnee and Sara. We arrived in LA at about 7pm after a ten hour flight and then had one night in Long Beach before we left for Hawaii early the next morning. We got up at 5:15am to go to the airport once again, to take a 6 hour flight to O'ahu, Hawaii! I was unbelievably jet-lagged but so excited, not only to go to Hawaii but to see Steph and Sera again!
Flying into Hawaii the scenery was breathtaking, the island of O'ahu looked stunning from above, and the colours in the ocean were amazing! As we came into land I also saw Pearl Harbor.
After settling into our hotel, Steph and Sera came to meet us! It was strange not seeing them for so long over winter break, and they were super-tanned! We walked down to Waikiki Beach to explore a little and realised just how beautiful Hawaii was, and how hot it was for JANUARY! Sonnee, Sara and I had come from cold, rainy Europe to 30 degrees Celsius heat! We soon settled in to the relaxing lifestyle, over 7000 miles away from home!
Diamond Head Mountain:
The beach:
Beautiful ocean:
We decided to get an early dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, before heading back to the beach to watch the sunset and then the firework display put on by the Hilton hotel. The sunset was one of the best I've seen and the atmosphere so tranquil. We had fun on the beach, digging holes and throwing pebbles in the ocean before we sat down to watch the fireworks which were really good.
The Hard Rock Cafe, Hawaii-style:
Sunset:
Fireworks:
The next day we got up and headed to the beach. The weather was perfect, but this would soon change in typical Hawaiian fashion as a rainstorm rolled in. However, we did have some time to relax on the beach before the rain, and when it did come we embraced it and went back to our hotel and got in the hot tub. We definitely made the most of it!
That night after dinner we walked around Waikiki, and saw the changing of the Guards at King's Village. We also saw some Hula dancing, which was great to experience and it was good to see that the cultural heritage is still alive!
Changing of the guard:
Hula dancing:
The next day we got up early and went to visit Pearl Harbor, which I had never expected to go to in my life. It was surreal, as was even being in Hawaii, somewhere I never thought I would get the chance to go. We looked around the museum and learnt some more about that fateful day. We then went on a boat to the Arizona Memorial, which is above the sunken ship. It was hard to believe that so many people died there. There was still oil leaking from the ship, just over 72 years later, as you can see in some of my photos.
The Arizona Memorial:
The sunken wreckage:
The Memorial:
The people that survived the attack have the option of being laid to rest with their fellow shipmates in the sunken USS Arizona when they die, showing their dedication to the Navy.
The Memorial:
In the afternoon of the same day we hiked up Diamond Head Mountain, which was quite a distance and hard work but the amazing views made it worth it. I still could not believe just how beautiful the mountains are.
Mountains:
This was after our walk just to get to the bottom of the mountain; we still had to actually climb it:
View of Waikiki:
View of the crater:
On top of the world!
The next day we hired a car and drove around the island. The scenery just kept getting more stunning; more shades of blue in the ocean, more shades of green in the mountains. We stopped quite a few times to take photos and take in the views.
Kuloa Ranch:
Contemplating life:
We stopped for a relaxing lunch at Turtle Bay resort:
We then found the beach which is renowned for its Turtles and we were able to spot a few!
A turtle:
Then being the big fan of the TV series LOST that I am, I had to see a location that had been used for the show so we stopped at the first beach that was used for filming. This was where the plane wreckage was!
Here it is now and in the show:
Apart from just being the LOST beach it was actually really really beautiful. The others really liked it because the water was SO clear! So my fascination with the show actually meant that we found a great spot that we could all enjoy!
Paradise:
We went for a swim:
While we were in the water a massive rainstorm came and we had to run to the car soaking wet, not only from the sea but also from the rain, with not much hope of drying off in the sun anytime soon. However, this only made the experience more memorable, and it is Hawaii after all!
The aftermath of the rainstorm:
As we had time before arriving back in Waikiki to drop off the car we stopped to see the churches that were used for the LOST finale. They are adjacent to each other and the first, St. Patrick's Church, has been used as the exterior, and the second, The Sacred Hearts Academy was used for the interior where some of the last moments were filmed! I'm so happy I got to see where LOST began and ended, something I never thought I would experience.
The next day, our last day, we spent at the beach and did paddle boarding which was really fun! The weather was really warm and the day was a perfect end to the trip. We had dinner and then Yogurtland while we watched the sunset, before we had to be ready to leave for the airport at 7. My next stop was to be Seattle to visit family!
Paddleboarding:
Saying goodbye to Steph and Sera was hard, we thought we wouldn't be seeing them for at least six months but little did we know we'd be seeing them again very soon...
Also Happy Birthday to Sera, all the way away in Australia!!
