Today H and I head back to work after a month off. I know, I know, a whole month, I have nothing to complain about. But… it still is rough going back to work after such an amazing summer holiday!
Okay, complaining over.
Since my summer holiday has come to an end to cheer myself up I am going to pretend I am back in Hawaii and share our day trip around the north shore of the island Oahu. Care to join me for a day in paradise???
Our first day in Oahu I asked H if Hawaii was what he expected it to be. To this he commented that he didn’t think it would be so “Americanized”. In his mind it would be this tropical paradise that had yet to be touched by urbanization. Instead, what he found was Targets and strip malls, fast food restaurant and hotels on every corner, large office buildings with some palm trees lined outside, not exactly what he had pictured.
I myself had never really thought about this until H said something. And while he was right he had only been to the city areas of the island. So to this I replied that we needed to get out of the city center of Oahu and on to the North Shore, that to me has always been my favorite side of the island with a more authentic feel.
We took off bright and early (we were still on west coast time, 3 hours ahead, and were up and ready to go everyday by 6 am!) to show H around the North Shore and give him a different look at Hawaii. Our first stop took us to the Macadamia Nut Farm.
A visit to the Mac Farm is now a must for me thanks to my grandma who introduced me to the delicious samples of flavored macadamia nuts and the macadamia nut coffee, it is so good! Walking around the Mac Farm with our samples in hand was the perfect way to kick off our day. H loved this stop, he commented several times how it looked like a scene in Jurassic Park, and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, they have the buses that were used in the first film that you can check out for yourself!
And if your feeling really adventurous you can attempt to open your own macadamia nut, which H of course had to try.
I love walking around the Mac Farm, even if it is a small little roadside stop I always find it so charming. H loved opening his own macadamia nuts in Jurassic Park as he now likes to call it, he even bought a bag of macadamia nuts to bring back to Iceland, and we somehow managed to not eat them until we got back here!
With a bag of macadamia nuts to snack on we left the Mac Farm and took in the beautiful ocean views as we headed for our next stop.
I wish this view was apart of my daily commute!
Stop number two took us to Waimea Valley where we spent a sweaty morning walking around the beautiful botanical gardens back to the Waimea waterfall, emphasis on the sweaty, it was hot!
Check out how massive this leaf is!
Sweaty hair? Just put a flower in it and call it good:)
Can you spot the gecko?
In the botanical gardens there was a historical site showing the makeup of a village. It was so interesting to read about each hut and what occurred there. Fun fact, the men did the cooking and the women had their own eating hut. Interesting right!
Waimea Valley was a new to me spot to visit on Oahu, after being to Oahu 5 times I have seen most of the island, but I loved discovering this new beautiful spot. The highlight of our visit, taking in Waimea Falls, we all know I am a sucker for waterfalls!
A bit smaller than the waterfalls the Viking and I are used to in Iceland but a beauty either way!
After spending the morning smelling flowers a beach-side picnic was in order. An added bonus, our beach-side picnic came with a view of sea turtles swimming along the shoreline!
Can you see the sea turtle?
Here is a little Kaelene fact for you all. I have this little fear…of sea turtles. I know, how can I be afraid of these beautiful animals. You can laugh, most people do when they hear about this. I don’t know why I have this fear, but ever since my first trip to Hawaii when I was 12 and a sea turtle swam between my legs I get a bit uneasy around them. But, I sucked it up so my Viking could get his first sighting of a sea turtle in Hawaii, see how nice I am:)
Okay I only barely got my feet in the water here but hey at least I tried to conquer the fear. Maybe next time. I used the excuse that I wanted to get pictures of the beach for not getting in the water. In my defense the beach was beautiful and needed to be photographed, and H got to check out his sea turtles, so everyone wins.
After our lunch date with the sea turtles we headed off to our last stop of the day for some dessert.
I don’t care how touristy the Dole Plantation is every time I am in Hawaii I have to go there for some pineapple whip, it is a must! And as this was H’s first time to Hawaii I had to take him for his own pineapple whip and to check out the pineapple plants.
Fun fact about pineapples, did you know it takes 18 months for a plant to grow one pineapple? 18 months! That is crazy right. I appreciate those delicious fruits even more now.
They are adorable little things aren’t they?
With our minds full of pineapple facts we said goodbye to the North Shore and made our way back to our side of the island where we promptly went back to my favorite beach for the rest of the day.
And H’s conclusion on his tour around the North Shore? It was much more the Hawaii he had pictured with the little surfer towns and no Targets.
Targets and all I love Hawaii!
Question of the Day?
Have you ever been somewhere that ended up being not how you imagined? Do you have any animals that scare you?