Waiamea falls

One of our last waterfalls we hiked was Waiamea falls.  This place has beautiful botanical gardens.  I was most impressed with the size of everything.  Now I understand why they filmed a lot of Jurassic Park in Hawaii.  The leaves were truly gigantic as well as the trees and flowers.  The hike to the falls is really more of a leisurely walk.  The entire thing is paved with a few unpaved trails that branch off from the main path.  Once we got to the falls we were a little hesitant to get in because the water was comparatively chilly. 

With my ankle swollen from all our adventures day after day I stuck my foot in the cold water to make it go down.  After sitting in the water for 5 minutes I decided to go ahead a jump in.  I did come all this way to what. . . Not get in?  I don't think so.  Scott caved into peer pressure and went for a swim himself.  It turned out to be quite refreshing.

To recap our trip to Hawaii, we had a great time.  We saw and did so many things we were totally exhausted by the end of our trip but I wouldn't have it any other way.  If I had to narrow down my absolute favorite thing,  it was hanging out with my very best friend and sweetheart Scott.  I love that we can hang out 24/7 and not get sick of each other. Thanks sweetie for taking me to Hawaii I had a wonderful time.  Of course I could probably go to Siberia with you and still have a great time.

Polynesian Culture Center

The Polynesian Culture center is a must.  Yes it is pricey but you have to go at least once.  Ours was included in our cards we got.  This is a full day event.  We got there as soon as it opened and we didn't leave until closing time. We saw almost everything there was to see and do.  It was just the 2 of us.  If we had our kids we would not have been able to see everything.  Again it was a perfect day, nice and sunny but not too hot.  It seems to me that Hawaii is filled with perfect days.  All the little sideshows were fun and FUNNY. They had us in stitches.  When we retold some of the stories everyone said it was all the same jokes.
I was very excited to learn the ukulele pronounced ook-a-leilei.  My favorite were the Samoan's and the Tongan's.  There was one particular audience member who could not get the "shave and a hair cut. . . . two bit." pattern.  The Tongan asked him to answer via drum beats.  It was hilarious.  Then they had his wife answer the "Shave and a haircut."  and she would just reply "shave and a haircut."  He was laughing so hard then caught his breath and said "you to make a good couple."
Our most favorite guy was the Samoan.  He was telling us how to open a coconut then says "this may not work because this is a Hawaiian coconut and I am Samoan."
The dancers were all fabulous with the Tahitian the most exciting.

Scott' reaction to Poi

Then there was the luau.  The host for the dinner show looked and acted like he was right out of a 50's game show.  It was pretty silly but still very entertaining.
The food was delicious with the exception of the Poi.  Check out Scott's reaction to the poi.
We did have THE BEST Pina colada I have EVER tasted sans alcohol. It was so fabulous I was wondering what they do differently.
 The night show was really great.  I loved the very subtle way they snuck in the undertones of the gospel in the show.  They also had a prayer right before the luau but they did it with a song.  Those of us who knew the tune knew what was going on and I was both impressed and grateful they found a way to not offend anyone while still blessing the food.

Raw coconut looks way better than it tastes.

Samoa

Fiji

Hawaii

Tonga

Tahiti

Aerotoa

the pig

LDS temple

I make it appoint to visit any temple that I am near.  This was a chance of a lifetime to visit the Laie temple.  Now I know I've said this word about a millions times to describe something in Hawaii, but this place was beautiful.  I take that back this place was absolutely exquisite.  It was truly heavenly here.  I imagine this is what heaven is really like.
I wish we had scheduled time to do a session but sadly we did not.  We had just enough time to do the visitors center and walk around the grounds

Haunama Bay

Hawaii's Monk Seal

Haunama bay is definitely a tourist attraction.  I don't think you  would ever find a local here.  That being said it was a good place for snorkeling. I wasn't expecting much.  Having been diving in different parts of Mexico as well as the Cayman Islands, I thought this place would be boring for me.  It was fine for beginners.  The colors were not even close to what they should be with a lot of the coral dead, but it was still a day well spent.  Again we were blessed with a perfect day.  The people that run the park said that the water was exceptionally clear that day.  And we got a bonus, a Hawaiian Monk Seal decided to sun bathe on the beach that day.  These seals are endangered, there are only 1000 left in the world.  They told us we could look all we wanted but to stay clear of the seal.  If the seal decided to head back in the ocean they would have us all get out.  The whole time we were there the seal just basked in the sun with a smile on his face.  He slowly inched closer to the water with no intention of getting wet.  

As for snorkeling the area close to shore was a huge disappointment.  All the coral was dead and we could see 1 fish here, another fish there really not much to see.  It was also so shallow it was hard to swim with out disturbing it.  We tried it out for 5 minutes while Scott got adjusted to breathing with a snorkel then we headed out to the deeper area.  I don't know why people were afraid to go out into the expanse it was so much easier and prettier past the breakers. We saw quite a few schools of different fish, tons of sea urchins (the red one the prettiest) and a handful of different species.  

The sea life was pretty cool but I have to say the sea life in Cozumel is 10 times better. 

It never ceases to amaze me what detail was put into creating this earth, and that I am lucky enough to witness and experience so much of it.

We had a great time in Haunama Bay.  You absolutely must get there early because it fills up fast.   

puffer fish

convict fish

This parrot fish was huge. Almost 3 feet long

massive school of convict fish