Maunawili Falls and kayaking to Flat Island

Maunawili Falls is my favorite hike in Oahu. Not too long, and a great reward at the end (waterfall jumping!). The first time we tried to get to the waterfall, we somehow did a complete circle past it and ended up back where we started. The other two girls we were with wanted to give up but Julia and I convinced them to try again, and the second time a local was going in so he said he'd show us the way. Even though it took us twice as long, it was worth it. :)

You have to pass a few streams during this hike, so be prepared to get your feet wet! But still, I wouldn't recommend flip flops...

A long journey...

***

and a great reward!

Waterfall jumping!

After the long hike, we rested at the beach for a while... 

... before heading to Kailua to rent kayaks to go to Flat Island, a sea bird sanctuary and nesting ground. 

It took us about an hour to kayak to Flat Island because the ocean was rough that day. You can also kayak to one of the Twin Islands but it was too late to try that day and the water was not calm enough. So we just explored Flat Island. 

I played in some tide pools...

and found some snails...

and held up the Twin Islands!

Paradise Park and Moana Falls Hike

Tree Hugging :)

Lace...

Tree Arch 

Just a few stairs...

Waiting for a dinosaur to run out

Catching Up

Did you know Hawaii is actually pronounced Ha-vi-ee?

Anyways, it may be impossible to catch up on the many things I've been doing since I last blogged, but I'll try my best! 

I'll try to introduce you to some of my friends and experiences in order of their happenings...

First, Lena. 

Lena is from Germany. One of my favorite travel companions in Hawaii. Ironically, she is allergic to sunlight.

Among the things we did together was visit Bishop Museum, cruise around the North Shore, find our way through the Pineapple Maze at the Dole plantation, and get attacked by a man with pet parrots.

Second, Julia. 

Julia is also from Germany. We hiked all over Oahu together and also traveled together to the Big Island, which was my third island. Julia dislikes the rules against drinking in public and being topless in the U.S., even though she really has no desire to do either. My favorite quirk about Julia was that she would sometimes sing a German song about "Heidi" to me. I tried to learn it , but singing in German is not easy, trust me. 

This is a picture of Julia during our hike to Ka'ena Point, the westernmost point of Oahu. As you can see, it's not exactly the safest trail. Anyways, we were looking for this beach out there and didn't think it would take so long to find it. We ended up walking 5 miles along the rocky coast without water and no sandy beach in sight.

We finally met some locals who were fishing. They gave us both a can of juice and told us the beach we were looking is near the north trail head, and we had come up the south trail head. But there was a little sandy spot on the ocean if we would walk about 10 minutes further. Glad for the directions and the refreshment, we thanked them and started to go but they demanded to give us more juice. With 2 ice cold cans each, we went to find the beach to rest there before heading back. On the way we passed another local in a 4x4 truck who asked if we had water and sunscreen, and pointed us toward the little beach. Before I came to Hawaii I heard alot of things about the locals not liking tourists, but  all the locals I have met have treated me with amazing warmth and kindness.