I'm on the Highway to Hana

Hey Everyone!

Day 2 in Hawaii and I am happy to report that I am still alive...and neither of us have killed one another...yet. Today we decided to adventure to the other part of the island and visit the black sand beaches of Hana. Moral of the story, if you ever decide to make the trek out, make sure that you reeealllyyy like that person because chances are that you will be trapped in a small car, behind a very slow tourist, and the drive will take you four hours because you're only going 20 miles an hour on a bunch of hairpin turns inside the rainforest. Oh and I forgot to add that you'll lose all cell service, aka a millennial's nightmare because you actually have to converse with the people in your car (sorry Matt and Nick). Don't worry, after the first 30 minutes or so they totally got into the hang of how us old people used to road trip in the good old days. Did you know that the Hawaiian language only uses 13 letters...and the 13th letter is a '. (Thanks mom for teaching us that fun fact). See what I mean, would have never learned this if we were all on our respective devices.

 Anyways without further adeu let me take you on our road trip!

Starting point! This is the view of our resort from the elevator! I know, I feel really lucky. 

First Stop: Twin Falls

We had to trek a little bit through the jungle to actually get to the water falls. The boys left us after like two hot seconds, so my mom and I had some good quality hiking time. Plus she was a great photographer (which I'm sure the boys would most definitely not have appreciated all my photo stops haha, the things I do to entertain you guys.) 

We accidentally took the wrong fork in the road and ended up on the road less traveled, aka at the top of the falls rather than the bottom. Perks of getting lost? Zero tourists and cool tide pools!

Okay so it turns out that I'm still a 12 year old boy. Found these brambles when I finally was sent of to relocate the boys, and well, I couldn't help but swing from them! 

Yes, I ended up doing a second hike down the other side of the fork in the road and got to see the best part of the twin falls. Bad news? Still couldn't find the boys...

At this point mom and I kinda gave up on finding the boys and just took some selfies. Don't worry, the boys showed up about 15 minutes later, and turns out they weren't anywhere near the tourist attractions, but rather down a random abandoned bike path where they found a tent with no one in it. Why? Don't ask me, I'm not an 18 year old boy. 

Second Stop: Hanawi Falls

Mom tapped out for the second hike, so the boys and I climbed down to the Hanawi Falls. 

If you're wondering why I took a picture of it, it's because within two seconds of climbing down, this was the first thing they climbed past without hesitation to get to the top of the falls. 

And if you're wondering whether or not he jumped. The answer is yes, yes he did. Matthew decided to climb back down to video. Give me a classroom of 30 5-year-olds and I can have them all sitting down and reading books during their playtime. Give me two 18 year old boys...and well, they jump off waterfalls. Sorry mom, I tried. 

Stop 3: Wai'anapanapa State Park

It's a black sand beach guys! How cool is that? The only downside was boy was the sand HOT. I mean like walking on coals hot, I literally ran to a spot, put my towel down as fast as possible and jumped on it before I had it all laid out. 

You know a beach is a good one when it's filled with locals. Apparently we were there right in time for the outrigger canoe class to race each other! It was so cool to watch the kids go through their traditional preparations before going out to sea. The very first thing they did before they even said hello to their teacher was gather together facing the ocean and chanting. Then they greeted their teachers and worked together to lift FOUR of those huge canoes into the water, and I'm talking kids were doing all this. They had some serious teamwork and strength skills going for them. Talk about the coolest summer camp ever. Can I join?

I literally spent two hours in the ocean. The black sand combined with the sunlight makes for pretty golden sparkley water. I enjoyed body surfing the waves and just floating around. But as soon as the sunshine left, I hightailed it out of there, the water turns this super ominous black color, and well, I'm just not one to tempt fate when it looks like the perfect setup for Jaws II.

Stop 4: Kaumahina State Wayside Park

No hiking here, just a beautiful lookout where we stretched our legs and enjoyed the view. I don't think I'll ever get tired of all this greenery and ocean. 

Stop 5: HOME 

We made it back! Just in time for the sunset...and no, there's no filter on these pictures, Mother Nature is just that good here. 

Anyways, that's pretty much it for the day. Oh, and we ate Chinese for dinner and my fortune cookie said "I will enjoy a vacation in the near future".....I'm interpreting that to mean after this Hawaii one, where should we go next fam? Juuusssttt kidding (kind of). 

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Love ya lots,

Aisha