Aloha friends and family!
My family came to visit me in Hawai’i! Isn´t that crazy? My mamma is a real globetrotter these days, having gone to visit me in England, Norway and Spain before this trip. As always they are a great excuse to go proper touristing, visiting all the must-see sights from the guide books.
We started off the first day lounging on Waikiki Beach and leasurely strolling along Kalakaua Avenue, allowing them to overcome the worst jetlag after two days straight of traveling. In the evening we devoured Korean street tacos at Duke’s in the flickering light of Polynesian fires, listening to the waves of the Pacific Ocean lap against the shoreline. It felt like the perfect start of their adventure. Sunday we went up to North Shore with Adam, watching the surfers challenge themselves on monster waves by Sunset Beach before snorkeling among colorful fishes and corals in Shark´s Bay. The garlic shrimp in Hale’iwa turned out to be one of the best food experiences of the entire trip. YUM!
The entire following week was as intense as it was fun, balancing midterm exams and fun adventures. We went to visit beautiful Hanauma Bay and were lucky enough to swim with a cute little turtle who ignored us as he munched on the corals. We found fun Tiki bars in Waikiki and went hiking up to Manoa falls, passing through gorgeous rainforest along the way. I showed them around my beautiful campus (Voted the best Green Campus in the US!) and brought them to my favorite lunch place, Da Spot. Bishop Museum featuring a large Polynesian collection allowed us to wander about for hours learning about the history of these fascinating islands. We also went to explore China Town, having our first (very successful!) encounter with Korean food and checked out Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the US. I was also ridiculusly starstruck outside the Hawai’i 5-0 headquarters as you can tell from the photo. Mamma on the other hand was attacked by a parrot and had a coconut dropped on her head.
The second weekend brought us to Makapu’u Lighthouse trail offering us wonderful views of Molkai and Maui as well as funny birds on the way to the top. The following day we dumped mamma and Tomas on Kailua beach to go hiking the beautiful Lanikai pillboxes. Little did we know however that that very day Tomas proposed to my mum on the beach after more than a decade together! I gotta say Hawai’i is a pretty darn romantic place to get engaged!
We also went to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona memorial. The winds were unfortunately too strong to allow us to dock but we rode the boat around it and the other ships sunken during the japanese surprise attack, as well as a functioning battle ship anchored in the bay. My favorite part however was the museum, filled with personal recounts from both sides of the war. It was saddening but interesting to see what the war was like outside of Europe.
The last day I finally showed them my favorite snorkeling spot; Electric beach. We got to see a seal as well as a turtle play in the waters close to the beach! It also meant that they had now visited all four sides of the island. Talk about an eventful couple of weeks! After a quiet dinner we said our goodbyes. It wasn´t too bad, I´ll see them again in two months time for Christmas (iiih). Now I just have to deep-dive into my school books again to make up for skipping school to hang with my parents haha… wish me luck!
Hugs and cheerio! xx