***Warning: This is long winded and will possibly be quite boring to some***
So I'm back from Hawaii. Man I had a blast! Almost killed myself and have the bumps and bruises and scrapes and scratches to prove it, too (more on that later), but I had an awesome time.
First of all, Waikiki is waaaay too commercial for my tastes. It's basically one giant shopping center (that happens to be on prime beaches). Not that there aren't cool things to do in Waikiki, but it's just too busy for my tastes. Once you get out of the city you really start to see some amazing sights. Driving around the island was a lot of fun, and there are tons of cool little spots all around the island, and it seems that every single beach is picturesque in that Hawaiian way. Hanauma Bay was just beautiful and it's amazing the variety of fish there are in just that one little area. The Windward side was very cool, if a little, well, windy. Pali Lookout was awe-inspiring with it's panoramic view of the east side of the island from the mountains to the beaches, one of the most incredible views I've ever seen.
Scuba diving off the coast of Honolulu was amazing. Massive schools of fish just lazily cruising around you, and swirling all over you when you've got a crumbled cracker, eels peeking out of the coral, crabs scurrying around, and even the odd white-tipped reef shark cruising the underside of the coral. The only downside was that for some reason my body really didn't like coming out of the water and back onto the swaying boat, so I um...spent a little time hunched over the side of the boat.
Now about those scars. On Tuesday afternoon I decided to check out some hiking trails up in the mountains above Honolulu. The mountains are incredible - lush, green, jagged and they always seem to have a little bit of fog clearing the ridges. I got to the trails with only about 2 hours of good light left, and I was by myself so I didn't venture too far, but I found some incredible views and the _sounds_ of a rainforest are just so cool. I guess hearing the sounds on tv and in the movies didn't really make an impression on me, but standing in the middle of a rainforest and hearing all the calls and wind blowing and bamboo forests swaying is just incredible.
Anyway, I only spent about an hour and a half hiking on Tuesday, but decided to wake up early Wednesday to check out a trail that leads to a waterfall, before I had to turn in the rental car. So I got up at 7:30 Wednesday and drove out up into the mountains to the start of Manoa Falls Trail. I only saw two other people on the trail the entire time I was there. I also got a huge downpour halfway through (they don't call it the rainforest for nothing). So I finally reach the waterfall, and one of the two people who had passed me on the trail was there resting. He noticed I had my camera and said that he knew a trail to the top of the waterfall for a great view, and that it should only take about 10 minutes to get there. I said I'd go for it, and off we started.
Up.
The.
Cliffside.
Yep, I did some cliff climbing next to a waterfall in the rainforests of Oahu. It was actually a lot easier than it looked to get up (but still a workout), as the banyan trees that are all over the place have tons of strong roots that provided easy hand and footholds. Once at the top I didn't want to move so much because the rocks were really slick and there wasn't much in the way of me and the edge of the cliff if I slipped. The guy told me where to place my feet and moved to support me so I could get over for a better view off the cliff edge. Well, I stepped a little before the guy could be in place and slipped off the rock.
If that guy hadn't been there, I would've gone over the edge, and if I was lucky would've only broken several bones if I managed to land in the small pool at the bottom of the waterfall. But luckily he was there, and caught me before I slipped too far. Unfortunately the rocks are also quite sharp, and I have a nice 5-6 inch gash on my left arm from where I fell onto the rock. I also banged my knee and shoulder up and broke my watch strap (no biggie, it was my cheapo). Luckily (again), the guy had a first aid kit with a big gauze pad and some tape, so I was able to bandage it tight enough to keep pressure on it and stop most of the bleeding.
After resting a bit and letting the adrendaline surge wear off, we then headed down the cliff face again (let me tell you that cliff climbing in the rainforests is probably one of the best workouts out there - my tank top was soaked through with sweat and my arms and legs still ache). Anyway, once we got on more level ground, we started back down on another trail, and I asked him if we shouldn't just take the same trail back. He said "nah, I actually made most of these trails on Manoa, and besides, that trail is too tidy [the rangers put in convenient steps on the inclines and all that], so I'll take you through some real wilderness." So as it turns out, on the one day I'm out hiking on that particular trail, I run into a guy who created many of the trails in that part of the forest, and in fact LIVED in that particular forest for a while. And what's even crazier is that Wednesday morning was his first time back on that trail in almost half a year. Talk about a stroke of luck! (although, if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have been up on a cliff where I could've slipped like that) He took me through these amazing bamboo forests, and showed me all kinds of wild looking trees and took me on trails and pointed out things that I could never find on my own. It was pretty amazing, and I think maybe the coolest part of my vacation (despite the fact that my legs and arms are reeeaally sore now). Funny thing is I never even got his name.
So that's my adventure story for now. How I nearly fell off a waterfall and had the best time anyway. Of course I wasn't been able to go into the ocean the last couple days as a result, but it was worth it.
So yeah, I had a blast in Oahu. And I took TONS of pictures (17 rolls!). I did almost everything I'd hoped to, and overall it was just so relaxing and rejuvenating.
Now I'm just trying to figure out when I can afford to do that again - I want to check out Maui now!
So I'm back from Hawaii. Man I had a blast! Almost killed myself and have the bumps and bruises and scrapes and scratches to prove it, too (more on that later), but I had an awesome time.
First of all, Waikiki is waaaay too commercial for my tastes. It's basically one giant shopping center (that happens to be on prime beaches). Not that there aren't cool things to do in Waikiki, but it's just too busy for my tastes. Once you get out of the city you really start to see some amazing sights. Driving around the island was a lot of fun, and there are tons of cool little spots all around the island, and it seems that every single beach is picturesque in that Hawaiian way. Hanauma Bay was just beautiful and it's amazing the variety of fish there are in just that one little area. The Windward side was very cool, if a little, well, windy.
Pali Lookout was awe-inspiring with it's panoramic view of the east side of the island from the mountains to the beaches, one of the most incredible views I've ever seen.Scuba diving off the coast of Honolulu was amazing. Massive schools of fish just lazily cruising around you, and swirling all over you when you've got a crumbled cracker, eels peeking out of the coral, crabs scurrying around, and even the odd white-tipped reef shark cruising the underside of the coral. The only downside was that for some reason my body really didn't like coming out of the water and back onto the swaying boat, so I um...spent a little time hunched over the side of the boat.
Now about those scars. On Tuesday afternoon I decided to check out some hiking trails up in the mountains above Honolulu. The mountains are incredible - lush, green, jagged and they always seem to have a little bit of fog clearing the ridges. I got to the trails with only about 2 hours of good light left, and I was by myself so I didn't venture too far, but I found some incredible views and the _sounds_ of a rainforest are just so cool. I guess hearing the sounds on tv and in the movies didn't really make an impression on me, but standing in the middle of a rainforest and hearing all the calls and wind blowing and bamboo forests swaying is just incredible.
Anyway, I only spent about an hour and a half hiking on Tuesday, but decided to wake up early Wednesday to check out a trail that leads to a waterfall, before I had to turn in the rental car. So I got up at 7:30 Wednesday and drove out up into the mountains to the start of Manoa Falls Trail. I only saw two other people on the trail the entire time I was there. I also got a huge downpour halfway through (they don't call it the rainforest for nothing). So I finally reach the waterfall, and one of the two people who had passed me on the trail was there resting. He noticed I had my camera and said that he knew a trail to the top of the waterfall for a great view, and that it should only take about 10 minutes to get there. I said I'd go for it, and off we started.
Up.
The.
Cliffside.
Yep, I did some cliff climbing next to a waterfall in the rainforests of Oahu. It was actually a lot easier than it looked to get up (but still a workout), as the banyan trees that are all over the place have tons of strong roots that provided easy hand and footholds. Once at the top I didn't want to move so much because the rocks were really slick and there wasn't much in the way of me and the edge of the cliff if I slipped. The guy told me where to place my feet and moved to support me so I could get over for a better view off the cliff edge. Well, I stepped a little before the guy could be in place and slipped off the rock.
If that guy hadn't been there, I would've gone over the edge, and if I was lucky would've only broken several bones if I managed to land in the small pool at the bottom of the waterfall. But luckily he was there, and caught me before I slipped too far. Unfortunately the rocks are also quite sharp, and I have a nice 5-6 inch gash on my left arm from where I fell onto the rock. I also banged my knee and shoulder up and broke my watch strap (no biggie, it was my cheapo). Luckily (again), the guy had a first aid kit with a big gauze pad and some tape, so I was able to bandage it tight enough to keep pressure on it and stop most of the bleeding.
After resting a bit and letting the adrendaline surge wear off, we then headed down the cliff face again (let me tell you that cliff climbing in the rainforests is probably one of the best workouts out there - my tank top was soaked through with sweat and my arms and legs still ache). Anyway, once we got on more level ground, we started back down on another trail, and I asked him if we shouldn't just take the same trail back. He said "nah, I actually made most of these trails on Manoa, and besides, that trail is too tidy [the rangers put in convenient steps on the inclines and all that], so I'll take you through some real wilderness." So as it turns out, on the one day I'm out hiking on that particular trail, I run into a guy who created many of the trails in that part of the forest, and in fact LIVED in that particular forest for a while. And what's even crazier is that Wednesday morning was his first time back on that trail in almost half a year. Talk about a stroke of luck! (although, if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have been up on a cliff where I could've slipped like that) He took me through these amazing bamboo forests, and showed me all kinds of wild looking trees and took me on trails and pointed out things that I could never find on my own. It was pretty amazing, and I think maybe the coolest part of my vacation (despite the fact that my legs and arms are reeeaally sore now). Funny thing is I never even got his name.
So that's my adventure story for now. How I nearly fell off a waterfall and had the best time anyway.
Of course I wasn't been able to go into the ocean the last couple days as a result, but it was worth it.So yeah, I had a blast in Oahu. And I took TONS of pictures (17 rolls!). I did almost everything I'd hoped to, and overall it was just so relaxing and rejuvenating.
Now I'm just trying to figure out when I can afford to do that again - I want to check out Maui now!
@ Diemen hunching over little boat
about climbing thankfully that guy was there 
Welcome back home.
