Friday, September 5, 2008

Beach Marathon (Day 5)

On Wed. we went to this bakery we had seen and got some goodies for breakfast. They were so tasty! From there we headed to Hanauma Bay. We had been told this was the best place to go to do some snorkeling. Brent LOVES to snorkel. I on the other hand, since I'm not so confidant in my swimming skills (being as I only learned to swim last year) really enjoy it but I'm not so good or secure in the idea that I won't die doing it! We got there and it was absolutely stunning! )Unfortunately it was so bright none of our pics turned out very well) The parking is up at the top of the hill and you hike down to the bay. Or you can take a shuttle costing .50 on the way down and $1 on the way back up, basic economics, supply and demand! When we got there we had to watch a video about the bay that lasted about 10 min. Then we headed down. There were a ton of people there despite the fact that the tour guide told us we'd come on a good day, they were pretty slow!!! I'd hate to see a busy day if that was a slow day. But they said they have 1,000,000 visitors annually! We rented some fins and a life jacket for me. I also decided to wear my Tshirt since my sunburn was already pretty bad, I didn't want it getting any worse!! I looked absolutely ridiculous!!! We took a pic on the under water camera which we still have to develop so you'll have to wait to see that pic but I'm quite sure it will be worth the wait! I was so funny looking. We went out and immediately saw some fish! We saw some bright colored ones and every where you turned you saw more fish! It was amazing! But I unfortunately kind of ruined it! I kept getting water in my mask which made me feel like I was going to drown! I'd flip over and empty my mask out but I also got salt water in my eye and I was feeling slightly claustrophobic. I also kept thinking my legs were sinking too low and I was going to hit the coral and ruin it! Which the make very clear you are not supposed to do! I was trying to play it cool but I was pretty much freaking out. Despite my efforts to carry on, Brent could tell I was not doing such a good job of snorkeling. So after not much time at all we packed up and headed out. Brent assured me there were just as many cool fish at the resort but I still felt a little bad that he couldn't spend more time there! But Brent said that there were the same fish in the lagoon at the Resort.





From there we headed up the east shore to Kailua beach. This beach was declared to be the best beach in HI by my friends Ken and Donna. We went and it was stunning! On the drive up there I was driving and I put napkins over my arms and legs since they were sunburned! It was so funny looking, I don't know why we didn't take a pic. I told Brent "my name is Terina, but you can call me Napkin Girl!!" The water color was just phenomenal! And there was nice green grass up to the sand and beach. There was also some cool tress. And bathrooms/showers/changing rooms. It really was one of the best beaches we went too. Right next to it was Lanikai Beach which was the number 1 beach in HI according to the Travel Channel. It was breath taking! I found my new dream home! It's backyard is the ocean! Seriously there was brick for the back property line and ocean! A dream! The ocean was just indescribable! We then headed into the town of Kailua and stopped and ate some pizza bigger then my head! Each slice was a full 1/4 of a pizza and a big pizza at that!





We then drove over to Waikiki. That's all we did, drive past! There were so many people and no parking! And after the last two beaches we figured it could only be a let down! So we saw Waikiki from the car! Part of me wishes we would have stopped since it is such a famous beach and all but we were both tired and not in the mood to fight crowds. But we did stop in Waikiki to do a little shopping at the International Market Place. It was like a China Town! It was great! So many little shops where you could haggle with the people and talk down the prices. We got some good deals on souvenirs for our family! The traffic in Waikiki was awful, think LA rush hour! UGH! Finding parking was almost impossible. While we were there we found the Rodeo Dr. of HI! There were all the high end shops. It was fun to window shop on the way to the International Market Place. Getting back to the freeway took forever! We followed the signs and ended up in a line of cars at least 50-60 cars, maybe a mile of slow traffic to get on the freeway. We turned onto a road and there was just this heart breaking line of cars! And I had an hour till my massage apt! It was normally a 1/2 hour drive and the traffic was so bad I was loosing hope of making my apt! But then I glanced to my left, I saw what looked like an on ramp to the freeway with no cars! There was a no left turn sign so I cheated, I didn't break the law, just cheated. I waited and moved slowly far enough that I could flip a U turn and then make a right onto the ramp. There weren't any no U turn signs so I figured what the harm right? But it was a risk, we didn't know for sure if it would take us to the freeway, and if it didn't (which Brent was sure of) we'd end up back at the end of the line of cars!!! But the heavens smiled down on us and it was just a short cut! It took us right to the end of the line of cars and right to the freeway! As we inched through traffic the minutes ticked by closer and closer to my apt time. The massage place called and just my luck the said I could have a 6:00 apt rather then 5:30! PERFECTION!!!! Just out of Honolulu the traffic thinned out dramatically and I was positive I'd make it to my massage! We made it to the resort and Brent and I had a plan, I ran in (literaly ran) to shower off really quick. I know how bad it is when people come in so gross and I was pretty gross from a day at numerous beaches. It took me 10 min from the car up and back to the car! I was pretty impressed with myself! I hurried over to where the Lomi Lomi Shop was and couldn't find it! I tried calling, no answer. I wasn't freaking out just yet, I still had about 7ish min till my apt I had a few min to be lost. I left a message and said, I'm lost please call so I can find you! Then I called over and over hoping some one would answer after a good solid min of non stop calling I gave up! I couldn't find it anywhere and they were not answering there phones. I don't know what kind of establishment doesn't answer there phones but hey who am I. So I went to a near by store to pick up a few more gifts, they finally called at 6:10. The Zippy's we had gone to breakfast at was right next to the Lomi Lomi Shop (at least that's what I had thought before I couldn't find it) Well in talking to the woman on the phone I found out there is more the one Zippy's! Who would have guessed, it really didn't look like anything more then a one location type place. But the Zippy's they were by was about an hour away! Most likely right where we had been earlier in the day!!! I was so sad! That was definitely on the list of things to do in HI, get a Lomi Lomi massage! Oh well! What can you do? So I grabbed some Wendy's and brought it back to the resort for dinner. I must have once again amused the valet as I tried to carry my two bags of food and two drinks and get out of the car! We ate our dinner on the balcony and tried to soak up every minute. It was our last night :( We didn't want it to ever end! We decided to take a last walk to a few more places we hadn't explored yet. We walked past the fancy pants resort restaurant and I laughed at my self, carrying my Wendy's cup with me! Ha! We went down to the area where we were guessing they did weddings, since we saw a few wedding parties walking up from there. It was a picture perfect place to get married! Big grassy area surrounded by palm trees, with the ocean in the back ground! Ahhhh! We saw a little trail and followed it. There was a sign......You are leaving Resort Property, enter at your own risk!!! Made me laugh. Especially when we found this beautiful lagoon! There was a lot of rock and the sun was setting! The tide was coming in so there were some great waves, which there really weren't at the resort beach. It was picturesque! There were even a few people who had built a fire near where we were! It was remarkable! It was the perfect end to the day!!!!

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