Oahu: The final chapter (Lanikai; Kualoa Ranch; North Shore)

Since Zak and I enjoyed the kayaking that we found north of Honolulu we decided to go back to check out Lanikai Beach which has recently been name one of the 10 most beautiful places in America (see GMA coverage). It is a small beach and a bit difficult to get to since there is no parking and it is located in a residential area, so we kayaked there from Kailua. From the beach you can see two islands called the Mokolua Islands, which was our next kayaking adventure!

Once getting to islands we discovered that it had a great little beach to lay out on and eat lunch. We explored the island some more, which was also mostly a bird sanctuary, and found a great spot to get blasted by the waves!

The next day we traveled up to the North Shore stopping first at the Kualoa Ranch. This place came highly recommended but only if you are taking an ATV tour of the ranch. We were able to see places where the horses and bus tours could not get to. During our 2 hour tour we saw many areas where movies and TV shows such as Jurassic Park and Lost were filmed, and the most amazing scenery we have seen in our entire lives!

After the ranch we continued up to the North Shore to Waimea Valley Falls and we spotted the infamous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. While it was expensive and gimmicky the shrimp was very good!!!

And onto Waimea Falls where we forgot to bring our bathing suits and decided an opportunity like this should not be missed and went into the waterfall fully clothed.. amazing.

And to finish off our trip in Oahu we went on a dinner boat cruise arranged by our resort which included lots of drinking and a fireworks show!

We greatly enjoyed every moment we had in Oahu, thank you for reading and following our adventures! xx

Oahu part two; Diamond Head, Manoa Falls, and KONA Beer!

A popular tourist destination in Hawaii is Diamond Head, it is a great place to hike if you want an amazing view at the top but be warned... everyone in Waikiki goes here so it can be quite busy! Diamond Head was formed from volcanic eruptions and looks like a huge crater from a birds eye view. We parked our Jeep at the national park and made our way to Diamond Head:

It was a really steep hike in some parts and my claustrophobia started to set in when entering the tunnel:

But it was all worth it in the end because of this incredible view of Waikiki!

After hiking Diamond Head (which took about 1.5hrs) we drove to Manoa Falls Park to hike the muddy trail to the waterfall! For all you "Lost" fans out there they filmed the scenes with the polar bear cages in this area..

It was a very quiet and relaxing hike, not too strenuous except when you are trying to avoid falling straight on your ass because of the mud. Lots of beautiful sites to see along the trail.

Here are Zak and I at the waterfall, we had to cross barriers to get a good picture but it was well worth the danger! :-P

The next day we went to the Kona Brewery to drink some AWESOME beer and eat lunch. It wasnt the main brewery (which is located on the Big Island) but I still wouldnt miss out on the smaller version of Kona in Oahu. Yum.. 

Thanks for reading!!! xxx

Testing Testing 1..2..3...

My sister in law and I have been experimenting with cinemagraphs...

This next one turned out a little creepy...lol

(click for awesome-size)

Oahu 2011 (Part 1)

This is a long overdue blog post  that I have been wanting to share with you all as our time in Hawaii this year was incredible. But when you are too busy to keep up with your own life its hard to keep others updated as well! It will be done in a series as I do not have all of my photos with me while I am currently traveling to the States. 

In Pyeongtaek we happen to live right next to the intercity bus terminal so that makes it really convenient to walk next door and hop on a bus to the Incheon Airport, I really love not driving around here!! On our bus ride we noticed a store that was having an "Opening Sale" which included clowns, stilt walkers, and a hippo. 

Our flight was about 8 hours in total and we had a layover in Japan and due to the international date line we hardly had any jet lag. Woo hoo! Since we were on Oahu for 10 days we decided to rent a Jeep and after about 45 minutes of trying to figure out how the hell to get the top off we finally departed for some much needed retail therapy! Zak is worse off in Korea than I am with clothing sizes, I can usually fit into a Korean Large (lar-gie that is) but given Zaks height he cannot find anything outside of basketball shorts that fit him in Korea, so we definitely took advantage of our empty suitcase and American stores while visiting Hawaii. 

After a day of shopping we decided to whip out our kayak that traveled with us and take it to Kailua Beach where the waters are known for their sea turtles and is one of the best kayaking spots in Hawaii. We traveled to the flat island which is a bird sanctuary and eventually we did spot a sea turtle on our way back to the beach!

It is hard to explain how beautiful these waters truly are!!

A panoramic of our view from the Flat Island

Wrapping up our day at the bach we went to our favorite bar "Tropics" wich is located on the resort (Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki) so here is Zak with his favorite drink, "The Back-scratcher" and yes, every drink did come with a back-scratcher!!

To be continued...