Hawaii Trip! Day 1

Zack and I woke up at 5 am this morning because to us it felt like 11:00. I kind of love that about Hawaii because it means you get an early start to all your adventures. We had our first full day in Hilo today (we got in yesterday and immediately crashed), and we spent most of it chasing waterfalls (why, yes, I did grow up in the 90's).

We spent a couple hours getting lost, but we finally managed to see a waterfall before getting back to the Old Hawaiian B&B for breakfast. Side note: I will post a picture of the breakfast tomorrow because om nom nom, the breakfasts here are amazing. They always feature fresh fruit like lychee and banana that grows right in the back yard.



After breakfast, we drove to Akaka Falls which is in a park north of Hilo with a ~1-mile loop hike (super easy, paved walking path the whole way) through a ton of beautiful foliage.

Yellow bamboo


Plants that look alive


Tic-tac-toe boards carved into a giant stump


And I just liked this one because there was one orange leaf in a sea of green ones


The 422-ft Akaka Falls


Zack in front of the falls




Next up was Rainbow Falls, which was really close to our B&B and also really easy to get to. You park your car and it is literally right there. All you have to do is get past The Guardian.


He looks a little rough. I think he's been hitting the 'nip.

A couple photos of Rainbow Falls (Kamehameha is believed to have buried his father in the cave behind the falls).



Right beside the falls is a short hike to some Banyan trees. Here's Zack posing at the beginning of the hike.


Signs like this always make me feel reassured.


I'm not sure if it was one Banyan tree or many trees because they were all connected like this.


Here's a photo of me inside one of the trees.


Does this make anyone else think of neurons?



After that we were pretty hungry so we grabbed some lunch. Side Note: Lisa Matragrano is my hero for suggesting the lau lau at Kuhio Grille. It's pulled pork and beef cooked in layers of taro leaves, and it was a little piece of heaven. It reminded me a lot of the Sundays when my mom would slow cook roast beef and serve it with collard or turnip greens, except that the taro has more of a milder, buttery flavor.

More later! Gotta get going!