On the Tuesday I went to Manly Beach with someone I met in the hostel which was nice as I didn't get to see Manly the first time because the weather was so bad. It was really cool seeing the Sydney skyline on the boat over as well and we had a nice time just wandering around and seeing Manly.
That night we went down to the opera house and harbour to see the light show called vivid. It was cool seeing everything lit up, all the lights and exhibitions but I'm not too sure what the whole thing was about! We went to a couple of bars and then ended up in Pancakes on the Rocks which is a famous pancake shop and had the most amazing chocolate and orange pancakes!
On Wednesday I booked a day trip to the Blue Mountains because last time I didn't get up in time to go and see them! It was so nice to get out and about, get some fresh air, see the views and go on some walks. The Blue Mountains get their name from the blue tinge they give off, they also aren't actually mountains its a plateau that has been eroded and developed into big canyons, like the Grand Canyon but Australia's green version!
The views were amazing and we saw the infamous Three Sisters. The story is an old Aboriginal tale of three sisters who fell in love with three brothers from another tribe but were forbade to marry which led to a big war. The three sisters got turned into stone by a witchdoctor who was due to undo the spell after the war however the witchdoctor himself got killed leaving the three sisters as stone.
I was flying out the next day but the weather was so beautiful in the morning I decided to get the bus down to Circular Quay to get my souvenirs and also take a wander past the opera house to finally get my sunny picture and walk through the botanical gardens which were beautiful in the sunshine.
Once back at the hostel I got my shuttle bus to the airport and set off on my 9 hour flight for Hawaii. The flight wasn't great, it went quick enough and I managed to sleep a bit but there wasn't a lot of room, I didn't have a meal as I didn't realise you had to pre pay so was pretty hungry and there was also a screaming child pretty much the whole journey.
I arrived in Hawaii about 7:30am Thursday morning after leaving Australia 6:30pm Thursday night which meant I got to re do my whole day again which was pretty cool... just like Groundhog Day! An added bonus was my taxi to the hostel from the airport turned out to be a limousine for 1, I didn't pay any extra I was just put in it which was fun!
Once checking in I sat down for some breakfast and started chatting to a guy who was renting a car and going up the North shore. He asked if I wanted to join him along with a couple of other girls and we all set off. Our first stop was the Kuhaka Fruit Market which sold all sorts of exotic fruits. I got some mango as its my favourite and we then set off towards Ted's Bakery which is a pretty famous bakery that sells Haupia Pie - a chocolate and cream pie cake thing that it's famous for. We had some lunch (and pie) there, I had garlic shrimp with macaroni salad and rice which was amazingggg.
Once we'd eaten we walked over to Sunset Beach which is famous for its sunset. We relaxed there for a while and saw a lone seal just chilling on the beach which was cool!
After this beach we then went to Waimea Beach which is known for its huge waves and a big rock that everyone jumps off into the sea. I jumped off, it was quite high and pretty scary and yes the waves were huge you literally got washed up on shore!
After Waimea we went to Turtle Bay which is known for its turtles being on the beach. We saw a couple stick their heads up but nothing worth documenting unfortunately!
We then moved on to Kaena Point which is the most furthest Western point of Oaho. We did an hour and a half trek to the point and an hour and a half back - not my most favourite part of the day as I cut my toes on the rocks and we walked back in the dark, but was fun to see the views and all the different rock formations and we saw an albatross!
We all went for drinks that night with some other people from the hostel and I met a guy who lives in Hawaii who took me to a bit further down than Waikiki the next day so I could see some of the more remote beaches which was really nice. We ended up at Waimanalo Beach which was his favourite and the scenery was beautiful!
On my last full day in Hawaii which was Saturday I had a day to myself, I got frozen yoghurt, relaxed on Waikiki Beach, bought a rubber ring and just had some me time which was so nice compared to how busy I'd been. That night I didn't go out, I decided to just stay in and catch up on a few things which was nice as I had another day of travelling the next day.
On Sunday I travelled over to San Diego to meet my family which was so exciting. The airport was so unorganised I've never queued so much in my life and it took me the whole 2 hours just to get through everything and I made it to the gate just as they were boarding! The flight was 5 hours and was fine except yet another screaming child! I arrived about 10pm where Lucille and Heather picked me up and then we went back to Lucille's house. It's so nice to have my own comfy bed and bathroom to myself and I have definitely missed my home comforts and will enjoy these next few days!
Speak to you soon.
With love, Lauren x
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