Hawaii

I had the most amazing opportunity to visit Hawaii when my friend Cee's friend's, E, was to spend four weeks in Honolulu for work. Lucky for me, I invited myself and tagged along to visit Hawaii for the first time. There is a reason that Hawaii is everyone's dream vacation; it's because it's a beautiful, idyllic island.

I just wanted to write an overview of my week in Hawaii, which will be photo heavy. I will follow with the food write-ups (17 of them in total!). It's a different vacation when you travel with a fellow foodie and we did not hold back!

E stayed in a condo in Waikiki, in the heart of the action. It was perfect to go on morning runs on the beach (especially when I would wake up, still on East Coast time) or walk to a great selection of restaurants in Waikiki.

 

Waikiki.

Cee and I landed on the Friday before Labour day weekend, and we decided to join E on a 3 day trip to Molokai Island. Molokai is the 5th largest island in Hawaii, and is one of the lesser touristy one, unlike Maui.

Molokai Island.

We rented a Jeep and E drove along the coast to check out beautiful beaches. We also went on a few hikes including to Haipuapua Falls and down the Kaulapapa Trail to find a beautiful remote beach.

Beaches on Molokai Island.

One of the highlights of Molokai was enjoying fresh tropical fruit: passion fruit, pomelo, papaya, pineapple. The lady who ran our B&B had avocado trees. On one of our hikes, we walked through mango trees, and I could smell the fruit that had fell on the ground. Surreal!

Tropical fruit.

When we got back to Waikiki, we checked out the city, including going to the flea market at Aloha Stadium (where I picked up  my own ukulele!). There, you will find souvenirs that are more affordable than in Waikiki. I also tried pineapple with li hing mui, a Chinese (I think) mix of sweet and salty seasoning. There is a lot of Asian influence when eating in Hawaii.

 

Flea market.

Cee and I spent a day driving along the North Shore to check out more beaches. We encountered shrimp trucks, and looked at sea turtles basking in the sun on Laniakea Beach.

North Shore beaches.

A worthwhile expedition is snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. It's very touristy and busy but that's because the reefs are just amazing. I saw so many colourful fish swimming among the reefs. I was also lucky enough to come face to face with a green sea turtle, slowly munching on its lunch of seaweed.

Reefs in Hanauma Bay.

Capturing sunsets in Hawaii is a must!

Hawaiian sunsets.

Upcoming posts include encountering an Iron Chef, eating malasadas (Portuguese donuts), visiting many Diners, Drive-in and Dives and going to our first luau.

Vancouver Island

I was lucky enough to spend a week on Vancouver Island with my old roommate Trapezista. Here are some of the photo highlights of my trip. The restaurant posts will follow in the next few days, and boy did we eat a lot!

 

I loved playing with my new i-phone and instagram on the plane.
Left: the Rockies are so amazing. Right: getting closer to Vancouver Island.

It's great to spend time with a good friend. Trapezista suggested climbing to the peak of Mount Doug to take in the sunset.

View from Mount Doug.
 

We went on a whale tour but I was very disappointed that we saw absolutely no whales. We did see other wildlife, such as rams in land, and massive steller sea lions.

We went camping on Salt Spring Island where we were able to sleep near the water and hang out with more wildlife. We also checked out amazing goat cheese on the island.

On our way up the coast to Ucluelet and Tofino, we stopped by Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park.

We went on a lot of hikes, including the Wild Pacific Trail and various ones in the Pacific Rim National Park.