Probably the most typical Hawaiian vacation involves lounging on the beaches of Waikiki watching the lazy waves roll in from the far away reef. To your left is the ever present and impressive Diamond Head, the quintessential view for the Hawaiian Islands.  What Chelsea and I discovered throughout the week was that this area is the least impressive on Oahu, even if you spend a night in one of the overpriced hotels. The whole area is geared for tourists to spend money; in fact the majority of the islands are that way, but Waikiki in particular. It didn’t take long for us to get sick of the tourist polluted atmosphere so after a few hours of sunbaking we headed for our CouchSurfers place on the eastern side of the island in Kaneohe

Waikkiki!

Our hosts Wayne and Kate were awesome and first timers to CouchSurfing. Originally from Maryland they had spent the last year living the Hawaiian lifestyle. We got along so easy and they invited us back for the weekend. It was a pleasure getting to know both of them and they took us to some great spots around the island…one being an old military railway line that you hiked straight UP!  (This was the day after Stairway to Heaven…which we will get to later…so we were SO sore already)..needless to say, it was a challenge!

Phew made it to the top!

Thankfully, W8 also knew a great place to cool off after the hike where you could jump off some small cliffs and check out the snorkeling! Super local spot..very

cool! They happened to know where Dog the Bounty Hunter lives and apparently we HAD to go by because he has a massive mosaic of himself on his gate! lol… loves himself a little too much! We had a delicious burger before checking out a lava tube, which was not altered to attract tourism (like the one on the Big Island) so that was also very cool! It led out to the ocean and some crazy-looking volcanic rocks and tide pools that reminded me a bit of Christmas Island and Wave Rock meshed together!

Looks like its belly first!

Hehe!

One sweet little spot that our CS host Kate turned us onto was the Macadamian Nut farm. Upon entry we were given free macadamian nut coffee and delicious samples of their specialty nuts. The coolest part about this place was that we got to crack a nut with a rock and eat the inside.Â

Cracking a Mac Nut!

An even sweeter spot…the LOST village!!!!

The Black Smokes coming!

We felt lucky to be in Oahu for the 70th anniversary and commencement ceremonies at Pearl Harbor. Â The event is one of the most important events in our nations history and it was definitely worth walking around checking out the sights and recognizing the sacrifices the men and women who died that day. Unfortunately, though we arrived super early, the tours were already booked out.

Submarine...crazy!

That night we found a sweet little camping spot right on  a beach in Laia. We got up early to watch the sunrise and I rented a long board and did some surfing; mostly to say that I’ve surfed waves on the North Shore of Oahu, but also to get pumped up for Pipe Masters surf Competition that day.Â

Sunrise at our camp spot!

Pipe Masters is the final competition in the Van’s Triple Crown series. It takes place on the North Shore of Oahu Nov-Dec on possibly the most epic spectator friendly wave in the world. Not because of its size but how close it breaks to shore and it’s near perfect top to bottom barrels. Of course, no one can guarantee that the waves will be good on a particular day, so there is a holding period of about 13 days for Pipe Masters. On any one of these days the competition can be “called” in the morning. Lucky for us, on the first day in the holding period the competition was on!Â

Wooo HOO!

We parked at the famous Sunset beach, planning to walk from there and right when we pulled up we could see the massive  swell. The competition is a big event, drawing in big time sponsors, hundreds of photographers and thousands of spectators. So, along with the masses we made our way towards the competition Beach.Â

The Pipe!

The waves where pushing 30 feet (15ft Hawaiian, because they measure from the back of the wave) and swallowing up and spitting out riders in the near perfect barrels. The beach was the perfect venue, sloping slightly downhill towards the water creating the perfect amphitheater for the most fan friendly surfing event of the year. Easy to say we were stoked.Â

Met the guy who made this beautiful art!

Even better was that our next CS host Wes lived right down the road from the competition.Â

Wes is a super cool thrill-seeker living on Oahu and helping shape young minds in the classroom. His girlfriend Kristyn is a Brockton native and naturally we had a lot to talk about! It was good vibes and happy days the entire time, hanging out with his skydiving neighbors and meeting all sorts of interesting people.Â

Wes sees Oahu as his playground and out of his toy box came the idea for climbing the Haiku Steps or Stairway to Heaven. The track has been closed down for some time now in part because out of shape tourists would try to climb, get stuck, and have to be rescued but also the apparent danger of falling to your death.  Â

Soooo Steeeep!

The steps were originally built to service a radio tower at the top of the mountain and it took  3,922 steps to get there. Since the steps are being guarded during the day we had to sneak around through the jungle and enter the steps at a higher point. So, Wes led us through the thick bush and we entered the trail at about step 300. Right before we started the trail we all regrouped and Wes told us that we would need to climb as fast as we could to the first platform so that the guard wouldn’t catch us. Onto the trail we went, practically running up the near vertical steps, an impossible pace and it didn’t take long before we started to wear out. Even though we could hear the guard behind us blowing his whistle we pushed on in hoping that he would give up and let us continue.  At about step 500, already down one member of our group who had turned around due to vertigo, we hear the guard yelling “STOP”. He had caught up to us in an amazing feat of athletic ability. O’well, at least we tried. Wes knew the guard because he had been caught before so he started shooting the breeze with him. Turns out he’s a super nice guy just doing his job and once he realized we weren’t some punk tourists he let us continue, stating that he respected how we snuck around him in the beginning lol.Â

YAY!!

What followed was a true test of endurance and will power, but the reward was a sense of accomplishment and spectacular views. Plus, coming down was super fun and fast. Wes gave us some gardening gloves and told us to let our hands slide down the railing letting our feet kick up in the air.

Breathtaking View!

As if climbing 4,000 steps wasn’t enough of a rush, Wes’ neighbors had told so many crazy stories about skydiving we spontaneously decided to take the fall ourselves. Kristyn decided she would join us and we even convinced Wes’ little sister to join in!

Our plan to skydive had always been New Zealand for the first jump, but since we had been getting to know the folks who ran the jumps and it was one of the cheapest places in the world to do it, we went for it. The day started off cloudy and it didn’t look like we would be able to jump, but all of a sudden the skies cleared and before we knew it we were taking off, destination 14,000 feet.Â

Just before the "No turning back" point!

The plane ride was definitely the most nerve-wrecking part of the experience! I remember noticing how the white tips in the ocean were getting smaller and smaller…and more numerous! Then my tandem guy showed me his altitude watch showing we’ll be going up to 14,000 feet and freefall until 5,000… and at that moment we were ONLY AT 6,000!!! I thought we were already SO high!

Brad was first out…I saw him standing at the door and then he just DROPPED out SOOO fast …. It was unreal! When it was my turn….I didn’t even have time to be scared…and we were falling…and then after the initial few seconds…falling turned into FLYING! It was soo beautiful! Stunning views and it wasn’t even scary! 60 seconds flew by and then the parachute was pulled and I was allowed to control our movements…twirling around in the sky! Only 5 jumps before you can do it on your own..woah I can’t imagine that!

Flying!

Too fun!

After the incredible time we had and awesome people we met, Oahu instantly sprung to the top tier of places we’ve been to on our long journey. Who knows, we may even find ourselves calling this amazing island home!

Arriving in HAWAII!!!

Our first stop was Maui the second largest in size and population. The island offers such a diverse landscape that within an hour you could go from sunny, dry desert to lush tropical rainforest in under an hour. We had lots to explore on Maui and couldn’t wait to get back­­­­_­ into living the island lifestyle again!

After a long couple hour waiting for the right bus, we finally made our way to the always sunny Lahaina, on the west side of Maui, where our couchsurfer Sarah awaited us! We all meshed immediately and made plans for a hike the next morning to go fruit-picking in the mountains, so after a home-made carrot juice, we were on our way with Odin, Sarahs big sweetheart dog to scour for as many guavas and Liliquoy (passionfruit) that we could get our hands on! We totalled about 50 in all, and shared with whoever would accept! Definitely something I loved about Maui…. It was all about living off the land, respecting the land, and sharing the joy!

Guavas galore!

Brad and I went exploring through the little tourist town when we stumbled upon the most amazing tree we’ve ever seen! They’re called Banyan trees, and their branches extend out and then drop to the ground to plant new roots….with look like new trees that have MORE branches that make more trees! And they’re all connected to this one “mother tree”… It was just unbelievably beautiful!

Banyan Tree!

Eventually Brad pulled me away and we made our way to the beach for sunset! It was beautiful as we watched a dog play fetch with a coconut, and kayakers passing in front of the picturesque mountains of Lanai.

Sunset in Lahaina!

Next stop…Paia, the alternative hippie town on the road to Hana… sometimes sunny sometimes rainy! We had a bit of trouble on the bus…future note to all backpackers heading for Hawaii… they don’t allow bags on the public busses! (this can also depend on the drivers mood and available space)BOO… we were pretty annoyed that they basically make all tourists rent a car or take a taxi! Luckily couchsurfers are BADASS and our new one in Paia, Kevin, came to collect us!

Sunset in Paia!

Lucky for us our hosts were not only cool people, but excellent tour guides, with an itinerary that was just our speed. Our first day we visited the Iao Needle, which is a lush mountain range offering swimming holes and exciting views.Â

Amazing view!

The next day was even better. We headed out towards the road to Hana and somewhere near Huiku we pulled off on this small dirt road and found our trail. Down we climbed until we reach the first of many swimming holes and were greeted by a beautiful family of three who were soaking up the sun where it usually doesn’t shine!Â

Right away I spotted some hanging vines and had the urge to swing. I gave it a hard tug and a test run before making my swing across the water. “Get up higher” said Chelsea, and I willingly obliged and as I did no sooner did my butt meet the hard rocks of the river. Nothing a

little laughter didn’t cure.Â

Vine swinging!

On we went only to emerge to a beautiful waterfall and oasis, straight out of a movie! Green rainforest all around,

turquoise blue water…and nobody else around! We all jumped in….I needed a little push cus it was sooo cold! BUT SO worth it! The little waterfalls coming from the rock were warm too so major plus! We all found ourselves sitting in silence, some meditating, really taking in the

beauty around us! We didnt want to leave!

Tranquility!

All we ended up doing was hiking to ANOTHER beautiful waterfall. This hike was harder and through heavy forest with lots of bushwhacking, but again, we arrived in isolation! This one was taller and provided a nice little rock to jump off of!

Brad backflipping!

Our time in Maui was truly unique and wouldn’t have been the same without our adventurous earth-loving couchsurfers! We left with a new love for all the local fruits , the lush green mountains, and of course the Aloha spirit! Definitely could live in Maui Not too sad though, becaue next stop … the Big Island!