10 Days in Hawaii - Day Five: First Full Day on Oahu

May 5, 2021

10 Days in Hawaii - Day 5

We did not wake to 20 gleeful birds outside our window, but instead, honking horns, revving cars, and the occasional siren. To be fair (cue Letterkenny), some people did note that this Airbnb would be difficult for light sleepers, which Jake and I were prepared for. Although we were woken up a few times (Jake is an extremely light sleeper and I tend to have a hard time falling asleep), the steady pace of cars zipping by on the busy Kapiolani road started to become white noise for us. We were luckily able to fall asleep soundly. Waking up early to the noisy street wasn't a huge issue either anyways because we wanted to start our days fairly early to beat the rush of other visitors on the island.

The first plan of the day: find a waterfall! After doing some research last night, we decided on Lulumahu Falls. Our other choice was Manoa Falls, but due to some questionable conditions, it was closed. Honestly, I’m happy with our choice because Lulumahu was everything we could've wanted. Neither one of us has been to a waterfall so I guess you could say we didn't know what to expect. We took a $19 Uber to the trailhead, which was located off a busy highway, and began our journey through a bamboo forest, finding pathways that would eventually lead us to where we needed to go. We went across a long stretch of green fields, past a random wall of graffiti as well as random city workers and we came to a fence and a small entrance. It wasn't obvious, but there were pink and orange strings tied around twigs leading the way. This marked the beginning of a collection of zigs and zags thru pathways, puzzles of rocks placed in streams that we had to cross. Then after navigating what seemed to be thousands of roots on the ground winding their way around one another, plus mud, but we did it! Fun realization: it seemed that our 25 minutes to get to the falls took a longer less time than a majority of other hikers who got lost along the way. We could tell from the shock on their faces after we answered how long it took us to get to where we crossed paths.

At Lulumahu Falls(1), there were a few people scattered around enjoying the scenery and taking a dip in the refreshing, cold water. I beelined it across the stream, around some rocks, and slipped off my muddy shoes and socks. I went over to the waterfall and placed my whole body under it. The water hitting my skin immediately took over the heat from the hike before. Soaked in my overalls and Jake in his shorts, we stepped aside as people were eager to do the same thing and take pictures. We spent about 15 minutes there (resisting the urge to go fully nude and bathe in the water) then a whole slew of people emerged from the path. Soon, short of 30 people surrounded the falls. That’s when Jake and I took our leave, retracing our steps back to the highway. Our fantasy was over but the memory and fun still lived on for the rest of the day. We requested an Uber and it returned us back home.

With it only being noon, we were on the hunt for lunch! Little did we know, finding food in Waikiki on foot would prove to be an adventure. Not only did we suffer from indecision, looking at our phones with many options but unable to narrow down something we'd like, but we eventually settled on an ocean-side restaurant called Duke's Waikiki(2). However, my walking directions were far from perfect. We ended up walking almost a mile over what we actually needed to trying to find this restaurant. It was almost another hiking adventure with zigs and zags through beaches, hotel lobbies, and hotel pools. Thankfully, we made it but the food didn’t feel worth it. We ordered fish and chips and fish tacos, overall mediocre. My fish and chips were nice and juicy with great flavor. I ordered a Shirley temple which was absolutely not good. Jake's fish tacos felt dry and tasteless but food is food when you're hungry. We didn’t fret anyways because we were ready for beach time, completely disregarding the old rule: "wait 30 minutes before getting into water after you eat!"

For a solid 10 minutes we enjoyed the sun and then clouds rolled in with sprinkling rain accompanying them, keeping things lively. This didn’t spoil our fun though. Laying on a blanket, listening to the waves, and feeling the heartbeat of the entire island coming up through the sand into my body was a whole experience by itself. Forget the sun. That’s only 10% of the fun. We enjoyed people watching and burying our legs in the sand. After some time, our bravery shown through as we braced ourselves and took to the slightly cooler ocean to play in the waves. Absolutely no regrets. Lessons of today: food is food and the ocean is the ocean. Take it in whenever you can!

To end our time in Waikiki, we enjoyed some shops nearby. We came to find out that the place we shopped in used to be a collection of huts of local shop owners but it turned into a shopping center with places like Christian Louboutin. It seems that more and more, Honolulu is phasing out any sense of its natural history to satisfy visitors from around the world. It made me miss Kona even more.

Rounding out the night, we headed home, watched Bob’s Burgers, and ordered take-out from a nearby Thai restaurant. With our hearts and bellies full, we fell asleep to the steady hum of cars whizzing by.

(1) Lulumahu Falls: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/oahu/lulumahu-falls-trail

(2) Duke's Restaurant: https://www.dukeswaikiki.com/