Hawaii Trips by Anna Imark

1

Hawaii July 2017

We came to Big Island from June 29 – July 4 for Robert’s birthday. We were celebrating his big 50th! We stayed at The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, which is located on the Northwest side of the island. The hotel was pretty big, and had a really pretty view from the lobby. This is our 2nd time visitng Hawai’i.

2

Our hotel had a pool along with straight beach access. The water was very blue, and incredibly clear. Nearby was a small coral reef, and was easy to swim to. The beach wasn’t too crowded and we had a lot of space to ourselves.We spent most of our time out on the relaxing on the beach or in the ocean swimming. Everyday, it was pretty hot, and cooling off in the water felt amazing.

Anna with a boogi

Ro be r

e bo

t lo oking a

ard

t the volcano

3

June 29 and June 30, we spent our entire day outside at the beach. The sand was burning hot under the scorching sun, but the water was a pefect temperature of not too cool and not too hot. The waves and currents were calm, and it didn’t feel like you were get-

ting tossed around. There weren’t a lot of people either since this beach was only sectioned off for the hotel and nearby cabins, making this beach less crowded than public beaches. Sophia and Anna bought

4

boogie boards at the hotel gift shop, and Linda got a inflatable donut. It was fun using these and swimming out as far as possible.

Even though they weren’t proper surf boards, Sophia and Anna tried surfing on their boogie boards.

On July 1, we visited the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and got to see the sulphur banks, Kilauea Iki overlook, Thurston lava tubes, steam vents, and the steaming volcano, Kilauea. It was very cool to see an active volcano in person, and realize that is what created the very island we were standing on.

5

On one of the days, the sand wasn’t as hot and Sophia and Anna would try and burry each other under the sand. There were small shells lying here and there, allowing Sophia to go shell hunting ann collecting.

Little crabs would pop out from under the sand, and she would try and catch them as well.

6

Oc ea n

w

nd

vie

So

ia ph

set sun

Lin da a

at Palm tree

aw ac dm

s

a an

n An

Sophi

ai nf

ron t

of t he vo

lcano

Big Island is one of the younger islands. It was cool to see hardened volcanic rock scattered around the island, and to see the smoking volcano. It was also a very fun trip in general, and we did many things that we didn’t do the first time we came to Hawai’i. We did a sunset hike up at Mauna Kea where there was a big observatory. We also snorkeled with lots of fish and saw dolphins and sea turtles. We explored volcanic tubes, and played a bit of golf. We ate Hawaiian food but most importantly, we celebrated and bonded more as a family.

hia Robert and Sop

7

Hawaii July 2019

8

On July 2, we departed DIA to head to Hawai’i once again. This tieme we went to Kauai and stayed unil July 10. We stayed at Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa. This resort was huge, with about 3 different pools, a lagoon, a lazy river, and staight access to the beach. The waves at this beach were stronger than those at other beaches we’ve been to.

Kauai is known as the more prettier island and is called “The Garden Isle” due to its various amounts of greenery and lush landscapes. 97 percent of the island is covered by forests or mountain range.

9

The beach here was Linda and Anna’s favorite out of all the beaches that we’ve been to throughout all the Hawaiian islands. This beach, known as “Shipwreck Beach”, had huge crashing waves,

and a cliff where (not recommended) you could go cliff jumping. The water was warm, and the sand felt nice under our toes. Linda would sit on the beach, while Anna would swim out as far as she could.

10

Besides staying at the beach, we also went on a Movie Locations tour on July 5. We visited some well known spots on the island, like what becahes had the most sharks or a lighthouse lookout. The highlight of the tour was the film location of the Jurrasic Park movie, where they first see the massive dinosaurs and the first time the theme is played. We even went around to a nearby shopping area and had some shaved ice. It was very refreshing after spending the day outside in the heat. Sometime during our trip, we celebrated Robert’s 51st birthday. We went down to a steak and hamburger restaurant by the ocean and had dinner there. He got a cute little slice of cake at the end.

11

During the movie tour, we visted the Waimea Canyon, which is the Grand Canyon of Hawai’i. It was massive, and beautiful to look at. On seperate days, we also visted Wailua Falls and a coffee plantation to see how coffee beans here were grown.

Hawaiian coffee is very strong and popular, we bought some bags of beans to take home.

12

This time when visitng Hawaii, we really wanted to learn how to surf. We booked a 2 hour surfing lesson, and Anna, Sophia, and Robert all went.

Linda stayed on shore to take pictures. We learned how to stand and keep our balance, and we caught some pretty small waves but it overall was a really fun experience.

On the final day, we were only able to book 2 tickets to visit the Napali Coast. We were also in a time crunch, because right after we got back we had to rush to the airport. Robert and Anna went on the trip, and got to snorkel off the coast.

We saw a sea turtle, lots of fish, got to visit some waterfalls and caves, and got a breathtaking view of the coast.

13

Hawaii June 2021

14

We went to Honolulu, O’ahu from June 21 to June 30. This was the first time flying after being in quarantine for over a year. We choose to come to O’ahu, one because this is the last island we had to hit, and two, we wanted to go somewhere tropical yet still surrounded by crowds of people.

The hotel we stayed at is this big resort called, The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. It had a shopping mall, multiple restaurants, 3 pools, a lagoon, straight access to the beach, and it was massive. It probably had 5 different lobbies and The lagoon’s water was slightly colder than the ocean, and Sophia and I would try and catch fish in there. The beach here was very crowded since there was public access, but the ocean waves itself were very calm. There was a coral reef nearby that we would swim to, and the amount of tropical fish living there was insane. The water wasn’t too deep, and Sophia and I would swim as far out as possible, past the reef.

15

On June 25, we took a tour to go visit the North side of O’ahu. The North Shore is known for their big waves, but sadly on this tour we didn’t actually stop anywhere to experience swimming in those big waves. We did however visit a botanic garden, with a waterfall at the end you could swim in. The trip down to the North shore was pretty relaxing. We stopped at a local Macadamia nut farm and we bought some coffee and cinamon covered Macadamia nuts. When we got to the North Shore, we were able to paddle board or kayak down a river, and we saw some sea turtles. It was a very fun experience.

16

We took one more tour of the North Shore to specifically see more of that side of the island and to visit the Pinapple/Dole Plantation. We walked through their botanic garden and saw how pineapples grow, tried some Dole Whip, and ate some other local foods, like freshly caught shrimp.

17

Pearl Harbor cool to see the confined space of the submarine, the torpedos, and understand how they were used during WW2. The battleship was equally as interesting and we read a lot about it’s history and how it served.

We visited Pearl Harbor for 2 days. The first day there, June 23, we only visited the USS Arizona Memorial. It felt very heavy and eerie to see a huge ship just sunken below us, knowing that so many had lost their lives that day. The second time back, we visited the USS Bowfin Submarine, and the USS Missouri Battleship. It was

18

On June 29, we went to the Diamond Head Hike. Diamond Head is a volcanic tuff cone and the hike was pretty easy. There was just a lot of people. At the top, you could see the crater of the volcano, and the view was amazing. You coud see so much of Honolulu Waikiki area. When we decended, we got shaved ice at the bottom. It was a good treat after doing that hike in the heat. Here we visited more places than we have compared to the other islands. We visited the University of Hawai’i and their

campus, and we even walked around the surrounding neighborhood. It’s cool to see an actual city on an island. I was so used to going to the Hawaiian islands and not seeing skyscrapers, or highly populated areas.

19

<3 Thank You

20