I’ve woken up on Saturday at 8am. My buddy had to return to Seattle that day. He had couple more hours which I was thinking of having a nice breakfast together but then I started thinking of what to do the whole day by myself. I thought I should schedule a tour. I’ve started looking online and found the best tour by looking at reviews. They had a tour at 8.30am but it was already 8.10am. I’ve talked to my buddy and he said I should totally go since otherwise I’ll get really bored. I’ve called them and found out they still have a spot left. I’ve packed everything in a record time of 5 minutes and head to the pick up location. I was still sleeping and stressed because the driver was late and I was a last minute guy. I thought they forgot to include me in the list so the driver just passed me. After making couple of calls, they came to pick me up.
Our first stop was Green World farms. We had some fresh Kona coffee over there which felt really good after 5 hours of sleep. It seemed like Kona coffee is pretty famous and it really tastes great. It tasted much different than our usual Starbucks coffee. I could feel the taste of the beans in my mouth 🙂
Later we’ve moved to our next stop which was Waimea Valley and Waterfalls. I’ve gone insanely happy when I heard you can swim over there. I met my Australian buddy Jason on the trip and we’ve walked the hike together. I don’t know how fast I’ve walked just so I have a lot of time to swim in the waterfall. After reaching over there I’ve given all my stuff to Jason and then jumped into the waterfall. The entrance is completely rocky and slippery. After couple of minutes of misery, I was able to pass the rocky part. I’ve started swimming to the waterfall. It was pushing me away with a really strong force. I’ve tried my best and yessss! I was able to swim through it. I’ve found a spot next to waterfall that was protected by a rock so I didn’t need to swim constantly. After taking couple of breaths I’ve started swimming through the waterfall with all my power. I’ve made it to the waterfall and then felt the great power of water dropping from such a height to your head. I could last for dozen of seconds until waterfall pushed me away again. I was too tired to resist so I’ve just let it go. It was quite an experience.
The next stop was Dole Pineapple Plantation. They had fresh and fully cooked pineapples which tastes amazing. We’ve watched a demonstration of how to plant a pineapple and get a new fruit out of it. The process is quite simple. You just cut the top part of the pineapple and put it into water for 2 weeks. Afterwards you plant it into the soil and that’s it. It doesn’t require consistent maintenance. It’s really easy to look after them. Only gotcha is it takes 3 years to give first fruit 🙂 After the demonstration I’ve got some pineapple ice cream(I know it sounds delicious and yes it was the best ice cream I’ve ever had).
We headed to the Pali Lookout which was super windy(According to our guide it’s the windiest place on earth). I’ve barely hold the camera. There were couple of times I had to take a step back not to fall as the wind pushes really hard:) It’s sad to know soldiers have been pushed out of this cliff when they were defending the island hundred years ago.
Afterwards we’ve got our lunches and then head to the secret island. It’s a really small island that has a sand beach facing the ocean and a lot of palm trees and all the trees had a hammock in between. It was like a paradise. I’ve just lay down in the hammocks and watched the ocean and relaxed.
The next stop was volcano blowhole. It was a small one so it was a good experience to see it but not the best.
The next stop was Hanama bay. We’ve watched some rats and some cool snorkelling spot. The view was really pretty.
Then we head back to the hotel. It was an incredible day. When I first heard that the trip is 10 hours, I’ve thought I’d fallen asleep after 4 hours. But it was so much fun that I didn’t feel tired even for a second.
