This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

Another eventful day has come to its end. It started early with a pretty easy hike up the side of a crater. It was called Diamond Head State Monument and took one hour up and down. So not too bad, but it was hot so the sweat was everywhere anyway. The view during the whole hike was amazing. Mountain in the background, the ocean with the sun rising and the Koko Head Crater in the distance. That’s the big mountain we saw from Hanauma Bay the other day. The view from the top was incredible! We could see all of Honolulu and Waikiki and even as far as Pearl Harbor. It was so beautiful!

When we were done we took a quick look at the Farmer’s Market at the bottom of the crater at the University there. They had a lot of weird stuff like Apple Banana and Avocados the size of a baby’s head! I bought a slice of Hawaii’s Original Farmer’s Market Pizza. It was tomato, cheese and a basil pesto sauce. It was really good.

Back to the hostel to change into bikini and then off to Waikiki beach again. I didn’t get burned today but I did get a lot darker brown. Wonder how I will look after another two weeks. I am using sunscreen all the time. I’m alternating between 30 and 70.

Okay, so to the coolest thing that ever happened to me. In the afternoon I rented a paddleboard. One hour $20. And it was totally worth it. First I went out by myself and even if I actually could stand up with the big waves (today the waves were perfect for surfing, but because of the sharp rocks I resisted the urge to rent a surf board) it was nicer to be on my knees or sit criss-cross-applesauce (as my hostkids say). But, to see something you had to stand up, so when I realized there were some turtles swimming around I stood up and just went around. Didn’t see any though… When I went in to the beach (I was far out, really far out, but it is shallow and everyone else were out there too so it felt safe, and I don’t think there are many sharks here) to get Caroline I actually saw one! It was far away from me, but I definitely saw the shape of the turtle. It might have been around 1m from head to tail. I picked up Caroline so she was sitting on the board while I was paddling us out. And when we were out there we saw five more turtles and they were within touching distance, except that it is illegal to touch them! I seriously can’t believe I saw huge sea turtles right at Waikiki beach, right next to my board and they were also swimming under it. It was the most awesome thing I’ve ever been through!

We changed seats so I was sitting down with my legs and feet in the water looking out for more turtles. One of them were of course the biggest we saw and I’m not joking, I’m sure it was 1.5m from head to tail. It was huuuuge!! I cannot describe how it was to see and experience that. It was so awesome I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stop smiling and couldn’t stop saying all the time how fucking awesome it was!!

I returned the board and spent another 30 minutes in the water. It was a very hot day today, maybe 85F (I’m not very good at guessing temperatures, it was too warm to just be at the beach all day, you had to be in the water) so we spent a lot of time in the water. And then was when we saw the 7^th and last turtle of the day. It was like 5m away from me and when I saw it I jumped and screamed and pointed (and squirting water at Caroline at the same time and scaring the shit out of her). If you thought I was excited about the dolphins in Cali… Haha, compared to today, I wasn’t!
I regret that I didn’t bring the underwater camera with me out. If I did I could have gotten some cool pictures of the turtles from above the water. But I will probably have time to get cool pictures of one of the most amazing animals in the world!

Back to the hotel at 5pm where a strange girl was laying on my bed. She had taken away my sheets, my pajamas and everything that was one by bed because she blindly believed the confused receptionist that she was supposed to have that bed. How can someone think that a bed is hers if stuff is on it still at 5pm when checkout is at 11am? I got it back but I had to put on the sheets again which was annoying… I took a shower and then go back to the beach to watch the Hula dance show. It wasn’t anything special but it is nice to have seen it.

We said goodbye to Jair who’s leaving tomorrow and then went to Cheesecake Factory. It was a two hour waiting, but we spent that time in souvenir shops. I probably shouldn’t have, but I bought two cute shot glasses, another bracelet for myself and an opal turtle necklace. And some Hawaiian candy. Now I’m done with shopping. I have some money, but I have to get everything home too.

We shared a Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic, my favorite there. And for dessert, and my 18^th Cheesecake, we shared a Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake. We are on Hawaii!

Back to the hostel where I’ve planned tomorrow. We are gonna rent a car and drive around the island. Our first stop is gonna be a shave ice cream place that is supposed to be the best on the island. The next Turtle Bay, after that Chinaman’s Hat (Mokoli’i) and after that Pali Lookout and the rest of the day we are gonna spend at Kailua Beach. It will be a long but fun day 🙂

So now I really have to go to bed! Goodnight!

Inside the crater. The crater with the mountains in the background. Honolulu and Waikiki from the top of Le’ahi Diamond Head State Monument. Farmer’s market. #18 Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake. This is the trip we are gonna do tomorrow. Four hours of driving in total. Good thing we are starting at 8am!