So.. Since we talked last I got my new Canon 6D, revelled in the gloriousness of it for about a week, and then lost it. I’m not even going to go into the details of the event, but I’m still crying myself to sleep at night. I have also finished my final exam, which means that Christmas break is finally here! In 7 days I am returning to the snow-covered mountains of Norway to celebrate Christmas with the family, and New Year’s with friends, before I return to Hawaii for a new semester in early January.

On Sunday we tried out a new hike here in Hawaii, the Kahekili-Manamana loop trail in Kaaawa. High drops, a small waterfall, one of the most beautiful sceneries I have seen on Oahu so far, and plenty of climbing. I’m definitely going to repeat that hike next semester! Beautiful! 

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Under semi-bad conditions (cloudy skies, and muddy slopes after a night of heavy rain) we decided to complete the Ka’au Crater Hike. This one has been on my list of “Hikes I need to do” since I got here, so fractured finger or not, I was going to complete it. We gathered up the troops and took two cabs and a car to the end of Waimoa Road in Palolo and fought pouring rain for the first 10 minutes of the hike (so glad we did not turn back!).

A small map if any of you want to do the hike yourselves!

The crew: Camilla, Sebastian, Aleks, Elise, Lisa, Gisle, Kim, Sondre, Nora, Matt & Rami. And Karoline & Hallvard who are not in the picture.

Ka’au crater consists of two parts. The first one is the climb to the crater where you pass by three beautiful waterfalls. This is where we got our first glimpse of the first one, after roughly 50 minutes of hiking on a small but fairly easy trail.

First waterfall up close. Beautiful one!

The guys decided it was time for a swim. The rest of us decided this was a good spot for a small snack & water break.

At the top of the second waterfall. To get here we had to climb a 90 degree angled slope with the help of roots and ropes. Totally made me feel like Indiana Jones.

Climbing the side of the third waterfall. This one is technically about 5 different waterfalls combined into one continuos stream of water that you follow upward for about 10 minutes.

And at the top of the third waterfall, after taking a trail to the right (follow the pink ribbons) you’ll find this: Ka’au Crater.

Happy face!

..and that means it was time to start climbing. This is the second part of the hike, where the trail takes you all the way around the crater. And while some people turn at the top of the third waterfall and go down the ridge line and back home, we were set on finishing the entire hike. We’re kind of stupid that way. Which is why I love this group. Our motto is basically “It’s always too early to turn back”.

Not turning back started with us climbing up to the first (and tallest) peak …

…where we took a well-needed lunch break.. Yes, there was mud involved. A lot of it. And there would be even more when we started to work our way around the crater. Downside of walking here right after a night of heavy rain.

The ridge line (and those white dots are my fellow hikers) and Waimanalo in the background. Gnarly!

Group picture with Honolulu in the distant background.

The view of Kailua (and Waimanalo to the right). Pretty sick. In a good way.

The ridge line continued on, and then it took a left turn after the second tower. All muddy slopes from there till we got to the lower part of the ridge again. Accidentally turned off on the wrong ridge line on the way back down to the trail end, and ended up wandering around in the forest before we finally ended up by this sustainability farm one valley over from the one we were supposed to be in.

Then we got chased by the owner of the property we had stepped onto, before he realized how lost we were and decided to drive us back to the main road. Which meant stuffing the 14 of us onto the back of his truck and giving us two bottles of Corona to share for the ride. Best Corona I have ever tasted in my entire life.

The next time we do this I will double check to see that we are on the right ridge line for sure.

It made for a good story though.

Last final = done. Summer vacation starts now.

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Decided to lunch at Pioneer Saloon by Diamond Head as a treat for, you know … all achievements, finals and whatnot. Pioneer Saloon is known for their deep fried baby octopus – or so I’ve been told – so lunch meant exactly that. Strange and fascinating to eat something that actually looks like the thing it is, these were actual baby octopodes fried in oil, no cut to pieces or disguised as something non-descript. Can’t say I didn’t eat it without feeling some guilt and remorse for the poor octopi.

The acai bowl at Diamond Head Health Bar was by far more inviting as a nice dessert, fruit is after all just fruit. Fruit doesn’t have feelings, and fruit isn’t a possible character with a family, friends and a rad collection of sea shells in Finding Nemo.

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Dragged my roommate along for a road trip to the Hawai’i Loa Campus – also known as the other HPU campus – today to take pictures of “tree-hugging garden-hippies” (their words) for the student newspaper. As a part of a sustainability project put together by Permablitz Hawaii, volunteers both from HPU, alumni and the community around the school came together to clean up an existing taro patch, and also to plant two new patches to grow more actual edible food on campus.

It is such a peaceful experience to travel from the concrete jungle that is large parts of Honolulu, to the lush green and humid climate of the Loa campus. The contrasts between the Downtown campus in the middle of the business district, and the Loa campus couldn’t be larger. I think I need to spend more time up there. Even though it usually rains a lot more there than it does in the city. It’s like every HPU student’s private retreat in the mountains.

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HOODIE hawaii pacific university SHORTS gina tricot BOOTS forever21 BAG marc by marc

Today was Intercultural Day at school, which was celebrated with representatives from  20 different countries (out of the aprox. 100 we have at HPU) all lined up with booths, traditional costumes, music, singing and dancing. HPU is a very culturally diverse university, and personally I know people from Bangladesh, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, The Philippines,  to name a few. To study communication in this setting is pretty ideal I would say. Then again I am so biased by now, that you shouldn’t really trust anything I have to say about the university, I am crushing big time. Mostly because everything is going my way. Here’s to hoping it’ll stay that way !

BTW, little known fact about HPU: Sarah Palin attended the school back when it was just a college in 1982. LOL.

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Yesterday the most awesome friends surprised me with the best (and my first) surprise party. So surprising in fact that I didn’t bring my camera. So I have no pictures of last night as of right now, hopefully later. These on the other hand are from this morning’s hike to Manoa Falls. Joined Kara to get the last photos for my photojournalism assignment – due on Tuesday – and to cure my headache.  The nature up in Manoa Valley is just magnificent, and a short hike like that is probably something I should do every morning. Good for body, mind and soul or something like that. Finished with something that actually was good for body, mind and soul; snow ice. Weird consistency but oh-so nice.

NOW, homework + last episode of Angel season 1.

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1) Captain Cook made his first landing in the Hawaiian Islands at Waimea beach on Kauai. Kauai is also the northernmost island in the Hawaiian chain, which is the most isolated inhabited land mass in the world. Kauai is over six million years old.

2) Kaua’i is full of microclimates so renting a car might have been the smartest thing we did. You can experience cold weather and rain, drive through hot-hot-hot summer and refreshing spring. I love it.

3) By law, no building on Kauai is allowed to be built taller than a palm tree. Which is so nice. And cute. Kauai in general is very in eco-friendly and all about keeping the island self-sustainable and tourist-free. In 2007 there were actually angry protesters trying to keep a super-ferry from letting ashore 150 tourist because the ferry would create overcrowding and problems with increased traffic, as well as endanger animals like whales and seals. And they succeeded in shutting the ferry down.

4) Kauai is the legendary home of the Menehune, a mythical race of very small people who performed legendary feats of construction and engineering. Like Hawaiian leprechauns.

5) Kaua’i has a more churches than people (probably note true, but it does seem like it when you’re driving around) and some very Christian people. Doom’s day peoples.

6) The official nickname of the island is: ”The Garden Island”. Cannot imagine why.. This valley can be seen in Jurassic Park and Pirates. Just sayin’.

7) Kauai Coffee is the largest coffee plantation in the United States. I also happen to love the coffee. It’s just that good. Luckily we have Kauai Coffee in Oahu as well.

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Did I mention that large parts of Jurassic Park, Fantasy Island (!), Lord of the Flies, King Kong, Hook, George of the Jungle (!), Lost and Soul Surfer was filmed on location in Kaua’i (and Oahu). I’m starting to recognize places, which feels kind of – sort of cool. And yes, the sunsets in Kaua’i are just as beautiful as in Oahu, but they do have some mosquitos here that we’ve been blissfully avoiding in Honolulu, and I can’t say I’m a fan of those. Well, no pain no gain, and so on..

Have a nice weekend !

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One of the greatest hike’s in Hawai’i, if not in the world is the Kalalau Trail along the Napali Coast on Kauai’s north shore. Me and Karoline opted for the first 2 miles of it, to Hanakapi’ai Beach, and then continued up to the beautiful Hanakapi’ai Falls. In retrospect an 8 mile hike under a scorching sun is not the best idea we’ve ever had, but the trip itself was beautiful beyond comparison. Inspired by the sheer sporty-ness of it all I did gymnastics tricks all through the trip (and only felt sort of goofy and stupid for doing so), and am happy to inform you that I still maintain some of the flexibility from my dancing career. I almost fell over two seconds after that picture was taken though – hence the bent knee – so we can conclude with the fact that my balance has disappeared for the moment.

Finished the hike with a dip in the ocean at Ke’e Beach, had a well-deserved dinner in Hanalei before we returned to Ke’e  to watch the sunset. Kauai is so peaceful, I can’t think of any place I’d rather want to live right now. If you get the chance to visit the Hawaiian islands in your life, I have to recommend Kaua’i. It is my favorite by far (and I do love Oahu).

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Sometimes all you need is sun, a sandy beach on an island in the pacific and a coconut. Not too much to ask for I reckon. Drinking coconut water-milk out of a coconut has been on my Bucket-list for Hawai’i since I moved here, but I obviously had to travel to another island to get it done. Nothing like being a tourist when it comes to getting things done.

I can recommend ice-cold coconuts. They are delicious.

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First day in Kaua’i was spent on the West Coast tanning and visiting the Waimea Canyon look-out, before returning to the hotel and dinner in Kapa’a. Had the best (and probably healthiest) dinner at a hole in the wall in Kapa’a called Mermaid Cafe that sold ahi wraps with nori and rice and cucumber and wasabi, and also the most amazing homemade lemonade. If you are ever going to Kaua’i be sure to stop by.

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Welcome to my island.

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In Hawaii I am never on time. Or … let me rephrase that; in Hawaii I live on Hawaii time. Where time is an ambiguous term, prone to change at whim, ruled by weather and the general mood of the day. The bus has a schedule, but don’t expect it to be there when you think it will. Stores that are supposed to open at 8am might just open at “12-ish” instead, depending on the surfing conditions. And certain teachers are always ten minute late for class, except when you expect them to be late and they arrive ten minutes early for class. The same applies to the students.

This semester I am trying to force some order into this state of flux that I’ve been living in. You might have noticed that I am inseparable from my beloved Triwa-wathes (the purple and the tropical one), but right now I am dreaming of adding a new one to my collection. The Nevil-model has been on my wishlist for a year, but so far I have failed to acquire it. Now, my birthday is coming up in just a couple of weeks, so all hope is not lost and so on..

Until then I am slowly trying to incorporate a schedule into the habitual island time.

Started the day with a hike to the top of the Koko Head crater. The trail is basically an old railway-track used by the military back in the days, but it’s so steep that it reminds you more of stairs than anything else. 1 hour up and down worth of stairs. I nearly died. To say I am out of shape is a gross understatement. I am starting to get the machinery working again though, slowly but surely I will return to my original superwoman-state. Somehow.

I am sick of being sick, and one way to good health is definitely through working-out.

How is your spring extreme make-over sessions working out for you? Broken your New Year’s resolutions yet?

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