Day 91: Hawaii Day NINE

 It's our last completely full day of Hawaii! I mean, we don't go to the airport until 8pm tomorrow, but as far as carefree not worrying about what time it is to catch a plane, it's our last day.

Pam and Larry needed to pack, as they were leaving much earlier tomorrow morning, so it was just the four of us again today. 

Brad and the boys didn't have the chance to snorkel at Tunnel's beach the day that Allie and I did it, and I really wanted to give them the chance to do it before we left the island, especially since it's Brad's favorite thing to do. This was a good time since the parents were busy. So we took the drive back up to the North Shore, where the snorkeling was even better (like, 10 times better, if that's even possible) than when Allie and I did it. There were entire schools of fish, a couple of huge eels sliding in and out of the holes in the coral. Fish swimming, fish eating, fish sleeping in the coral. And as you swim over the coral, the cracks in between that reveal the deep blue sea underneath (and when I say blue, I literally mean Jello blue). The boys were done, so Brad and I headed to the drop off, and it's literally a drop off Finding Nemo style, dropping off from 3 feet deep to 30-40 feet deep, but so clear and so turquoise that you can see the bottom. Below us were schools of larger fish, and then Brad snatched me and pointed to this amazing green sea turtle gracefully swimming below us. We followed him for about a minute before he dropped deep below the overhang of the dropoff where we couldn't see him. 

Literally the coolest thing I've ever done. 

One of the only photos we took this morning because we were so busy in the water

We only stayed for a couple hours, and after we packed up and headed a few miles down the coast to the infamous Hanalei, where we stopped for another new shaved ice place. This place was on the list specifically because we could buy coconut bowls and serve the shaved ice in them. 

And since drinking out of a freshly cut coconut was a bit of a let down for Camden, buying a souvenir coconut bowl for fresh ice was absolutely justified. 

This fantastic mural on the back of a tractor trailer

Nearby was a really easy walking trail. You can hardly call it a hike, except for distance, but it's more like a stroll with a really cool finish line. We parked at a super cute dog park and headed out to the Stone Dam Trail. 

The Trail was amazing, marching us through these perfectly structured groves of mahoganey trees (as this was once a sugar cane and then a mahoganey plaintation). It was very muddy with red clay, but it was gorgeous, green and lush, and fun to do something entirely different on this trip. 

The end of the trail was like finding the Holy Grail. At the very end this trail opens up to a perfectly manicured natural garden, with a rushing stream pouring out of waterfall over a manmade stone dam. The history of the dam is that it was built to feed water into the nearby sugar cane plantations (at the time), and now is curated and cared for historical and agricultural runoff (i.e. the mahogany grove). 

There is a path walking over the dam (or around it, whatever), which leads to a calm pool and a tree with a rope swing. Althrough the water wasn't perfectly clear and probably not the cleanest, we couldn't resist, and Brad and the boys took several swings into the water. 

You only live once, right?

This was SO much fun, and we probably would have stayed longer, but we had reservations at dinner on the south shore and a long way to get there, so we packed up and left. We met Brad's parents at Cabanas Bar and Grill for dinner, and then went to Kiahuna Beach together. There was a plan to this. On Wednesday nights the Sheraton resort (right there on the beach) had a luau that of course was closed to the public HOWEVER it was right there on the beach and clearly visible. Camden wanted more than anything to be a part of the luau, so we made sure to be at the beach precisely when the luau started. 

Crashing a luau, so to speak. 

They made sure they were dressed for a Luau

As it started the boys plopped on their towels right where the luau was roped off and watched the show. By the time the fire dancers showed up (the finally), Camden was joyfully jumping up and down in the sand in excitement. 

It was almost just as good as being in the Luau ourselves. 

Almost. 

But my wallet is happier. 

And look at the moon on the beach while we're at it! 

What a great day. 

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