A few weeks ago, I traveled to Hawaii with three of my favourite people. My parents, Kultar, and I hopped on a plane (or two, in the case of my parents) and headed for Honolulu. 

Even before we landed we were met with stunning views that set the tone for the rest of the trip. 

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Our Airbnb was located about an hour outside of Honolulu, up the western shore in Makaha. The neighbourhood was conveniently right beside a small beach, which was where we spent a lot of the time.

The day we arrived was in the middle of a fairly severe storm – the waves were some of the biggest ones I’ve ever seen. We took a walk on the beach once we got settled and were nearly blown/swept away many times!

During our first full day on the island, we decided to take a drive to the north shore and stop at some of the bigger tourist destinations along the way.

We wanted to check out some of the forest reserves and national parks, but due to the high winds that were still rolling through, many places were closed. We did still manage to cross a few really cool things off our list though: Valley of the Temples State Park, and Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens.

We got to the garden late, so decided to go back the next day to get the full experience.

After we left the garden, we stopped at Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout to take in some epic views of the island.

We were surrounded by rainbows on the drive back to Makaha – something that was fairly constant the entire trip, and one of my favourite things that we got to witness.

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We made it back to the house just in time for sunset! The waves were still giant, and we watched some brave people attempt take them on.

On Tuesday, we woke up to a giant rainbow outside the window! That was a good omen for the day, as the winds had finally died down and we were able to hike through Ka‘ena Point state park.

After the hike, we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and soaking up some much needed sunshine. We also got a front seat to witness some pretty amazing surfing.

The next day was my birthday! We drove into Honolulu and trekked up to Diamond Head crater in the morning, and treated ourselves to some tasty snacks afterwards.

We then drove into the city to grab some early dinner and visit Waikiki Beach for sunset.

Thursday was Valentines Day, and while the day didn’t start off with much of a romantic tone, it definitely ended with one!

We began the morning at the Pearl Harbour Memorial site, the main spot my dad had been itching to check out. Personally, one of my favourite parts was watching Kultar try to maneuver through the tiny spaces on the ships.

The night ended with a catamaran boat cruise that Kultar had organized for the four of us. We saw some more stunning views of the city, a few more rainbows, and whales! A pod of grey whales was hanging out near our boat and gave us quite a show.

We chose to spend our last full day in Hawaii taking it easy on the beach – it had been quite the week of adventuring and it was nice to relax for a full day.

We had to say goodbye to the island on Saturday, but we snuck in one last morning walk before we left (and a few more drone shots).

We packed a lot into a few short days but it was well worth it! Visiting Oahu was an unforgettable time to say the least. I’m so thankful to be able to cross it off my bucket list, and to have such a great family to experience it with.