HAWAII TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY // PART I

We recently took a spontaneous last-minute trip to Hawaii. Nearing Christmas, flights to Hawaii skyrocket, but we happened upon flights with multiple connects (no longer than 50 minutes between flights) for round trip including tax of $600 each! The idea of passing up on such a great deal seem ridiculous, so we booked our flights, 3 weeks out. I have family in Oahu so I got in touch with my second cousin and we stayed with them while we were in Oahu. It was amazing timing, since my other cousin and her boyfriend were returning home from school in New Zealand. They were our tour guides and brought us to all the cool spots all the locals go to that aren’t saturated with tourists! This is Part I. Part II includes our trip to Kauai and our hike along the Kalalau Trail.

NOTEWORTHY:

1. Malasadas at Leonard’s is a gift from God. Quite literally it’s a large donut sized beaver tail (if you’re Canadian and know what a beaver tail is). For those who don’t know what a beaver tail is; it’s essentially lightly fried dough topped with cinnamon sugar. Best eaten hot.

2. The homemade pineapple sorbet at the Dole pineapple plantation is my favourite thing on earth. I craved it for 15 years before this trip. Seriously, why can’t it exist in Canada?! I know why: because I would be severely overweight if it did. They are just looking out for my health and physique. I appreciate that.

3. Vacationing with locals is great! My cousins brought us to a sweet 1 hour hike that gave us an amazing view of the entire north east part of the island. Not one tourist in sight. We had to drive through a neighbourhood, park and walk through a chain link fence to get to the hike. Once at the top, we climbed an old pillbox sniper house from the second world war and hung out on the roof, overlooking the dreamy blue ocean water. We watched the sun set cliffside at Spitting Cave. Driving up through a very swanky neighbourhood, down a steep and narrow path to the rocks, overlooking the south west Pacific ocean, we found Spitting Cave. Some kids were scaling the cliffs 50 feet to perform some pretty graceful dives. I saw a massive sea turtle. Before I could even grab my camera, it dove deep into the water and disappeared.

4. We witnessed a spectacular rescue of a paraglider who missed his landing and ended up in the ocean, by a strong current and jagged rocks. Two lifeguards swam out to save him and we watched from the cliffs as the paramedics went out on a seado to save them!

5. Matt ate like a true filipino. My great aunt, who is basically a spitting image of my lola (grandma in filipino) and her husband made us delicious food. We had fresh caught fish and rice and ate with our hands. It was amazing.

PLACES WE VISITED:
– Dole Pineapple Plantation
– North Shore
– Pearl Harbour
– Blowhole
– Hanauma Bay
– Pillbox hiking trail

Location: Oahu, Hawaii
Date: December 2014
Cameras: D700, GoPro Hero 3
Lenses: 50mm 1.4D & 24 1.4D