We got up early today and put on our swimsuits, grabbed our snorkeling gear and provisions for the day and headed out for a day on the east shore. With a quick stop at the airport, and to my surprise, we parked Mike’s government rental car at the airport and picked up a black mustang convertible for the remainder of my time in Hawaii. That was such a fantastic surprise. We drove on the Pali Highway towards Kailua. We stopped briefly at the Nu-uanu Pali Lookout and marveled at the beauty from where we were. It wasn’t much further from the lookout to the Kailua Beach Park where we found a parking spot before the lot filled up for the day. We got out and walked along the beach and then headed on the private roads to Lanikai Beach to see what it was like. Wow…Lanikai Beach was pretty spectacular. We spent some time walking on that beach before heading back to where the car was and then on over to Kailua rental center. We rented a double kayak, bought a cute double hammock, new swim goggles for me, and some Chums to keep our sunglasses secure while on the kayak. We watched the safety video about kayaking in the area then loaded up our kayak on the wheeled dolly and headed back over to Kailua Beach. We loaded up our drybag with all of our food and extra clothing, secured our snorkeling gear in the kayak and then headed out into the ocean. It was fairly windy as we headed out to Popoia Island first. It took some time for us to find our groove paddling together but we made it safely to the island without too much trouble. We docked our kayak on the small sandy bank and got out to walk around the small bird sanctuary island. The view from the island was pretty remarkable. After spending a short time exploring this island we hopped back into the kayak and headed straight for Lanikai Beach. The original plan was to head on over to Moku Nui Island, but the winds were so strong that we decided to just hang out at Lanikai instead of kayaking against the wind for another hour. It was still fairly early in the morning and the beach wasn’t at all crowded - partially because it is not as accessible as Kailua Beach. It is a good 15 min walk from the Kailua Beach parking lot. After docking our kayak on the beach, we got on our snorkeling gear and headed out into the crystal-clear blue water and had fun seeing all the different kinds of fish swimming around the shallow reefs. It was pretty incredible to snorkel at Lanikai. We spent most of the day snorkeling and laying out in the warm sun. I can’t remember the last time I got to lay out in the sun without kids. I was really careful to put on sunscreen frequently so I wouldn’t burn. It was hard to want to leave the beach but eventually we headed back into the kayak and paddled back to where we started. It took no time at all to get back since the wind was in our favor. We returned the kayak, grabbed some ice-cream, and laid in our hammock for a while before driving back to Waikiki. We drove back via the Kalanianaole Hwy stopping at the Makapu’u Point State Wayside overlook to see the beauty of where we spent the day. It was a remarkable view from where we stood, and I just felt grateful that I got to spend the day with Mike. After showering and getting ready back at our hotel, we headed out again to eat dinner. We decided to stand in line to eat at Marukame Udon Tempura Musubi. Apparently, this famous Udon shop, always has a really long line out front. The good news was that the line moved rather quickly. We met some really nice people in line and that helped the time to pass quickly. The Udon was really tasty and definitely authentic. It seems crazy to be in Hawaii but feel so close to Japan.
