A tropical wonderland so magical and beautiful, it's hard to believe you are actually experiencing it.
That's how I would describe Hawaii.
All photos have been taken by me on the island of Oahu. Enjoy!
There's nothing quite like the feeling of stepping off an aeroplane into an open air airport and getting hit with that wall of moist humid air! To me, that is one of the best feelings. You know that it's going to be hot, sunny and tropical in this mysterious new land you have arrived in! I had daydreamed about Hawaii for the longest time before that dream came true. I don't think there is anything better than spending all day outside under the sun. At the beach, hiking, or playing in the ocean. I have always felt so free and at home on the beach in just a bathing suit covered in sand and saltwater (and sunscreen if I've remembered). Hawaii was a place that my heart felt at home.
Walking in Waikiki that first night was really not what I was expecting . Especially when all I had in my head was tropical beaches and endless ocean! But low and behold there was a buzzing metropolis and I was in its heart. The first meal I had was a dish called Poke, I had been dying to try this for ages! And little did I know that for the next 7 days I would eat it for lunch everyday!
Waking up to the warm air hugging my body and the orange sun starting to colour the morning clouds, I thought I was waking up in a fairytale.
We jumped into the convertible blasting reggae music all the way. Our destination?
Along the way we had to stop for a few photo opportunities!
We then arrived at the end of the road. So why not get out and see what there is? We had unknowingly arrived at Yokohama Bay. Huge glass barrels crashed into the sloping beach that had been carved away by endless waves. Pristinely white clean sand stretched further down the beach past the end of the road melting into lush green mountains that stretched up and touched the sky. Mist sprinkled down on the tops of the mountains with baby rainbows poking through! I was in Heaven!!!!!!
If you're wondering if I braved the shore break then you better have guessed yes. The hard part was timing your entrance and getting past the huge powerful waves! Once you made it past the break the water was lovely and I couldn't have been happier!
We finished the day off by finding some tuna poke from a local grocery store on the West Shore. If you've been to Hawaii then you know that you can find poke just about anywhere and everyone seems to make it slightly differently. This only adds to the amazing-ness of this dish as each time you have it you know that it will have a certain taste unlike the last. For those of you that don't know what poke is, it is raw ahi tuna chunks marinated in soy sauce with onions and sesame seeds over rice. But like I said, everyone makes it differently! So we found a beautiful spot to sit and eat our poke dinner and watched some waves come crashing in.
The photos in this post have been taken with:
Canon Rebel T3i
Yashica 35mm film camera with a Carl Zeiss lens
and
Fujifilm instax mini polaroid
Thanks for reading!
Watch out for part two where we head to the East Shore!
Much love,
Leah