Goodbye Big Island, Hello Oahu!
Aloha from Oahu!
This morning, we got up early to watch the sunrise–4:00am came way too early, but the view was totally worth it! Drew and I were two of only about six people at the caldera, so we had a perfectly clear view of the softly glowing crater. As the sun rose and the sky lightened, steam rising from multiple cracks in the ground appeared and the crater’s glow faded. It was really cool seeing the reddish peak of Mauna Loa slowly brighten behind us with the full moon still visible over its peak. As much as I disliked getting up early, it was a fabulous way to start the day.
After grabbing our bags and some breakfast, we loaded onto the plane and were on our way to Oahu!
We checked into our hotel and immediately hit the road, going on a walking tour of Waikiki and the surrounding area with our long-time friend Jason, who is a science educator at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
My initial takeaway of Oahu as that it’s MUCH more chaotic than the Big Island, and while that’s true, I’ve also realized how much history and beauty there is on Oahu. With no evens planned for the evening, Jason brought us to various historical sites in the city, including The Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider hotels, and shared bits of history with us as we went around. The Royal Hawaiian hotel, like many homes, businesses, and agriculture and conservation areas on Oahu, stands on some of the 365,000 acres that are owned by the Kamehameha Schools. The Kamehameha Schools are a private school system for students with Hawaiian ancestry founded under the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was an ali’i, or noble member of the Kamehamena Royal Family of Hawai’i.