Manoa fall and Akaka fall

Yesterday was a somewhat lazy day until my friend Ari came down to Waikiki. He's WWOOFing on the western part of Oahu which he says is very boring on the evenings since there is nothing to do at night. If you don't know what WWOOFing is, look it up. But Liz, Ari, and I decided to do a hike of Manoa fall. The hike itself was a bit slick, but the walk felt pike we were in a rain forest! It was gorgeous and green! I had never experienced anything like it before and since I was in Waikiki, there was little greenery there. I'll have to steal some photos later since I don't have any pictures on my iPod or phone. Well i have one but I'll do it later. The fall itself was a little wimpy. There was a couple who were across the boundaries and sitting in the small pool at the bottom of the fall. The man had just proposed and they were celebrating with champagne by the water. They were strange but Ari chatted with them, but he talks to everyone. After the hour and a half ride back to the hostel, I used up the rest of my food and decided to show Ari the Waikiki night life. There were so many prostitutes and Ari just laughed at them(not to their faces obviously). But we proceeded to a bar where we had a kona longboard lager and a PBR. I tried some street food which was a BBQ pork sandwich which was pretty tasty and then around 2am we went back and to bed. I got up at 6 this morning to get ready for my flight to Hilo, Hawaii. To those of you who don't know, Hawaii is the name of the largest island in the island chain. It is also known as The Big Island. So we got here in
30 minutes but it took us an hour plus to get a car. First my friend Julia got the car, but with a 4x4 car upgrade and insurance, it almost came to $500 total. As we tried to put our bags in the soft top jeep, Julia's and Liz's big backpacks weren't fitting. Getting frustrated, we decided to switch cars. Also we decided that the car should be under my name because I already have insurance. We did have to pay for me being under 25, but in the long run, we saved about $50 or so AND I'm driving a Dodge Caliber (my uncle Wally would be so proud. My dad not so much since he hates his). So we got into Hilo, found a really nice hostel, dropped our stuff and drove out to Akaka fall. Terry at the front desk told us to take the scenic route which we did and it was really nice. We picked up some free fruit along the way too. This fall was a lot cooler than Manoa fall and there were two falls, Akkaka and Kahuna. It was all on a pathway but it also was so green and lush in plants! On the ride back, we decided to stop at a food stand where there was fresh fruits which we bought a lot of and we also had some coconut water from a coconut. One thing o learned was that the young coconuts have more water in them than the old ones but the old ones will have the actual nut so you can eat the white flesh. We tried with the young one but it wasn't good. We were planning on seeing the botanical gardens today as well, but we had seen too many plants and were all just very tired, so now were back at the hostel, relaxing before going to the observatory to see some beautiful views and stars. Aloha from Big Island! <3 Joya