Our
Trip to Paradise
2006
By,
Yash Maniyar
" Swimming clothes
Sunscreen
Candies
Beach toys
Excitement
Camera ...,"
I read off the list I made while my mom packed the bags for tomorrow's Hawai'i trip. We were all so excited. My mom & dad were waiting to go to Hawai'i for 14 years. "Go to bed you guys. Tomorrow you have to wake up early," my mom said. So we went to sleep in our cozy beds. The only ones awake were me & Isha. We were talking about how much fun we were going to have in Hawai'i. "We're going to go snorkling!" I exclaimed. "Mamma said that we're going to have a swimming pool near our hotel room," Isha said as if she knew everything about our hotel already. I didn't know when we fell asleep but I had a feeling it was late.
The next morning, I woke up by the call of my mom. I jumped out of my bed & raced to the bathroom. I did all my "getting ready" work fast. After we did our last-minute packing, we got dropped off at the San Jose International Airport by our neighbor. We caught a 5 &1/2 hour flight to the Honolulu International Airport. We ate lunch at Burger King. By the time we finished our burgers it was almost time to catch our second flight to Maui. This flight was only half an hour. We landed at Kahului Airport.
The temperature was perfect to be in a swimming pool. We waited at a Hertz bus stop. When the bus finally came, we sat down & waited until it reached Hertz, a car rental store. My dad rented a silver Toyota Camry. We drove for 40 minutes to Kaanapali Shores, our hotel. Once we got to our hotel, we got room # 105. It was on the first floor. 100 minutes of flights & driving, it was worth it. Our condominium was perfect. There were 2 swimming pools, 1 beach the hotel was named after, & a beautiful garden. We explored our garden & the swimming pools. Isha & I even went inside one of the swimming pools. After a few minutes of swmming, we came inside & dried ourselves with towels.
Whaler's Village was where we were going to go next. Once we got there, we saw hula dancers doing the hula, ate pizza & ice-cream for dinner, I got a penny souvenir, & my mom went shopping. We saw the bones of a sperm whale. When we got back to the hotel, I was exhausted. We all went to sleep except me. I was wondering how the next day would be.
It was 5:30 a.m. when my dad woke me up. Today was the day I was waiting for. We would be snorkling in just a few hours."We're going to see corals, reefs, turtles, fishes, rocks, and...and...and" My list was endless. I heard people talking about snorkling all the time & it sounded fun. I got my water shoes, sunscreen, & swimming pants. Once we drove to Maalaea Harbor, a boat came to get us. Once inside, I ate a muffin for breakfast. Finally it started off to Molokini Crater, our first snorkling stop.Once we got there we got wet suits, flippers, & floating devices. We snorkled for half an hour. I saw millions of colorful fish.We got back on the boat & ate a burger. While we were going to Turtle Town, our second snorkling stop, we saw 3 humpback whales right near our boat! They were huge! When we arrived at Turtle Town, we snorkled for 20 minutes. I saw a huge amount of small turtles on the ground floor. When we were off to Maalaea Harbor once again, we saw a few bottlenose dolphins, a flying fish, & 1 more turtle. We arrived at shore & our family drived back to our hotel. We got ready for the party at Luau. We were going to see dances & eat dinner there. We got a shell necklace over there. When we got seated, I got pooped on by a seagull. My mom & I went to the restroom to wipe it off. When we got back, the show begun. There were lots of varieties of hula dances. I enjoyed watching. Then came dinner. It felt nice & warm in my tummy.I had sweet potato, noodles, rice, bread, chocolate cake, & pasta. We drove to our hotel & slept. I thought, this Hawai'i trip could be the most adventurous part of my life.
Just like yesterday, we woke up early again. "Why did we wake up so early?" I asked my dad. "We're going on the Road to Hana," he replied. "I want to see the Wai'anapanapa Black-Sand Beach," I told him. "Me too," Isha said. It was easy to get ready fast since everybody wanted to go on the Road to Hana. We started off to our first stop, Twin Falls. We stopped at one place to look at the view, then we kept on going. Once we got there, we had to take a trail to see the 2 waterfalls. It was a long trail, & I saw lots of plants. After a lot of walking we finally got to Twin Falls. I could smell guavas, I heard birds chirping, & I saw 2 waterfalls that looked identical. We went back the trail & into our car.Second stop, a view of Wai'anapanapa Black-Sand Beach! It took a while to get there. Once we did, we found a place that offered great views of the beach. The sand looked like a bunch of burnt coal just lying out there. Next, we drived to the Garden of Eden. There, we saw lots & lots of plants. First, we fed some peacocks & ducks. Then, we went to a picnic place to eat lunch, sandwiches. We looked at some more plants & then drived to a shaved-ice stand. My dad & Isha ate it & we all sat down for a while. The next place we went to was the Coffee Plantation. Over there we fed ducks & fishes. I found a smooth stick which rattled when you shake it. My mom went to a coffee store & got coffee. We went back to our hotel & Isha & I played at Kaanapali Shores.We came inside to eat dinner. We went to Kaanapali Shores once again. After a while we came inside & took a shower. That night, we happily slept in our beds.
My family woke up as happily as they fell asleep the last night. I was the most excited & happy because today we were going to go into a submarine-I've always wanted to get inside one!-& we were going to Haleakala Crater-I've always wanted to see a real volcano! First, we drove to Lahaina Harbor to get our boarding passes for the submarine. My family & I waited until a boat came to pick us up. It took us far out into the ocean. The boat stood until something emerged to the surface of the ocean. It was the submarine! The name of it was Atlantis. The driver called out groups to get inside. When we were all inside, it started to go deep into the ocean. The first type of fish the people saw was a yellowish colored fish. Later on we saw yellow trumpetfishes, all kinds of goatfish, the North Reef, the South Reef, an anchor, a sunken ship that had turned into an active reef, & more. The submarine even took us to the ground floor! Then, we had to go back to the surface. Without going to our hotel, we went straight to Haleakala Crater. On the way, we went to Kula Marketplace. For lunch, Isha & I ate raisin bread, chips, & string cheese since we didn't find anything vegetarian. Then, we drove to Haleakala Crater, this time without stopping. We had to go up a mountain to see the crater. At 5,000 ft. elevation we drove right through the clouds! At 10,000 ft. elevation, we were at the top. The clouds were 5,000 ft. below us! I saw the crater & what I saw inside was even cooler! I saw the top of a volcano! from there, we drove down 7 into our hotel. For dinner, we ate an indian curry. After dinner, I played in the swimming pool for a while. We came inside & took a bath.Next thing you know, we're sleeping.
We woke up early today because my mom & dad had to get ready for the flight back to the Honolulu International Airport in Oahu. My family & I planned to spend our last 4 days in a hotel in Oahu. My dad said that we could spend time at the beach while he & my mom got ready for the flight. After a half-an-hour of getting ready, we finally drove to the Kahului Airport. We got a short flight to the Honolulu International Airport. Once my family finally got there, once again, we got a Hertz bus. You know all about Hertz, so let's get on with it. After we got our purplish-blue Mercury Grand Marquee, we drove to Waikiki Sunset, our hotel. We had a beach near our hotel. It's name was Waikiki Beach. Waikiki Beach was the most famous beach in the whole wide world! The city we lived in- you guessed it! -was Waikiki. It was very urban there. There were tall buildings, lots of cars, lots of people, & a small amount of trees. Once we got to Waikiki Sunset, we got room # 603, which was on the 6th floor. After we unloaded our luggages, we went out for grocery. We also went to other shops, ate dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise, & got a floatboard for me. After a while,
we went back to our hotel & peacefully fell asleep.
Today, my family woke up at 8:00a.m. It was going to be another
adventurous day today. We were in for some look-outs, bays,& more.
But most of all: we were going to hike up Diamond Head Crater! First,
we got ready. Next, we jumped into our car & started off to Diamond
Head Crater! Once we got there, I got a map of the trail. At first, the trail was easy, since there was sidewalk. In a while, the sidewalk stopped & a plain path took it's place. It was hard to walk without tripping. After a bit of walking, it got harder. They had added stairs & tunnels, too. Once we finally got to the top, we looked out at the view.We saw seagulls flying over the blue sea. We could see the whole city from up there! My family was amazed. I reminded them that we had a long way down. So we walked all the way down & got into our car. Next stop, Makapuu look-out! My dad drove there faster than I expected. Over at the look-out, I saw huge, black crabs. My dad & I thought they were cool. Isha & my mom thought they were scary.Next, Isha & I ate ice-cream at an ice-cream shop. After we finished our ice-creams, we all went to spend some time at Waikiki Beach. Isha made a sand-city with my dad. My mom & I made a sand-tunnel. We also played in the water,too. I used my floatboard & my dad got a floatie for Isha. It was almost time to go, so we got all our stuff & went back to our hotel. Once we were inside, we took a bath & went to sleep.
My dad woke us up by saying, "Today we're going to go to Dole Plantation." Isha & I got up & got ready fast. We both thought that we wouldn't be able to go there if we didn't get ready fast. The Dole Plantation in Hawai'i was one of the places I really wanted to go to. It had a life-size maze that was made out of plants! So we got into our car & set off to Dole Plantaton! Soon, we got there. I was very excited. We got inside the building & got our tickets for the maze. Soon, we were all in the maze. The target was to find all the tracing stations & come back to the entrance. I took 19 minutes to do it all. It took 20 minutes for my dad. My mom & Isha took 40 minutes. Next,went on the Pineapple Express. It gave us a tour around the plantation. We learned about pineapples & sugar canes. We drove across the north shore beaches to the Waialua Shopping Center to have a coffee break. I ate a bagel. My mom & dad drank coffee. After that, we drove back to our hotel. Isha & I both swam in the swimming pool. After swimming for a while, Isha & I took a bath. We went to the Ala Moana Mall. We ate dinner at P.F. Changs. After we ate dinner, we shopped for a while. After that we went back to our hotel slept "ZZZZZZZZ," we went.
Today, Isha & I woke up very late (compared with the other days). We both woke up at 8:00a.m. My family & I were going to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. My dad had told me that it was a sunken ship that was attacked by the Japenese soldiers. We all got ready & drove to Pearl Harbor. Over there, we ate a egg salad sandwich & chips for lunch. I also took a tour around Pearl Harbor. I learned about 5 Japenese submarines, Thunderfish (which was like an underwater missle), the USS Arizona before it was attacked, & more. Isha & I got an activity pad. We both worked on it until it was time to go to the memorial. Everybody who had ticket # 21 (which included us) went inside a theater to wacth a film of the attack. After the film was over, we got on a boat to the memorial. Once we got to the meorial, we saw through a hole that the ship was right under our feet! I saw 2 gun tubs on the ship. There was a huge wall filled with the people who had died during the attack. there was also a smaller wall filled with the survivors. After we all explored the memorial for a while, we got on a boat back to Pearl Harbor. Isha & I both got a Junior Ranger Badge since we had finished our activity pads. My dad drove us back to our hotel, where we changed into our swimming clothes & went to Waikiki Beach. I played on my floatboard, my parents joined me, Isha played with her floatie, & we all played in the sand. Then, we walked back to our hotel & took a bath. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. My dad & I ate pizza. My mom & Isha ate pasta. For dessert, we sunk our teeth into a delicious chocolate cheesecake. Then, we walked back to our hotel & fell asleep as soon as we got into our beds.
Today was our last day at Hawai'i. In just a few hours, we would be flying back to San Jose. Isha & I spent our last 30 minutes in our hotel by playing in our swimming pool. Then we took a bath & drove to the Honolulu International Airport. At the airport, we ate pizza for lunch.My mom & I played a card game. When our gate number-gate number21-was called, I led my & Isha to the correct gate. We sat down for a pretty long time until the airplane finally came. All of the people scrambled around the plane until they found their numbered seats. Our family's seat number was 40. We found it pretty quickly & sat down. We spent 5 & a half hours in the airplane until we finally landed at the San Jose International Airport. We got our luggages. Then, Reva, my friend, picked us up from the airport. She had a Christmas present for both Isha & me. I reminded Isha that tomorrow would be Christmas! So when we got home we set up milk & cookies. It's good to be back home, I thought. We got into our beds. "Short day," I said to Isha. "Yeah," she replied. Then, we fell asleep.
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