Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

My Hawaiian Vacation

Aloha!

My weekly wrap is a little late because I just got back from a surprise trip to O'ahu with mrC. I'd been dropping hints all over the place about how fun it would be to getaway and apparently he was listening ---> he's a great husband!

Since mrC is retired military, he was able to get us into the beach cottages on the Marine Corps base. Even when it was cloudy, our own little paradise was pretty amazing. (we got some great shots and video on this trip with our GoPro)

Hanging out on the SUP at Secret Beach - steps from our cottage!

The highlights:

Hiking Diamond Head

This was an easy hike with a series of switch backs most of the way up to the 761 foot summit. The path was a little slippery from the passing morning showers, but with good shoes it was no problem for us. The "hard" part was near the top - 99 steps, a spiral staircase and a few more steps to reach the summit. It was pretty crowded and some clouds rolled in right as we reached the top, but it was still amazing to cross this off our Hawaii bucket list.


Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

mrC introduced me to snorkeling when we were on Kaua'i almost 10 years ago and knows how much I love it (even though I don't really like deep water), so he took me to one of the most popular snorkel spots on O'ahu. We swam around spotting fish and avoiding coral (it was low tide) and even got to see a monk seal that was sunning on the beach that day.

View of Hanauma Bay from above


I made this little video of our snorkeling



SUP at Secret Beach

We rented a SUP board from the MWR office and used it while we were staying in the cottage. The water was shallow and full of coral, but so flat. Perfect for SUP (my new bikini top was perfect for all my water activities!).


Swimming at Pyramid Rock Beach

A great spot for swimming and sunbathing was right down the road from the cottage. Named for the pyramid shaped rock on the coast, Pyramid Rock Beach had powder white sand and was surrounded by tropical plants. It was a lot harder to swim there than the pool at the fitness center, but way more fun!


Visiting Pearl Harbor

When we arrived on Tuesday, we stopped at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. We lucked out and got the last two free tickets to take the 75 minute USS Arizona Memorial Tour. We watched a short documentary about the attack on Pearl Harbor took a shuttle boat to the USS Arizona Memorial. To see this place in person is quite powerful and moving. I found myself fighting back tears many times.



mrC's friend gave us a private tour around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. He drove us past the submarines, aircraft (no photography allowed for obvious reasons) and even the beach cottages where the movie Aloha was partially filmed. We stopped at The Lanai on the Mamala Bay side of the base for some Hawaiian fish and chips...and some daiquiris. We had a great view of the main beach on base which is literally right next to the runways. I would have loved to SUP in this bay!


Sailing at Mamala Bay

mrC's friend took us out on the bay in his sailboat so that we could see Oahu from another perspective and so mrC could get some sailing in. Surprise, I got to take the helm, too! Oahu is such a beautiful place. I loved seeing Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach from the water.



Sightseeing

Taking the advice printed on my GAP tee, whenever we felt like stopping to see something, we did. It was fun to strike a pose on lava rock, enjoy the views from various lookouts (never got tired of this) and see mrC's old stomping grounds. We even stopped to watch the various planes and helicopters at work on base and around the island.

Nu'uana Pali Lookout and Marine Corps Base Hawaii in the far background

Kaupo Bay and Rabbit Island in the background 

Amelia Earhart's Marker - first person to fly from Hawaii to Mainland.

Halona Blowhole Lookout (at low tide :( so no spray)

Kanehoe Bay Lookout on our way to dinner 

mrC's old neighborhood - Kailua

mrC's helicopter

We had to cross this runway on base to get to the cottages

Waikiki Beach

We spent our last day at the Marine Corps hotel, Hale Koa, downtown and on Waikiki Beach. This place was amazing! The grounds were so beautiful. We were steps away from the pool, restaurants, shopping and the beach. We spent some time on the beach and then explored along DeRussy Boardwalk. 

View from our balcony

Friends

We got to spend time with mrC's friend who he hasn't seen in many many years and we met a family from California staying in the cottage next to ours who were very nice, but these "cottage cats" were the cutest friends we made in Oahu! 


Food

It's always good to be back in the USA and enjoy our favorite things, but it was fun to experience new places too. mrC's friend took us to Haleiwa Joe's for an awesome seafood dinner and then The Lanai for a delicious lunch. Our Cali friends recommended Goofy's Cafe where we had the BEST acai bowl. We stopped at the highly recommended Happy's Snack Bar on the beach for a little happy hour.



If you are still reading (THANK YOU) and here are my workouts for the week:

Monday - Yoga and swam (new personal best!)

Tuesday - Travel and walk around Pearl Harbor

Wednesday - Morning yoga on the deck and SUP

Thursday - Hike Diamond Head, SUP and swim in the ocean

Friday - snorkel

Saturday - rest day...on a boat ;)

Sunday - Walk the beach

And that's a wrap! This unexpected vacay was the perfect mix of fitness and pleasure. 

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!



Have you ever been to Hawaii? Which island?
What workouts do you do when on vacation?


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Thursday, October 19, 2017

Hiking: Cape D'Aguilar

The 2017 hiking season officially began for me yesterday.


I have been waiting for the temperatures to cool down to a more comfortable place before I joined the AWA hiking group. Thinking out loud: Hiking in the heat is not fun to me. Luckily, the nice weather we have been having continued and we were blessed with perfect weather.

The hike starts at Cape D'Aguilar Road. It's a nice easy walk down a narrow road (open to cars) to the Cape D'Aguilar Marine Reserve.


At the fork in the road, you can go left to the lighthouse, but we went right toward the Marine Reserve area first. On the way down, we took an overgrown path that led to an awesome cave that opened up to the sea. It was awesome to watch and listen to the waves rolling into the cave.






We continued our walk down to the Marine Reserve building. The place looked very run down, but we walked past it, and there was so much to explore.


The first thing we saw was Miss Willy. This is supposedly the actual skeleton of a killer whale. There was no information in English to confirm this.



The views of the water were just beautiful. We could see the outlying islands, boats and just endless blue sky.


We felt compelled to explore, so we climbed the rocks and found more views and crashing waves on the other side.




I found a nice little spot to enjoy the view and listen to the waves. I love the sound of waves. Thinking out loud: It would be a great spot to stop and have a packed lunch.


Before heading back, the group took advantage of the prime photo backdrop to have some fun.



We skipped the lighthouse (Hok Tsui Beacon), but thinking out loud I wish we had taken the time to walk up the road to it. It's not as big as the ones we see in New England, but it is the oldest lighthouse in Hong Kong.

Source

We walked back to catch the bus to Shek O for a shared lunch at the Shek O Chinese and Thai restaurant. The casual open air seating was a perfect spot to refuel after a day of exploring. It also gave me a chance to refresh with Shower Pill body wipes (affiliate).



After lunch we walked over to Shek O beach to have a look. You can see D'Aguilar Peak and maybe even the lighthouse out on the end of the cape. It is actually possible to hike from the beach over to Cape D'Aguilar. The trail is unofficial and marked only by other hikers leaving chalk marks and flags.


I would love, love, love to come back here to play in the water. Hiking to the cape? Maybe.



Do you ease into activities because of the weather?
Would you hike an unofficial trail?

To get Cape D'Aguilar:
We took the ferry from Discovery Bay.
At Exchange Square we took bus 25 to Admiralty MTR (to meet the rest of the group)
Took Island Line to Shau Kai Wan station exit A3
Took the #9 bus to Cape D'Aguilar Road
PS - #9 bus also goes to Shek O

Other hiking posts:


Today I'm Thinking Out Loud with Running with Spoons


Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Shred Day 23: Workout Favorites, Backbends, and Yoga for Good Posture

I'm beginning to like my weight lifting days as much as my cardio days. The old me, before the bad knee got worse, didn't really focus on strength. I did a little at SurfSet and did some at home workouts like this one, but the Carb Cycling and Shred programs have really shown me what it means to lift weights.


Today's workout ---> 10 minute walking warm-up on the treadmill, upper and lower body strength training using dumbbells and machines (back, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, glutes), 10 minute walking cool down on the treadmill.

There were a lot of exercises today, so I'm just going to share my favorites.

Upper body: I'm loving the whole row machine thing. It feels like it challenges my body differently than doing standing rows with dumbbells.


Lower body: I'm excited to see some progress in my left quad muscle after dedicating some solo time on the leg extensions.


It's National Yoga Month and Fit Approach is hosting a month long celebration featuring a different yoga pose each week. Last week it was side planks and this week it's bridges. After getting warmed up, I practiced my backbend poses because it feels so good to open everything up.


Side note: I have been living in my trekkie joggers (see them here). They're super comfy (like sweatpants) but have more style than a pair sweatpants. I actually got them to hike in, but have been lounging around in them in the hotel room and wearing them to breakfast.

Then I remembered this video with yoga poses to help improve your posture. The poses definitely make my upper body feel better!




My eats for feast day:








The main part of my lunch and dinner was quinoa and tuna. It's been a while since I made it, but it's really easy and one of my favorite meals.

Quinoa and Tuna Recipe:

1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cans tuna in water
2 tbsp Greek yogurt
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

After cooking the quinoa, mix all the ingredients together. That's it. Super easy!


Have you embraced a new workout lately?

Do you like to wear sweatpants?




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