Paradise

Last week, my boyfriend and I took an indulgent vacation to Hawaii. It was my first time there, and because I have never gone on a beach vacation before (my parents were never the types to lounge in the sun), I was bursting with excitement about this trip. We chose to go to the island of Oahu, as there are a lot of activities to do there other than sitting on the beach (although we did a lot of that too). The natural beauty of the island completely took my breath away. Today I wanted to share some pictures I took of my favourite spots in Oahu, as well as some exciting personal news if you would care to know.

Most people who go to Oahu stay on the strip of hotels next to Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, the capital city of Oahu. This is exactly what we did. It’s a super touristy area where there is Waikiki Beach itself, but also several shopping centers and more high-end stores than you can imagine. Waikiki Beach is by no means the most beautiful beach in Oahu, but any beach is beautiful and it was still gorgeous nonetheless. Not to mention, it was lovely having the beach a block away from your hotel.

My favourite day was our second day on Oahu, when we rented a car for the day and took a road trip on the coast of the island from Honolulu all the way up to the North Shore, which I think takes about an hour to an hour an a half if you drive without stopping. Excuse my inability to draw a straight line using my mouse, but this is more or less the drive we did to see the coast.

Map of Oahu from: http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Oahu-Hawaii-Tourist-Map-3

We made a stop at Kailua Beach on the Eastern coast of the island, and my jaw dropped at how beautiful and crystal-clear the water was. I wish the pictures would do the beach justice! When I used to imagine paradise and beaches, this is what came to mind. There were very few people on the beach, which was perfect because it added to the tranquility of the environment – a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki Beach!

 

Our last stop of the day was to go up to Round Top, which was an extremely curvy drive to get to the top of a hill in the middle of Oahu. The view was overlooking the whole island – obviously less of a natural view as you can see all of the houses and buildings, but still amazing in a completely different way.

 

As much as I adored these places, my favourite was when we arrived at Makapuu Point at the very start of our roadtrip, which is the featured image of this blog. The view there is absolutely breathtaking. It also now holds a special place in my heart because this is where my boyfriend got down on one knee and proposed!

Funny story, it was super windy up at the point that day, and the proposal lasted all of 2 seconds because he was terrified the wind would make him lose his balance and drop the ring down the cliff into the watery abyss! Regardless, it was still a sweet and perfect moment. The day was unbelievable even without the engagement, but the moment made it that much more special, and I’m so excited to be married to my favourite person in the world.