Day 5- Mokuleia Beach, Byodo-In Temple, Sharks Cove and end of Hawaii trip!
Our day once again started super early with the roosters next door waking me up around 4:30. I finally rolled out of bed around 5:30 or so and then woke Matt up at 6. We wanted to leave around 7 or so for the day so we had a little time to get ready more leisurely. The surf was really high this morning and had come up much closer to our bungalow than any other day – it was starting to retreat a little so we went out to look into the tide pools and watch the waves. The surf on the North Shore is pretty amazing- very high waves and they all break on shore. The water was unswimabble the entire time we were there (red flags on the beach).
After picking out some shells and coral for the kids, we hit the road. We stopped at Ted’s Bakery for some yummy pastries on the go, then Starbucks for coffee. We took our beach towels and went about 15 minutes away to Mokuleia beach- which was pretty deserted. It was a very pretty beach and had a lot of little tide pools where we saw some fish. This beach was the main crash site beach in LOST. The tide was pretty high though so it didn’t look as big:)
After our breakfast picnic we headed to the east to visit the Byodo-In Temple. It was an hours drive to the temple where we were headed but very worth it. The Byodo-In temple is a non denominational Buddhist temple that welcomes all faiths and encourages learning about peace and meditation while there. There are zen gardens, mediation benches, a peace bell and a large statue inside the temple where you can light incense in the name of peace. It was a very serene and beautiful place. It’s often used for wedding and sometimes used in tv/movies (Jin and Suns wedding for LOST was filmed here). I’m very glad we got to come here!
After that Matt realized he was breaking out in some sort of hives (had started in the morning) so we went to a drug store in search of something to help. So far no real luck though:( We wanted to go back to the bungalow at this point but we had to go back into Waikiki to where we stayed Sunday night because we forgot our tablet charger and nothing else is the same voltage. We got lunch there at Dukes beach café at the same time- which was ok food. Nothing great though. By this point we just wanted to get out of the city again and back up to the North Shore.
We got back to our bungalow at 2pm, changed into our swim suits and lounged around for a bit. We realized we still had our wedding night champagne that Turtle Bay had given us but we didn’t really want it plain so we decided to make mimosas. We took a walk to the grocery store (5 min walk away) to get some OJ:) On the way we discovered Sharks Cove, a set off from the road little beach that was really rocky and took some maneuvering to get through but was neat. Because it was essentially a natural lagoon with so many rocks the water wasn’t as crazy as down the beach so we were able to get in the water. It was nice to cool down!
After getting our OJ, we sat on our patio and the beach for a couple hours just drinking and realizing in the sun. I also called the kids for the last time – I am so excited to see them tomorrow!! Piper was bouncing off the walls over the phone, it made me miss her:) Aidan once again had zero interest in talking to me. Lol.
We headed into town at around 5ish to get some food to go from Grass Skirt Grill and took it back to our patio to eat dinner and watch the sunset. After dinner we went down to the hammocks on our beach and laid together for about a half an hour watching the sun go down and just enjoying our last night in Hawaii. While I can’t wait to see the kids, I know that traveling without them isn’t going to happen for a very long time so I wanted to really enjoy it!
After the sun went down, we went in to pack which took about 40 minutes or so. It was sad to get ready to leave! We can’t wait to take the kids here next year. Our plan is to stay at the bungalow a couple days to do North Shore activities then head to Aulani for 6 nights. I already can’t wait!
Tomorrow is a very early day (up at 3:30, out the door at 4:30) to be at the airport at 6:00 (we also have to return a rental car). It will be a long travel day but I can’t wait to see the kiddos!!
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