Unfortunately, we didn’t go to the normal Hawaiian Islands you would typically guess like Maui or Oahu... We went to the big island, actually called Hawaii and docked in the city of Hilo. A lot of SASers were getting a beach house in Hilo and calling it a day, but because my friends and I weren’t really down to stay inside a house all day, we rounded up a group and did something a little different. A group of 18 of us got two buses and had them meet us at the port. We were met by a man named Brandy who was AWESOME and really showed us a good time. We first started on our journey to a waterfall on the way to the main beach city called Kona (you know Kona coffee? Best in the world!). After we walked around the waterfall, we kept driving until we got to the largest mountain in the world called Monte Kea. It was huge! The area around this mountain and the drive was very scenic… a lot of lava rock and greenery. We kept driving till we got to Kona town, which was definitely a scene. There were farmers markets, little shops, and a ton of people. We shopped, ate, and went to a bar on the beach called Coconuts. Around 5 o clock we all headed about 30 min north to the Hilton, which was one of the biggest resorts on the island. I mean a tram that surrounded the complex, 10 pools, 5 hot tubs, waterfalls and bridges… this place was crazy. But before we put our stuff down, we decided to go on a Catamaran for sunset. So the group of 18 of us got on this white luxurious boat and headed out to sea. It was open bar and there were a couple of other tourists with us who LOVED US after the cruise was over. This was gorgeous and a ton of fun! We headed back to the Hilton after for dinner and to get ready. A lot of other SASers had the same idea as us to go to Kona for the night and they all got condos at the Hilton. So that night we headed to the condo area and went condo party hoping. Because this was more of a family oriented resort, we kept getting noise violations, which eventually lead everyone to split up. My roommate (Missy) and my best friend from high school (Casey) had gotten a beach house back in Kona town with about 20 others, which I had originally wanted to visit. So even though it was already 1 am and it was 30-45 min away a couple of us got in a cab and headed to their beach house. This was so much fun to be with them on my last night and we ended up pulling an all nighter. Around 6am (after cooking food for the first time in months) the people who stayed up all night walked to the beach to watch the sunrise. This was gorgeous- unreal colors over the ocean- we all sat on the lava rocks next to the beach and my friend Andrew brought his guitar. The best part was that there was a rainbow that appeared around 7am over the ocean.… I can'’t even explain how amazing this picture was. It was the best and only way I could’ve imagined ending my abroad experience.
After the sunrise I woke up the kids I came to the beach house with and we all got into a cab to go back to the Hilton. We swam and played in the pools until around lunchtime and then headed back to Hilo with Brandy. We also stopped at Akaka state park for another waterfall. This one was one of the largest in Hawaii and was seriously a site to see. When we got back to Hilo, we shopped some more, and all got back onto the ship around 6pm. Overall, Hawaii was a great way to end my trip and I’m glad I made all the decisions I did. Not really looking forward to this exam week, but I’m sure it won't be that bad… wish me luck and see you soon AMERICA!
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