North Shore sunset {Hawaii 5}

I think this may have been one of my favorite days. No stress, lots of fun and some really beautiful sights.

Everyone made the effort to wake up early so we could drive to the North Shore and see what it had to offer. Even though it's a small island, I was still surprised that the drive only took about an hour.
 

Our first stop was Haleiwa, the most charming little town. Since it was Sunday and we arrived so early in the day, not much was open yet. We did a little window shopping on the way over to a café for coffee and sweets.
 

 

Ready for our next adventure, we walked through town to see what we could find. A few stores or cafes caught our eye along the way but we mostly just enjoyed the look of the town. My personal favorite was the residential area we walked through, it looked like a jungle.

 

As you may have noticed by now, we like to eat. A lot sometimes. Rachel has been here before and had her heart set on a particular ice cream sandwich and a stop at the food trucks. We all got on board with that. 

All full, it was time to move on.

I think this sums us up pretty well..

 

We made a few stops along the way to our next destination. There is always something new and beautiful to see. At one point we actually ran out of highway and hit a dead end, but it was sure lovely to be there. 

 

 

Since it would be silly to go to the north shore and not get in the water, we eventually found ourselves a nice place to stop. Pupukea beach park has a huge tide pool that is perfect for playing. As far as I could tell the water doesn't ever get to deep and the waves that crash over the walls make for a fun time. Its basically a large natural swimming pool with fish and rocks in it.

For the first time, everyone actually got in the water!! We didn't stay for a very long time but had lots of fun while we were there.
 

Hitting the road again we made a few more stops before ultimately finding our home for the evening. 

 

Sunset beach may just be the most beautiful place. We spent hours there just soaking it all in. Huge waves rush up the beach and crash on the sand. The sun sparkles on the water. And unsuspecting girls get soaked not realizing that the waves occasionally come much further up the beach. 

At some point we had to leave to get food, because we are eating machines, but all agreed we would go back and watch the sunset.

More beach time, more photos and food. A pretty perfect night if you ask me. 

 

 

 

Once it was dark I tried to take pictures of the stars but it was to bright still from the nearby street lights. However, I somehow convinced the girls to let me stop on the side of a (mostly) pitch black highway and take my pictures there. 

Great success!! 

 

I won't tell you about the end of the night because it was slightly traumatizing and I'd just rather not, but we did eventually make it back to our little home in Honolulu, after 1 more tiny food stop. 

I think if I was to go back to Oahu I would definitely stay on the North Shore instead of in Honolulu!