M Travel
feature story
“THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE
OF THAT HIKE MADE ME
CONSIDER JUST HOW
AMAZING THIS WORLD
GOD CREATED IS...”
we
also had a quite memorable experience of a
different kind at another place on our trip. I
had heard about the mermaid caves and really
wanted to check them out for myself. My friend
Emily was up for it so we headed out fairly early in the morning in search
of them. They aren’t well marked as I don’t think they want too many
pe ople knowing about it but we finally found them. We weren’t sure
how to get down, till we saw some people coming up from an opening
further back from the ocean. We waited till they got out and headed
down ourselves - not as easy as I thought it would be. The sides were
pretty jagged so you had to be careful so you didn’t scratch yourself
up. It was so cool down there, but we noticed that the water was get-
ting higher each time the waves came in and we started freaking out
about whether we’d get stuck so we quickly made a beeline for the exit.
I helped Emily get out and then she tried pulling me up. I was having a
hard time finding a foothold so it took a bit before figuring a way out.
We were freaking out in the moment, but once I got out we laughed
so hard! We probably looked ridiculous, but it made for a fun story that
we’ll never forget. I don’t recommend going down there, but if you do -
go when the tide is out!
We spent a lot of time driving around the island – there are so many beautiful sights
to see. For example, The Koko Head Trail is a pretty grueling hike up an old railroad
track that was built during WWII. It’s only 1.5 miles long but took us about 45 minutes to
hike it. Then we spent some time just relaxing at the top, checking out the bunker they
have up there, and admiring the view. It’s so worth the long hike - the view at the top is
breath-taking! You have to go early in the morning to catch the sunrise. It’s incredible.
You can see the whole valley that’s enclosed by the crater, Honolulu, Hanauma Bay;
if you keep a look out on the ocean you can catch a glimpse of the whales spouting
water in the air.
The whole experience of that hike made me consider just how amazing this world
God created is and it definitely made me think about how similar it is in life when you’re
working toward a goal or going through a rough time. You feel like you’ll never reach
the end or make it to the top and kind of want to stop. But, when you do make it you
forget about how hard it was and only think that it was so worth it!
Emily Christopher is originally from Madison, IN where she lived for most of her childhood. She moved with her family about five years ago to Florence, SC, where the headquarters
of her father’s business is located. She is the second oldest of ten children – three girls and seven boys. She shared, “growing up was not dull, to say the least”! Emily writes a fash-
ion blog that can be found at www.emilylynnc.com and encourages readers to also visit her travel companion’s blog at nickandemilystewart.blogspot.com
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AUGUST 2017
SHEMAGAZINE.COM