Ambria's Adventures

  Sunday is typically reserved as a hiking day for my friend group and me. This past Sunday, we decided to try a trail none of us had ever done but was on our lists: Pali Puka. This trail is less than 1 mile (my GPS marked it as .85 to the hole in the rock and back), rated moderate-difficult, has many steep areas where ropes are provided to help climb, can be windy and muddy, and will have you walking along some cliff edges. If you’re not great with heights, this may not be the one. However, one of the girls with us was very nervous at the cliffs and managed to make it with our support. Getting to the Pali Puka was pretty easy, and there is a parking area for the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout Point (if you’re coming from Honolulu, just take highway 61 N about 5 miles, and the signs are marked. If you reach the tunnels, you went too far). There are parking fees for non-residents that can be paid at the pay station. It looked like there were several options to pay, including using a credit ...

The infamous Stairway to Heaven. Loved by many, hated by residents. I actually did this hike as a result of a Tinder date. I was talking with a guy who lived very close to my school, so I agreed to meet him after class. There weren't any major sparks from either party, but we did have quite a bit in common and decided to be friends, without saying so directly.  After our lunch and some drinks, he began asking about the hike, and I told him what I'd heard, although I never did it. We ended up making plans to do the hike that day... well, in the wee hours of the next morning.  As I went home to prepare, I instantly regretted agreeing to this. I was pretty drunk and not in the mood to dodge security and climb up thousands of wobbly steps. But I wasn't going to be the one to back out of it, and neither was he. We met back up, gathered some extra supplies, and made our way up to the neighborhood where the trail begins.  Right as we were beginning, it started raining! I too...

Because I'm just starting to blog about my bucket list, a lot of the things I've done have already taken place, and some I've done multiple times. I'm unsure how to best disseminate the stories (chronologically?) or if each item on its list needs its own post. I'm going to wing it and hope it works out.   Let's start with the last item that was able to be crossed off the list: The   Sandbar (or "Sand Bar") The sandbar is located in Kaneohe Bay on the northeast side of Oahu. There are several ways to get there and several points of access. At this point in time, I've been to the sandbar on three occasions and got there using three different methods. 1. Sailboat While in school, I was lucky enough to meet an awesome, adventurous girl who had an equally awesome and adventurous boyfriend who was in the Navy. He and some friends pooled their resources and bought a sailboat. For my friend's birthday, a group of us gathered on the boat to head ...