Travel: HONOLULU, HAWAII (Part 4) - Pride Parade, Manoa Falls, & Tantalus Lookout

*Check out my previous Hawaii blogs here first!*

The following morning was a little different from usual Waikiki mornings because it was the Honolulu Pride Parade. The hostel was organising a group to head to Main Street to watch, so I joined the various rainbow-coloured attendees.

After a few photos with the hostel Pride mascot, a multicolored caterpillar, we watched the parade go by with rainbows galore, and danced in the street. I hadn't had any rainbow kit on when I left, but by the end of the parade was decked out in rainbow stickers, sunglasses and leis, all thrown from the floats.

Dancing in the streets will work up a bit of an appetite, so I decided to go in search of an acai bowl. Again, I consulted my trusty TripAdvisor, to Tropical Tribe. In retrospect probably should just have opted for something closer to home, as the forty minute walk each way in the midday sun was a lot. I ended up getting sick later that day, which I attritube to heat exhaustion, and what's worse is that the acai bowl was just a fairly standard acai bowl, probably not worth the trip.

I trudged the long way back and got ready for that afternoons excursion, a hostel organised trip to Manoa Falls and Tantalus Lookout. I was so pleased with the hostel for offering trips like this, and for that would put it at the top of all of the hostels I've stayed at. Who cares what your room is like if they have tours you can join?

We hopped in the van and drove out to Manoa Falls, where it was about a 40 minute walk each way to reach the waterfall. The landscape was very Jurassic Park like with verdant greenery here, there and everywhere.

As it began to rain, the terrain became very slippery and I wondered how some people were doing it in flip flops when I was finding it hard enough in hiking boots! The falls were a thin stream of water, but very high so we stood to admire it for a few minutes in the pouring rain before heading back.

We went next to Tantalus Lookout which offered views across Honolulu and particularly the Waikiki area where we'd come from earlier that day. The view was nice, but by this point I was feeling so sick I could only stay out for a few minutes before I retreated to the van. .

I did manage to make it out that evening to watch the sunset for my final night in Hawaii, and felt much better as the night wore on. Just in time to head back home the next day!

Had I planned my Hawaii trip all on my own, I'm not sure I would have had such a good time. The days I was in charge (and sans car) were the worst, but having a hostel which organised trips for you was fantastic, and subsequently I ended up enjoying myself a lot.

I'd be interested to return to Hawaii some day and check out the other islands, but Oahu was a great place to start.

I hope you enjoyed today's blog and my Hawaii series! It's back to Australia for me now with plenty of great content to come, so make sure to stay tuned to my Twitter @CiarasCountry and feel free to drop me a message in the comments for any recommendations of where I should visit next!