Hawaii Chronicles - Day 5

Today was an adventurous day. Bestie wanted to snorkel and we heard that Hanauma Bay is one of the best areas to do that so we headed there. I put in Hanauma Bay into my GPS and we started driving to the south of Oahu. We did very little research beforehand thus we were very surprised when we arrived and found Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Park. First we had to stand in line and buy a ticket to enter the Bay - the admission fee is $7.50 - however it is free for Hawaiian natives. Then we had to watch a 10 minute video on the history of the bay as well as the rules and regulations for snorkeling at the bay. Once all the legal stuff was over we walked down to the beach/bay area to snorkel. We brought a pair of snorkeling gear from the apartment but we also rented some equipment for Doc to go snorkeling as well. As the video suggested you should always go snorkeling with a buddy - we couldn't send bestie alone therefore Doc decided to go. As Doc and bestie snorkeled I took a ton of pictures and videos of them. They were raving about the snorkeling and all the coral, fish, and sea creatures they saw. They snorkeled for a solid hour and a half. I mostly sat on the beach and listened to music - it was very peaceful and calming. 

After spending majority of the day at Hanauma Bay we headed to Manoa Falls to hike and see the waterfall. Little did we know something else was going on at Manoa Falls. As we driving up the hill to get to the park a security person stops us and asked us what we were doing - we told him we wanted to hike up to the waterfall. He said since we are "with the crew" we have to park the car at the bottom of the hill and walk about 200 yards to the park entrance and then we would be able to hike. We did as we were told. Once we got to the park we noticed a bunch of trucks, trailers, food service caterers and lots of security. We just did our thing and kept walking. Then all of a sudden we saw two guys standing next to a car with a ton of "Hunger Games Crew" t-shirts. It took me a 2 seconds to put two and two together and quickly realized that this is the location where the Hunger Games sequel is being filmed!! I became super excited and giddy! Doc kept telling me to go ask the t-shirt guys to make sure my stalker information was right - but i just couldn't - I was afraid they would kick us out or something. Instead a random person comes up to us and asks what we are doing - he was not so random after all - his badge indicated that he was head of security. We told him we are hiking up the falls. Then out of nowhere Doc asks him if this is the Hunger Games set. He didn't deny it but he didn't admit it either. Instead he asked us who told us. We tried to act dumb and play it off like we had no idea what was going on. He finally did share with us that they are filming a scene in the woods with white balloons and we would be able to see it as we were hiking. He talked to us for a while - we gathered more intel about the set - and he was very kind and gave us some water bottles to stay hydrated for our hike up to the waterfall. We went along and snuck in as many pictures as we could before we started our hike. 

The hike up to Manoa Fall was muddy and slippery. It was rather disappointing because there was not much of a falls - because it has not rained in a while and the island has been dry. Regardless it was a nice hike and a great experience. 

On our way down from the falls we snapped a couple more shots from the set as they were wrapping up for the day. Apparently they will be filming at that location until December 13....I may or may not go back and try to find Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson.