So one thing that I am really happy that I am able to do is go on filed trips with my kids classes… This was my first time that I got to go with Mckenna’s class on a field trip. Those 5th graders are so much fun!

We were spending the day hiking up at the Hawaii Nature Center up on one of the hills above us… Unfortunately our bus driver ended up taking a wrong turn and instead we climbed up the other side of the hill toward tantalus. It was quite the scenic trip, it was beautiful but we were for real in the wilds of Hawaii. We FINALLY had a big enough area to turn around and back down we came, made the correct turn and headed up the right side of the mountain!

The guides at the nature center were amazing, especially Kai and Kristen who were in charge of our group. We learned a lesson about how the islands were formed (I even learned a few things!) and how some additional geological activity has since altered the shape of Oahu.

From there we were off to our hike. I was initially pretty nervous about the format because the kids were going off into groups of three and learning about a specific plant or tree on our hike and then they would tell the entire group about it. It worked out that every kid got to be a teacher which was great for them, helped with public speaking and knew all there was to know about a plant we saw on our hike.

 

 

I am going to overload this post with pictures, sorry… I tried to at least condense them into collages! It was a REALLY beautiful trail! If you are looking for a nice hike Ualaka’a Trail is one to consider!

 

 

 

After our hike we did an experiment about soil and the difference with forested land and cleared land. (spoiler alert, forests have high permeability). Of course I was loving all of this as its right up my alley and the kids were learning and having fun.

Finally time for lunch, a little late due to our detour! We ended up having a pretty spectacular view of downtown Honolulu and Diamond Head (which I now know was created from a secondary eruption and not from the initial volcano that created the islands!)

 

This is a beautiful spot to hike and we saw a few different trailheads that started around here. We will be back to do some more hiking from here for sure!