I got off of the plane in Hawaii, and the week of a lifetime began. The first thing we did was got all of our luggage and took it to the beach to load onto a big boat we would be renting for the week. It was a long, blue fishing boat that we would be using as transport back and forth from the main Island to a small private island which we would be staying on. Once we were all packed and ready to go, we started up the engine and sped through the water, after about 5 minutes I could see a tall jungle trees in the distance. “Land Ah-Hoy” my little brother yelled as soon as he saw what was ahead. As we came closer, I was able to see this wasn’t only an Island, this was the most beautiful Island I have ever saw. On the left side was a tall cliff that hung over the crashing waves below. On the right side of the island I could see a large sign in the middle of white sand that surrounded the entire side of the Island. As we got a little closer I could make out the words on the sign, it said “Tarivarousilious Island” and below in smaller print “population 1.” I was so excited to finally have a chance to get away from the crowded, bustling streets of Amery Wisconsin. I would have the chance to explore every inch of the Island, and not be bothered.
We slowed the boat, and I heard the bottom of the boat brush against the sand in the crystal clear water below. Me and my brothers jumped out of the boat into the knee high warm water to help guide the boat into place alongside the dock. After we got the boat tied down, I hopped out of the water and we started a line of hands to unload all of our bags. My little sister’s bags were somehow the heaviest, it felt like she loaded them with bricks. Then as I looked to my left I saw a tall, skinny man walk out through a path in the trees. He was wearing a dark green uniform that had a patch reading “Hawaiian Island Tour Guide.” He greeted my family and I with a firm handshake. He reached down and picked up 3 of our bags and told us to follow him to our cabin. I followed him along the old wooden planks along the ground leading into a hole in the forest, even though I was dying to jump off and run along the shore of the Island exploring every little detail. The man told us about the history of this island, and a few of the famous people who had spent a few days here on this same very island for a vacation. I looked around a bit, and my senses were filled with many green tropical leaves, all different kinds of flowers, and up in a tree to my right there were three monkeys watching us pass by. The forest was filled with all different kinds of screeches, calls, and in the distance I heard what sounded like a water fall. As we continued to walk along the planks, my shoulders began to get a little tired from carrying all of my bags. Just as I was about to ask if we were almost there, the narrow path opened up into a huge yard.
The cabin we were going to be staying in was possibly the coolest thing I had ever saw. It wasn’t just any ordinary cabin, but instead it was a treehouse that was bigger than any tree house I could ever even imagine. Through the yard was a small stream with a few little drop offs or mini waterfalls. This stream led off into a nice little pond in the corner of the yard. Leading up to the treehouse cabin was a few sets of stairs. It looked to be separated into 5 sections, connecting between about 10-15 different trees as well as long support beams that ran all the way into the ground. The sections of this tree house went around in a square shape. We walked up the steps and into the first section of the treehouse. It contained an area to put your shoes, and a big map along the wall that showed all of the areas on the Island that might be a fun time to explore. A door straight ahead was the bathroom, which included a big shower area. The next section to the right was connected by a little bridge that swung if you rocked it back and forth. This was the kitchen and dining area, which was completely finished off with the best appliances money could buy. We continued to the next area which contained two bedrooms that shared one bathroom. All four of us brothers got to split up these two bedrooms. My little brother Max and I claimed one room where I dropped my stuff off just inside the door on the nice wood flooring. James and Mitchell got the other bedroom. Then we all walked over to the last corner of the treehouse which contained the master bedroom. The bedroom was absolutely elegant, with curtains running all the way around the walls which could open up to see the beautiful ocean and sunset. There was also a sliding door that went out onto the porch with a big hot tub and an outdoor furniture set. My parents and my little sister of course claimed this room, and left their bags on the bed. The final room was in the middle and was by far the biggest section of the tree house. It was roofed with all glass so you could look up and it was like there was nothing even there. The room was a big family room with a larch wraparound couch, a fireplace, and a pool table. I couldn’t wait to beat everyone in the pool tournament that I challenged everyone to later that night.
After exploring the house and yard, the tour guide left for the day, and we began to unpack our luggage. It was getting later in the day, so there was no point in going to do anything outside. Instead we all had a good time playing pool. We set up a tournament, and had fun the rest of the night talking smack and laughing. Then we sat around the fire and told stories until we were all ready for bed. I went to my room and almost right away I fell into a very deep sleep.
The next morning I woke up to a strange bird outside my window screeching at the top of his lungs. I had to smile watching, as a got ready for another big day. I woke up my little brother who didn’t seem to be fazed by the obnoxious bird. Since we woke up so early the rest of my family was still sleeping. Max and I both got dresses and went outside to look around. We fallowed the river to the pond at the corner of our yard and looked around for fish at the end of a small rotted out dock. We saw all sorts of exotic fish that I had never even known about. I am pretty sure that they were placed there by humans because of the number of different types we could see just swimming around in the still water. We decided not to go too much further without the rest of the family so we ran back inside to wake everyone up. When everyone was ready to go we took a long trail that went all the way around the Island just to get to see it all. All of the different animals we got to saw were unbelievable. The walk lasted about two hours and once we were finished we all went to the long beach along the East side of the Island. My bare feet stepped foot on the soft sand and I just played in it for the next few hours with my siblings. We had a competition to see who could make the best sand castles. It was getting later in the afternoon so we went back to the house to eat dinner. Todd my stepdad cooked the best steaks on the grill.
The third and fourth day of the trip was nothing really special. We just stayed on the Island looking around. We were finally comfortable walking around on our own so I went for a few walks through the trails by myself. It was so peaceful, it was sad that we only had two more days to stay. The last two days we decided to do something big as a family, so on the fifth day we all went out with a tour guide who took us deep see fishing. I caught a shark that was 4 feet 8 inches long! It was the big catch of the day, but we were all pretty successful catching fish. After a while the rocking of the boat started making a few of us not feel so well so we went back to the house to relax. That night we had a campfire outside and sang as we roasted golden marshmallows and ate them with melted chocolate and graham crackers. Tomorrow would be the last day of our vacation so after the fire grew weak, I went up to my room and began to pack up most of my stuff. The plan for the next day was to go back to the main island and go to as many places as we could before we had to go to the airport at 5 to catch our plain home.
The next morning we all woke up at around 8 in the morning and loaded all of our stuff up on the boat. We all went back to the main Island and left all of our luggage locked up inside the boat. Along the beach there was a lot of different restaurants, we decided to stop and eat breakfast at a place called Gerri’s which was a lot like Perkins. From there we went up to look at an active volcano called Mauna Loa. We hiked through the forest for about 3 hours before we decided to go back to town for lunch. After lunch we went on our final journey out to the Pearl Harbor Museum to get a tour of the place. It was very interesting and we got to even go out by the water and see a sunken boat through the clear water. Sadly after our stop at the museum we had to go back to the boat and get our luggage for the airport. The trip back home was kind of sad because I knew I would miss this vacation, but I was glad for the amazing opportunity and experience.