Honolulu here we come
So yes I do know we have not long ago, if a year is not long ago, already had a trip the two of us but here we go again, and for the same reason as last year- this is Cams third attempt to go on the Governance course. I vetoed it three years ago cause it was just after the big earthquake and still too many shakes happening, last year it was cancelled but this year it was all on. Cam is just finishing his week in Atlanta and since he was flying through Honolulu it seemed a bit crazy not to join him for a few weeks, add to that our Anniversary over Easter and Cam turning the big 50 soon and you have all the justification you need.
The girls are not thrilled of course but we have been given a shopping list of shoes, make-up and nail polish to ease their pain. So here I am almost about to land having managed to somehow get the whole middle row to myself, even though its a daytime flights lying flat is a welcome break given an early start. I have just watched Dr No – man what a classic and wow a young Sean Connery is pretty impressive!!
We are staying at the Pacific Beach Hotel directly across the road from the beach with an ‘ocean view’ room as opposed to an ‘ocean front’ or an ‘ocean glimpse’ – anyhow it is just fine for the price and something so close but certainly not over flash, we are not very fussy though so will do us for the next few day.
I have spent my day waiting for Cam familiarising myself with the surrounds, sadly it is raining so not so much talent to spot but still heaps of people on the beach, a flat sea and yet a zillion surfboards out – I am picking they are tourists learning to surf, good luck to them. Have managed a first little bit of shopping and especially picking up skin care it is less than half the price here its crazy. Now its time to head to the beach I could not care less about a little rain so am off to enjoy….
No longer on my own
Even though the beach was crazy busy with learner surfers I had a great swim and walk along the beach. I took the snorkelling gear but it was a bit choppy and cloudy to see much plus what self respecting fish would hang around all those bodies, actually a bit further along away from the big crowds there were a few fish and some very sizable. Cam was flying in late pm so I managed to find a wee supermarket, thanks to the good directions of Julie-Ann who was here last year, and picked up some beer and nibbles, was awesome to see him one day on my own was quite enough!!
Cam was quite tired having not slept much and being on Atlanta time so was a nice stroll around to get some bearing before tea. We gave mexican a go tonight and ended up ordering a margarita each only to discover they came with a 500ml refill each, yum yum that was us settled for the night. Probably the most entertaining thing was a beggar sitting on the street with a sign saying ‘why lie I need beer’ !! only in America.
The next day we managed to venture out and caught a public bus – you know how much we both love to use public transport- and joined the throngs heading to Hanauma Bay, when I say throngs I am meaning hundreds and hundreds, the bus was standing room only both there and back and once you arrived you queued in the searing sun for ages to pay to get in, just a few dollars each, but then with the bay just beckoning you with the crystal clear water you had to wait again until your ticket time to view the compulsory movie. The purpose is to ensure we do not ruin the coral, well good try i think the horse has already bolted on that one seeing the hundred people in the water many standing up. We mentioned we were Padi divers and probably pretty aware but still had to queue up though it did get us some good tips of where to go once we got down there.
Here is the funniest thing, once again only in America, you have to walk to and from the beach on a road that is I suppose somewhat steep so for those who can not manage it there is a shuttle thing to take you up and down, I swear it took us 3 min to walk down and maybe 6 to walk back up how lazy can you get – sure have something for the elderly and disabled but the just plan slack get walking!!
Following the tip we got before watching the movie we told the lifeguard we were strong swimmers and experienced so ventured out past the crowds and the marker boys into the deeper parts – it was actually incredibly good lots of really colourful fish and on both trips out we saw a turtle so that made all the rest of it worth it.
Today has been a lovely relaxing one, buffet breaky late right on the waters edge, a little relaxed shopping where I spent time trying on ball dresses for Holly which was a heap of fun, a walk down the beach and some more snorkelling where I had been the first day, pretty much right in front of all the hotels but Cam went out a bit further and said it was almost as good as yesterday which is incredible for downtown Waikiki. Meanwhile I discovered one of life’s pleasures that I have denied myself forever and spent the time swimming and sunbathing in a bikini – I had already decided that this was the holiday for it as anything goes in America, sure many looked significantly better than me but a fair amount certainly did not – I loved it and am hooked now.
We might be miles from Christchurch and the constant demolition but outside our hotel room window this morning the building across the road was being demolished – made us feel quite homesick 🙂
The evening was spent looking over the sea sipping happy hour cocktails and beers and eating tacos – devine. We are off to Maui tomorrow, can’t wait.
Maui
Flying to Maui also makes you feel right at home i.e twice as long waiting and on the ground than in the air with a guaranteed window or aisle seat each! the flight is just 25 mins and you get to have a great look at all the Islands as you fly over, we picked up our Dollar rental car no problems and just decided to drive and see where we ended up before trying to actually find our accommodation. Good call we happened upon Kanaha Beach Park at the end of a dead end road and watched the professional windsurfers in action – very impressive stuff and huge high winds. Immediately we felt relaxed, while we both liked Waikiki Beach you can just tell the pace here is so much slower.
Following actual directions we headed for Kihie where we are staying. I have yet to find a Hawaiian name that has two constants together and I am guessing they don’t exist – if you think Maori names are hard to pronounce then I challenge you to a ‘pronunciation off’ with Hawaii! We did not quite make it to our accommodation as got waylaid by a $5 mexican lunch offer, neither of us can get enough of Mexican food and ‘Maui Tacos” were delicious and heaps of food for us, next stop was at the entertainment kiosk to see what was on offer especially diving which we were keen to do early so we can a) fly back and b) go up into the mountains – both need at least 24 hours after a dive. We got that all sorted for tomorrow and headed out to Days Inn Ocean Front, it had got a few mixed reviews but budget wise suited us and I have to say we are not at all disappointed – sure the rooms are not palatial but we got put in a room one step off the beach and it has everything we need.
First stop was checking out the snorkelling out front of the hotel – man this is just too good to be true, better than any snorkelling yet and seriously not even a swim out – there is us and another huge flash hotel in our bay and that is it – we even swam with another turtle and to top off the night we sat on the shore watching the whales coming past some close enough to even see them leaping but heaps of others where it was just the huge splash or the blow hole you could spot. Great choice and fantastic day 1 in Maui.
The next morning began at a relaxing pace as our dive trip left at 11:30, but it was all looking a bit dodgy to be going for a start as really choppy out in the sea. After much discussion with the captain and all of us wanting to go the decision to give it a go was made and off we set. It did mean we had to modify plans a little so it was a drift dive off the south coast of Molokini which was not as spectacular but hey we are not complaining what was spectacular was being in the ocean listening the whole dive to the whales calling – it was incredible you felt like they were going to appear at anytime in front of you.
Sadly they didn’t but I spotted a whale diving and saw the tail as it flicked to go down as we boated to our next posey. The second dive was not at all deep it was off the coast of Makena but we saw no less than 7 turtles, and swam through gaps in the rock and caves. The last cave was breathtaking, it was just Cam and I and the dive master (some gorgeous chilean ex rugby player who looked like something out of James Bond movie – but I am getting distracted it must be too much of watching the young Sean Connery on the way over). So anyhow in the cave the breathtaking things were a shark lying in wait on the bottom (not for us luckily) and four huge turtles just swimming around us everywhere. I can’t wait to see the photos as the dive master is also a professional underwater photographer and I am buying these photos, not something I would usually do but got the moss out of my pocket this time.
We topped off an awesome day with a drive around the coast and watched a magnificent sunset on a beach free of people, perfect!!
The last couple of days have focused on snorkelling and whale watching. The snorkelling almost anywhere on the coast is just amazing, you could have such a cheap holiday here just bring your snorkel and stop wherever you like.
On Easter Friday we decided to head over towards Kaanapali and explore all the way up and down that coast. First stop was the buffet breakfast at one of the big resorts before heading up to Kapalua Bay which had enormous surf coming over a really jagged coastline, it reminded me quite a bit of the Catlins as long as you don’t turn around as directly behind it is the huge Ritz hotel and a very fancy golf course!! Heading even further round the coast the views were stunning and we got as far as Honokau and a very cool blow-hole before having to turn back.
On the way back to we were keen to check out Black Rock a snorkelling place we had bee told lots about, what a drama to get there as all the major hotels have the access to the beach blocked by their huge premises but we found a car park which had signs everywhere saying ‘no beach parking’ but it seemed otherwise impossible so we just hoped for the best. This did allow us down to the beach and it certainly was worth it, a real variety of fish and two massive turtles feasting on the coral, we have not yet snorkelled without seeing at least one and often two turtles. A simple subway tea allowed us to get out of the parking lot with no trouble and we sat on the beach watching the sun come down – very peaceful.
Saturday we decided was going to be a peaceful one so a quick swim and snorkel at our own hotel before I decided I really wanted to go Whale watching, is the tail end of the season but we have seen activity from whales every day so I know they are there. We managed to get onto a boat doing a sunset cruise at 4 pm and it only cost $32US in total for both of us, madness! To fill in the time before the cruise we just headed up the road another couple of bays to Polo Beach, over this side it is much easier to get to the beaches than up near Kaanapali, actually the whole pace over here seems much better. Anyway, once again a fantastic snorkel, amazing coral this time and of course another turtle!
The highlight of the day though was certainly a whale watch, within minutes of heading out into the harbour there was a whale spotted, and wow what a treat it was a mum and just a few days, old baby, the mum seemed completely unperturbed by us and even swum closer so the captain had to turn off the boat until the mum got far enough away. The baby was constantly flicking his flippers and crashing his tail in and out of the water. At one stage the baby was feeding and the mum rolled right over so we could see her underside, it was incredible. We stayed for ages just watching and taking a million photos! Eventually, we had to leave them and we did spot more whales but not close enough to capture, was an excellent trip and a perfect way to celebrate our NZ anniversary date – tomorrow we get to celebrate it in Hawaiian time!!
Last days in Maui 🙁
Only two days to go and the time has flown, even though we have not been doing things at a mad pace we have managed to fill in the days easily. Our final full day started very early as we were awake and keen to head up to the top of the mountain ‘Haleakaka National Park, we did not get up early enough for the sunset which is the real drawcard but getting away about 6:30 am meant we managed to get all our tramping in without the crowds which were arriving as we left. But back to getting there, we drove up up up and around and around for what seemed like forever but given we climbed to 10,000 feet (3000 m) from sea level that is not surprising. It was a stunning drive at various times getting through the clouds then getting glimpses down the coast.
Once you arrived at the top it was like looking out of an aeroplane window it was thick white fluffy clouds below you with the most magnificent view in front of you. It’s really hard to describe it, its vast in size, barren but with lots of crater-like structures and at one spot it looks like an infinity pool as what was the lava flow appears to just drop over the edge. It was also freezing cold and blogs had warned us of this so we rugged up in what we could and headed down into it to explore.
We did not think we would be long but ended up just keeping going as every corner we turned had something tempting just further on so 2 1/2 hours later we arrived back at the car still in awe of the view – it really was soooo huge, for those who have read Clan of Cave Bear series at any stage it reminded me of that they described in those books.
I would definitely recommend this but if you are only packing summer clothes just chuck in some long johns and merino top and you will be able to enjoy it. I am sure the sunrise would be stunning but we were happy not to have got up at 4 am.
Heading down the mountain we went towards the coast to drive some of the Hana highway, many blogs said it was not worth it and the road was horrible and not near enough to the sea to get good views, well we would disagree, the road is sealed but narrow at places and there are lots of one way bridges which as a kiwi is just the norm but I suppose some people have never come across them. We thought the views were great though a lot of it was of the bush it really was pretty, we went just past the Garden of Eden as the day was getting a bit late and two long windy roads in one day was enough.
We stopped in at Hookipa on our way back to see some surfers in action, this was excellent and just what we had been hoping to see, the surf was not huge but it sure was wild.
Back at the hotel we treated ourselves to dining at Serento’s – and incredibly classy restaurant right on our beach where mains were between $30-$50US needless to say we are not quite into spending that but a few drinks a happy hour appetiser and then delicious dessert made for an extremely lovely meal to celebrate our 23rd Wedding anniversary in Maui time.
Our last day we also decided to treat ourselves to a really nice breakfast in the flash hotel next door, right on the beach and actually watching a wedding at the same time – very pleasant way to end our stay in Maui.
The only other thing we managed to do was to head to Ioa State Park which was once again stunning so we did another very decent walk to get some incredible views of the sheer seaside cliffs that were HUGE. Just a note for people visiting this the walk requires you to climb over a barrier so is not obvious and is probably 1 1/2 hrs return.
So its goodbye Maui, we have just loved every minute of it, such a diversity of scenery, incredible snorkelling, friendly people, whales and beaches everywhere. No one would be disappointed with a holiday here there is something for everyone.
Back in Honolulu
For some reason the blog ends there but we did have one final day on the main Island and we hired a bright blue convertable to tour the whole Island before flying out that evening. It was an awesome day and if we came back we thought you could get a little house up on the other side of the Island and it would be peaceful and perfect. Another time.
