Aloha from Maui - Part two of our Hawaiian trip!

Greetings from the Island of Maui!!

I believe I last left off with us heading to the airport for Maui!

We decided to head to the airport, apparently WAY before we needed to. When we flew in we thought we would be flying out of the same terminal so there would be a lot to look at and we would have lunch and stuff.. well that was not so the case! We got into the airport and there was absolutely NOTHING there! We got in and checked out bags and went through security, when we got into the terminal there was absolutely ONE place to have lunch and it was absolutely ridiculously expensive. We paid $75.00 for 2 salads and 2 drinks! CRAZY!

We waited for our flight which at one point they said was overbooked.. GREAT! They gave people the option to take a later flight and therefore they would get a credit but we said no we wanted to just get there so we didn’t take the offer. Thankfully for some reason every single Asian person (no I’m not stereotyping I’m being dead serious) never got up when they called their flight, I swear they were perfectly willing to miss their flights! They didn’t get up until they were called by name personally! So needless to say we got on the flight!

The flight to Maui wasn’t awesome, I don’t really do well on little planes at all and flying over the ocean the whole entire way just made me sick.

We landed in Maui and what a disaster that was about to occur! We had already rented a jeep online before coming so this woman told us to head to the rental place where we would just need to grab the keys, well it took literally forever the people there were no slow and not helpful at all but eventually we go out to get into the jeep! Jason had asked for a soft top so we could take the roof off while we were driving around the island, well we piled all our stuff in, took the top off and hit the road to the hotel! Well on the way, not far down the road we noticed it was looking like rain.. so much so that we really thought we should pull over and put the top back up before we got soaked.. well it wouldn’t go up!!! The frame was bent to shit and it was just IMPOSSIBLE, we tried so long and were so frustrated that we took the damn thing back!! When we got back to the rental place they were basically like.. “oh don’t worry if that doesn’t latch..” WHAT? What if it rains.. shit just gets wet?? Like what the hell?? So we switched to a hard top! Honestly it was for the best anyways as we have talked a lot about actually buying a jeep and the hard top was definitely something that we would actually buy so it was good to have it and drive it, plus the top popped right off and went on with ease!

On the way to the hotel the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.. I cant even put it into words! To be honest it was similar to Alaska in that it was ocean on one side and ocean on the other. On our drive was saw humpback whales swimming and playing in the ocean so we pulled over to a lookout and watched them.. just amazing!!  They were only about a football field away, breaching and everything.. it was absolutely incredible!!

We arrived at the hotel a lot later than we had expected with the whole jeep debacle, but it was wonderful to arrive and receive our very first lei! I really thought when we got off the plane in Honolulu that it would be like the movies and there would be someone standing there with a lei.. not so the case, but at the hotel they gave you a beautiful fresh flower lei! We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Maui as well and if you can even believe it, it was better here! There was a massive pool, swim up bar, PENGUINS! It was basically a resort! Because we arrived so late though we were exhausted and starving and it was dark so we really didn’t do a lot of exploring we just headed for something to eat.

The hotel had quite a few restaurants but we wanted something casual and quick so when we came across Umalu which was on the beach and had live music we settled in! We had been really living off of salads and stuff and we were tired and felt like comfort food so Jason got a really amazing pizza and I had chicken fingers and fries and it was great! Unfortunately for 2 beers, 2 tropical drinks and dinner it was over $80.00.. We just couldn’t believe it! As you can imagine Jason didn’t love that!

After dinner we explored around a little and then decided just to head back to the room and get settled and head to bed for the next day’s adventures!

Tuesday March 5^th – Hello West Maui Beach!

We’re saying in Lahaina, in the Kaanapoli resorts on West Maui beach! The place is amazing.. We learned first thing this morning from our towels and what not that our hotel practices Malama Pono which is the act of being green, therefore they ask that if you wouldn’t mind you use your towels for more than one day which I thought was great, with a resort of that size it would be ridiculous to wash everyone’s towels every single day.. its their way of caring for their natural resources! J

Did I mention when we were flying in we saw the Molikini crater which is shaped like a horseshoe? Apparently they have great snorkeling there although we never went. I took pictures, please stay tuned for those!

Today was a great day, we toured around a lot and saw a TON of whales! I can’t even tell you how many whales we saw because there was just SO MANY! They are so playful, whacking their tales around in the water, slapping their fins and coming right up out of the water and splashing (breaching). What is best of all is that they just had their babies so we were seeing baby whales with their mama’s too! We are use to seeing them in the North when they are more focused on eating, we have never seen them so playful like this!

After breakfast we headed to Owolaha beach which was amazing, we laid on the beach and Jason snorkeled, we watched the whales and really just explored.. This is exactly what we were looking forward to on vacation and it was absolutely AMAZING!

We decided that we would take a drive to Kehei in the afternoon, we had lunch in Wailea at Cheeseburger in Paradise which was great and drove all along the beach down there. We decided that we were definitely happy with where we stayed in regards to the beaches, there was a lot more city in Kehei and we had that in Honolulu, we were looking for more quiet and relaxing in Maui.

When we got back to the hotel Jason went for a quick swim in the pool and by that time I was in pants because the slightest bit of wind and we all know that Im cold! After that we showered and headed along the beachside boardwalk to the Whaler’s Village for dinner! We had dinner at Maui Fish & Pasta and it was excellent. It was nice to have a really good dinner versus the more casual meals we had been eating. We took our time walking back along the ocean and then headed to be early for our big drive around the island the next day!

Oh! Before I forget.. have I mentioned that its bad luck to take anything from the island that you didn’t buy or wasn’t given to you? Most people go to a tropical place and what do they take? Shells, rocks? Well apparently on the Big Island there is a huge table FULL of rocks that people have taken and then sent back due to the bad fortune that follows them for taking them from the island. Needless to say we did no such thing!

Did I mention as well that Island is considered the island of sun? I can absolutely see why. Today had been one of those days that we just spent in awe of all the amazing things surrounding us, feeling so grateful to be there, not taking a moment of it for granted! We are so lucky that we get to do so many amazing things!

Wednesday March 6^th – Road to Hana!

This morning we got up and had an amazing breakfast at the hotel, quite early I might add as we were told that it would take us all day to drive the road to Hana! Breakfast was amazing, the hotel does a buffet breakfast every morning and although we had a two for the price of one deal with our room breakfast was still $55.00! But we had fresh fruit and Jason had a omelet made, it was excellent!

We had already gotten sandwiches for the day and the backpack was ready so we got in the jeep and headed out. We stopped and got gas and the CD for the Road to Hana which dictated our drive and explained what we were seeing and doing, it was great! Just as we got on the road we noticed a kayaker out in the ocean and RIGHT BESIDE her was a Mama whale and on the other side was here baby.. I couldn’t even believe it! I have never seen anything like this, and was never so grateful not to be that kayaker.. the whales didn’t seem to be bothering her, they were just swimming beside her.. it was absolutely INCREDIBLE!

Our drive was amazing, we started out just outside of Kaanapoli where we were staying, we saw waterfalls in Huelo, amazing beaches in Ke’anae and Wailua. We drove along the Haleakala Volcano and into the National Park! We saw one of the black sand beaches. If you are unaware the Hawaiian Island are all created by volcano’s so there is a ton of lava and black sand everywhere. You should check out this link that shows all the amazing things we seen and did!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hana_Highway

So it is possible to take the road to Hana the whole way around the island, but there is a section of the road at the very end after Hana that they recommend that you don’t take, so much so that when you sign the rental car agreement part of it says that you WILL NOT drive that stretch of the Hana highway.. we did. Honestly Im glad we did but it was scary! It was literally a dirt road on the side of a volcano and the other side was a cliff down to the ocean! FAR DOWN! It was basically one lane so if you encountered another car one of you had to back up until you came to a spot where you could both fit through.. it was pretty crazy! On that side of the island the beaches are just absolutely incredible, turquoise waters, untouched rocks and sand.. there just are no words to describe it! On that end of the drive we went quite high up in elevation where it was a lot colder as well and the vegetation and stuff was quite different. We saw a lot of cows and we actually saw a ton of mountain goats! On the way back down to Lahaina it got pretty cold and actually started to rain.. haha roof off the jeep of course! Jason just turned on the heat and I put my sweater on so I didn’t totally freeze! Once we got off the mountain and back by the hotel we were back to beautiful weather and lots of whales. Driving back we saw whales literally coming up and completely out of the water before splashing down.. it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life!

Although March is still considered storm season in Maui if you ever plan to go it is also whale season and it is completely worth it! We have seen whales in quite a few places but never like this, there are just no words! Today we saw at least 20-30 of them!

Thursday March 7^th – Luau Day!

Today we got up and headed to our favorite beach to hang out and snorkel! Naturally on the way we watched the whales swim along as we drove. When we got to the beach we lay out for quite awhile and then decided to get in the water to do some snorkeling! Jason has some pictures from his underwater camera before it died, but I don’t think they could do it justice. We saw a ton of different tropical fish as well as sea turtles! I’m not going to lie at first the turtles startled me and I wasn’t sure of them but they are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Check out this link.. it will show a bunch of the different fish that we saw!

http://www.tropicalsnorkeling.com/maui-snorkeling.html

We decided not to go too far out that day as we had overheard someone saying there was a small shark out further and there has been signs posted on the beach that there had been a recent shark attack. I’m really not sure how long they leave those out for, or how long “recent” really is but we didn’t figure it was worth the risk!

Today we decided that if we were spending all this money on a hotel we might as well utilize its amenities so we headed back to go to the pool for the afternoon! When we got down there I called Mom and Dad to tell them how are trip was going and no word of a lie the second I hung up I noticed people congregating behind our pool chairs and when I looked there was a Mama humpback splashing her fin over and over and right beside her was a little baby humpback mimicking her Mama’s moves.. it was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Unfortunately it was really hard to get pictures of them though as it was such a fluke to see most of it and they are just too quick!

We had to go up to the room early to get ready for the Luau as we had decided to book the Luau at the Royal Lahiana resort instead of ours as we had heard it was the best one around. So we got all dressed up and headed over there! Unfortunately today was the day that we were most burnt so being all dressed up was a little uncomfortable.

The location of the Luau was amazing, right on the beach for sunset! We had an amazing dinner, it’s funny I’m really not a pork lover but it is so fresh and amazing in Hawaii…. Even bacon tastes completely different in a good way! The show was incredible! We saw the hula dancing and fire throwing, learned more about the islands.. it was exactly what we had hoped! Plus there was free Mai Tai’s!! Jason drank a few too many and walked home planning Aunt Bren’s tiki bar party for this summer; he made a guest list and everything! Haha! We got back to the hotel kind of early but had gotten so much sun and was tired so we headed to bed!

Friday March 8^th – Kapalua Beach Day!

We got up today and had breakfast before heading to Kapalua beach which was once rated one of the best beaches in Maui. When we got there the surf was extremely high which pretty much dictated how much snorkeling Jason was going to get in. The water actually seemed a lot colder as well. We stayed quite awhile before heading back to the hotel for lunch and then some pool time!

Back at the hotel Jason talked to Charlie and we will have to go into the home office in Bothell for him to fill out all the paperwork for his work visa to go to Saskatchewan.. oh no escaping work, not even for vacation!

After the pool we literally had to come upstairs and shower and scrub the sand off of us, haha and the salt to be honest. Its crazy how it gets all over you. We wanted to get cleaned up before heading to the cliff diving ceremony at the Sheraton and then off to Dukes Beach Club for dinner! Dukes was different than the one we went to in Honolulu but still good. We sat at the bar to avoid the wait and had a great meal!

Tomorrow is our last full day on the island and we are just NOT ready to leave!

Saturday March 9^th – Surf Day!

Today we woke up to a massive wind storm.. it was overcast and the wind was just howling! Jason was due to surf at 10:00am but was really rethinking it with the horrible weather. They has closed up as much of the hotel as they could to prevent everyone and everything from blowing around! Jason was thinking about calling the surf place to cancel but we decided to just drive down there and see what the case was!

The conditions were definitely not ideal but this was the last day we had and Jason really felt like if he didn’t do it that he would really regret it so he got geared up and headed out! I watched while he geared up and practiced and anticipating it would take him some time to get the hang of things I headed out to walk the shops on Front Street for awhile.

When surfing was done we headed back to the hotel to hang out for awhile because the weather was super crappy and we had packing and stuff to do anyways. When we went back down for dinner it was pouring rain!!! We decided to drive back to Front Street for dinner and decided on Captain Jack’s where I had the most amazing pasta dish ever! It was still raining and windy but slowed down enough for us to walk and get an ice cream before heading back to the hotel to finish packing!

Sunday March 10^th – We Leave L

Did I ever mention that Lahaina is the Royal Capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom? There was a sign that said so that I never did get a picture of!

We got up early (earlier than necessary because Jason didn’t realize that Hawaii doesn’t do the time change!!!) and headed to breakfast and then the post office to send a box home as we just didn’t have enough room to pack it and take it with us!

We did everything we needed to do and then checked out and headed to the airport. I cried.. I just wasn’t ready to head back to real life! Our real life can be really stressful and I had waited so long for the relaxing vacation that we had that I just couldn’t think about coming back and having to deal with everything we had too.. But none the less we didn’t have a choice!

When we got to the Maui airport it was PACKED! It took us forever to check our bags and go through security and the people in the security line were NUTS! There was a guy in front of us that was the biggest dickhead Ive ever seen in my life, so much so that I thought about telling him so. We went through security and there was a woman behind us that got stopped and she totally had a meltdown, screaming at everyone including her husband.. Finally the woman security guard was like.. STOP! It was hilarious!

With all the waiting we didn’t have a lot of time to grab lunch, take a quick look around and then go to our gate. In Hawaii you also have to go through Agriculture screening which is a pain in the ass, they don’t want you taking anything fruits, vegetables, plants, etc in or out of the island!

The plane we took was massive, 7 seats across.. but the flight was really great and a lot quicker than we expected. They gave us dinner on the plane at which time Jason volunteered to trade me his salad for my brownie!

We landed at the airport with a 3 hours time change and it was 46 degrees! We got a cab and headed straight for the hotel which was in the ghetto! In the morning a company town car was picking us up to take us to the docks in Tacoma to get the truck!

I will leave off here, there is probably a ton more stuff to tell about our trip but overall it was just incredible! We are so fortunate to have spent time there and are already hoping to go back!

I know you probably are all wondering where we are and how we got here and I have been keeping track of that as well so hopefully I will get that down tomorrow morning for you before we head to the Seavey’s! But in the meantime know that we are in North Carolina and are safe, sound and exhausted!!

Aloha!!