Hawaii 2007 - Day 1: Welcome To The Maui Sunset

I don't like waking up in the mornings. Afternoon wake ups I can deal with, but it is a common fact that I am NOT a morning person.

Waking up to go to Hawaii wasn't so difficult.

Dad picked me up, and we went for breakfast. I remember it being hard to eat because I was so excited! After a quick bite, we headed towards the car park, and finally to the airport to take us to our tropical destination.

While waiting in the the airport, my nerves tingling with excitement, they were also tingling with worry that someone would go wrong with my sister's passport.

We all had passport problems; I didn't send mine in soon enough so had to go downtown to get it processed, and then the picture was rejected. Dad filled out his form wrong AND sent it in during crunch time. Kristyn's form was fine, but was lost in passport hell. Dad and I got ours processed in person, no problem, but Kristyn's had to be sped up in order for her to get it on time - but just barely. She was due to pick it up from the office at 9:00 the morning of her flight. Talk about cutting it close! After a quick, reassuring phone call, we were able to sit back and relax in the knowledge that we would all be making the journey to Hawaii.

For some reason, we didn't end up getting on our flight to Vancouver until an hour after our departure time. They never told us why...they never really do. I think that's one thing I really hate about airports (coughcoughAirCanadacoughcough.) They do whatever they want, and there is nothing you can do about it. I mean, what are you going to do, get up and storm out of the airport indignantly? Probably not.

We boarded, and made ourselves comfortable. We had to switch seats with someone in order to sit together, but considering that I had an emergency exit seat, and the man I asked to switch with me was 6 feet or taller, it wasn't much of a hassle. For the rest of the trip, Dad and I played crib, watched some Arrested Development, and just chatted about how excited we were to be going to Hawaii. Oh, and we also hoped that when my sister got to Vancouver, she wouldn't freak out that we were an hour late.

We arrived in Vancouver, and went through customs. I don't like customs. They always make you feel like a criminal. She was asking me questions like "Where do you go to school?" "What do you study?" Now, I don't mind answering those questions, but she wasn't asking them in a friendly 'I-just-met-you-and-want-to-get-to-know-you-better' kind of way. Apparently Dad had no issues with the same lady and had to answer no probing questions about areas of study. Why is it always me?

We wandered through the catacombs that is the Vancouver airport until we found my sister...and no one else. Confused, because our connecting flight was to take off within an hour or so, we wondered where all the other paradise-bound people were.

You guessed it. Another delay. This one for a good six hours.

Have you ever seen the Steven Spielberg - Tom Hanks movie The Terminal? If you have, you'll know how much waiting in airports BLOWS. There is food to eat, but it's all overpriced, and you can shop in one of the many stores filled with junk you don't really need. The souvenir shops are the worst. Really...I know I was in Vancouver for 7 hours of my life, but I really don't need to buy a keychain to commemorate my visit. Not to mention, you are sitting there, just knowing that your destination is waiting for you, somewhere in this world. All you need to do is get there.

After making calls to the appropriate parties, we hunkered down to find something to do for the next six hours.

After endless episodes of Family Guy, I was so glad when they finally boarded us. Exhausted from doing nothing, I ate the meal that was provided, and fell asleep for a good portion of the trip.

After touching down and deboarding, I was greeted with something that I didn't have in Canada - heat. We hurried down to get our luggage, meet my Grandmother (who showered us with leis), and make our way to the place we would lay our heads for the next 10 days - The Maui Sunset.

With the exception of a few years where they decided to do something different, for (I think!) 30 years my Grandparents have gone to Maui for six weeks in February and March and have stayed in their time share condo at the Maui Sunset, a simple but beautiful set of condos right on the water. Although tiny when you get 5 or more people living in it, the condo has a pool, hot tub, tennis courts, mini-golf, barbeque's, and as much Hawaiian beauty as you can ask for at a condo.

As well as the amenities provided, they take really good care of the grounds. I saw gardeners out there often, mowing and cleaning the grass, pruning the plants, and generally making the scenery of our stay beautiful.

And, as I'm sure you figured out, there is a reason that they call it the Maui Sunset. Day after day we were treated to breathtaking views as the sun fell from the sky right before our eyes.

Knowing the next day would be a long one, we went to bed right away, but awoke to the beauty that is Hawaii. As my eyes slowly opened and I felt the warmth of the morning sun, and listened to the sounds around me, I knew were in were for a spectacular trip.

Hawaii 2007 - Day 2: A Long And Winding Road

Although I didn't get very much sleep (a combination of jet lag and unadulterated excitement), I awoke to chaos. Having gotten in very late, I didn't get a chance to see my cousins, or my aunt, or my Grandfather. I awoke to them all, and they all wanted me out of bed.

Within moments of opening my eyes (and I discovered this to be a pattern during our trip) everyone immediately went into full swing - packing bags for the day, applying the much needed sunscreen, and chowing down on breakfast (usually featuring fresh Hawaiian fruit.)

Sometime during the chaos Dad went out to exchange the rented car for a van, as to accommodate all of us on our trip to the legendary Hāna.

Now I didn't know much about Hana before taking this trip. I had been told by both Mom and Dad (who had made the trip before) that it was beautiful, and well worth checking out. Little did I know what an adventure Hāna would truly be.

To get to Hāna you have to take the Hāna Highway, which is a 68 mile stretch of road leading from the normal highway to the town of Hāna. Of this, it is only 52 miles from Kahului to the heart of Hāna.

The one-way trip is well over 3 hours long.

The Hāna Highway is the most treacherous highway I have ever been on. I commend my father for being able to drive it and remain sane, because I know that sitting in the back seat I was about to lose my mind.

There are supposedly over 600 hairpin turns along the highway, and countless numbers of one-lane bridges (note: you can travel in both directions on the highway.) Unfortunately for us, a recent earthquake closed one part of the highway, so once we got to Hāna, we had to turn around and brave the journey again, rather than take the highway out going in the opposite direction.

Lucky for us, Hāna IS without a doubt, a beautiful trip. If I thought the rest of Maui was lush, Hāna is ten times that.

I've always been good with car trips. I'm the kind of person who can read in the car and be fine. I can sleep (and Dad can attest to this) for hours on end sitting straight up in the passenger seat without budging.

I felt ill.

The combination of the repetitiveness of the road, the road itself, and the length of the trip was enough to turn the stomach (and it did turn the stomach of my cousin on the way back.) And I couldn't sleep because even with my eyes closed I could feel the van lurching one way and then the other. Then it would stop to let a car from the opposite direction by. And then it would start again. Brutal.

Reaching our destination was so welcome! We went a little bit beyond the town of Hāna (which mostly features spas and hotels) to a second portion of the Haleakalā National Park to visit the infamous "Seven Sacred Pools."

Now the "Seven Sacred Pools" aren't really sacred. And there aren't really seven of them. Rather, there are about 24 little pools that go up the mountain and drain into each other. You can go swimming in the pools, but they say that when it rains you have to get out of the water as fast as your legs will take you due to flash flooding.

Walking down to the pools is an adventure in and of itself.

Check out the storm approaching, because we sure didn't (keep reading...)

So after our walk down to the pools, like any other tourist destination in Hawaii, there were tons of other people who had the same idea for a day trip that we had!

Still, even with all the other people there, it's still quite beautiful. Seeing the water flow from one pool to the next and then to the ocean is very tranquil.

And then came the rains.

Have you ever seen in a tropical storm as portrayed in the movies? I assure you, no liberties are taken. One second we're gazing to the sky asking whether or not we did indeed feel a rain drop, and the next second we are drenched. I climbed a tree to gain some shelter, and watched all the other tourists grab towels, and each other and race from the pools for their lives. Definitely entertaining.

Afterwards, soaked and cold, we decided to cut our visit at the pools short, and head back to the van, taking the scenic (although slightly slippery) path back to parking lot.

Our cousins were disappointed. They're still quite young, and after a 3-hour long, exhausting car trip, they expected something a little more exciting. With them being tired, upset, and sick (we bought ice cream and Brandon didn't keep his down for long), the car ride back felt longer than the car ride there. However, we did manage to appease them with a few cool stops.

One of the neat things about the Hāna Highway is the little stops along the way. You can wander through eucalyptus groves or bamboo forests. Dad even had a CD from when he and David did the trip last year. It narrates various points to stop along the highway based on highway markers.

One of the places we stopped at was a beautiful waterfall. To this point I cannot remember the name of the fall, but according to the CD, it was featured in such movies as Mutiny On The Bounty (yes Lindsay, a Clarke Gable movie.)

However, the next stop was definitely the coolest:

Ok, I will admit, even though I DID see a tourist who got too close get soaked by the blow hole, that was not the highlight of this stop. Check it out:

Black sand! How cool is that? Created by lava, the black sand is heavier, but just as soft as regular sand. It was such a unique sight to see! Kristyn and I took some sand, and put it in rum shooter bottles to remember being there.

The beach also had a neat cave, leading into the ocean. The floor the cave was full of black lava rocks, softened by years of salt water.

So even though there were some down points during the journey, I had to look on the bright side. I got trapped in a tropical storm (not something a lot of people can lay claim to), I got to collect some funky black sand, and I tried my first (of many during the trip) ever shave ice treat on the way home. So even though I crashed at about 7:00 (much to the chagrin of people who wanted to actually use the living room for, oh I don't know, living), it was a good day, and gave us a good idea of what the rest of our Hawaiian adventure would have in store.