Destination #1: Maui, Hawaii U.S.A.
WARNING: LONG POST...skip to pictures if needed.
We started off our "world tour" in more familiar territory, the beautiful Maui, Hawaii. Cliffton recently went to Honolulu last year with his Dad, and I had been to Honolulu as a kid as well but neither of us had made it to Maui. Maui made for a more gentle start to our world tour. As an "easier" destination Cliffton decided that I would be planning this part of the trip.
I have to admit, I'm a terrible vacation planner. Actually, any sort of event planning makes me anxious. But, I went ahead and did my research looking over Tripadvisor and other travel forums to decide on the best things to do while on the island. I decided on dividing up the trip into: relaxation day, adventure, relaxation day, adventure then another rest day before we left for Japan.
Our first day there Cliffton and I didn't do much of anything. It was my goal to make this trip leisurely and refreshing before gearing up for our more unfamiliar and adventurous parts of the world tour. So we did a lot of eating, exploring the local areas and beach bumming. The beach near our resort is called Black Rock beach, because there's a large black rock formation that people can (at their own risk) climb and jump off of into the ocean. We spent part of our first day there. We took a crack at snorkling at the beach, but found it to be pretty average at best. There were so many people (even at 7 AM), there was sand and coral particles kicked up everywhere making the waters somewhat cloudy, and there weren't many fish. So we gave up and returned our snorkle gear. The minute that we did this though, a giant friendly sea turtle turned up in the shallow waters. Apparently this turtle lives here at the beach and commonly comes right up to people.
Our next day in Maui we decided to brave the Road to Hana. I've heard quite a lot of hype around this famous trip to Hana. It's a winding road through rainforests and up over mountains to a sleepy Hawaiian town called Hana. Along the way there's some important stops you can take whether it's beautiful beaches, waterfalls, or food stands, it's pretty much up to you! Cliffton came up with the plan of driving all the way to Hana first, then making our stops along the way back. Traditionally, people stop on the way up, but I didn't see the harm in doing it this way. Also we didn't really have much of a choice since it rained the entire morning on our way up to Hana. This definitely didn't dampen our mood though! At 5AM Cliffton and I were up and ready to go! We started off on the windy road at 6AM and got to Hana without making any stops at about 7:50AM. Given the weather conditions and the hour of our arrival Hana wasn't really too exciting of a place. It's known to be the "most Hawaiian city" in Hawaii. We made a pit stop at a local rest area that served food and shared a yummy fried rice with egg. We ate it while staring out at the ocean. It was a quiet and peaceful morning as we waiting for the fog to lift a bit so we could continue our journey.
Our first stop on the way back from Hana was Cliffton's favorite part of the trip: Waianapanapa Beach. This beautiful beach has black lava "sand" and is truly the most unique and beautiful beach I've ever seen. Cliffton and I were lucky enough to experience the beach without any other tourists present (because who in the world would wake up so early?) We explored the cave nearby which also had grand Black rock formations and spent the better part of our time on the beach taking selfies and attempting to take some cool artsy sand/foot/hands pictures. When we saw a tour group coming our way we made our exit. Our next stop back was the Ke'anae peninsula and the arboretum. The arboretum was filled with unfamiliar and colorful trees and vegetation, my new favorite being: the rainbow eucalyptus. The bark of the rainbow eucalyptus tree looks as if it's been painted on with brown, red and mossy green streaks. We also took a stop at a small stand I had heard about on Youtube and Yelp called Coconut Glen's. Glen makes his own vegan ice cream out of coconut milk. It was absolutely delicious and subtle. I would love to have more one day! We stopped at many lookout points as well taking pictures of waterfalls along the road home. Our last stop was Ho'okipa beach park where we stopped to spy on the locals surfing. We made one more stop before heading home and grabbed a bite to eat in the small town of Paia. Cliffton got some fish and chips and we both munched on it. We got home at around 6PM. The whole trip was definitely unforgettable! For anyone planning on doing this trip my one warning is that you may get carsick! I never get motion sickness...NEVER, but there are about 600 curves and 59 bridges to cross on your way to Hana so I felt slightly queasy for the first couple hours on our way up to Hana. We also used an iPhone app called Gypsy which was a great tour guide along the way. He told us where to stop and also told some great stories about Hawaiian history.
On day 3 of our stay in Maui we had another relaxation day to recover from our eventful roadtrop to Hana. We beach bummed again, this time Cliffton felt daring enough to swim our to the Black Rock and jump off of it into the ocean. We also ate some great noodles at a place close to our resort called Star Noodle! It was excellent and I'm still dreaming about it. In fact, all the food in Maui that we had was exceptional.
Day 4 was another adventurous day! This time we woke up at 3:00AM all for the chance to see Haleakala Crater at sunrise. It's supposed to have spectacular views and be a magical experience. We bundled up in warmer jackets and drove on up to Haleakala National Park. Cliffton and I felt pretty woozy and half crazy, but when we made it up the mountain at 4:50AM and saw the majestic, starry view from the volcanic mountain top, we knew it was all going to be worth it. We headed up to the summit to watch the sunrise from there. To my foolish surprise, there was already a growing crowd of people setting up their GoPros and camera tripods. Initially, I felt this ruined some of the enchantment of it, but we thankfully found a quiet spot to sit just right under the stone wall surrounding the summit. I also should mention it was incredibly cold up there. Cliffton wore a pretty flimsy jacket and it definitely was not enough! We had to shamefully pull out a towel and huddle up under it while patiently and silently waiting for the sun to emerge. The clouds rolling in over the mountain peaks were absolutely captivating, and the velvety navy sky itself was starting to get interrupted with streaks of pinkish orange light. Once the sun peaked out it's first rays it all happened very fast. Against my better judgement I couldn't help myself from staring right at the sun (with my sunglasses on of course). It was definitely a captivating experience.
Next up on our itinerary was a ziplining adventure. I am scared of heights so I had been a little nervous with anticipation about this upcoming activity. But, I am always willing to try new things so we went ahead! The zipline had a total of 5 that went through the forest and over deep gorges. The first few were a little scary, but once I felt secure in my harness it was an exhilarating experience. The last zipline, however, had quite a bit of slack in it. It was also positioned at a downhill incline and was the longest of the lines. Cliffton was the first to go. And as I saw him first plummet down then cross over the deep ravine I felt panic set in. As the tour guide smiled at me and said, "You ready?" I found myself shaking my head and going, "Nope.." while at the same time climbing the wooden platform to get my pulley attached to the line. Before I knew it I felt myself falling down into the ravine! I didn't yell before but for this line I allowed myself to, mostly because I was terrified. After the line was pulled taut with my weight I felt myself enjoying the experience!
Our last two stops on our adventurous day was at the other side of Haleakala National Park. We were warned a couple times not to attempt the back road on the South East end of the island (the opposite side of the Hana Highway) because part of the road is damaged due to earthquake and flash floods. However, Cliffton's motto is that "rules are meant to be broken"...so after asking a few locals their opinion on the road conditions and getting one "no" and one "yes" we decided to go ahead and do it. The back road to O'heo gulch was arguably more beautiful than the road to Hana. This road allows you to see the shoreline most of the way. And the road is lined with lovely lavender Jacaranda trees, tall Norfolk pines, and a strange smattering of tropical plants and also more desert-like plants.
The road is bumpy for about 7-miles. But in my honest opinion it was not as tough as the road to Hana because theres less switchbacks and winding. There's also fewer areas of landslides and rockslides that you need to avoid.
Once we made it to O'heo Gulch we started off on the Pipiwai trail. Cliffton and I agree this trail is the best we've ever been on. It's all rainforest, but then in the middle of it is a random but pleasantly surprising trail lined with thick rows of bamboo. At the end of this goldeny bamboo trail is the Waikamoi Falls, the tallest waterfall in all of Maui. It stands at an impressive 400-feet and plunges steeply off a sheer lava rock cliff. There's actually a sign blocking you from going further and viewing the falls up close, but again..."rules are meant to be broken". Naturally, Cliffton and I mischievously ducked behind it after seeing a couple emerge from the trees beyond the no entry point. The man raved that it was "heaven on earth" so of course we had to see it.
Our last anticipated attraction was the Seven Sacred Pools at O'heo Gulch. These pools follow one after the other in a stepwise fashion and lead straight into the ocean. Each pool leads into the next one with a spectacular waterfall. In accordance with Cliffton's natural inclination, he climbed to the top of a waterfall and jumped off into the pool down below. The water was clear and cool. The pools were breathtakingly beautiful.
On our very last day Cliffton and I took a break from honeymooning. That's right. We decided early on before our trip started that about once a week or so we would take a "break" and do things solo. This would give us some time to reflect, and fulfill our own individual desires. Whether that's taking a nap, going on a jog, doing laundry, getting a massage. Whatever! Even lovely dovey newlyweds need their alone time after all. We spent most of the day apart doing our own thing. But that night we reunited for one last Hawaiian experience: a luau! My first luau ever! The food was delicious and journeyed us through Hawaiian, New Zealand, Tahitian and Samoan culture. It all ended with a exciting fire throwing dance!
Cliffton and I will definitely miss Maui. It had many unique and memorable experiences to offer. I feel slightly nostalgic about it also because my own parents had their honeymoon in Maui 35 years ago. It will hold a special place in my heart. As they say in Hawaii, a hui hou, until we meet again!
Next stop is Tokyo, Japan! :)
