Hawaii- To Oahu by Sea (Part 1)

Scotty about to board the Superferry in Kihei on Maui

Early on in our Hawaii trip planning, we knew we wanted to see more than one island. With a total of 15 days (not counting arrival and departure days), we figured three islands would be doable. Maui was a definite choice, since Jeff lived there and offered to play host, not to mention we’d heard it was amazingly beautiful with tons to do and see.

With one island chosen, we discussed the rest. I’d always wanted to see Oahu, particularly Honolulu, since I’d seen it immortalized on postcards and shower curtains for years and read about it each time it appeared on a “Top 10 Best (i.e. Most Expensive) Places to Live List”. Scotty was especially interested in Kauai for its natural beauty and the small chance that we might hike the famous Kalalau Trail on the Napali Coast. We also talked about going to the Big Island of Hawaii. In the end, Oahu and Kauai won out as each of our first choices.

I’d also talked to people who spent time on the “Big Island” of Hawaii and enjoyed that experience, citing its different, rugged landscape formed by not-so-ancient lava flows, with nice resorts and entertainment around desert-like Kona, or a chance to see the “real Hawaii” near tropical Hilo on the eastern side of the island. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance next time.

Next, we considered how to get from one island to another. Flying was simple enough since Hawaiian Airlines offers service between islands. In January 2009, the total cost for two one-way tickets from Honolulu, Oahu to Lihue, Kauai and two one-way tickets from Lihue, Kauai to Kahului, Maui was $238.40.

Scotty is a boat guy, so we looked into whether ferry service was offered between islands and found the Hawaii Superferry with routes between Maui and Oahu. So for $107 ($49 each plus tax) we purchased two one-way tickets between Kahului, Maui to Honolulu, Oahu. Variety in transportation, check!

After five days on Maui, early in the morning Jeff drove us about 25 miles to the ferry terminal in Kahului near the airport. We were required to check in 90 minutes before boarding the ferry.

We were pretty excited at this point, to put it mildly. “How many people get to do this?!!” we exclaimed more times than necessary as we boarded. As it turns out, not too many more would. In March 2009, only just over a month later, this ferry service was indefinitely suspended after a 2007 law passed by the Hawaii Supreme Court was invalidated. The law had allowed the ferry system to resume operations before completing state environmental reviews.

The ferry trip itself was... interesting. As the boat lurched into motion, I became quickly aware of the rocking and rolling motion beneath us. We paid a bit extra ($10 each) for “lounge” seats with an excellent view in the bow of the boat, but with the first signs of seasickness urging me to go to sleep, I did just that.

Leaving Maui

Water view of Honolulu

Fortunately, I never did get completely sick. I woke up just long enough to take in a view of Lanai’s gorgeous cliffs and then watch a baby upchuck its breakfast on her poor mother. She and her friend were laughing (perhaps instead of crying) as they tried to clean up the mess and I tried not to look. Scotty got a kick out of all this, of course.

The trip took three hours and by the time we reached Honolulu I was very glad to be back on dry land. We then took a cab from the ferry terminal to our pre-reserved rental car at airport about ten minutes away. The next step was finding a place to sleep that night.

Who goes to Hawaii without a reservation? Well, we were there during the last few weeks of January, thus avoiding the peak holiday season. Perhaps it was a rookie move, but I had the idea that maybe we would simply be able to drive up the eastern side of the island and find accommodations- a cute little cabana or a quaint B& B perhaps. We were even willing to camp, but the few parks we passed looked sketchy, with a few folks hanging around their cars and looking strung out. I could just picture getting ripped off in the middle of the night. So we kept driving north, stopping at a grocery store, and eventually turning around after about an hour and a half of driving. Heading south, we watched the sun sink over the Pacific, the sky streaked in fuchsia and coral.

I had very little idea of what to expect from Honolulu. Scotty drove down Honolulu’s confusing downtown streets and I tried in vain to help with directions, we both realized we were in over our heads. Not only was conveying the street names difficult with names such as Kawaiahao St., Waimanu St., and Kamakee St., but there were plenty of one-ways and streets that seemed to change names. Just finding a space to pull over proved difficult. And it was getting dark.

Which is why, when we saw the car-friendly entrance of the Pacific Monarch hotel by Resortquest Hawaii, that allowed us to pull right up to the door, we happily rented a “penthouse suite” for $140 a night for total of three nights. Check out the amazing view from our balcony:

Mountain side view

Penthouse view of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu

The only view I was interested in... just kidding (#scared of heights)

It took a strong cocktail and a lot of convincing to get me out there. Another post to follow soon with the rest (and best) of Oahu!

Hawaii: Part 1- Maui

Tree trimming on Maui- January 17, 2009

This is the view we were greeted with the first morning of waking up in Hawaii. As I parted back the mosquito cloth lining the porch cot we'd slept on, the sun was shining and the Myna birds were chirping. Our comfortable outdoor bed was Jeff and his girlfriend, Erica's answer to a guest room for their one-bedroom apartment. We were thrilled to be able to sleep there and hang out with them in their home. And there really is nothing like falling asleep to a light breeze ruffling the palm fronds, the crash of the ocean only a block away.

We'd left Juneau the day before, January 16, at 7:45 a.m.- barely. As we sat in the airport café, waiting for our flight to be called, we heard it canceled over the loudspeaker instead. We made a beeline for the reservations counter just in time; behind us, the rest of the plane's passengers glowered, sleepy and annoyed under florescent lights.

At first, the customer service agent appeared stumped as to where to send us. We were supposed to fly through Anchorage and that certainly wasn't happening anytime soon due to inclement weather there. The only other direct flights out of Juneau go to Seattle, so that seemed the logical choice. The only problem was that flights to Hawaii were overbooked from there. "What about going through L.A.?" Scotty or I suggested. (Since we disagree about who had this bright idea, credit goes to both.)

After some clicking on her computer screen, the agent seemed to agree that this was, indeed, a great idea. She promptly re-booked us on a flight to Seattle leaving in only 30 minutes and then on another from there to Los Angeles. From there, a Delta flight would take us to Kahului, Maui.

Later that day, we touched down in Maui's Kahului airport at 9 p.m., only about an hour later than initially planned, which is a much better outcome than for most of the people on our original flight. We've heard plenty of horror stories of people getting stuck for days while routing to and from Juneau and knew how lucky we had been. The time en route was approximately 14 hours even with an hour earlier time difference.

It was raining when Jeff picked us up from the airport. Not the kind of rain that leaves you shivering, but the tropical kind, almost like a warm bath. It was around 72 degrees Fahrenheit and just enough to make me put on a thin sweatshirt. The first thing I'd done upon exiting the plane was trade my tennis shoes for flip flops."Oh good, you've got your slippahs on, " said Jeff, a twenty-five-year Maui resident.

We preceded to drive in Jeff's Toyota Tacoma about 45 minutes to his place in Kapalua. Jeff and Erica had been renting the lower half of a house there for the past seven years. Immediately, I understood why they'd stayed for so long. Only a short 15-minute drive to both of their workplaces in Lahaina, they could walk to the ocean or take a bike ride to the local bar or grocery store. Plus, the house they rented gave them access to a large grassy yard with a grill and the aforementioned palm trees.

The people renting the top half of the house were also young people in their late-twenties to early thirties and they didn't have to deal with extreme college-kid craziness or older folks telling them to keep it down. Yep, pretty much my version of paradise.

After a day and a half of recuperating from the flight and doing little more than enjoying trivialities like early afternoon Mai-Tais and being barefoot, we were ready to see a bit more of Maui. Since Erica had to go back to work, off we went to camp with Jeff on the "back side of Haleakala". Being a tour boat captain and naturalist gave Jeff a somewhat flexible schedule and he was looking forward to camping himself, he told us.

Getting to the southern side of Haleakala, Maui's "potentially active volcano", required that we drive north to Kahului and then south again through the foothills of Haleakala. During the approximately 2-hour drive, we took turns pointing out which cars were the rentals. The key is that rentals don't have the little border around the license plates stating a dealership name or flowers on a chain link.

The actual turn-off to the unofficial campsite involved a taking a somewhat winding and bumpy route that required four-wheel drive. Since the campsite was literally hidden off the side of the road, the best way to find a spot like ours is to watch for turn-outs around Mile Marker 25, just before Mamalu Bay. There really are no signs, which makes it even more special and hidden. Four- wheel drive is necessary, as the road turns off onto unpaved dirt roads.



Here you can see Jeff's truck taking a barely-used road from the main road to our campsite. The rock cliffs in the background are made up of old lava flow and the Piilani Highway/ State Highway 31 lies at the base behind the trees.





The beach is rocky, but secluded. Luckily, they're also the type of smooth, ocean-polished rocks that don't hurt bare feet.



Jeff and Scotty got right to work bucking up some driftwood. What looks like an empty stream bed is actually and old lava flow path. (Haleakala is estimated to have last erupted sometime in the 17th century, according to Wikipedia.)

Free camping!- January 19, 2009

The next day, we packed up and continued to drive west. We stopped at the tiny town of Kaupo, at Mile Marker 35. Kaupo's main attraction seems to be a small, rustic general store, which was, unfortunately, closed when we drove there in search of cold beer. Jeff especially bemoaned this fact as it was, he said, a really cool place and a camping trip ritual.

We decided to continue driving towards Hana, thinking we might just drive around the north side to get home, only to be stopped by construction about 10 miles later. Instead of waiting for the road to clear, which could take hours from the looks of it, we decided to turn around and go back the way we came.







On the way back we stopped alongside the road for a short hike to a waterfall.



The view from the side of the road wasn't bad either.



On the way back to Kapalua, we stopped in Paia, a town on Maui's north shore, with a reputation as a hippie and surfer hangout. Paia is also an obvious tourist stop on the "Road to Hana", a famously winding highway along Maui's Northeast shore, and at the intersection for the road up to Haleakala's summit. We'd planned to to see both Hana and Haleakala at the end of our trip when we returned to Maui for the flight home.

Paia's main street included a bar frequented by Willie Nelson (according to Jeff) and some shops and restaurants, including Milagros Food Company, a Mexican-style joint with a small outdoor seating area. Milagros is mid-priced, with a good lunch menu.

This part of this trip is less technical in detail and more about what you can see when you get off the beaten path. We were lucky in that we had someone showing us where to go, but the reality is that Maui isn't a very big place. One can drive around the entire island in about two full days if you wanted to, and there aren't that many roads so you really can't get lost. The last part of our trip details the Road to Hana and a drive up to the summit of Haleakala (both in a rental car) and since we did this on our own it should paint a more realistic picture of what people visiting the island independently can expect.

Next up- Hawaii: Part 2- Oahu!

A Jumping-Off Point

Yesterday:
This morning when I first opened my eyes, I could see sun streaming in through all the windows in our bedroom (six in all). It was so quiet and now with the window open I can hear the small songbirds twittering. It’s Saturday so I can also hear the faint sound of traffic zooming by as people travel out the road to get a weekly fix of camping, cabining, boating, hiking and just lounging. On days like this, I’m glad I moved to a place where being outside is still a mainstream pastime.

Today is moving day. Well, one of several, but we’re going to try to do our best to get most of our things out and reconfigured. It’s going to be a challenge to say the least…

Not because we have so much stuff but because the new place really is small. It does have some storage space but it’s hard to tell exactly how far that will go until we’ve tried it…

I have to say, I’m looking forward to a change, but I don’t really know where this change will lead. We have ideas of where we want to move but it seems to change weekly. I’m pretty sure we’ll make the leap based on the affordability of living combined with job prospects. But oh, I am so ready to do some traveling.

These are some of the places I’m wanting planning to see in the next 12 months:

The Never Been Before (Likely Will Do) List:

1. Australia

2. Fiji

3. Spain

4. France

5. Italy

6. Greece

The Been Before, Can’t Wait to Go Back, List:

1. Colorado

2. Texas

3. New Mexico

4. Ecuador

5. Japan

6. Costa Rica

7. And countless other places in the U.S.

The Never Been Before (But I May Need- at least- 24 Months) List:

1. Brazil

2. Chile
3. Thailand

4. Turkey

5. Croatia

6. Czech Republic

No, I’m not rich, but I do have partial flight benefits through my dad’s retirement from an airline. Not since a trip to Japan during college to visit a friend, have I used these internationally. With age and being out of school I lost my benefits due to company policy. But because of the airline’s merger, I recently got them back. The only problem is that they don’t fly out of Juneau… Oh that’s right, no one does except for Alaska Airlines…. hmmm, interesting.

Since airfare is one the most expensive things about traveling, a reduced fare will go a long way. I’ll have to fly standby, but I’m used to that. And once I’m traveling I tend to not spend copious amounts of cash by avoiding expensive restaurants and bars in general. Because drinking cocktails in London is quite a different financial hit, than say, at a hostel’s rooftop bar in Quito. And the vagabond in me prefers it that way.

Well, enough wanderlust chatter. What are your top places to see?

An "In-Town" Departure...

“The only thing constant in life is change.” ~François de la Rochefoucauld

As we get ready to move, I can’t help but remember. There are so many memories a place can hold- some joyous, some hard. Sometimes I wonder if a house really does exchange energy with its inhabitants. Maybe that’s too far out there, but I can’t help but feel the peace of our current home, buffered by woods and the sounds of the creatures who share its perimeters.

I will miss this place dearly. It was my first home with S, the place where after years of frequent moving I was finally able to rest, to buy plants and put up real art again. It was lying in our bed, listening to the constant pattering of the rain during my first September in Juneau that I remembered what home felt like.

After nearly five years in our “cabin by the woods”, our landlords retired and decided to sell their house (and our guest house along with it). So we’re moving to a mother-in-law suite of a house in a quiet residential part of downtown Juneau. It’s a bit smaller than our current place, but very nice, new and clean. One of the best things is that I’ll be able to walk to work- something I’ve dreamed about for years now. From our new bedroom window we’ll be able to see the Gastineau Channel.

Still, as we prepare for the move, it’s hard not to compare one place to the other. Every time the part of me that resists change whines (sometimes not so quietly) “But it won’t be the same!” I have to remember the other part of me that quietly, but firmly, says, “Because it’s not supposed to be.”

Given our peripatetic natures and penchant for travel, I’m sure this won’t be the only move we make. But for now, it’s our next adventure.

Aloha Hawaii!

Kaena Point State Park, West side of Oahu - January 22, 2009

Since it's the time of winter where I think I can safely say, "We're all sick of it! Quit *#&@ snowin' already!" I thought it would be fitting to begin this blog with a post on Hawaii. Since there's nothing that puts me to sleep more than a realllly long post, it'll come in installments based on the this trip's itinerary (taken in January 2009), starting with an overview and then one post for each stop in order (Maui (western), Oahu, Kauai, and back to Maui (central and eastern).

Hope it gives you some ideas for your how to get your grass skirt shakin' and ukelelé playin' on. Just kidding. We won't go that far.

When you live in Alaska like I do, going to Hawaii is like a right of residency. When I lived in Minnesota growing up, Florida was to Midwesterners, as Hawaii is to Alaskans. That's probably where the similarity ends, though.

Also, many people who work in Alaska's tourism industry during the summer tend to have Hawaiian connections, such as a friend from there who works in Alaska seasonally. Some people work overtime during the summer and bum around the Islands during the winter, working minimum wage or taking on an "internship". Then, broke again the following spring, they make their way back to Alaska in time to greet the cruise ship passengers.

Scotty, and I work year-round, but due to his summer work we were no exception to the Hawaiian Connection. Jeff, Scotty's summertime co-worker, had lived on Maui for over two decades and during a particularly snowy January in 2009 we decided to take him up on his offer to show us the "real Maui". It was this offer that led us to spend a total of 17 days and 16 nights seeing Maui, Oahu and Kauai.

This trip, based on our island-hopping itinerary, details exactly where to spot a real Nene bird, what poké tastes like, and if Waikiki is all it's cracked up to be. Plus all the other good stuff like how to get around, where to stay, and details on trip costs.

In short, Hawaii is both weird and beautiful and definitely worth the time and money involved. And, with the right planning, a visit to the 50th state doesn't have to be ridiculously expensive. In fact, the car and hotel prices we paid two years ago are pretty much the same now- with some things listed even cheaper. Check back soon for "Hawaii: Part 1- Maui"!

Welcome!

The first time I hiked to the top of Mount Juneau, I got to see this...

The view from here: Mount Juneau in Juneau, Alaska- July 26, 2008

I also learned that just because something is called a hike doesn’t mean it won’t quickly morph into a stomach-churning scramble on hands and knees up the side of a cliff. As 40 mile-per-hour winds whipped past my boyfriend, Scotty, and I, tossing my new hiker’s headband into the oblivion of downtown Juneau below, I wondered exactly what I had signed up for.