Aloha! Bens parents joined us for this adventure as they are currently stateside, and are spending ~1month in Hawaii. We were excited this time to revisit some of the best bits of Maui and explore Kauai for the first time.
Hawaii is a picture-perfect postcard. Turquoise waters, golden sand and lush greens surrounding the coast. This scenery has made it into many Hollywood movies. We saw the filming locations to Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, and King Kong just to name a few.
Maui
Mount Haleakala National Park – A day trip to the summit at 10,023ft (3055m) to a dormant volcano. The only place on Maui you need a puffer jacket… low and behold we used it for the 2 hours we were at the summit, and we never needed it again. Epic viewpoints, small hikes in and around volcanic rocks and landscapes.
‘The Road to Hana’ is a 52-mile road, over 59 bridges (46 of those are one lane), and around 600 hairpin bends. Its equivalent to a 2hour rollercoaster ride but with fantastic views! There are many scenic stops along the drive, to waterfalls, black sand beaches and tropical gardens.
Kihei and the surrounding areas took us to a hike called the Waihe’e Ridge Trail, 2 miles up with 1800 ft of elevation. Unfortunately, it’s the first hike in ages we have done with ZERO visibility, but we were lucky enough to see great views on the way down as the clouds subsided.
Watching the Hawaiian sunsets has always been one of our favourite past times. We were lucky enough to have an Airbnb in Kihei where you could literally watch the sunset from the balcony. We met a man who blew a shell every night to signify the sun had set. Not necessarily what either of us have planned when we retire but each to their own…
Kauai
After a brief ~40min flight between islands, we arrived in Lihue, pronounced Le-who-ee. This is our 4th visit to Hawaii, and we still cannot master the Hawaiian language. They only have 13 letters in their alphabet, which you would think should make things easier, but somehow, we still struggle.
Unlike Maui where we stayed in multiple places on the island, Kauai is much smaller, so we made a base on the seafront of the east side and did all our exploring from there. Outside our hotel was an old converted railway line, which one morning we cycled along passing many epic beaches. Even though our bodies had started to adjust to the heat and humidity, we definitely needed an ice cream at the end of this ‘mild’ workout!
We explored up Waimea Canyon, which sits under Waialeale mountain, which receives over 38ft/11.5m of rain a year and is one of wettest places on earth. All of this rain over millions of years has carved out some fantastic canyons and valleys, making it known as the ‘Grand Canyon of the Pacific’.
After spending the previous day looking down into the Napali valley, we spent the next day viewing these magnificent cliffs at sea level, onboard a sunset cruise. Armed with motion sickness tablets and clothes you didn’t mind getting covered in sea spray. Seeing the cliffs and valleys from this angle you really got a sense of their size. We also saw a pod of spinner dolphins and an epic sunset.
To celebrate Ben’s Birthday, we went tubing along waterways in an old Sugar Plantation, followed by a 2nd trip to his favourite taco shop, Tika-Tacos, which served the best fish and pork tacos we have ever had!!! Our server (who Ben thinks was a great salesman) claimed the tacos were 110% Gluten free to Mel’s delight. We still don’t know what the extra 10% signifies, but they were incredible!
Mahalo Hawaii
It doesn’t take long to fall into the slower pace of island life. No one is in a rush for anything, and everyone has a smile on their face. The fresh pineapple and macadamia nuts are second to none. We forget wild chickens are everywhere. Looking for scraps of food at picnic sites, shops, beaches and everywhere in between. They are the actual definition of free range…
What’s Next
After 48 hours back in Portland, Dora the camper-van is coming back into play for the start of our US road trip. Like all epic adventures, we really don’t know where we will be going or how long it will take. First on the list is Glacier National Park in Montana.
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