chalkgirl

friday morning, we left the beautiful arnott's lodge for the road up the coast to the north, to the waipi'o valley. we start off the day by taking highway 19 north, passing by the 4-mile scenic route at onomea where the lush foliage of the rainforest brushed against the car and where the views were absolutely amazing. we also did a quick detour to the akaka falls near honomu off of highway 220. driving past what seemed like a ghost town, we arrived at a small parking lot and did the quick 1 km walk into dense rainforest to see the falls... they were, as usual, quite spectacular, standing at 420 feet. the view, unfortunately, was from quite far away, but we did enjoy the rainforest plants and flowers! the drive went pretty fast, and by ... read more

the four of us adventurers (dorinda, dave, helen and me) left maui this morning at 9am for bigger better things on the big island. arriving in hilo, helen had already reserved a car and we were quickly on our way to arnott's lodge, the hostel recommended to us, where we were fortunate enough to see our first geckos of the trip!!! after checking in to the deserted hostel, we went to the weekly farmers market to pick up some produce, including some fresh pineapple, avocados, and even the hawaiian specialty: spam sushi. that's right, i said spam sushi. now, some of you may know that hawai'i is the capital of spam... they eat it up like crazy... so it comes as no surprise really that they would make sushi out of it... right? well this had ... read more

let me first start by saying that i have sand everywhere and it won't go away. now, if you know me, you will know my love/hate relationship with sand... i love the beach and the ocean, but when it comes to the actual sand, i absolutely hate it. it is so persistent! and gets everywhere! and never leaves! i will probably find sand in my ass a month after i am back from my trip... but let's start from the beginning shall we? sunday morning, we all woke up a bit tired from our previous day of hiking the volcano, so the day started a little slower than usual... but after some breakfast, we were all ready for big and little beach and the party that usually takes place there every sunday. after our usually stop ... read more

plans took a turn last night, when one of my roomies (helen) came busting into the room announcing that her and a couple other friends were getting up early to go see the sunrise from the top of haleakalá, the world's largest dormant volcano. immediately, i asked if there was room for one more and she jumped out of the room to go ask. thankfully, i was rewarded for my forwardness and alarms were set for 3am for an early 3:20am departure! 3am came a little too quickly as it was well past 10:30pm when we went to bed, but the excitement of the journey was enough to keep all 5 of us awake, while stuffed in a small compact car... driving down the coast, we arrived in line with other cars excited about the prospect ... read more

well hello again! it has been quite some time since the last trip and blog, but here i am again on my own. traveling. and loving it. first stop for this year? beautiful sunny, beachy hawaii. why? why not? really... it isn't culturally different, or even exotic by any stretch of the imagination. but it is the ultimate beach. turtles galore. manta rays. black sand beaches. surfing. snorkeling. i will be in heaven! of course luck would have it that this trip also commences in the beautiful and up-to-date LAX... and we all know how close i am to LAX... from vancouver to LAX, then to kahului, maui. arriving just in time to enjoy the evening and my first hawaiian sunset. staying at the banana bungalow hostel (*please insert banana hammock jokes here*), i hope to ... read more