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Published: November 12th 2006
Road To Hanna
Typical beach side scene. Just amazing!Fine, 33c
Toast, eggs and a glass of champagne - that was my first breakfast in America! Only 6 hours earlier I’d met my very lively Aussie seat buddy Shane who’s moving to the US, only the 3rd Aussie I’ve met in nearly 5 weeks. He decided we needed to celebrate our big adventures, so there were a few bottles of airline sized red wines and “cheers mate” in row 18. It was kinda fun and I felt very excited to be traveling again, an achievement in itself considering I hadn’t slept properly for two days and the journey definitely wasn’t over yet.
I’d sum up the journey to Maui as this - wake up in Samoa at 1am, flight 4am, arrive Fiji 6am, get quick rest in a hotel at 11am, wake up 4pm, depart 10pm, arrive Hawaii 7am, clear customs and check into hostel at 12pm, leave early at 7am the next morning and arrive at Maui hostel at 12pm. So I’ve basically been in transit for almost 3 days.
It’s been worth it though!! The scenery in Maui is out of the world and the towns are picture perfect. On my second day I reluctantly took a
Taking A Break
It was a long, bendy and tiring road. I took a break with some banana bread. hostel tour on the winding road to Hanna. I'm normally not a 'tour type' person but I figured it'd be cool because it's free and I wouldn't be able to do it on my own anyway. I'm glad I did it! I was awesome to getaway to the secluded South East of Maui. Oprah has a house there (yes, the talk show millionair Oprah) - we drove past it and I (might) have seen Oprah’s car and dog! It’s in an awesome location and the town itself is American to the core. That might explain why there was a complete lack of security at Oprah’s house (no fences, gates, guards etc..) Hanna is very community minded and you could tell these folks look after their own - community drinks every Friday night at the beach, community parades and a mini ball park the town built for itself on the weekend.
The group of us (very international) hostel people stopped along the way to swim in underwater caves, visit Red Beach (sand is red), Black Beach (sand is black) and stop for tacos on the side of the road. It was very relaxing and swimming in the cave pools was like
Cave Pools
Looks really shallow but it was deep and you could dive in. There was also a hidden cave that I swam into - pitch black. swimming in a bottle of mineral water, I felt all fizzy afterwards too. The journey to Hanna and back was an amazing adventure within itself. The mini van hugging the cliff side and going up and down steep ravines, apparently there are 617 corners on the 2.5 hour trip to Hanna (we were also advised to take motion sickness tabs). I’d liken it to a trip to Bellingen in NSW or Victor in SA, only 10x better and with much more rainforest and beach areas.
The hostel I was staying at was in a ghetto residential area away from all the good stuff. Stuff was regularly stolen from the hostel, people beat up etc.. I was on ‘high security alert’ but it turned out to not be as bad as we’d thought. ‘We’ being Nicky the annoying Pommy (she’ll read this and I told her I’d say that.. haha) and myself, who mulled over the shocking reviews before we arrived and made contingency plans. The tours are what saved the hostel and after a few days I was very keen to explore more of the island by myself.
I was solo and conducting my own tours and reckon I did
Black Beach
Thick and gritty sand that was like sandpaper. Also hot as hell (because it's black! ya know?!?) an alright job! Found my way to the ultra cool and relaxing Lahaina. It’s what you’d imagine Maui to be - white sand beaches, perfect blue waters and lots “dude.. that’s gnarly!”. Seriously dude, it was like smoken’ in Lahaina!. The hostel I stayed at was very homey, in fact I had to check it was hostel when I first arrived. It was just like staying at a mate’s place; comfy lounges, cable TV, friendly dogs & cats and everyone was very very welcoming. It’s also the place where my weirdest hostel experience has taken place so far! At 1am I was woken by what I thought was rain outside. Than I heard a “dude.. what the hell you doin man??” than someone else joined in “what the heck!!! Dude” & “gross dude” than a “man.. dude.. wake up!! you’re peeing on the wall!!”. Someone had been sleepwalking and was relieving themselves on the wall in the room. Luckily no one got “hit” so to speak, but it’s not what you expect to wake up too! The hostel manager was very apologetic and before long ‘wee man’ was the joke of the hostel. Apparently the manager asked him what happened
Red Beach
Had to walk down a cliff face to get to this one. It's a popular local beach where nudity is allowed.. unless a group of tourists wander down than u watch how fast the clothes get put back on! in the morning and he started running. By 5am there were new locks and a carpet cleaning company on the door step. I liked this hostel!
It wasn’t all about incontinence in Lahaina though! There was much more important stuff to do, like visit the world famous Black Rock. The snorkeling there is absolutely breath takingly amazing. Every kind of fish you could imagine and the occasional turtle, all within 5m of the shore line. I felt so lucky to have been able to experience it. I must have been snorkeling for close to 3 hours all up, came back to the beach and looked like a prune (that was before sneakily taking a dip in the pool at the Sheraton.. sneaky sneaky!). What’s weird is the shops they have scattered in the small town of Lahaina - Tiffanies, Prada, Gucci all line the street opposite Ma & Pa General stores and country markets. I spent three days total in Lahaina and could have easily spent a few more. In fact, I forgot about my flight home and had to buy another one I was that relaxed! The hostel was like coming home at the end of the day
Hanna Ball Park
Typical American Ballpark.. even if it is 2 hours away from anywhere. and it was great to hang out with some cool surfer dudes and chicks. Especially sitting in the tropical garden and drinking ‘raspberry juice’, AKA red wine because alcohol wasn’t allowed at the hostel at night.
Very special thanks to Marg for buying me the trip to Maui!! It was definitely worth it and I got the chance to experience some ‘real Hawaii’ before returning to Waikiki. I’ve got just over 10 days to soak up the sun before I arrive in Colorado and put on the ski gloves (5c in Denver at the moment). Can’t believe I’m almost done with the Pacific and the US actually gave me a 7 month multi-entry visa!
I’m still yet to try any Hawaiian food, but if it’s anything like the American sized portions everywhere else than I won’t need much! Seriously, everything is huge here and small is equal to a large size in Australia. You also get free fruit at most take away places and unlimited refills. It’s hard to eat healthy at the best of times, especially here where it’s so cheap and easy.
Dad arrives tomorrow for a 10 day holiday and leaves at the same time as me.
Lahaina
Main St in Lahaina. Kinda reminded me of Berry in NSW or Hahndorf (for our SA readers!). Not too touristy but an attraction within itself. I’ve been holding off doing anything special on Oahu and have just wandered around Waikiki. I have been for a quick body board (which I picked up again quite easily!) and I’ve also gone clubbing. Cheap cheap drinks but where I went it was off set by the $20 cover charge (yes.. $20 to get in!!!). Turns out it was Hawaii’s ‘hottest night spot’, and for my measly budget it should have been as well. Pity I only stayed an hour or so before I got bored and went back to the hostel.
Hopefully there will be more body boarding and nights out when Dad arrives. I want to have a go at surfing as well. Luckily there are so many learners here I won’t look like a tool, if I’d have tried surfing at Cronulla growing up I would have been laughed off the beach! Speaking of, the JT classic is happening on the North Shore next week & waves are predicted to hit the 16 foot mark (yes.. 16 foot!). It’ll be awesome to see those monsters in real life… so hopefully I’ll have some pics before I leave Oahu. Till than ‘take it easy dude and chill
Patey's Place
Drinking some 'raspberry juice' at the hostel in the tropical garden.. truly an international affair!
Aaron - San Diego, myself, Jen - Spain & Bec - Canada. out man’. Looking forward to more summer action before I have to utilise all that winter clothing down the bottom of my backpack.
Ohhh before I go - an official congrats to Leigh Anne who’s engaged!!! She’s the person that writes all the amusing comments at the bottom of the blog. Congrats Leigh Anne and thanks for your added commentary!
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From the Now Famous Leigh-Anne
non-member comment
WOHOOOOOOO!!!!!
1 -point to me.... 0 to katie!!!! I got a mention in Matty's blog! Nyah! Nyah! Matty I thought you promised there would be no more photos with out your shirt on? Thanks for the mention Matt Matt the Radio Rat, I feel so....sooo privilleged...and now famous!! Maybe this can become Matt's Travel Blog/my wedding diary! HA HA....And the reason I get to comment on your blog so often is because my job...is super duper would rather staple things to my head boring!!!! Don't forget to learn to Hula! :P