We woke up at 6:30 this morning. After coffee, I went to the concierge service. We wanted to check the feasibility of a day trip to Big Island. ‘Chip’ provided some options and they were either expensive or the dates were off. Finally, we gave up on that and booked a ‘Snorkeling’ boat trip to Lana’i with landing option. It would be a 7 hour excursion. After returning to the condo, I also called the “Atlantis” submarine and got reservations for 10 am launch. We will have to be in Lahaina slip by 9:30 am. We left home around 9 am [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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on a bright thursday morning, we woke up at 7am to begin our long day of driving and exploring the south side of the island. we first drove northwest of hilo and visited the rainbow falls, which are literally right beside the parking lot (no hike required!) - of course, because of its proximity to the parking lot, it tends to be engulfed by gynormous tour buses filled with the type of tourists that don't want to do a lot of walking... a bit further down the road, we then visited the pe'epe'e falls and boiling pots, which are a series [View Full Entry]

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In 2007 I went camping with my wife, Caroline, a French-Canadian Montrealer who is totally in love with Hawaii. I am too, and our dream is to one day buy ourselves out of all the noise and buy a large plot of land in Hawaii and live quietly and harmoniously with nature. We have visited Maui twice, Oahu and the Big Island some time ago, so now it was time for Kauai. The moment we landed, it definitely felt different from the other Hawaiian islands. It just felt a little quieter and definitely a lot more green and moist. We also [View Full Entry]

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July 28-30 Saddened by the thought of this being my last few days, I found it difficult to kick my butt into gear today. Strange, I know, because you’d think I’d want to be out, enjoying my last precious moments of paradise; instead I spent much of the day inside the house. At least I had a Hash to look forward to. Around 4:30 I headed down the hill to Safeway to purchase the required swag for a Tuesday night Hash: liquor and a snack for afterwards. Terry, Dave, and Aric picked me up there and we headed just across the [View Full Entry]

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today was an extremely long day, filled with new experiences and friends. we took the road to hana which is a coastal highway from paia to hana, on the east side of maui. our trip started early at 8:30am, as we went to the town of paia and stocked up on food and water for the day. our first stop came after a bit, at the ke-'anae peninsula where we got the opportunity to taste the world's best banana bread and look out on our destinations ahead. we then stopped at the black sand beach in the waianapanapa state park where [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Surfing for the 1st Time Welcome to my very first blog! As my profile picture has me on a surf board, let me tell you about my adventure with Surfing for the 1st time. Having tried boogie boarding in Hawaii on vacation 1 1/2 years ago, I caught the "fever" or passion to learn how to surf. The problem with living in Seattle, the ocean nearby is very cold! Not a good introduction to a new sport. With the suggestion of a friend, I started preparing for my surf experience while in Seattle by treading water in the swimming pool. I [View Full Entry]

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July 25-27 Time has flown by. My summer is quickly, too quickly coming to an end. It is the final countdown to departure. It's Saturday morning, my last Saturday morning...I met Terry at Niketown for my last Saturday morning run. It was hot out and I was exhausted; we ran 4.5 miles around Ala Moana and were both happy when it was over. My short runs are definitely improving, but I am a little worried about my long ones. The 1/2 marathon is only 3 weeks away and my longest run here in Hawaii has only been around 9 miles. I [View Full Entry]

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