Day 6 - Kaua'i to Maui

---

Its' moving day!!

I do have to apologise for the delay in getting the blog up. There have been issues between the blog, tablet and the internet that have made it somewhat difficult to persist at times.

So scoffed down most of whatever we had left of our food. Wasn't till later that I realised we had left a bunch of fruit in the bottom of the fridge despite having looked in there several times :S Oh well

We had several hours to kill. So we headed to the nearest laundromat to wash all our gear We had pretty much stuck to the same outfits all week and they were in desparate need of cleaning. Took around $10 I guess for 3 loads so it wasn't too bad I guess.

By the time we were done we still had 4 hours till our flight. We sat in the car eating lunch as it began to lightly drizzle. Great this was going to be fun. Stuff it - we were going to head to the airport early. Had to be more interesting than sitting in the car.

Turns out - heading to the airport early was a bonus. Managed to return the car in time that I only had to pay for 5 days hire not the 6 I would have if I had left it much later :D

The chairs were comfy in the main section of the airport. Was extremely tempting to close my eyes and get a little shut eye but alas it was not to be.

For the flight from Kaua'i to Maui we flew over Oahu. Was a pretty cool sight. Tho that wasn't the real highlight of the flight. Lets just say the descent into Maui was like a thrill ride at a theme park !! I was seated in the exit row and I have to admit I was reviewing the instructions for opening he safety hatch.

But when we were able to get a look out the window, the views were rather amazing. Coming down one of the mountains on the .. west side of the island was about 30 wind turbines. It was quite a sight. You could hear the silent prayers of thanks as we safely touched down.

Once we collcted our bags and headed out to the taxi ramp, we could understand why we had such an eventful arrival in Maui. The wind was blowing at about 40mph according to our taxi driver Mark. Normally it averages around 10mph but apparently there must be some bad weather rolling in... which was not what I wanted to hear. This was supposed to be a 'Summer' getaway.

Driving to the Banana Bungalow the difference between the islands was more noteworthy than I expected. It was noticable as we flew over. there were multi-lane roads and roads going in all directions rather than just around the outside of the island. It was like having come from a samll country town into the big city. That is the easiest way to describe it. It was just 'more' of everything.

Our taxi driver was kind enough to point out various things alng the way. The Banana Bungalow Hostel is definately tucked back away from most places. Tho it was good to drive up and be greeted by a building that looks exactly as it did on the website. A big blue building nestled amongst the foliage.

Checking in was a painless process - tho unlike most places you are required to pay up front rather than at the end ofyour stay, which was ok and to be expected I guess in a place like this. so then came the tour. Up to our room. First surprise. I had booked a private 3 bed room. When I had done that I had expected there would be three beds in the room. Not 2 beds and a fold out materess. There was room enough for 3 beds. Maddy and I had 2 singles, but I would have thought replacing one of the singls with a set of bunk beds would make more sense so we could all have a proper bed to sleep in. JT drew the short straw for the bed on the floor, but there wasnt long to stress over it, there was more to see.

Communal and private bathrooms, communal kitchen, common area, laundy and patio ... oh and of course the spa. We also had the signup sheets for the tours pointed out to us.The hostel was rather empty as most people were out on the tour and not due back for a couple of ours, but we were advised to sign up for tomorrows' tour before they got back else we were likely to miss out. So we did. Tomorrow we will be hiking in the Iao Valley

With the tour over, it was time to head out and grab some supplies. t took a few wrong turns, but we finally found the chevron servo which provided all our main necessities. But for dinner, we headed over the road to Ginanottos for a pizza and a few slices of garlic bread and cheesecake. The owner used to run a pizza place in New york, now he lives here and makes the best pizza on the island. I havne't had pizza in a long time so I am not sure I ma the best judge, but there were no complaints. We even had a few spare pieces left over which we plan to use for lunch tomorrow on our hike.

It was pretty loud and chaotic by the time all the others got back so we are just hanging out in our room watching some movies. Okay getting late, have to be up relatively early tomorrow - don't want to miss the pancake breakfast. Mmmmm

---