Hawaii - Maui

Hawaii was almost an afterthought - bless it- and has turned out to be one of our best stopovers. We love the place and the people.

In order to achieve this we had to take 5 flights. We flew from Aitutaki to Rarotonga, capital of the Cook Islands, and a "day room" till the early hours, then back to Auckland and an 8 hour connection time to fly to Nadi in Fiji where our flight was delayed, and we were put in another "day room" at a local hotel because of the delay. We then set off again at 2.00 am.. expecting to connect with a flight at 10.00am.

Never mind delays, there was also the time differences, and even day differences because we kept going back and forth across the date line.... we honestly did not know what day it was!

We were absolutely exhausted whe we flew into Honolulu and not at all pleased to find that the flight we were supposed to be on did not include us... so a further delay. As mentioned previously, a total of 59 hours to get there from Aitutaki which granted included 6 hours sleep in 2 hotels along the way... but we were very, very pleased to reach the Pioneer Inn at Lahaina in Maui at about 5.30 pm, straight out to dinner, and then to bed by 8.30 pm!

The Pioneer Inn is the oldest hotel in Maui, dating from 1901 and built by an Englishman, built in a plantation house style. Very central, but right on the quay and walking distance to anywhere in the town.











When we eventually came to next morning we went for a long walk, picked up all the tour brochures and had a big breakfast whilst we considered our options. Whilst wandering around we came across this Banyan tree... these three photos only cover perhaps a quarter of its span, because in total it shades over an acre from one tree. Doug is standing in front of the main trunk. All the other "trunks" are in fact air roots which find their way down to the ground in seach of water and nutrients to support this massive tree.

It really was quite touristy, but in a gentle way, and most of the other tourists were gentle and about the same age, too! We certainly felt at home!

The first trip was a cruise to search for more whales... success! This time Humpbacks, but we have saved them for the next posting.... watch this space. We love whales and have resolved to sponsor one when we get home. Not many people get to see one, let alone dozens and of two different varieties... Sperm and Humpbacks... aren't we privileged?




We attended an evening "luau" which is a Hawaiian dinner and entertainment, including hula girls, of course. Sorry guys, no photos... forgot to take the cameras.

We also hired a limousine (a Lincoln Navigator) and a driver to take us right around the island to Hana along a really twisting and turning coast road which just about managed to hang on to the cliffs. In fact, the first highlight of the day was for us to be able to see whales from the coast road... again refer to the next posting.

We saw lava flows that had reached the sea and been frozen! We saw waterfalls and magnificent vegetation and had a great driver, Paul, who provided us with goodies along the route by stopping off to buy from various stalls including banana bread, candied coconut and a big bouquet of flowers. He was a great guy to have found as he was local and knew all the history, culture, fables and traditions - very informative. On the way back Paul drove us down to the beach at Pa'ia to watch some serious surf activity - both boards and windsurfers.







Thanks Paul we had a really great day with you!





Needless to say we frequented a few shops and bars... and managed to find one in particular where there was some good jazz. More beautiful sunsets, too.













Another day we headed off to Ka'anapali for a day..... (well an hour or two anyway) taking a lok at a whaling museum and a snatch of sun on the beach. In Ka'anapali and Lahaina we saw so many Mustang Convertibles we lost count - apparently they are all hire (rental) cars - no-one in Maui would buy one because the soft tops rot in the sea air.

Lahaina is somewhere we would recommend.....
and wished we could have stayed longer, but it was time to pack again and head off to Honolulu and Waikiki Beach.

But don't forget our next posting ..
A Whale of a Tale.

The Cook Islands

If ever you have taken a look at the books which show the 10, 50 or 1000 places to see before you die then Aitutaki in The Cook Islands is always right up there near the top of the list and we really wanted to include this in the itinerary. However, when we first booked the round the world ticket we could not include it because BA/Qantas don't fly there and we were going to have to make do with Fiji - it's hard you know! Anyhow, as you will know there has been a coup in Fiji and the Foreign Office were recommending us Brits not to travel there... so we made a hasty cancellation and reverted to Plan A.... The Cook Islands.

First a flight from Auckland to Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands and an overnight stop.
We received a royal welcome from a gentleman who was welcoming us all in Arrivals with an island tune or two singing along merrily whilst playing his ukelele in a very flowery shirt! Little did we know that he also sings you out in Departures! And it was back to garlands around our necks... this time called a "lei".

Aitutaki, which is about 45 mins flight from Raro, is a group of one major and several tiny islands situated around an amazing turquoise lagoon which in turn is surrounded by a coral reef.... walk in and, yes, it does seem like paradise. Our little island, Akitua, is reached by a ferry, quaint! You will see we had a beach front "garden shed", close to the water's edge and as there were only about 50 guests in the resort, we even got to keep our own bit of beach all to ourselves.

We had plenty of time to laze around, explore the island and swim... just what the doctor ordered.

To be honest, though, a week is enough..... there is this thing called "island time" and the Spanish have a similar word "manana" but it does not even hint at the slow pace of life there. You kind of have to enter into the spirit of things and "chill".

Two of the days we hired cars - Mazda MX5 and a Toyota Rav 4 - for a spin and a shopping trip which took all of a couple of hours and that was stopping off for a lunch too! What a waste you might think, but we had an empty fridge in our room and by the time Doug had filled it with beers at $1.50 each compared to $6.90 in the hotel, we soon justified the rental fee. Mags will be pleased to learn that we found the latest branch of her favourite shop - Mango!

We also did the mandatory lagoon cruise... more turtles, loads of them, as well as excellent snorkelling and a stamp in our passport when we visited One Foot Island, which has the smallest post office in the world.... they reckon! Fortunately, the Post Master doubles as a bar man!

We also stopped at Honeymoon Island, as wel as the island where Shipwreck & Survivor (US) have been filmed. Doug even managed to finds the "facilities" ..... need I say more!

Dining room and .... facilities...

We also had a go at the kyaks.... is that how you spell it? It was very hard going against the current... but we had fun and used up a few of the alcoholic calories!

Hey... birthday boy!

Doug's 60th birthday also fell in this week and with a little help from some staff at the hotel and a supportive singing of "Happy Birthday to You" we were able to celebrate in style! Our kids phoned their Dad at great expense and a bottle of champagne also arrived from them... thanks a million... it did the trick and put us into party mood!

The party started with a fantastic sunset and was followed with the essential birthday cake.

We did have some fantastic weather, but the rain also caught up with us again... and the sight of the gardeners at work in the wet weather gear was really very funny... they were determined that the daily sweep up of leaves would happen, regardless of the weather!

We did have a bit of fun joining in with Island Night and the dancing ... the little ones were so cute!

One young couple from New Zealand, who were on their honeymoon, Rebecca and Al helped to make sundowners time a pleasant interlude.... we send them our best wishes and "happy ever after" now they are back in Christchurch.

When we left Aitutaki we didn't realise we would face a 59 hour journey to reach Hawaii caused by late departures, missed connections, etc... but we took some fabulous memories with us and a wonderful suntan.

The suntan stops here.. it's more siteseeing for the next two weeks... and then we will be home!