Hawaii
Ok, so over the past week i've gotten 4 people's missed calls while on my vacation. "Vacation to where?" you ask? None other than the tropical islands of Hawaii! Over the last week, other than getting a decent tan, i've spent my time halfway across the pacific out there. To give a good log of everything, i'll go day by day, as it'll make more sense for me.
Day 1
We got on the first plane to get to Dallas, and then we got on the second plane to get to the island of Maui (8 hour flight x.x) Once there, we checked into the hotel, and noticed the beautiful architecture around it. After getting unloaded and into the room, we realized that the beds were as hard as boards. This meant that we weren't going to be getting much good sleep on this trip, I had thought. Well, after that, my Dad, who likes to micromanage stuff, makes all 4 of us sit down and plan out the week. After spending a long time on that, we went to bed, fascinated by the amount of stuff that was in store for us.
Day 2
We woke up that day, ready to tackle some cool stuff, and we kind of did. Parents talked to a native tour guide there at the hotel, and found out cool stuff to do. Humorously enough, though, we forgot to bring a digital camera. This was ok, though, cuz it was an excuse for the parents to buy us a decent one anyway. We ended up going to a natural park that day, with a bunch of lush mountains just like the ones in braveheart, only with more trees on the mountains. That evening, we had a really good fish meal at this one restraunt. (Forgot it's name already, i know, silly me...) Then we went on the beach that evening and just kinda ran in the water. Afterwards, me and my sis made a Sand Yeti out of the wet sand, because we could. ^^; Then, we turned in for the night.
Day 3
We spent this day sleeping in (as usual during an awesome vacation) until 10am. Then, when we finally left, we went to a place called Snorkel Bob's, where we got some snorkeling gear rented for the day. Then, we went to a deli that was close by via the recommendation of the ladies at snorkel bob's. The food there was good, and they even let us keep a cooler full of water free of charge. So we began snorkeling first at Makena Bay, down on the south side of the island, and while the water was a bit murkey, there was a nice set of reefs and a sparse amount of fish too. Sadly, this was where I got careless, and brushed my hand against a reef, to which i'll admit I got a scratch on my right hand...But anyway, then we went further to Ka'anapali, I think was the name. Basically a hippie part of Maui. They were selling beads and fish tacos and stuff, it was fun. But yeah, we snorkeled up there too, and it was much more beautiful up there. There were bigger reefs, more plant life, and lots of fish! We saw angelfish, triggerfish, reefs of every shape and size, and lots more too. And the water up there was a deep lucid blue, like liquid sapphire itself. So, the funny part was when my Dad had to come hopping on the rocks to get us to hear him yelling to come back. He apparently had aroused a nest of blue crabs while stepping on those stones, and he kept freaking out as he stepped back to the shore. Meanwhile, me and sis were having a blast snorkeling back xD. Then, we went back to the hotel, and slept some more.
Day 4
This is the day where we rode on a catamaran, all 4 of us. To get right down to it, though, it was basically a mini-cruise. This was a much bigger catamaran than a usual one; it was about as big as a large deep-sea fishing boat. Plus, there was 1st class service with breakfast, lunch, and even dinner after a time. We went to the island of Lanai, a neighboring island, where we took a tour of the landscape there. The island itself was very undeveloped; no pharmacy or major hospital, just a clinic. And they had school all year-round. (How much would that suck?) Anyway, we ate good food there, and my sister began to get picture happy with the digital camera. The captains were good folk too, making it a nice escape.
Day 5
This day was intense. We woke up extra early and went on a helicopter ride all over Maui, taking a grand tour of the Haleakala volcanic crater. Despite all the clouds, there was a really nice view. Then, we hovered over a stream of waterfalls across the island. From there, way past the fields of sugarcane, lay a bunch of natural waterfalls unlike any i've ever seen before. About 5 waterfalls were pouring down at a rapid pace, about 1000 meters down a gorge of forest all the way until they emptied into the ocean. It was spectacular! And the crater revealed some hot rocks, not really lava, unfortunately, but it woulda been sweet if it was...Anyway, we got out of the copter, and bought the DVD of the flight (yeah, they had a camera on the front of it!) to which i'll be receiving that later. THEN me and my sis went parasailing out at the wharf at Lahaina. At first, it looks really scary because they float you up there 800 feet above the water by nothing more than a cord, but I found out that it wasn't that scary. In fact, from up there, I could see everything so clearly...and it was so quiet...if it weren't for my sister, who freaked out at being that high. (she admitted to having a fear of hights like 10 minutes before we went up...it was a mess) But even still, she never got to see dolphins on this trip (even from up there =P) Anyway, exhausted, we went back to the hotel, and tried to sleep immediately, because there was a daunting task ahead the next day.
Day 6
At 2AM, the 4 of us woke up and braced ourselves for one of the most intense experiences on the island of Maui; the sunrise bikeride down the volcano's ledge. It was insane. It was intense. I'm still feeling the fatigue from it. But it was absolutely fantastic. When we got to the summit at the start of it, we took a billion pics of the sunrise, until we couldn't look through our cameras (it was bright, okay?) Then, they took us down the summit on a van to bypass part of the ride. (Our busdriver 'admitted' to being legally blind before departing that morning =P) Then, they took us to the main area. Here, we unloaded our stuff into the van, and hopped on the bikes after a really boring safety explanation. Although, gotta admit, it was probably necessary, cuz they had had about 28 fatalities while doing this bike ride over the last 14 years...Anyway, despite us being nuts, we got our helmets on and began to bike down the 30 miles of winding road. There was a van behind us that blocked the traffic for the most part, so we got to coast down to our heart's content. We averaged about 30 mph down the hill, even on the curves, and pedaled up the hill when necessary. Needless to say, despite the wind, it was really tiring when we made it to the bottom. We all were 'functional' enough of a group, according to the guide, that we all bought drinks and enjoyed them at the beach. Afterwards, it was like noon when we finished. I bought a shirt, and we went back to the hotel and chilled for the rest of the day. That evening I think we ate sushi. I had 22 rolls of it; it was pretty nice. (I love sushi, but yeah)
Day 7
Our last day. :-(
We woke up late, knowing we'd have to stay awake half the night to catch the flight at 8:30 that night. We went on a garden tour, and saw what a pineapple bush looked like, as well as papaya, avocado, coffee, and a whole bunch of others. The view (and smell) there was spectacular. Aromas of tropical flowers (of which names i can't pronounce) were everywhere. Then, after that we went back to the Iao Needle park to take pictures with the camera we now had (^^;) and it began to drizzle. Rushing for the photos, I climbed the rock with my sis and we bailed out of that area. Then, we did a bunch of shopping for friends back home, and then bought some fresh pineapple to go back home with us. After we pulled that off, we got on the airplane, and I had 2.5 hours of sleep that night. That also, by the way, is exactly the amount of sleep that I have right now, because I don't want to screw up my sleeping cycle for tomorrow. (Have an interview at Target at noon)
So in short, and about 900 pics later, we finished our grand Hawaiian escapade. It was fun, I had a great time, got a nice tan. Saw some great stuff, have a bunch of great memories. But I missed everyone back on the mainland too, so i'm glad that i'm home again. It all kinda just feels like a sweet dream looking back on it though...
Day 1
We got on the first plane to get to Dallas, and then we got on the second plane to get to the island of Maui (8 hour flight x.x) Once there, we checked into the hotel, and noticed the beautiful architecture around it. After getting unloaded and into the room, we realized that the beds were as hard as boards. This meant that we weren't going to be getting much good sleep on this trip, I had thought. Well, after that, my Dad, who likes to micromanage stuff, makes all 4 of us sit down and plan out the week. After spending a long time on that, we went to bed, fascinated by the amount of stuff that was in store for us.
Day 2
We woke up that day, ready to tackle some cool stuff, and we kind of did. Parents talked to a native tour guide there at the hotel, and found out cool stuff to do. Humorously enough, though, we forgot to bring a digital camera. This was ok, though, cuz it was an excuse for the parents to buy us a decent one anyway. We ended up going to a natural park that day, with a bunch of lush mountains just like the ones in braveheart, only with more trees on the mountains. That evening, we had a really good fish meal at this one restraunt. (Forgot it's name already, i know, silly me...) Then we went on the beach that evening and just kinda ran in the water. Afterwards, me and my sis made a Sand Yeti out of the wet sand, because we could. ^^; Then, we turned in for the night.
Day 3
We spent this day sleeping in (as usual during an awesome vacation) until 10am. Then, when we finally left, we went to a place called Snorkel Bob's, where we got some snorkeling gear rented for the day. Then, we went to a deli that was close by via the recommendation of the ladies at snorkel bob's. The food there was good, and they even let us keep a cooler full of water free of charge. So we began snorkeling first at Makena Bay, down on the south side of the island, and while the water was a bit murkey, there was a nice set of reefs and a sparse amount of fish too. Sadly, this was where I got careless, and brushed my hand against a reef, to which i'll admit I got a scratch on my right hand...But anyway, then we went further to Ka'anapali, I think was the name. Basically a hippie part of Maui. They were selling beads and fish tacos and stuff, it was fun. But yeah, we snorkeled up there too, and it was much more beautiful up there. There were bigger reefs, more plant life, and lots of fish! We saw angelfish, triggerfish, reefs of every shape and size, and lots more too. And the water up there was a deep lucid blue, like liquid sapphire itself. So, the funny part was when my Dad had to come hopping on the rocks to get us to hear him yelling to come back. He apparently had aroused a nest of blue crabs while stepping on those stones, and he kept freaking out as he stepped back to the shore. Meanwhile, me and sis were having a blast snorkeling back xD. Then, we went back to the hotel, and slept some more.
Day 4
This is the day where we rode on a catamaran, all 4 of us. To get right down to it, though, it was basically a mini-cruise. This was a much bigger catamaran than a usual one; it was about as big as a large deep-sea fishing boat. Plus, there was 1st class service with breakfast, lunch, and even dinner after a time. We went to the island of Lanai, a neighboring island, where we took a tour of the landscape there. The island itself was very undeveloped; no pharmacy or major hospital, just a clinic. And they had school all year-round. (How much would that suck?) Anyway, we ate good food there, and my sister began to get picture happy with the digital camera. The captains were good folk too, making it a nice escape.
Day 5
This day was intense. We woke up extra early and went on a helicopter ride all over Maui, taking a grand tour of the Haleakala volcanic crater. Despite all the clouds, there was a really nice view. Then, we hovered over a stream of waterfalls across the island. From there, way past the fields of sugarcane, lay a bunch of natural waterfalls unlike any i've ever seen before. About 5 waterfalls were pouring down at a rapid pace, about 1000 meters down a gorge of forest all the way until they emptied into the ocean. It was spectacular! And the crater revealed some hot rocks, not really lava, unfortunately, but it woulda been sweet if it was...Anyway, we got out of the copter, and bought the DVD of the flight (yeah, they had a camera on the front of it!) to which i'll be receiving that later. THEN me and my sis went parasailing out at the wharf at Lahaina. At first, it looks really scary because they float you up there 800 feet above the water by nothing more than a cord, but I found out that it wasn't that scary. In fact, from up there, I could see everything so clearly...and it was so quiet...if it weren't for my sister, who freaked out at being that high. (she admitted to having a fear of hights like 10 minutes before we went up...it was a mess) But even still, she never got to see dolphins on this trip (even from up there =P) Anyway, exhausted, we went back to the hotel, and tried to sleep immediately, because there was a daunting task ahead the next day.
Day 6
At 2AM, the 4 of us woke up and braced ourselves for one of the most intense experiences on the island of Maui; the sunrise bikeride down the volcano's ledge. It was insane. It was intense. I'm still feeling the fatigue from it. But it was absolutely fantastic. When we got to the summit at the start of it, we took a billion pics of the sunrise, until we couldn't look through our cameras (it was bright, okay?) Then, they took us down the summit on a van to bypass part of the ride. (Our busdriver 'admitted' to being legally blind before departing that morning =P) Then, they took us to the main area. Here, we unloaded our stuff into the van, and hopped on the bikes after a really boring safety explanation. Although, gotta admit, it was probably necessary, cuz they had had about 28 fatalities while doing this bike ride over the last 14 years...Anyway, despite us being nuts, we got our helmets on and began to bike down the 30 miles of winding road. There was a van behind us that blocked the traffic for the most part, so we got to coast down to our heart's content. We averaged about 30 mph down the hill, even on the curves, and pedaled up the hill when necessary. Needless to say, despite the wind, it was really tiring when we made it to the bottom. We all were 'functional' enough of a group, according to the guide, that we all bought drinks and enjoyed them at the beach. Afterwards, it was like noon when we finished. I bought a shirt, and we went back to the hotel and chilled for the rest of the day. That evening I think we ate sushi. I had 22 rolls of it; it was pretty nice. (I love sushi, but yeah)
Day 7
Our last day. :-(
We woke up late, knowing we'd have to stay awake half the night to catch the flight at 8:30 that night. We went on a garden tour, and saw what a pineapple bush looked like, as well as papaya, avocado, coffee, and a whole bunch of others. The view (and smell) there was spectacular. Aromas of tropical flowers (of which names i can't pronounce) were everywhere. Then, after that we went back to the Iao Needle park to take pictures with the camera we now had (^^;) and it began to drizzle. Rushing for the photos, I climbed the rock with my sis and we bailed out of that area. Then, we did a bunch of shopping for friends back home, and then bought some fresh pineapple to go back home with us. After we pulled that off, we got on the airplane, and I had 2.5 hours of sleep that night. That also, by the way, is exactly the amount of sleep that I have right now, because I don't want to screw up my sleeping cycle for tomorrow. (Have an interview at Target at noon)
So in short, and about 900 pics later, we finished our grand Hawaiian escapade. It was fun, I had a great time, got a nice tan. Saw some great stuff, have a bunch of great memories. But I missed everyone back on the mainland too, so i'm glad that i'm home again. It all kinda just feels like a sweet dream looking back on it though...