Hawaii Part 2 of 2

Just to give you fair warning, I took most of my pictures in this second half of our trip.  They’re gorgeous, so it’s worth scrolling through, but I just thought I’d warn you!

Day 5
As I mentioned in the last post, Knut and I did end up purchasing 1 tour, and that was a sailing/snorkeling tour.  Knut loves sailing.  I enjoy it but he loves it.   As far as snorkeling, I had never done it.  I know how to swim, but I’m not a strong swimmer.  I never passed swimming lessons as a child, and as a preteen, when my family moved to Arizona (aka pool-ville) my mom and sister taught me how to float on my back, do the dog paddle, tread water, and swim “deep” (for a pool, that is).  So I can do it, I’m just not good at it.  I still hate jumping in water, and have done it less times than I can count on my hand.  I’ve got a big fear issue there, so I was worried the only way to go snorkeling was to jump out of the boat. 

I was still excited, though, because I have never seen coral reefs close up, and I’ve heard it’s amazing.  I was sure I could figure out the whole snorkeling thing, and go at my own pace.  I did not bring my camera out in the water, though.  So you’ll just have to sit back for the story on this day.

It was a perfect day for sailing.  The waves weren’t huge, and no one got sick.  We chose a destination that doesn’t draw as many tourists because it’s a nature preserve, and you’re not allowed to touch anything, although you can swim by it.  It was less crowded there, and you may know by now, we avoid the crowds…especially when it comes to water.

The crew on the ship was so helpful.  We found out that the captain was actually from Minnesota, and we got to chat a bit.  He made some yummy chicken on the BBQ while we were all in the water.  We were able to use whatever equipment we liked.  I chose to have a floatie around my chest, since I wasn’t sure I had the stamina to swim or even float for that long.  Knut and I, and the other tourists on the boat (about 10 others) got to step down into the water Knut showed me how to breath through the mouthpiece.  It took me about 5 minutes before I felt comfortable enough to leave the side of the boat and attempt breathing with my face in the water.

The reef was so amazing.  There were so many fish, and Knut and I swam for nearly an hour together.  At that point, my stomach was getting some pains, which was most similar to the side muscle ache I get when my stomach is stretching.  Still, to be on the safe side, I told Knut I was going to rest a bit on the boat, and I’d head back later.  So he continued on down the wall of the reef, and I headed back to the boat.

The crew made sure I was alright, and I didn’t mean to alarm them by coming back early.  I wasn’t hurt at all, I just felt my body was telling me to rest a bit.  I thought drinking a bunch at that point wouldn’t hurt anything either.  It was rough, I tell you: sitting back, drinking water and eating fresh pineapple on this gorgeous sailboat.  Knut shouted to me that he found some giant sea turtles.  I was bummed, because I really wanted to see them, but I knew that I couldn’t possibly swim to catch up to him at that point.  Still, I didn’t want to waste time and I got back in the water after my break, and swam the reef closest to the boat once again before lunch.

After lunch on the boat (which consisted of chicken, salad, and corn on the cob.  Knut and I had to laugh at that a bit.  Let’s just say, that it wasn’t our corn), we sailed to a second reef not far away at all.  I wanted to get back in the water, but at that point I was cold.  One of the crew members, the lady, asked if I wanted a wet suit.  I didn’t take one in the first place because I doubted they had one that would fit me.  She talked me into trying a few on anyway.

I tried on an XS, because although she thought it’d be big on me, it’d go over my belly.  It went over my belly, but was so baggy in the shoulders that she said it wouldn’t keep me warm at all.  So I tried their XXS small, and she helped me stretch it as far as it would go around my belly.  I joked, “What, you don’t have an XXS maternity on this ship?”  Quick as could be, she said “I guess we’ll have to put it on our wish list!”  We got the belly shoved in, and I headed back into the water, nice and toasty.

I’m so glad I did, because even though I was behind Knut and swimming alone again, I found a “baby” giant sea turtle, which was the biggest turtle I ever saw.  It was only about 10 feet away from me and swimming all around.  We were swimming together, the turtle and I, for about 5 minutes before other swimmers noticed us, and soon there was a crowd.  So I decided to go back to the boat for more of that yummy pineapple.

Day 6
It was another early morning, as Knut and I drove all the way from the West coast of the island where we were staying to the East coast which is supposed to have more rain forests.  Much of the Eastern part of the island is a nature preserve, and National forests, and there’s an extremely limited amount of hotels, places to eat, etc. because of those restrictions.  The road to Hana, our destination, is not far mileage-wise, but it took us 3 hours to drive the whole way.  The famous “road to Hana” boasts of nearly 200 hairpin turns with several 1 lane bridges and roads to the edge of cliffs…with no guard rails.

I realized it was not the plane ride to Hawaii that I should have been fearing all along.

I hesitated going to Hana because it’s supposed to be really tough on those who get carsick, and I get carsick really easily.  However, the hikes at the end were by far the ones Knut and I really wanted to do the most.  The most beautiful parts of the island were along this road, and I knew I’d regret not taking the chance and seeing it.

Fortuneately for me, my husband does a decent amount of driving in his line of work.  From tractors to semi-trucks…he’s a really good driver.  I rarely get carsick when I’m sitting next to him.  I still do, but not as often.  That day, I made it the whole way without feeling nauseous at all, except for about the last 5 miles on the way back home.  I didn’t get sick or anything, but I was just done at that point.

Anyway, the sights were spectacular.  Here are some of my favorite views from our 3 hour drive there:

Once we got past Hana, we headed to the trails.  There was this hike called “The 7 Sacred Pools” although that’s like saying Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes…it’s just a saying and there’s actually lots more.

It was not an easy hike, but it wasn’t hard either.  It was 2 miles up to the big waterfall, and 2 miles back down.  I was so thankful that Knut (my hiking know-it-all in our house) insisted that I get some Keen sandals for this trip.  It should not be done in flip flops.  Some people were wearing running shoes, but they didn’t dare go through the last part of the trail where you had to cross 2 streams about 6 inches deep to get to the end.  Most people who made it to the end had hiking sandals like ours.  So if you go hiking when you’re 22 weeks pregnant, I suggest you gear up as well!

 This was the first spot of the hike.  There were some signs that read “Danger!  Fatal Cliff.  Stay Away.”  To which, Knut (like most men I know) would walk over and peer over.  Then I would call after him (like most women I know) “You are the sole support for 6 people!  You’re not allowed to look over fatal cliffs!”  It didn’t stop him, though, and he peered over each one.

 Here’s Knut by that magnificant banyan tree I was telling you about yesterday.  It still catches my breath looking at this picture.

 

 We walked along streams most of the way, and past several waterfalls.

 The bamboo forest was shady, which was very welcome at that time!  It was quiet in there, except for the dull clicking sound of the bamboo knocking into each other when the wind blew.

 Not too many people made it to the end.  Of all the people we saw on the trail, there were only about 10 people hanging out at the finish line.  (Also known as the most beautiful sight I have seen in my entire life.)

Knut’s jaw dropped as he said that the dripping wall made the weeping wall at Glacier National Park look puny.  We climbed over several lava rocks and found a few big ones to stop and eat our packed lunch.  There were no trash cans, no signs, no nothing.  Just the waterfall a few feet in front of us…

 

 I took so many pictures of it, but I don’t think a camera can show from this close distance how HUGE it was, and how the water dripping down the wall on either side of the waterfall just made the whole wall glitter in the sunlight.  Amazing, breathtaking…every cliche description in the book doesn’t begin to cover it.

It didn’t take long for us to get too hot, though, and we had to seek shelter back in the shade of the trail.  It was by far my favorite day of our whole trip.  Knut and I said that if we ever made it back to Hawaii someday, this was one thing we would do again and again in a heartbeat.

Day 7
(We’re almost done!)
This was a REALLY early morning, and we put it near the end to help get us used to our regular time zone again.  We woke up about 3am, and headed once again in the car up the tallest mountain in Maui (10,000 feet) to see the sunrise from above the clouds.  It’s quite the thing to do, and the locals around here told us to dress very warmly as it gets very cold up there.  We would smile at them and chuckle to ourselves (yeah right, cold!)  Still, I packed the towels from our hotel to use as a blanket.  I packed a thin wool sweater just for this event, and long jeans.  Knut had a thin jacket and 1 long sleeve shirt along, so he felt all set as well.

We arrived at the top of the mountain 30 minutes before the sun had risen, and we barely got a spot in the parking lot, there were so many people!

It was about 40 degrees up there, but that’s not counting wind chill, and the wind came up out of the crater below very fast, and it was very cold! 

Knut got a kick out of all the people who just looked like they brought their bed with and just wrapped up in their hotel blankets.

 

restricted to the scientists who worked there.

 Just as we were reaching the finale of the big show: the sun appearing, a huge fog covered the peak, and we saw no more but the inside of a cloud.  I was a bit disappointed by that, but I was rewarded with the flip side of that on our trip back down the mountain:

It was the most vibrant, the biggest, and the most complete arch of a rainbow I have ever seen in my whole life.  It was huge!  I felt like I was in some sort of fairy tale.  It was spectacular.

Then we got some Starbucks.  I was very thankful this baby has been allowing me hot drinks again.

After resting a bit, we headed out for some places closer to home this time.  There was a coffee plantation just up the road from our hotel, and we went to go driving around it.  Knut brought some green coffee beans from their little shop home so he could see if he could roast them.  It was fun to see what other farmers see and do in the middle of the ocean.

 

 

When they get the right shade of green-yellow, they are harvested, and then dried, getting that shriveled line in them, and then roasted brownish black.

Driving through took less than a half hour, so we kept driving up the coast, Northbound, to see what we culd find.  We found a little rainforest-y pocket along the rocky, dry coast.  It had the ruins of an old church there, and a rocky shore where some people went swimming.

 This was an easy hike compared to the last one.  Just a simple dirt path to the shore surrounded by lots and lots of greenery…

 

 When we got to the rocky shore, we saw about 20-30 of them running around wild.  I have no idea why they are here, but they looked everyone over for food.

They made me laugh really hard.  Who knew I’d see a bunch of chickens in Hawaii!?!

We finished off our last night by walking on the beach of our hotel at sunset, once again, until it was very dark.  Neither one of us was ready to leave the beach.

Having another slice of Hula pie did help…a bit.

Other amazing food of note: Knut highly recommends the fish O’no (I think that’s how it’s spelled) as he says it’s the best he’s tasted in his whole life.  I was a little less adventurous food-wise than him, but every continental breakfast we went to had a full Japanese spread as well with breakfast for the Japanese tourists: white rice and Miso soup (again, not sure on the spelling).  I think it’s a basic tofu soup.  Knut had that a few times, because he likes to be different like that.

I just like the Hula pie.  We had it…twice.

Day 8:
Homeward bound.  After waking up, and taking one last dip in the ocean, we went to the lei ceremony down in the lobby where we got our farewell leis.  Then we headed to the airport, and started the long, long journey home.  The rest of this day was spent flying to LAX airport where we met my brother who lives there, and he took us out for some amazing deep dish pizza, followed by some deep dish warm cookies.

Day 9:
Just before 1am, our plane took off from LAX, and headed to Minneapolis.  From there, we had another layover, and another flight, which brought us home.  Knut’s dad, along with Silje and David met us at the airport.  Silje and David fought the whole way home.  They were pretty cute about it, though.  At least, it was cute since we hadn’t seen it for awhile.

Knut’s mom had my house sparkling, and a warm “dinner” in the oven.  (They call it dinner, but the city girl in me still calls it “lunch.”)  Elias is still calling me “Grandma” but it didn’t take Solveig long to warm back up to me, and be clingy as ever.  I think I got 100 kisses from her yesterday.  She woke up every hour the first night we were home, just to be sure I was there.  I was expecting that, as she does that often when I leave her someplace for the day.  I expect that to improve.

I must admit, it feels good to be back in my own house again.  Still, it was the trip of a lifetime.