Honeymoon Diary #5
Friday 31st July
Busy, busy, busy – this morning we were to join the Pride of Maui on a snorkelling cruise to Molokini crater. We arrived at Ma'alena harbour at 730am to check-in and board the boat which let at 8am. As we ate our breakfast the went through various safety briefings and told us what was available on board. Darren wanted to try SNUBA – it's like SCUBA but the tanks are on a raft instead of on your back. I was very reticent but eventually persuaded by the thought that the trial was cheaper than a SCUBA trial in a swimming pool at home. Plus I might get to see some cool fishes.
Molokini is a small, crescent-shaped crater that is supposed to be one of the best places for snorkelling in Hawai'i. I've never taken too well to breathing through my mouth so I spent some time on the boat getting used to my mask and took the plunge with a boogie-board with a viewing hole when we anchored at our destination. Snorkelling sounds a bit scary to me so I didn't try it! When it came to our SNUBA session I was really nervous. Darren was off investigating but I just couldn't put myself underwater. The instructor took off my weight belt and told me to lie over the raft and try putting my head in that way. It took me a while but towards the end I was able to stay under for a few minutes at a time. And I did see some cool fishes!!! Maybe if we''d have had longer I might have summoned the courage to submerge myself completely but our time was up and we were being guided back to the boat already.
When we returned onto the boat I felt absolutely drained. Over the next half hour a combination of physical tiredness and the movement of the boat started to do funny things to my belly. Consequently I missed out on the barbecue lunch – it looked really good but I quite literally couldn't stomach it. We stopped again at Turtle Town, a bay on Maui. Maybe if I'd have gone back in the water it might have eased my seasickness but I really didn't feel up to it so Darren snorkelled on his own. He said that it was completely different to Molokini – the water was a lot more churned up and nowhere near as clear and he didn't see much. He had debated about paying for another SNUBA session, but decided not to – a decision he regretted when the SNUBA divers came back with stories of seeing turtles and sharks!
I really wasn't well on the way back to Ma'alena and spent most of the journey with my head between my knees trying to not to be sick. The crew caught a couple of big fish – as the second was reeled in I joined the crowd to watch, thinking I felt better. After the excitement died down I realised I wasn't feeling better. Quite typically after actually being sick I DID feel better – maybe I should have just got it out of the way earlier and I'd have enjoyed more of the day!
Back at the hotel we got ready for the one night we had really been looking forward to. One of the number one touristy things to do in Hawai'i is a luau and, although not a traditional luau, the Feast At Lele is highly recommended for it's excellent quality food which is served by waiting staff (as opposed to the majority of similar events which provide a buffet). We took a taxi into Lahaina and strolled through 505 Front Street to the beachfront venue. Then we found our names weren't on the list. So I checked my e-ticket and found that we'd actually booked for Saturday, not Friday! This was particularlyy annoying as we'd already booked to see a show on the Saturday night. We waited around to see if anyone cancelled but at 6.30pm they told us that everyone had arrived and they couldn't accommodate us.
Slightly deflated we decided to eat at one of the accompanying restaurants, I'o which is also supplied by O'o Farm. As we sat enjoying our cocktails and a sashimi taster, a man who we had SNUBA-ed with earlier in the day came to our table for a chat. He was originally from Newmarket but had moved to the US many years ago and joined the US Air Force. We told him how we were nearing the end of our honeymoon. For starter I had crab cake and Darren had a sashimi and pineapple pocket, and as our waiter served us he said that the man who we had chatted to was very generously buying our starters for us!
For main course Darren had the I'o Trio, a combination of pork, beef and fish that seemed a little disjointed and I had fish in a tropical salsa. It wasn't quite the evening we had planned but the meal was excellent and it definitely made it a little more enjoyable to know where some of the ingredients came from.
Saturday 1st August
Today we wanted to see lava! Proper red flowing lava! We were booked onto a light airplane trip back to the Big Island to view the lava flows from the only angle that we now know you can see it – from the sea. We were only to be disappointed though. At 9am Volcano Air Tours rang to say that the weather was not good and they may have to cancel. They said they'd call back an hour later so we went for breakfast and to try to get a refund on our tickets for Ulalena. There at least we did have some luck – officially we couldn't get a refund but the assistant behind the desk called the show venue and they must have had a waiting list as they agreed to refund the tickets.
When we returned to our room we received the call we didn't want. The weather would mean we wouldn't see any lava so they were cancelling the trip. As it was an expensive tour we were glad they did that rather than take us and fob us off but it was still a real disappointment for us. So we moped for a bit, and then decided that we should use the car instead of being lazy.
We headed north into the West Maui Mountains. We had seen the clouded folds of west Maui's volcano from our hotel, and just a few miles north of our beach resort is one of the wettest places on earth. Iao Valley was a battleground as Kamehameha the Great conquered the Maui in his ultimately successful quest to unite the Hawai'ian islands. One of it's most famous sights is the Iao Needle, a 1200-ft nugget of very hard rock that has been left as the softer rock has eroded away. Darren was impressed but maybe I'd seen too many spectacular things already over the last two weeks as I thought it was a bit boring! There are some really nice footpaths along the streams and rivers though which I found much more picturesque.
As we drove back to Ka'anapali we still had time (and petrol) left so we continued west around the coastal road. This road actually turned out to be more interesting and challenging than the road to Hana. There was progressively more rockfalls on the road and we decided to get back and changed for our night out.
So at the second attempt we went to the Feast at Lele! As we had plenty of time we took the bus into Lahaina this time and stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for a couple of drinks and to collect another shot glass. It was nice to walk down Front Street, the main drag of Lahaina which has lots of good art shops. When we got to 505 we were shown to our seats. If you ever get a chance to go, definitely book online as far in advance as possible – our table was right at the front but not so central as you feel self conscious. All food and drink was included in the price so we started to make our way through the cocktail list. As the sun set the show started. There were four courses, each from a different Pacific island cuisine and each served with entertainment from that island. First up was Hawai'i featuring the traditional hula dance. Next was Aotearoa – New Zealand – which of course included the Haka (something I suspect the British are more familiar with than the Americans!). The sensual movement of Tahiti followed and the show finished with a visit to Samoa and the fire knife dance.
The food indeed was superb. There were too many dishes to list but my favourite was the Tahitian fafa-steamed chicken in coconut milk and Darren's the Hawai'ian Kalua slow-roasted pork. It was all followed by a dessert (which neither of us remember eating, it was a free bar remember!)
As we waited for a taxi, a young couple were also heading to Ka'anapali and offered to share. They were from Kentucky and were also on honeymoon. I hope they didn't mind Darren's drunken babbling too much, but we did save $10 each!
Sunday 2nd August
Well I there's one thing we learned over our oneymoon it's that the Hawai'ians know how to do food. So it was with some excitement that we made our way down to our hotel's famous Champagne Sunday Brunch. Firstly we were offered champagne that was dutifully topped up every time we took a mouthful. Then to the food. You could literally have both breakfast an lunch in this place! Three walls of the entertainment room had dish upon dish lined up fo you to try. Freshly made omelettes and waffles were the most “breakfast” style items. Then there was seafood an sushi, huge prawns and gorgeous crab claws. Along the back wall was a more “main course” selection – meats, rice, pasta, Polynesian, Chinese, barbecue, too much to even think about trying everything. In the middle along the stage was dessert, including chocolate fountain. Unsurprisingly this is where I spent most of my time!
Fortunately it wasn't ridiculously busy and we were allowed to relax and enjoy the entertainment as we grazed. As well as the house musicians some young girls performed the hula dances, some must have been as young as 5 or 6. It was very cute!
Once we'd had our fill of food and champagne we went for a wander. Firt stop was the hotel watersports hut to book ourselves onto a parasail. Then to the next hotel to the west of ours, the Sheraton. We fancied going to the Black Rock restaurant there for our final meal but when we had a look around we decided it didn't look so great after all. So we walked east along the beach past all the huge resort hotels. I'm not sure if I'd want to stay in one of these or not. The facilities are great and some of the swimming pools looked amazing but I don't think we would spend enough time at any hotel to make it worth the extra expense!
We ended up at the Hyatt which was quite an extraordinarily extraavagent place. We wanted to look at Sonz at Swan Court – indeed there were many swans in the lake along with flamingoes. Apparently the hotel also houses penguins but we didn't see any.
Walking back along the road we realised how far we'd walked to get there! We thounght it would be quicker along than the beach but I think it took us longer to get to the main road through the hotel grounds than our original walk! We quickly changed into beach gear and back to the sea for our parasail.
First we had to wade to an inflatable raft that ferried us to our speedboat. Once out on the waves we were asked which couple wanted to go first – in a rare moment of bravery I volunteered us. We were strapped up and ready to go, out came the pin and up into the air we flew. It was a good choice to do a tandem flight as we could chat about what we could see. Darren's watch measured us at 500ft at the highest. Halfway through the boat slowed to drop us and suddenly sped up which sent us whooshing back up to the sky. As our flight came to an end we were rather unceremoniously dunked in the water before landing back on the boat. Going first turned out to be a great decision because we could then enjoy the speedboat ride while the other two couples on took their turns. When we were all done we were taken back to the raft and on back to the beach.
Before heading up to shower and change before our final meal we relaxed by the hotel pool and cashed in our voucher for a couple of free cocktails that we had won in the raffle on the first day. Ready for the evening, we walked back to the Hyatt and Swan Court which waqs very romantically lit in the night. Our table was looking right out at the artificial waterfall and it felt very peaceful. We treated ourselves to a good bottle of wine from their reknowned wine cellar and, when the waiter finally remembered to bring the menus, placed our order. I went for mussels and a final fish dish, this time opakapaka. Darren opted for escargot in puff pastry and beef marinated in coffee. We finished with a crème brulee to share. The food was superb and the setting was beautiful, a wonderful way to end a honeymoon withh so many memories.
We ambled back to our hotel along the beach, trying to absorb as much of these wonderful islands as we could on our last night. We still had a full day ahead of us though before we headed home...
Monday 3rd August
Despite all our best intentions we were never going to be packed in time for our 11am checkout. We got up early, had breafast then headed to the Whalers Shopping Village to pick up some presents. Our already over-flowing cases meant we had to try to find the smallest (but no less lovely) gifts possible! We also had to grab some cash to buy the disc of photos taken during our parasail the previous day. Darren got himself an Hawai'ian shirt and we rushed back to the room to stuff the final bits in. Before checking out we put our cases in the car and got back to reception before the midday farewell ceremony.
As part of the Hawai'ian experience the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel gived each guest a kukui nut lei as a parting gift. All of the staff wear them, the most long-standing staff have more white nuts than brown ones. If a guest returns to the hotel they replace one brown nut for a white one. It's a lovely gesture, ut I'm sure I'm not the only guest who felt a bit self-conscious standing there in the lobby while they serenaded us with their song of friendship!
Having said our goodbyes, we had a bit of time to kill before our flight so we headed back into Lahaina for lunch. Cheeseburger In Paradise has an amazing oceanfront location. Our guidebook had said that the food was average but we thought the burgers were superb. Pretty sloppy, especially if you go for guacamole as a garnish – they measure the quality by how many napkins you need to eat them!
It was then on to the airport. Not to catch an aeroplane though. First we had a helicopter to catch! The helicopter tour was to spend an hour taking us around Maui to see some things from a different angle, and some others that can't be seen from the ground. Armed with our life-jackets we waited nervously to board. We were shown to our helicopter with the other passengers, just 6 of us and our pilot, Kirk. As we took off, the music played into our headphones was the Back To The Future them tune – perfect! It was the bizarrest feeling, much smoother than I expected. Someone described a helicopter flight as being like a magic carpet ride, a very good description. For the first few minutes Kirk had to “do his job” and left us to enjoy, but soon started his commentary. He was very funny and very interesting.
Our first destination was Hale'akala which we approached to the strains of The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun. The helicopter trips are always governed by the weather, you never know exactly what you'll be able to see. So Kirk had to find a gap in the clouds to ascend to the top of the volcano. We were lucky – the music turned traditional as we found the break through above the cloud line, then back to the movie theme tunes, this time 2001: A Space Odyssey as we climbed over the volcano rim to look into the crater. Then was the scary bit where we dropped down a few hundred feet very quickly! Back below the cloudline Kirk spied a gorge that is normally covered in cloud but that was clear enough for us to dive into. This was where the manouvrability for the helicopter really showed itself – lying on it's side, looking straight down, spinning round is an awesome experience.
We then headed to the east side of the island, over uninhabitable plains of trees and the tiny villages that are scattered along the west coast. We saw dozens of huge waterfalls and secluded pools that are completely unaccessable by land. We flew past Hana and over the twisty turny road that we'd driven a few days earlier. Then headed inland – the helicopters normally follow the coast round but the cloud was high enough for us to fly over the eastern slopes of the volcano.
Around to the north shore of Maui we flew over the airport and on to West Maui. As I mentioned before, this is one of the wettest places on the planet and consequently is almost always shrouded in cloud. However the weather was kind to us again (I like to think it was making up for raining off our volcano air tour on Friday!). Instead of taking us around the coast we could again head inland, down Waihe'e Valley. Even Kirk was surprised to find the cloud was clear enough to take us all the way to the end of the valley, the Wall Of Tears. Like Iao Valley, there were many battles fought in the valley. The name also comes from the many waterfalls that pour out of the valley wall. It was an absolutely incredible sight.
Our hour was up and we headed back to the heliport. Kirk had been filming a DVD from four cameras mounted on the helicopter and we decided it would be an excellent momento. It also has Kirk's commentary which gave the trip (and the DVD) another dimension. It really was the most amazing end to our holiday-of-a-lifetime.
There was no more time to do any more. We returned our hire car and headed for the airport. The journey home was a long one – we had to wait a few hours between flights in San Francisco (we'd bought access to American Airlines' lunge so at least that was a little more comfortable). We also paid to upgrade to Economy Plus on the flight back to Heathrow. We were glad of the extra legroom but it wasn't a patch on Business Class.
We left with so many memories but also with so many other things we'd like to return for. I don't know if we ever will – it was a long way and I'm always a bit wary of returning to places I've already been to. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Hawai'i to anyone who was thinking of going. It's so much more than the island paradise you expect it to be.
