Tuesday, the plan was to check out Makaha beach, which was steps away from our AirBnB. Unfortunately, it rained most of the morning and we were getting tired out waiting for it to clear. We decided to hike Ka'ena Point which was a 5 mile coastal trail. The trail ended at Ka'ena Point a nature preserve that had albatross nesting and monk seals asleep on the beach. It was a beauty walk and to see the wildlife in their natural habitat was a real treat. It rained on and off most of the time and our boots got so caked with mud they looked like moon shoes.
That night we went to Kuhumana Farm, which was very similar to the hippie commune on Maui. The food at Kuhumana Farm was delicious. I had Tandori chicken and it was one of the best meals of the whole trip. Waianae is probably a bigger town than Hana on Maui where the hippie commune was. Waianae is considered one of the last small town gems on Oahu. It seemed very run down. Close enough to Honolulu where most people would probably commute for work, lots of homeless. Tents set-up along the beach that you could tell were peoples' permanent residence. I know Maui has a lot of permit regulations in place for camping to prevent homeless from living on the beach full-time. In Kauai it's even more strict. I didn't do any camping in Oahu but I know that the state campgrounds are much fewer and far between, I think only two on the whole island.
After arriving to Waianae it didn't take long to realize that we couldn't drive all the way around the island to the North Shore. We were unaware of this and probably should have done some research but not really something that you would think to research. The North Shore was definitely where we wanted to be and the GPS basically routed us all the back to Honolulu and then North to get there, a little over an hour drive. Not ideal but we were going to make the best of it. Wednesday we decided to check out the North Shore. We woke up early and headed to Haleiwa for our new favorite thing, acai bowls. We figured despite the fact they probably aren't that great for you we are still on vacation and it is a better choice than white chocolate macademia pancakes with coconut syrup, although I need to get those at least one more time...😂. The waves were insanely huge that day and no one was surfing the pipeline due to the conditions but there were a bunch of surfers at Waimea Bay. We spent all day going along the North Shore stopping off at various beaches to watch the waves and the surfers. We ended the day by going to one of the infamous North Shore shrimp trucks, Giovanni's. Of course neither of us wanted to order from that truck so we picked something from one of the surrounding trucks instead.
Back at the AirBnB we met two girls that were staying in one of the other units. They were nurses from New Jersey here for a wedding in Kapolei, go figure. They said most of the wedding guests were staying at the Disney Resort in Kapolei but rooms there were like $400 a night. The house we stayed in was broken into 4 separate units. Two back units, studios with a mini-fridge, we stayed in one of these units, a front unit where they were staying, and an upstairs unit. They said it had a full kitchen and two bedrooms. The other studio unit had guests in and out the whole time we were there but we didn't meet any of them and the upstairs unit there seemed to be a full-time resident. This one house was pulling in a lot of money renting all these separate units...$$$$.
Thursday was finally the perfect beach day, not a cloud in the sky. We spent the day relaxing at Makaha Beach and had dinner at one of the only other restaurants in town, Coquitos. Coquitos was a Latin restaurant. I ordered a plantain tamale dish and my mom ordered pork chops, which we both really enjoyed.
Friday being our last full day we thought about what we didn't do that we really wanted to. We decided to head back to Hawaii Kai and do KoKo Head. Although it was not a long hike it was steep with a lot of stairs and we wanted to take on the challenge. Again it was a very highly trafficked trail with both tourists and locals who use this trail as their regular workout regimen. The amount of stairs and the steepness was definitely a challenge but overall the hike was short so the struggle was over pretty quickly. My mom and I can both agree can we enjoy longer hikes better, with less crowds. Her favorite being the coastal trail we did to Ka'ena Point and mine was Kuliouou Ridge which still had a lot of stairs and was steep but was 6 miles instead of 2. After some acai bowls we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The center is run by the Hawaii branch of Brigham Young University. They had students from all over the world working there and the center represented all of the Polynesian islands; Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, New Zealand, and Hawaii. You went around to the different islands and watched performances and listened to them speak about their various differences and similarities amongst the islands. It was pretty interesting and there was so much more you could have done there that we choice not to do, go to a luau, we missed presentations from two islands, the canoe show; we could have spent all day there.
After spending the morning whale watching from the AirBnB, where Mom finally got to see some whales jumping around, it was time to head to the airport. I dropped off Mom and was back and forth a bunch of times as to whether or not I should stay. The Volcom Pipe Pro was scheduled to start the next day at the pipeline and because the waves were so big earlier in the week and we didn't get to see anyone riding the pipe I figured it would be an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity. Also, in Kauai you have to obtain all camping permits in advance and the office is closed on the weekends. This meant I would have to stay at hostel in Kauai until Monday when I could get the permits. When I called around to the hostels it turned out that no space was available it made the decision pretty easy, I would stay in Oahu until Monday. I even looked into booking a flight back to Jersey and being done with the trip. Not that I don't want to keep going but I have been spoiled having my mom with me and staying at Air BnBs. Believe it or not it is hard to stay in vacation mode for this long. I am ready to get back to work and get life started in San Diego.
My extended stay in Oahu turned out to be a bit of an upset. By the time I dropped off Mom at the airport and got back to the North Shore most of the day was over. On Sunday, there were poor surf conditions and the competition was off for the day and my flight was early Monday, although the competition was canceled Monday as well. I spent some extra time in the town of Haleiwa and did some shopping. There was a lot of rain Saturday night and Sunday was pretty cloudy and chilly. I really liked Haleiwa and think if there was one thing I would have changed it would have been that we got an Air BnB in Haleiwa rather than Waianae, because it was so far from everything.
I arrived in Kauai around 11:30am. I picked up my rental car, which was the most expensive of all the islands so far, and by far the smallest; a Chevy Spark, my luggage didn't even fit in the trunk. I decided to go to the grocery store because the camping permit office was at lunch until 1pm. It took me over an hour to get everything sorted out with the permits. This entire trip I make decisions at the last minute; I like it I'll stay, or I think I want to go here next. To have to plan out everyday in advance where you want to camp, I am feeling very apprehensive about it. I could get to the campground and hate it. The good news is the permits are $3 a piece so if I don't like the place it's only $3, not the end of the world. The weather here is kind of a bummer. Cloudy and chilly with really high winds. I didn't get much of tan so far but it's going to fade being on this island for sure!
AROOOOOO!!!! 🏄🏻♀️🌺🌈🌊💨🍍🤙🌦
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Oahu-Hawaii Kai
My Mom and I have spent the first five days on the 'windward' or East side of Oahu, in the area of Hawaii Kai or East Honolulu. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast of a retired couple that has been living on the island for over 35 years. After traveling most of the day Wednesday, I picked my Mom at the airport around 4:30pm and we spent some time in traffic making our way to our place. We were both pretty tired, me because of the camp life mentality up by sunrise, asleep by dark. My mom had been up since 3am East coast time so it had been a long day. We went to Kona Brewing Company for a quick dinner and then went to bed. We both really liked the ambience of the restaurant with big open wooden beams and a nice breeze off the marina but the food was so-so.
Thursday morning we decided to head to Hanauma Bay and spent the day relaxing at the beach and snorkeling in the bay. Hanauma Bay is a marine nature preserve and there is an admission fee. Because of how crowded it gets you actually have to watch a video about how to protect the coral reef and be safe while using snorkel equipment. Despite, the large crowds there were a lot of fish in the reef but no turtle sightings. The water was much too shallow for turtles. You would have had to go pretty far out before the reef finally dropped off. That night we had a pretty low key dinner at a Greek restaurant by the house and went to bed pretty early again. There were four other people staying at the BnB; a couple from Japan that barely spoke any English, and a guy named Tom from Milwaukee with one of his employees from his pet store, who never spoke a word to us. Needless to say, there wasn't much deep conservations or wild parties happening back at the house.
Friday we woke up early and went for a hike at Manana Trail. This was a 6 mile loop that led to the Waimano waterfall. Unfortunately, the waterfall was more of a trickle but the hike was a lot of fun with ropes to climb and some steep rocks to maneuver. The trail was near Pearl Harbor which is why we chose it. Afterwards, our plan was to go visit Pearl Harbor for the rest of the afternoon. To get to the hike and Pearl Harbor from where we were staying took close to an hour due to traffic. When we got there and parked we discovered that the tickets to the Arizona Memorial were sold out for the day. We did not look into going to Pearl Harbor ahead of time at all. We were pretty certain there wasn't much to it if you didn't go to out to the Arizona Memorial. We decided we would come back another day because we had to go all the way back to the car because no bags or purses were allowed in anyways.
Since we had the whole afternoon ahead of us, we decided to hike Diamond Head Monument which is less than a 2 mile hike but uphill and provides awesome views of Honolulu. We had a great time through the tunnels and running up the stairs, laughing and enjoying. Those types of hikes I typically tend to avoid because they are tourist traps and people who shouldn't be hiking are all over the trail with little kids, it's so crowded! I think despite that it was a fun hike and we enjoyed it.
After Diamond Head we didn't want to head back to Hawaii Kai during rush hour so even though it wasn't something we would typically do we decided to head to Waikiki and watch the sunset and go to happy hour. Waikiki was pretty ridiculous. All high-end stores; Fendi, Chanel, Louis Vuitton. I don't know why anyone from the mainland would buy anything from these stores? In New Jersey with tax free shopping it would make zero sense to pay 4.5% sales taxes on already overpriced luxury items. The sunset on the other hand, was gorgeous! One of the best I have seen on this trip! The ocean looked so clear, so blue. The only part of this beautiful scene was all the crazy protesters that came storming down the street.
Don't get me wrong I think some of things Trump has said and done is unacceptable for someone holding office. I also find it kind of silly that people with no real positions that didn't even take the time to vote just want to be upset and think their time is best served protesting something that has already happened. He is the president, we need to deal with it. We need to focus on things that are important, not how many people were at his inauguration or that some idiot from SNL bullied an innocent child. It does concern me that he already gotten rid of Obamacare, which may not be perfect, but is necessary and he is moving forward with the pipelines in the Dakotas, which Obama opposed.
Enough politics, on Saturday the weather was a factor, with rain and strong winds in the forecast. I wanted to hike the Lani kai pillboxes, can you guess why? As a pharmacist I was intrigued by the name of this hike! The "pillboxes" were actually old bunkers from World War II. In the beginning the wind was so intense it was actually kind of scary at times that you might blow right off the mountain. By bunker 2 it had started to rain so we took shelter for a bit and waited for it to pass. Someone told us you could continue on and there was a third bunker that was hidden and then the trail led down to a neighborhood and you could walk back from there. We decided to go for it and in the pouring rain trecked up and down the mountains, sliding at times! Even with the wind and rain we really liked the hike and had a great time, plus the views were incredible! We went to Kailua Beach Park after the hike but the wind prevented us from staying there for too long.
That night we went to Roy's. A nice restaurant in town that offered a pre-fixed menu. We both agreed that the pre-fixed menu was a good deal when compared to the rest of the prices on the menu for single entrees, neither of us were thrilled with our entrees and were happier at the Greek place for $15 a piece. There is definitely a ton of sushi and Asian style food here; Korean BBQ, Thai, Pho, you name it. Roy's was an upscale Hawaiian-Asian fusion type restaurant. I had macadamia encrusted mahi-mahi and my mom had salmon with a cold Asian noodle side. My favorite part of the meal was dessert, a molten lava cake and macadamia tart with prosecco and I'm not big on desserts.
Sunday we were back at Pearl Harbor with reservations to take a boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. Once we arrived we discovered that no boats would be going to the memorial due to strong winds! As previously mentioned it took us about an hour to get there from our place and of course since we thought we planned in advance with tickets we never dreamed to double check that boats would be running. We went and walked around the museums and looked at the memorial from afar and realized it was not meant to be. We wanted to do another hike after leaving and thought we would finally make it to KoKo head, another big tourist area hike. We decided to do the Kuliouou Ridge Trail instead because it was a longer hike, around 5 miles out and back. It was great! Amazing views and a really fun trail with even some of the stairs KoKo head brags about.
For our last morning on the windward side we wanted to check out the Makapu'u tidepools and Manoa Falls. The weather yet again was a factor. The tidepools with the wind made it too dangerous to go down but we still enjoyed the hike up to Makapu'u Point. We met an interesting man who was hiking there with his family who were visiting from California. He asked us to take their picture and he took out a box of his wife's ashes. He explained that it was her favorite hike. We chatted for awhile about his life in Hawaii and about his daughters living in California, one of them in San Diego. I told him good luck spreading the ashes on such a windy day and he informed me he wasn't planning to spread her ashes but that he just brought her with him while he did the hike. The plan was once he died then his ashes would be mixed with hers and spread over Makapu'u Point. We left and headed for Manoa Falls which was closed due to high winds! A disappointment but we decided to head to the Dole Plantation instead.
The Dole Plantation was actually pretty cool. Totally geared for kids with a Pineapple Express train tour and a giant pineapple maze, but we actually had a great time. Of course the pineapple whip was delicious and my mom found more of the secret stations in the maze than me.
Now we will spend the rest of our trip on the 'leeward' side of the island, a small town called Waianae. Much more remote than Hawaii Kai we are right on the ocean, with gorgeous sunset views!
AROOOOO!!! 🌈🍍🌺🕉🐋🐢🌦💨
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Thursday morning we decided to head to Hanauma Bay and spent the day relaxing at the beach and snorkeling in the bay. Hanauma Bay is a marine nature preserve and there is an admission fee. Because of how crowded it gets you actually have to watch a video about how to protect the coral reef and be safe while using snorkel equipment. Despite, the large crowds there were a lot of fish in the reef but no turtle sightings. The water was much too shallow for turtles. You would have had to go pretty far out before the reef finally dropped off. That night we had a pretty low key dinner at a Greek restaurant by the house and went to bed pretty early again. There were four other people staying at the BnB; a couple from Japan that barely spoke any English, and a guy named Tom from Milwaukee with one of his employees from his pet store, who never spoke a word to us. Needless to say, there wasn't much deep conservations or wild parties happening back at the house.
Friday we woke up early and went for a hike at Manana Trail. This was a 6 mile loop that led to the Waimano waterfall. Unfortunately, the waterfall was more of a trickle but the hike was a lot of fun with ropes to climb and some steep rocks to maneuver. The trail was near Pearl Harbor which is why we chose it. Afterwards, our plan was to go visit Pearl Harbor for the rest of the afternoon. To get to the hike and Pearl Harbor from where we were staying took close to an hour due to traffic. When we got there and parked we discovered that the tickets to the Arizona Memorial were sold out for the day. We did not look into going to Pearl Harbor ahead of time at all. We were pretty certain there wasn't much to it if you didn't go to out to the Arizona Memorial. We decided we would come back another day because we had to go all the way back to the car because no bags or purses were allowed in anyways.
Since we had the whole afternoon ahead of us, we decided to hike Diamond Head Monument which is less than a 2 mile hike but uphill and provides awesome views of Honolulu. We had a great time through the tunnels and running up the stairs, laughing and enjoying. Those types of hikes I typically tend to avoid because they are tourist traps and people who shouldn't be hiking are all over the trail with little kids, it's so crowded! I think despite that it was a fun hike and we enjoyed it.
After Diamond Head we didn't want to head back to Hawaii Kai during rush hour so even though it wasn't something we would typically do we decided to head to Waikiki and watch the sunset and go to happy hour. Waikiki was pretty ridiculous. All high-end stores; Fendi, Chanel, Louis Vuitton. I don't know why anyone from the mainland would buy anything from these stores? In New Jersey with tax free shopping it would make zero sense to pay 4.5% sales taxes on already overpriced luxury items. The sunset on the other hand, was gorgeous! One of the best I have seen on this trip! The ocean looked so clear, so blue. The only part of this beautiful scene was all the crazy protesters that came storming down the street.
Don't get me wrong I think some of things Trump has said and done is unacceptable for someone holding office. I also find it kind of silly that people with no real positions that didn't even take the time to vote just want to be upset and think their time is best served protesting something that has already happened. He is the president, we need to deal with it. We need to focus on things that are important, not how many people were at his inauguration or that some idiot from SNL bullied an innocent child. It does concern me that he already gotten rid of Obamacare, which may not be perfect, but is necessary and he is moving forward with the pipelines in the Dakotas, which Obama opposed.
Enough politics, on Saturday the weather was a factor, with rain and strong winds in the forecast. I wanted to hike the Lani kai pillboxes, can you guess why? As a pharmacist I was intrigued by the name of this hike! The "pillboxes" were actually old bunkers from World War II. In the beginning the wind was so intense it was actually kind of scary at times that you might blow right off the mountain. By bunker 2 it had started to rain so we took shelter for a bit and waited for it to pass. Someone told us you could continue on and there was a third bunker that was hidden and then the trail led down to a neighborhood and you could walk back from there. We decided to go for it and in the pouring rain trecked up and down the mountains, sliding at times! Even with the wind and rain we really liked the hike and had a great time, plus the views were incredible! We went to Kailua Beach Park after the hike but the wind prevented us from staying there for too long.
That night we went to Roy's. A nice restaurant in town that offered a pre-fixed menu. We both agreed that the pre-fixed menu was a good deal when compared to the rest of the prices on the menu for single entrees, neither of us were thrilled with our entrees and were happier at the Greek place for $15 a piece. There is definitely a ton of sushi and Asian style food here; Korean BBQ, Thai, Pho, you name it. Roy's was an upscale Hawaiian-Asian fusion type restaurant. I had macadamia encrusted mahi-mahi and my mom had salmon with a cold Asian noodle side. My favorite part of the meal was dessert, a molten lava cake and macadamia tart with prosecco and I'm not big on desserts.
Sunday we were back at Pearl Harbor with reservations to take a boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. Once we arrived we discovered that no boats would be going to the memorial due to strong winds! As previously mentioned it took us about an hour to get there from our place and of course since we thought we planned in advance with tickets we never dreamed to double check that boats would be running. We went and walked around the museums and looked at the memorial from afar and realized it was not meant to be. We wanted to do another hike after leaving and thought we would finally make it to KoKo head, another big tourist area hike. We decided to do the Kuliouou Ridge Trail instead because it was a longer hike, around 5 miles out and back. It was great! Amazing views and a really fun trail with even some of the stairs KoKo head brags about.
For our last morning on the windward side we wanted to check out the Makapu'u tidepools and Manoa Falls. The weather yet again was a factor. The tidepools with the wind made it too dangerous to go down but we still enjoyed the hike up to Makapu'u Point. We met an interesting man who was hiking there with his family who were visiting from California. He asked us to take their picture and he took out a box of his wife's ashes. He explained that it was her favorite hike. We chatted for awhile about his life in Hawaii and about his daughters living in California, one of them in San Diego. I told him good luck spreading the ashes on such a windy day and he informed me he wasn't planning to spread her ashes but that he just brought her with him while he did the hike. The plan was once he died then his ashes would be mixed with hers and spread over Makapu'u Point. We left and headed for Manoa Falls which was closed due to high winds! A disappointment but we decided to head to the Dole Plantation instead.
The Dole Plantation was actually pretty cool. Totally geared for kids with a Pineapple Express train tour and a giant pineapple maze, but we actually had a great time. Of course the pineapple whip was delicious and my mom found more of the secret stations in the maze than me.
Now we will spend the rest of our trip on the 'leeward' side of the island, a small town called Waianae. Much more remote than Hawaii Kai we are right on the ocean, with gorgeous sunset views!
AROOOOO!!! 🌈🍍🌺🕉🐋🐢🌦💨
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Thursday, January 19, 2017
West Maui
On Friday morning before heading to Camp Olowalu, on the south side of Lahaina, I decided to spend some time at the beach in Kihei and checking out the town. It was another gorgeous day and the beach was extremely hot. The market place in the town of Kihei had a lot of little shops and restaurants. After getting a nice lunch outside I took the drive over to the campground which was only suppose to be about 25 minutes away. There was bumper to bumper traffic and it ended up taking well over an hour to get to the campground.
My original plan was to stay at Camp Olowalu until Monday and then head further North and check out Honolua Bay until Wednesday. After being at the grounds for just a day or two and talking to other campers, there was no point in leaving. First off, there were no other campgrounds further North and Honolua Bay was only a thirty minute drive away.
Camp Olowalu had the nicest amenities of any of the campgrounds I had been to this far so that also made it very hard to want to leave. At $20/pp/day they had nice showers and flush toilets. Which in comparison the other campground had pit toilets, which can get quite stinky, and no showers, but it was free to stay there with a national park pass. Camp Olowalu sat at the foot of the Olowalu Valley in the West Maui Mountains and was private property that granted you beach access to a coral reef where everyday I was snorkeling with sea turtles and plenty of fish. Tons of boats brought snorkel groups over everyday and I got access to it morning, noon, and night for free! I couldn't believe how vastly different the water conditions were from the other beaches I had been too. The water was so shallow and so calm it was incredible.
The first night there was pretty quiet. By the time I set up camp it was already dark so I decided to call it a night. The next day I went to the general store to get some supplies and spent most of the day exploring and snorkeling. The general store had better prices than in Hana but the selection was much more limited. Just to give everyone an idea I bought a can of Pringles for $4, a six-pack of beer was $10, but they had no cheese or meat like the Hana general store. Luckily, Lahaina was 15 minutes away so I knew I was probably going to just go out to eat most nights.
That day my new neighbors, Lindsay and Jonah, a married couple who run a photography business in Bakersfield, California arrived and were staying until Wednesday the 18th. We had basically done the opposite trip where they were headed to Hana and helped persuade me to stay because there was nothing North of where we were. They also had just come from Kauai and gave me tons of great suggestions. They were actually hired to come to Hawaii for an anniversary shoot for friends of theirs from California and were making a vacation out of it.
That night I hung out at the Wi-fi spot and charging station talking to a bunch of people and listening to music. Yes a charging station and Wi-fi something else I was not used to at any of the other campgrounds. I ended up hanging out with a local guy named Will who winded-up being my guide to West Maui for the rest of the week.
Let me start by saying I am very hesitate to talk about this man at all. He made it very clear that prefers to stay under the radar. I also hesitate to speak about him because if I were to discuss even half of what this guy told me you all would think I was totally crazy and tell me to run and fast. Bottom line, I am very skeptical to believe most of the things that he told me. I guess we shall see if he is another Maui bullshit artist.
On Sunday Lindsay, Jonah, and I decided to rent paddle boards. Will had his own and didn't have to. We paddled all day and were out on the water watching the most gorgeous sunset right on the horizon. Of course the photographers were very upset that it was not captured by film or photo. I unfortunately broke my cheap Japanese like Go-Pro so they had already promised to send me all the underwater shots from snorkeling. We rented the paddle boards for 24 hours so Will planned out a very detailed and elaborate day hitting all the best spots in West Maui.
On Monday, we got up nice and early piled all the paddle boards on Will's car and headed for Wahikuli Beach Park. It was another great spot for stand up paddle boarding and swimming with sea turtles. After dropping off the boards we headed to Honolua Bay which was a very beautiful and diverse place. Honolua Bay is either extremely calm and provides some of the best snorkeling around or is extremely rough and houses some pretty epic surf competitions. Winter tends to be a surf time for the area but it was very calm when we were there but we decided to check out the scenic cliff views rather than snorkel.
Once we left the bay we went to an amazing breakfast, even though it was lunch time, at the Gazebo Restaurant. I was dying to try macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. I ended up getting white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes which were amazing, and I am totally NOT a sweet tooth type. The coconut syrup though was super sweet. Honestly the pancakes were so good, no syrup required. After lunch we went Dragon's Teeth another iconic landmark and picked up some fresh fish to cook for dinner. After watching the sunset in Lahaina, we went back to camp and make some deliciously fresh walu and ono. We also had fresh ahi poke which was the most delicious sushi I ever had in my life. After dinner Lindsay and Jonah went to bed pretty early and Will and I stayed up late talking. I was probing and digging deeper about a lot of the things he was telling me.
The next day, Tuesday, was all of our last day together. Lindsay and Jonah were headed to Hana on Wednesday, I was headed to Oahu to meet my mom, and Will no one, including himself really knew what his plan was. His story was that he was living with his girlfriend and they recently broke up. He didn't have to work and was enjoying this time to himself. It all seemed a little suspicious to me. I took Will's paddle board out for the afternoon while he returned some phone calls. went to Lahaina and got caught up on work. Lindsay and Jonah spent the day snorkeling.
Tuesday night, Lindsay and Jonah's friends came in from Oahu for their anniversary shoot so they went into downtown Lahaina with them. Will took me to a show called Unalena, which was a beautiful musical about the history of the Hawaiian people. Afterwards, we walked up and down Front St. and he took me to dinner at this restaurant right next to a traditional Luau so that I could watch the dancers without having to eat a five course meal. He said that it's totally not worth it and I believe him. I just wanted to see the performance which is why we went to Unalena and why he brought me to a restaurant next store. He wants to come meet me in Kauai, I told him I would think about it. I don't know if I trust him. Some of the stuff he said is just so unbelievable. I don't want to keep questioning. I don't want to ask him to proof it. The bottom line is he seems to have a lot going on in his life right now and not for the good. I don't want to surround myself with that. As much as I would like to help him and he seemed like a nice person, I really don't think I want to have any part of it. The bigger reason is this my adventure, my trip I am the lone wolf. And although Lindsay and Jonah didn't understand my name because wolves travel in packs, I don't really want a companion. The point is me standing on my own two feet and leaving "the pack" for awhile to find my own way.
Traveling to Oahu today to meet my mom for ten days! I am super excited and I know we are going to have a great time together! I'm getting better with my Hawaiian pronounications so hopefully I will be able to help here along because she is pretty bad.
AROOOOOO!!!!! 🌈🌊🌺🍍🕉🤙🐢🐋🐠
Song of the Day - Don't know how much longer the reggae island theme will last. If there is a song worth discussing here I will definite mention it.
I know today I picked Jack Johnson because he lives on the North Shore of Oahu and I love this song from high school and my friend Katey!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
My original plan was to stay at Camp Olowalu until Monday and then head further North and check out Honolua Bay until Wednesday. After being at the grounds for just a day or two and talking to other campers, there was no point in leaving. First off, there were no other campgrounds further North and Honolua Bay was only a thirty minute drive away.
Camp Olowalu had the nicest amenities of any of the campgrounds I had been to this far so that also made it very hard to want to leave. At $20/pp/day they had nice showers and flush toilets. Which in comparison the other campground had pit toilets, which can get quite stinky, and no showers, but it was free to stay there with a national park pass. Camp Olowalu sat at the foot of the Olowalu Valley in the West Maui Mountains and was private property that granted you beach access to a coral reef where everyday I was snorkeling with sea turtles and plenty of fish. Tons of boats brought snorkel groups over everyday and I got access to it morning, noon, and night for free! I couldn't believe how vastly different the water conditions were from the other beaches I had been too. The water was so shallow and so calm it was incredible.
The first night there was pretty quiet. By the time I set up camp it was already dark so I decided to call it a night. The next day I went to the general store to get some supplies and spent most of the day exploring and snorkeling. The general store had better prices than in Hana but the selection was much more limited. Just to give everyone an idea I bought a can of Pringles for $4, a six-pack of beer was $10, but they had no cheese or meat like the Hana general store. Luckily, Lahaina was 15 minutes away so I knew I was probably going to just go out to eat most nights.
That day my new neighbors, Lindsay and Jonah, a married couple who run a photography business in Bakersfield, California arrived and were staying until Wednesday the 18th. We had basically done the opposite trip where they were headed to Hana and helped persuade me to stay because there was nothing North of where we were. They also had just come from Kauai and gave me tons of great suggestions. They were actually hired to come to Hawaii for an anniversary shoot for friends of theirs from California and were making a vacation out of it.
That night I hung out at the Wi-fi spot and charging station talking to a bunch of people and listening to music. Yes a charging station and Wi-fi something else I was not used to at any of the other campgrounds. I ended up hanging out with a local guy named Will who winded-up being my guide to West Maui for the rest of the week.
Let me start by saying I am very hesitate to talk about this man at all. He made it very clear that prefers to stay under the radar. I also hesitate to speak about him because if I were to discuss even half of what this guy told me you all would think I was totally crazy and tell me to run and fast. Bottom line, I am very skeptical to believe most of the things that he told me. I guess we shall see if he is another Maui bullshit artist.
On Sunday Lindsay, Jonah, and I decided to rent paddle boards. Will had his own and didn't have to. We paddled all day and were out on the water watching the most gorgeous sunset right on the horizon. Of course the photographers were very upset that it was not captured by film or photo. I unfortunately broke my cheap Japanese like Go-Pro so they had already promised to send me all the underwater shots from snorkeling. We rented the paddle boards for 24 hours so Will planned out a very detailed and elaborate day hitting all the best spots in West Maui.
On Monday, we got up nice and early piled all the paddle boards on Will's car and headed for Wahikuli Beach Park. It was another great spot for stand up paddle boarding and swimming with sea turtles. After dropping off the boards we headed to Honolua Bay which was a very beautiful and diverse place. Honolua Bay is either extremely calm and provides some of the best snorkeling around or is extremely rough and houses some pretty epic surf competitions. Winter tends to be a surf time for the area but it was very calm when we were there but we decided to check out the scenic cliff views rather than snorkel.
Once we left the bay we went to an amazing breakfast, even though it was lunch time, at the Gazebo Restaurant. I was dying to try macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. I ended up getting white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes which were amazing, and I am totally NOT a sweet tooth type. The coconut syrup though was super sweet. Honestly the pancakes were so good, no syrup required. After lunch we went Dragon's Teeth another iconic landmark and picked up some fresh fish to cook for dinner. After watching the sunset in Lahaina, we went back to camp and make some deliciously fresh walu and ono. We also had fresh ahi poke which was the most delicious sushi I ever had in my life. After dinner Lindsay and Jonah went to bed pretty early and Will and I stayed up late talking. I was probing and digging deeper about a lot of the things he was telling me.
The next day, Tuesday, was all of our last day together. Lindsay and Jonah were headed to Hana on Wednesday, I was headed to Oahu to meet my mom, and Will no one, including himself really knew what his plan was. His story was that he was living with his girlfriend and they recently broke up. He didn't have to work and was enjoying this time to himself. It all seemed a little suspicious to me. I took Will's paddle board out for the afternoon while he returned some phone calls. went to Lahaina and got caught up on work. Lindsay and Jonah spent the day snorkeling.
Tuesday night, Lindsay and Jonah's friends came in from Oahu for their anniversary shoot so they went into downtown Lahaina with them. Will took me to a show called Unalena, which was a beautiful musical about the history of the Hawaiian people. Afterwards, we walked up and down Front St. and he took me to dinner at this restaurant right next to a traditional Luau so that I could watch the dancers without having to eat a five course meal. He said that it's totally not worth it and I believe him. I just wanted to see the performance which is why we went to Unalena and why he brought me to a restaurant next store. He wants to come meet me in Kauai, I told him I would think about it. I don't know if I trust him. Some of the stuff he said is just so unbelievable. I don't want to keep questioning. I don't want to ask him to proof it. The bottom line is he seems to have a lot going on in his life right now and not for the good. I don't want to surround myself with that. As much as I would like to help him and he seemed like a nice person, I really don't think I want to have any part of it. The bigger reason is this my adventure, my trip I am the lone wolf. And although Lindsay and Jonah didn't understand my name because wolves travel in packs, I don't really want a companion. The point is me standing on my own two feet and leaving "the pack" for awhile to find my own way.
Traveling to Oahu today to meet my mom for ten days! I am super excited and I know we are going to have a great time together! I'm getting better with my Hawaiian pronounications so hopefully I will be able to help here along because she is pretty bad.
AROOOOOO!!!!! 🌈🌊🌺🍍🕉🤙🐢🐋🐠
Song of the Day - Don't know how much longer the reggae island theme will last. If there is a song worth discussing here I will definite mention it.
I know today I picked Jack Johnson because he lives on the North Shore of Oahu and I love this song from high school and my friend Katey!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
Friday, January 13, 2017
East Maui
First week in Hawaii is in the books! I started the adventure by flying into Kahului Airport, Maui. After a long day of traveling I decided to stay at a hotel close to the airport which I didn't arrive at until close to midnight after two six hour flights, a lay-over in LA, a long line at the rental car pick up, and a five hour time difference. The hotel was nothing special and after a traditional Filipino breakfast, a delicious Kona coffee, and some fresh guava juice I headed out to Baldwin Beach in Paia. The beach there was a definite local spot with tons of surfers and some pretty gnarly waves. I am already big into using all the slang here like gnarly, slippers for flip-flops, and attempting to pronounce as many Hawaiian words as possible.
After leaving Paia, I headed south on the infamous road to Hana stopping at various waterfalls and Honomanu Bay. I also stopped at the Garden of Eden arboretum which broke up the drive quite nicely with gorgeous waterfalls and peacocks. My first camping destination was Wai'anapanapa State Park. My biggest concern was that it was not going to be able to accommodate my hammock. I was right to be concerned. The park was under a great deal of construction and most of the tree lined areas were closed off. Luckily, I was able to find two trees to hang my hammock for the night but most other campers were in an open grassy field. The park had a ton to offer. There was a gorgeous black sand beach, multiple hiking trails, and caves to explore. Unfortunately, there were no available camping spots for Saturday and a permit is required to camp there so I was only able to stay one night. I took full advantage and hiked the entire park.
The next day I made my way to Kipahula Campground which is part of the Haleakala National Park. It is free to camp here but you can only stay for a maximum of three days. Once I got there and found a sweet spot for my hammock I knew I was going to stay there for the three days. Although it was right on the ocean the waves are intense and the shores were rocky cliffs so it was definitely not a beach. What was so great about it though was that you could hike down to these tide pools and swim in those when the tide was low. It also had some neat hiking trails through dense bamboo forest to Pools of 'Ohe'o or the seven sacred pools. I actually hiked with a guy named Robby who knew the area and took a hidden trail to swim in one of the pools, which were closed to the public. It was fresh water coming from the waterfall above and a nice place to clean up since there were no showers at the camp. The campground was packed with vacationers and locals alike. We all had a good time getting to know each other, grilling up some fish that had been caught, and enjoying the weather.
I did my own thing exploring, hiking, and taking it all in. I took the drive up to the top of the Haleakala crater for sunrise. Haleakala is a dormant volcano with an elevation of 10,000 feet. East Maui in general is the wet side of the island. Very lush, more prone to rain, and tends to be a little cooler. The top of the crater was much colder! I was in a winter coat. Haleakala, meaning "house of the sun", so naturally you have to go see it at sunrise. It was a two hour drive from camp because the roads are not well maintained and you can only drive about 20 mph. Although, I was exhausted from waking up at 4am to make sure I was there in time, the intense beauty of the sun coming up over the horizon woke me up right away. I made it without a moment to spare! It was like you were on another planet looking down at the clouds peaking through the crater rim.
I met a couple, Mitch and Kristen, who were both veterinarians living in San Diego. They saw me at Wai'anapanapa and asked where I was going to be camping next and decided to come. Mitch's old roommate had moved to Maui and was living on a hippie commune nearby. On Sunday nights they have open mic night and serve a raw vegan meal and call themselves Cafe Attitude. We decided to go over and check it out. Mitch and Kristen live in OB and you may remember me talking about that neighborhood and how hippie and laid back it was. Mitch and Kristen, despite being animal lovers and into organic farming, didn't seem to quite fit the typically mold of OB. Cafe attitude took hippie to a whole new level. Everyone was about love and positive vibes. I'm not sure what was in tea everyone was drinking, but it sure was an interesting night. That day before were went to Cafe Attitude Robby and I had gone to town to get some supplies and hung out at one of the beaches near Hana. We ran into a couple of friends of his who went into a deep discussion about getting rid of all your bills and debt by giving it to the IRS. Supposedly it's a big secret that no one wants you to know about because then clearly everyone would want to do it. You simiply mail your bill to the IRS and
they pay it for you. According to them, Donald Trump has been doing for years. They went on to talk about the financial you and the physical you and your financial self is always in capital letters. I told them I was going to look into further. I will definitely be emailing them if I find a way to eliminate my student loan debt. Maybe some of what they are saying is true but not if you ever want to have credit, get a loan, buy a house, or function in the society. I was starting to realize that I could never live in Maui. If I thought Californians were laid back and it was a nice balance for me, this was extreme.
Robby had been living in Hawaii for over 15 years and recently quit his job as a chef on a whale watching boat to move back to Hana. After leaving Kipahula, he was planning to go to a local camping spot in Kaupo for a few days while he was in between places and invited me along. I decided my original plan of going to Hosmer Grove Campground which was halfway up Haleakala summit was probably not a great idea in a hammock because the temperatures at night drop to the single digits so I decided to come along. Before heading there it we made a pit stop in town for more supplies (food, beer, ice). I also requested that we hiked to the red sand beach, which was close to town. There is so much iron in the lava rocks there that the beach is red. It was very secluded but the hike there was hard to find if you didn't know what to look for. It was nice having Robby around to show me all these secret spots.
The campground was not actually a campground but there were others there camping. You drove through a Rasta colored gate that led down to the beach. It was along the shore but there were huge rocks and massive waves making it impossible to swim. It was pretty relaxing. In my hammock asleep by 8pm up by sunrise with naps in between. Robby grew more distant as the days went on. I'm not sure if it was because he knew I had zero interest in him or maybe it was because we didn't have any alcohol and he was shutting down. The last night I tried to hang out but he said he was tired so I left him alone. I woke up in the morning packed up and left, didn't even say goodbye. I appreciated meeting him like I said because he showed me places I wouldn't have known about. There were definitely times that I thought he was full of shit like when he went on and on that he knew Mitch's friend Hana going into detail about her boyfriend and her musical talent and then we got to Cafe Attitude and she ignored him he was like, "Oh I was a talking about a different Hana." Bottom line he was so talkative and friendly and told me so much about himself, his life, his hardships. The whole time I was thought, "Wow, men open up this much!" It was honestly so encouraging to meet someone who wanted to engage in deep conversations and then he suddenly shut down. Maybe he was just a drunk, or a bullshit artist, or maybe it was something I said?
I was headed for Kihei. In need of real shower I figured it was time to get a hotel for one night. On my way I ended up popping a tire on the rental car! The roads are sketchy between Kaupo and Kehei and there is a dirt road for some of the time. I hit a sharp rock and the tire slit. Change of plans. After changing my first flat tire I was headed back to the airport to exchange the car for a new one because the rental company did not authorize that I put a used tire on the car, which was all that was available. It wasn't too far out of the way and then I was back on track and headed to Kihei, a totally different vibe from camping and East Maui. Not yet in West Maui, Kihei is considered on the South side and has a very arid climate. It is also is much more touristy. I checked into my hotel and after an extremely long shower, went to the pool side bar for happy-hour dinner and drinks.
I decided to Uber (yes there is Uber, so much more civilized than camping and dirt roads) to Maui Brewing Co since I had been drinking their IPA Big Swell all week and do love a good brewery. Ultimately, it was kind of a disappointment beer wise but they had a guest tap from one of favorites Modern Times in San Diego and I got some pretty sweet souvenirs.
Now, I am headed further West and back to a campground which is private and I think will be vastly different from the others I have been to so far, offering kayaking and snorkeling.
Aloha, AROOOOO!!! 🌺🌈🍍🌊
Song of the Day
As much reggae island jams I can find!!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
After leaving Paia, I headed south on the infamous road to Hana stopping at various waterfalls and Honomanu Bay. I also stopped at the Garden of Eden arboretum which broke up the drive quite nicely with gorgeous waterfalls and peacocks. My first camping destination was Wai'anapanapa State Park. My biggest concern was that it was not going to be able to accommodate my hammock. I was right to be concerned. The park was under a great deal of construction and most of the tree lined areas were closed off. Luckily, I was able to find two trees to hang my hammock for the night but most other campers were in an open grassy field. The park had a ton to offer. There was a gorgeous black sand beach, multiple hiking trails, and caves to explore. Unfortunately, there were no available camping spots for Saturday and a permit is required to camp there so I was only able to stay one night. I took full advantage and hiked the entire park.
The next day I made my way to Kipahula Campground which is part of the Haleakala National Park. It is free to camp here but you can only stay for a maximum of three days. Once I got there and found a sweet spot for my hammock I knew I was going to stay there for the three days. Although it was right on the ocean the waves are intense and the shores were rocky cliffs so it was definitely not a beach. What was so great about it though was that you could hike down to these tide pools and swim in those when the tide was low. It also had some neat hiking trails through dense bamboo forest to Pools of 'Ohe'o or the seven sacred pools. I actually hiked with a guy named Robby who knew the area and took a hidden trail to swim in one of the pools, which were closed to the public. It was fresh water coming from the waterfall above and a nice place to clean up since there were no showers at the camp. The campground was packed with vacationers and locals alike. We all had a good time getting to know each other, grilling up some fish that had been caught, and enjoying the weather.
I did my own thing exploring, hiking, and taking it all in. I took the drive up to the top of the Haleakala crater for sunrise. Haleakala is a dormant volcano with an elevation of 10,000 feet. East Maui in general is the wet side of the island. Very lush, more prone to rain, and tends to be a little cooler. The top of the crater was much colder! I was in a winter coat. Haleakala, meaning "house of the sun", so naturally you have to go see it at sunrise. It was a two hour drive from camp because the roads are not well maintained and you can only drive about 20 mph. Although, I was exhausted from waking up at 4am to make sure I was there in time, the intense beauty of the sun coming up over the horizon woke me up right away. I made it without a moment to spare! It was like you were on another planet looking down at the clouds peaking through the crater rim.
I met a couple, Mitch and Kristen, who were both veterinarians living in San Diego. They saw me at Wai'anapanapa and asked where I was going to be camping next and decided to come. Mitch's old roommate had moved to Maui and was living on a hippie commune nearby. On Sunday nights they have open mic night and serve a raw vegan meal and call themselves Cafe Attitude. We decided to go over and check it out. Mitch and Kristen live in OB and you may remember me talking about that neighborhood and how hippie and laid back it was. Mitch and Kristen, despite being animal lovers and into organic farming, didn't seem to quite fit the typically mold of OB. Cafe attitude took hippie to a whole new level. Everyone was about love and positive vibes. I'm not sure what was in tea everyone was drinking, but it sure was an interesting night. That day before were went to Cafe Attitude Robby and I had gone to town to get some supplies and hung out at one of the beaches near Hana. We ran into a couple of friends of his who went into a deep discussion about getting rid of all your bills and debt by giving it to the IRS. Supposedly it's a big secret that no one wants you to know about because then clearly everyone would want to do it. You simiply mail your bill to the IRS and
they pay it for you. According to them, Donald Trump has been doing for years. They went on to talk about the financial you and the physical you and your financial self is always in capital letters. I told them I was going to look into further. I will definitely be emailing them if I find a way to eliminate my student loan debt. Maybe some of what they are saying is true but not if you ever want to have credit, get a loan, buy a house, or function in the society. I was starting to realize that I could never live in Maui. If I thought Californians were laid back and it was a nice balance for me, this was extreme.
Robby had been living in Hawaii for over 15 years and recently quit his job as a chef on a whale watching boat to move back to Hana. After leaving Kipahula, he was planning to go to a local camping spot in Kaupo for a few days while he was in between places and invited me along. I decided my original plan of going to Hosmer Grove Campground which was halfway up Haleakala summit was probably not a great idea in a hammock because the temperatures at night drop to the single digits so I decided to come along. Before heading there it we made a pit stop in town for more supplies (food, beer, ice). I also requested that we hiked to the red sand beach, which was close to town. There is so much iron in the lava rocks there that the beach is red. It was very secluded but the hike there was hard to find if you didn't know what to look for. It was nice having Robby around to show me all these secret spots.
The campground was not actually a campground but there were others there camping. You drove through a Rasta colored gate that led down to the beach. It was along the shore but there were huge rocks and massive waves making it impossible to swim. It was pretty relaxing. In my hammock asleep by 8pm up by sunrise with naps in between. Robby grew more distant as the days went on. I'm not sure if it was because he knew I had zero interest in him or maybe it was because we didn't have any alcohol and he was shutting down. The last night I tried to hang out but he said he was tired so I left him alone. I woke up in the morning packed up and left, didn't even say goodbye. I appreciated meeting him like I said because he showed me places I wouldn't have known about. There were definitely times that I thought he was full of shit like when he went on and on that he knew Mitch's friend Hana going into detail about her boyfriend and her musical talent and then we got to Cafe Attitude and she ignored him he was like, "Oh I was a talking about a different Hana." Bottom line he was so talkative and friendly and told me so much about himself, his life, his hardships. The whole time I was thought, "Wow, men open up this much!" It was honestly so encouraging to meet someone who wanted to engage in deep conversations and then he suddenly shut down. Maybe he was just a drunk, or a bullshit artist, or maybe it was something I said?
I was headed for Kihei. In need of real shower I figured it was time to get a hotel for one night. On my way I ended up popping a tire on the rental car! The roads are sketchy between Kaupo and Kehei and there is a dirt road for some of the time. I hit a sharp rock and the tire slit. Change of plans. After changing my first flat tire I was headed back to the airport to exchange the car for a new one because the rental company did not authorize that I put a used tire on the car, which was all that was available. It wasn't too far out of the way and then I was back on track and headed to Kihei, a totally different vibe from camping and East Maui. Not yet in West Maui, Kihei is considered on the South side and has a very arid climate. It is also is much more touristy. I checked into my hotel and after an extremely long shower, went to the pool side bar for happy-hour dinner and drinks.
I decided to Uber (yes there is Uber, so much more civilized than camping and dirt roads) to Maui Brewing Co since I had been drinking their IPA Big Swell all week and do love a good brewery. Ultimately, it was kind of a disappointment beer wise but they had a guest tap from one of favorites Modern Times in San Diego and I got some pretty sweet souvenirs.
Now, I am headed further West and back to a campground which is private and I think will be vastly different from the others I have been to so far, offering kayaking and snorkeling.
Aloha, AROOOOO!!! 🌺🌈🍍🌊
Song of the Day
As much reggae island jams I can find!!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
Instagram: lone_she_wolf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)