Yesterday's blog was sure a hit - 23 views! Today is our last day on Maui. We have to check out in 38 mins and then our plan is to go and meet up with one of Gwen's co-workers (James) who is also here on Maui in Kihei.
Today will most likely be another relaxing beach day. The sun is poking through the clouds every once in a while which should make for a day of sunburns knowing how the girls keep saying "um, I don't think I need sunscreen" to which Devin and I also reply "yes, we don't want to deal with the complaining afterwards".
Our flight leaves at 6:00 tonight and we get into Kaui at 6:45. From there we will probably just grab our bags and rental car and make our way to the hotel, Kauai Beach Resort.
Now, time to finish packing my bag. Until Kauai, so long.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Monday, 28 January 2013
The Road to Hana
Yesterday's drive went really well. We left at 8:15am and arrived back at our condo by 8:30pm - this included a stop for lunch in Hana at the Hana Ranch Restaurant and a stop in Lahaina at Outback Steakhouse for supper.
The drive is quite remarkable. The journey is only 75 miles (one way) but takes you 2.5 hrs to drive as most of the drive on the Hana highway is limited to 15-20 mph. There are over 600 "hairpin turns" and over 50 bridges that you cross - many of these bridges are one lane bridges and you have to yield to on coming traffic. My shoulders are pretty sore today from all of the two-handed driving. The drive would have been even better if we had a sports car or convertible - driving a minivan just didn't give the same awesomeness to the drive.
Along the way we made multiple stops at roadside waysides and state parks and saw many cool things:
Once in Hana, there really isn't much to do. After we ate lunch we walked the beach in Hana Bay and then headed back. This was expected as what we read was "the drive to Hana isn't about the destination but the journey".
Once back at the condo, I lied down on the bed and fell asleep - I must have been worn out from being so focused on the drive.
Today's itinerary: relaxing (possibly the beach) and the gals want to do some shopping... Devin and I have some beer to finish off today as we are leaving tomorrow evening for Kauai.
The drive is quite remarkable. The journey is only 75 miles (one way) but takes you 2.5 hrs to drive as most of the drive on the Hana highway is limited to 15-20 mph. There are over 600 "hairpin turns" and over 50 bridges that you cross - many of these bridges are one lane bridges and you have to yield to on coming traffic. My shoulders are pretty sore today from all of the two-handed driving. The drive would have been even better if we had a sports car or convertible - driving a minivan just didn't give the same awesomeness to the drive.
Along the way we made multiple stops at roadside waysides and state parks and saw many cool things:
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| Twin Falls |
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| Upper Falls at Twin Falls |
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| The girls swimming at the Upper Falls |
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| Da Boyz swimming at the Upper Falls |
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| Taking a shower (at the Upper Falls) |
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| One of the over 600 hairpin turns |
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| At Black Sand Beach looking towards the mountains and stream emptying into the Ocean |
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| A snail at Keanae Arboretum |
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| Two cars that didn't quite make that turn... |
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| A one-lane bridge |
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| Hana Bay |
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| Another one lane bride with a remarkable view |
Once back at the condo, I lied down on the bed and fell asleep - I must have been worn out from being so focused on the drive.
Today's itinerary: relaxing (possibly the beach) and the gals want to do some shopping... Devin and I have some beer to finish off today as we are leaving tomorrow evening for Kauai.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Maui Day 3
Today was a beach day. It started off with trying to sleep in but couldn't get past 8:30am. I actually thought I would have to get up at 6:30am when I couldn't fall back to sleep after 20 mins of trying.
Mel, Gwen and I went for a jog this morning. It is sure different jogging outside with warm, humid air and "topography" as Gwen calls it (Mel and I just prefer "elevation" or "hills"). I looked at the map and planned our route only to realize that the map didn't show that where I wanted to go was through gated condo complexes (complices?). So, I modified our route on the fly and we ended up doing roughly 2 miles, the exact distance I was hoping to try to achieve.
Afterwards, we went to the pool while Devin nursed his sore throat from all the sea-water he was drinking yesterday. His throat was so bad that he could barely talk this morning - Mel was kind of excited but that soon changed and now at 5:36pm he is back to normal with respect to talking ;)
We had lunch at the condo today. Nothing big, just eggs, hashbrowns, steak and pineapple. It was delish. Then, we all packed up for our afternoon on the beach.
The sun was hot and the water was warm. We spent probably the better part of 2.5 hrs at the beach and then made our way back to the condo after the loads of whale watchers (many of them intoxicated) were loading onto the boats from shore and were surrounding us on the beach. I got so frustrated that I had to leave - yes, I know, just like my dad...
Now, we are just finishing up showering and getting ready to go to Lulu's in Lahina, about 10 mins away. Here I am all dressed up ready to go, sitting on the "lanai" (balcony) waiting for the girls to finish getting ready.
Tomorrow I think we are doing the drive to Hana - should be a full day event as the drive is about 3 hrs from our condo and will traverse about 50% of the island of Maui.
Mel, Gwen and I went for a jog this morning. It is sure different jogging outside with warm, humid air and "topography" as Gwen calls it (Mel and I just prefer "elevation" or "hills"). I looked at the map and planned our route only to realize that the map didn't show that where I wanted to go was through gated condo complexes (complices?). So, I modified our route on the fly and we ended up doing roughly 2 miles, the exact distance I was hoping to try to achieve.
Afterwards, we went to the pool while Devin nursed his sore throat from all the sea-water he was drinking yesterday. His throat was so bad that he could barely talk this morning - Mel was kind of excited but that soon changed and now at 5:36pm he is back to normal with respect to talking ;)
We had lunch at the condo today. Nothing big, just eggs, hashbrowns, steak and pineapple. It was delish. Then, we all packed up for our afternoon on the beach.
The sun was hot and the water was warm. We spent probably the better part of 2.5 hrs at the beach and then made our way back to the condo after the loads of whale watchers (many of them intoxicated) were loading onto the boats from shore and were surrounding us on the beach. I got so frustrated that I had to leave - yes, I know, just like my dad...
Now, we are just finishing up showering and getting ready to go to Lulu's in Lahina, about 10 mins away. Here I am all dressed up ready to go, sitting on the "lanai" (balcony) waiting for the girls to finish getting ready.
Tomorrow I think we are doing the drive to Hana - should be a full day event as the drive is about 3 hrs from our condo and will traverse about 50% of the island of Maui.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Maui Day 1 Photos
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| The glowing horizon and stars |
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| Haleakala Crater |
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| Gwen at the Crater |
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| First glimpse of the sun |
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| Sunshine and warmth |
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| My money shot today ;) |
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| Me at the Crater top |
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| The crew warming up |
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| Gwen on the Crater rim |
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| The salute |
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| The road on the way down |
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Made it to Maui
What a travel day. Today started out with a 4am wake up followed by a quick cab ride to the airport to start our adventure here.
Flights were pretty much on time. We made it into Vancouver by 9:45am only to have to walk through the entire airport and wait I the US security line for about 45 mins. This didn't allow us much time to grab a food. The last few times through Vancouver we grabbed breakfast at a restaurant in the terminal on the US side. This time the restaurant was closed for renovations so we had to do something else. Luckily Tims was open and so too was a Chinese food place so that we could grab lunch for our flight.
Vancouver to Maui was a 6 hrs flight. The first 4 hrs of the flight was somewhat turbulent so the beverage service was delayed. We watched a movie on Gwen's iPad and napped. Arrival was right on time at 2pm.
We to get our rental car and got a free upgrade to a minivan. Pretty good because it easily accommodates all of our bags and the 200$ worth of groceries that we bought.
It sounds like the plan will be to go to the Haleakala Mountain for sunrise. Early morning again with a scheduled 3am wakeup call - however this will be equivalent to a 7am wakeup back in the 204 area code. Friday will be our snorkelling outing at Molokini and Lanai. Other than that, don't have any definite plans.
The photos attached are of our condo and the view out the balcony.
Well, time to finish up my Kona Fire Rock (beer).
Flights were pretty much on time. We made it into Vancouver by 9:45am only to have to walk through the entire airport and wait I the US security line for about 45 mins. This didn't allow us much time to grab a food. The last few times through Vancouver we grabbed breakfast at a restaurant in the terminal on the US side. This time the restaurant was closed for renovations so we had to do something else. Luckily Tims was open and so too was a Chinese food place so that we could grab lunch for our flight.
Vancouver to Maui was a 6 hrs flight. The first 4 hrs of the flight was somewhat turbulent so the beverage service was delayed. We watched a movie on Gwen's iPad and napped. Arrival was right on time at 2pm.
We to get our rental car and got a free upgrade to a minivan. Pretty good because it easily accommodates all of our bags and the 200$ worth of groceries that we bought.
It sounds like the plan will be to go to the Haleakala Mountain for sunrise. Early morning again with a scheduled 3am wakeup call - however this will be equivalent to a 7am wakeup back in the 204 area code. Friday will be our snorkelling outing at Molokini and Lanai. Other than that, don't have any definite plans.
The photos attached are of our condo and the view out the balcony.
Well, time to finish up my Kona Fire Rock (beer).
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Two more days!
What a busy weekend.
Things started off yesterday with a trip to Costco and to the gym, all completed before noon. Then, I proceeded to do laundry, host a party to watch the Jets game all while talking to Gwen. She only complained a little about it being too loud so I told everyone to "BE QUIET!".
I watched a little bit of the Toronto-Montreal game but really wasn't in the mood to watch either team play in their exhibition season style. So, instead I popped in a movie (Wayne's World 2) and had a 30 min nap. Afterwards, I talked to Gwen again (once I was able to wake her up from her nap - "wake me up in an hour and a half" she said; 2 hrs later I finally was able to wake her up from sending multiple text messages... next time, Gwen, turn on your ringer).
Today was supposed to start at 9:30 with an inspection. Instead, the inspection was at 11:30 but this was ok, I was able to get lots of work done before (and after). More laundry, washed my car, made friends with the other TDI owner (Richard), packed and did more work.
Now, time to try to wind down and get ready for 1.5 busy days of work. Only half a day on Tuesday as I'm trying to fly back at 4pm so I can be home by 8pm, pack and get ready for HAWAII! Otherwise, flights are out at 8 or 9pm with arrival in Winnipeg at midnight.
My schedule for the week is pretty packed - tomorrow has one inspection and 3 performance reviews plus other meetings. Then, hockey at 10pm. Tuesday has one inspection and 2 performance reviews - all of which need to be completed before 2:30 so I can be at the airport for 3pm, check my suitcase, get through security and fly home.
Here's to hoping everything goes well tomorrow and Tuesday!
Things started off yesterday with a trip to Costco and to the gym, all completed before noon. Then, I proceeded to do laundry, host a party to watch the Jets game all while talking to Gwen. She only complained a little about it being too loud so I told everyone to "BE QUIET!".
I watched a little bit of the Toronto-Montreal game but really wasn't in the mood to watch either team play in their exhibition season style. So, instead I popped in a movie (Wayne's World 2) and had a 30 min nap. Afterwards, I talked to Gwen again (once I was able to wake her up from her nap - "wake me up in an hour and a half" she said; 2 hrs later I finally was able to wake her up from sending multiple text messages... next time, Gwen, turn on your ringer).
Today was supposed to start at 9:30 with an inspection. Instead, the inspection was at 11:30 but this was ok, I was able to get lots of work done before (and after). More laundry, washed my car, made friends with the other TDI owner (Richard), packed and did more work.
Now, time to try to wind down and get ready for 1.5 busy days of work. Only half a day on Tuesday as I'm trying to fly back at 4pm so I can be home by 8pm, pack and get ready for HAWAII! Otherwise, flights are out at 8 or 9pm with arrival in Winnipeg at midnight.
My schedule for the week is pretty packed - tomorrow has one inspection and 3 performance reviews plus other meetings. Then, hockey at 10pm. Tuesday has one inspection and 2 performance reviews - all of which need to be completed before 2:30 so I can be at the airport for 3pm, check my suitcase, get through security and fly home.
Here's to hoping everything goes well tomorrow and Tuesday!
Saturday, 19 January 2013
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