Maui

Maui

With a little sadness, that we couldn't adopt the little dog, we went to the airport. I realized that I forgot to choose the seat, and I hoped we would get a window seat (yes, I had one in school before). We were there too early at the airport (2 hours before boarding) because domestic flights are so easy that you don't need much lead time. The Uber driver dropped us off about 10 meters into the open airport and just threw our luggage outside. Strangely, you always have to take off your shoes at the security check and walk through either in socks or, even worse, barefoot. So always wear shoes through security :-) At some point, boarding started and we noticed that there were hardly any people there. When boarding the plane, the flight attendant just said, 'You can sit where you want, I recommend the right side as you'll see more there - and move a bit back so the weight is better distributed.' So we got our window seat - well, I did, Muriel doesn't like the window.

In Maui, we waited for the Gaston until he brought us the Jeep. We again booked with a family business. He was indeed punctual (17:15) but still a nice hour ;-D

At some point, we got the keys and drove to the hotel.

So I have to say, I really like the Jeep more and more, and it's really fun to drive. 

In Maui, it amusingly turned out to be extremely difficult to find a suitable hotel. There are a lot of apartments for rent by owners, but they are often in quite bad condition (mold, dirty, etc.), so we really wanted a hotel. However, a cool hotel is again expensive. I then found a somewhat affordable one and booked the first two nights (because we first booked a hotel in O'ahu on the last day, and since we both searched for almost an hour, it became too annoying for me, and I just booked it). After we came to the lobby and I gave my name, they looked a bit confused and asked if we possibly booked under another name. Then we quickly threw in the honeymoon joker and said, 'No, we've been married for a few weeks and have the same name.' 'Oh, congratulations'.... :-D But we then found out that I booked for December 4 instead of November 4... That has never happened to me before. But they could do something about it and managed to organize a very nice room for us, including a gift:

Unfortunately without 'Mrs. Switzerland' :-D

The next day, we took it rather easy and after breakfast, we chilled a bit at the hotel pool. But after lunch, we were pulled to the beach. We went in the late afternoon and then thought 'maybe we can still catch a nice sunset.' While basking in the sun, reading, etc., we also got to see some beautiful birds... one of them made a Maaaaaais sound...

Later, we enjoyed a stunning sunset:

So it was worth the wait

The next day, we finally wanted to go snorkeling, so we rented snorkeling equipment right after breakfast and then, on the recommendation of the snorkeling shop, went to the best possible beach. He didn't promise us too much..

Besides the turtles, there were hundreds of other fish - it was amazing :) 

After we slowly but surely had enough sun for the day, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our things, and drove to the next accommodation. This time it was something special: a large old villa (bungalow) with 5 rooms. There was no reception, we booked online and later received a code - with that, we opened the entrance door and room door. When we finally opened the door properly, we had to walk through the garden behind the house and even just being there was amazing.

The entrance area looked like this: 

(From there, it had 5 doors leading to the respective rooms.)

So quite stylish. The villa belongs to another doctor who runs and lives this whole thing with passion alongside.

After we had a nice breakfast in the accommodation, we then drove with the Jeep to Iao Valley. The island of Maui has two mountain ranges: on one side, it's rather dry and here is an old volcano, and on the other side, it’s rather green, and that's where we are now. As soon as you really drive into the rainforest, it's mostly cloudy. On the way up, we had a view like this:

At the end of the road in the valley, there was a little house with a barrier, and the gentleman who was sitting there asked if we had a reservation - unfortunately not. 'Yes, they can be booked online, and if you want to park here, it costs 10 dollars extra.' Then I asked if it was also possible to park outside of the barrier, and he just said, 'Of course'... So why pay when you can park for free just 5 meters away? Unfortunately, there was hardly any cell service in this valley.. They told us which 2 square meters had the 'best' reception. It looked like I was doing some yoga exercises while I was just looking for the best reception :-D After about 5 minutes, it worked out, and I was about to walk to the house when an older gentleman asked me if I could help him.. We then showed him 2-3 things and were slowly getting away - no desire for another yoga session. Inside, we had a beautiful view of the green-covered mountains:

While walking around, we noticed there was a small trail leading up the river - we followed it.

It was worth it because, practically, there were hardly any tourists anymore (Yes, we also asked ourselves if this is really legal), and we felt like the dinosaurs were coming closer..

So it was worth it - even a private natural pool was there.

The next day, something big was waiting for us - or better said, a lot... Our goal was to watch the sunset in Haleakala National Park. The thing is, you drive from 0 meters above sea level (henceforth M.ü.M. called (yes, the thesis shaped me)) to a total of 3,055 M.ü.M. in a short time. We were then reminded of flashbacks to South America and what can happen when you go up so high in a short time. We knew, 'Caution is advised'. We left around 14:00 and took a little drive where we discovered an incredibly sweaty and nervous horse on the road that seemed to have been standing in front of the closed gate and was freaking out. Muriel, the horse whisperer, bravely approached the horse. Luckily, a neighbor was also outside, and we somehow managed to get that horse out. As soon as the gate opened, the horse took off - I don't think I've ever seen a horse run that fast - around the house and into the hole. Either there was a stable or hay/water... anyway, there was an appointment.

Then we quickly grabbed a bite at a food truck and hit the road. With enough time to also take a break in between and get used to the height, we set off. We didn't notice how quickly these height meters stacked up - but now and then we looked down and thought 'That could also be from our flights'.

At some point we arrived at the little house (That was about 400 height meters from the highest point), there we had to pay an entrance fee. Plus, it was indicated that they only allow a certain number of people in.. Great, imagine showing up there and then being told 'Oh no - it's full'.. We then briefly stood in a mini traffic jam and waited for the 10 cars in front of us to pass through. When we looked right, we noticed that we were already above the clouds, and that was special:

Luckily, they let us through, and we continued up. At some point, we rounded a curve and saw a car upside down on the road.. The two people were already outside and unharmed - that's what we saw. We asked if we could help them, and they said everything was 'fine'; they had already called 911 - we then offered them cola, water, and candy sugar and continued on with a slight uneasy feeling, but we couldn't really do anything more for them. The sun was slowly going down, and the golden light was coming - just in time. We parked the car and grabbed a spot.

For me personally, that was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. When you look down how the land looks a bit below and how deep the clouds are. But it was really cold :-D

Cold but beautiful - very beautiful but also extremely cold.. We enjoyed it until the end.

On the top of the hill, there is also an observatory.. Apparently, it's good for stargazing. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay because of the loud shivering in the passenger seat... So once, Muriel took a couple of pictures but it looked more breathtaking in the Atacama Desert.. I wasn’t unhappy to go down because it was already tiring.

The next day, our next adventure was waiting: Road to Hana.. That is a road along the coast (on one side, the cliff drops and the ocean comes soon and on the other side is the mountain (Haleakala)). In total, it's 100 kilometers from the starting point to Hana and a total of 620 curves (one way)..

On these 100 kilometers, there’s a lot to see so you have to mark your favorites from the beginning, otherwise, you’ll stop everywhere for 7 days. Unfortunately, the road beyond Hana was closed, so we had to turn around again.. So 200 kilometers and 1240 curves... Arosa is a joke compared to this (you have to go up with military bikes).

The first stop was a bamboo jungle.

Where we were bitten by about 200 mosquitoes..

Because there are so many stops, it distributes quite well. So, there weren’t really that many people. The next stop was a botanical garden where you could drive in with the car and had three parking options and could get out and explore a bit.

I could show you sooo many cool pictures but we'll save that for the cow-coffee-dish-show-Sunday afternoon?

We then continued and made 2-3 more stops (waterfalls, etc.). Ultimately, we arrived in Hana and had two major highlights: Blacksand Beach and Redsand Beach. At Blacksand Beach, there was a similar annoying reservation system again. I then waited briefly at the check-in, and Muriel Googled if we could somehow go to the beach (reservations are always for the next day so we couldn’t book right there). And indeed, the old lady with the megaphone yelled in 'Guys mooove on'. 'Jooooo, that’s alright, we're leaving'... At Redsand Beach, it looked different - there we could park somewhere in the neighborhood and just jump over the fence.. The beach is officially not open.. But it was definitely worth it, even if the way was a bit tricky..

Especially the green of the plants and the red sand with the turquoise water.

That was also our last stop and we made our way back.

After reaching our accommodation, we slept like babies.. Strenuous but very beautiful!

The next day, we wanted to take it easy and we headed back to a beautiful beach, borrowed snorkeling gear and a sun umbrella, and then left. At the beach where the snorkeling shop guy recommended, we searched for a spot. Unfortunately, it was quite windy.. Muriel soon wandered off and got something to eat at the next hotel Alag (maybe fries?). In the meantime, I set up our spot.. Muriel probably shouldn’t have gone.. I then set up the umbrella, and it blew the umbrella away, and it was spinning around. I somehow managed to hold it, and at that moment both towels got caught in that spinning - I had to lift them with my foot.. Everything was covered in sand after 10 minutes at the beach - I felt like dying. The one or the other who didn’t have an umbrella started to chuckle discreetly and one guy who was helping his wife, I gestured to them, as if to say 'I already noticed that you’re laughing at me'..

Muriel eventually came back with her portion of fries and a cold iced tea 'Is everything good'?....... :-D But hey, snorkeling was great... There were turtles again and many fish.. However, when I was quite far out, a huge long fish swam towards me with an ugly face... I swam faster than ever.. At 17:01 we arrived at the snorkeling shop 'At 17:00 we close'.. Nobody was around - then they are always super strict around closing time.. Unfortunately, the shop was about 60 minutes away from our accommodation.. The next day, we had our flight to the next island, so we didn't have the energy to drive an extra 2 hours. We dropped the umbrella and snorkeling gear at the rental car dealer and asked if we could send the guy from the snorkeling shop to pick it up tomorrow.. Reluctantly, they said 'Okay'... Although there was also something to be given at the coffee register. We didn’t hear anything back, so everything went well from there on (we informed the snorkeling shop's central about it in the morning).

The next day we relaxed at the airport, returned the car, and then right to Kauai. Our last island before heading back to O'ahu.

Next Stop: Kauai