Humuhumunukunukuapua‘a

Dear travel diary

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

After waking up at 8:00 am, we had breakfast on our terrace and made sandwiches.

In the later morning, we drove towards the Road to Hana from the other side. First, we had to go north to turn around because there is no direct road to the east. The lower part of the Road to Hana, or everything coming from Hana via the road on the northeast side, is declared as somewhat dangerous and difficult to drive. At least that's what you hear from everywhere. However, we knew that the hostel had accomplished this route with their bushes, so we should be able to do it well with our pickup truck.

The road was partly narrow, bumpy, gravelly, and unclear, but we managed to reach our destination, the Visitor Center, without any problems. There we wanted to see the Waimoki waterfall and go to the Seven Sacred Pools.

However, when we arrived, we saw that they were closed and we couldn't swim. So we just walked down and looked at them. We also walked to the Makahiku Fall, which is a little closer than the other one. Since it wasn't very spectacular and we had already seen numerous waterfalls anyway, we returned and drove home.

On the way back, we wanted to experience the feeling of sitting and riding in the back of a pickup truck, so Chantal sat in the back first and then me. It was fun and pleasant with the breeze, but after a while, it became quite uncomfortable and dizzy.

Shortly before we arrived home, we made a stop at Starbucks because we also wanted to experience the American feeling of having a cup in the cup holder one more time.

For dinner, we had grilled salmon, rice, and corn on the cob. Since we only have one stove, we will be grilling more often in the future.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

The morning was cozy. We lazily stayed in bed, eventually got up for breakfast on the terrace, and made sandwiches for the evening. We even had lunch at the Airbnb and then slowly made our way.

Today we are going to Haleakala for the third time. This time, however, we want to take a short hike in the crater and then enjoy the sunset again. So we got dressed warmly and drove up to 3,055 meters above sea level. Up there, as always, there was a cold breeze that made us shiver.

The hiking trail in the crater was beautiful and exciting at the same time. The color of the soil or the rocks changed every few meters, and it felt like walking on a rainbow. We even saw it in the distance behind the red, green, orange, and black little craters.

We also encountered a Nene family with eight little chicks. Nene are chicken-like birds that are endangered and can only be found in the Haleakala National Park and on Big Island. That's why you can always see warning signs for "Nene Xing" on the roadside. The little feathered creatures were sweet with their chirping.

On the way back, we were approached by a mother with a child asking if we could take a photo of them because her phone was out of battery. At first, I was completely confused about how the photo from my camera was supposed to end up in her possession. But then she said we could send it to her, and then it clicked for me (it makes sense).

We walked in the crater for a total of 1:30 hours and then returned to our car. I was so tired after a short and not very restful night that I promptly fell asleep in my car seat. I woke up again after 45 minutes and saw that the weather had gotten worse. Fog spread and swallowed the sun.

Since it was only around 5:00 pm at that time, and we would have had to wait for another two hours, we decided to slowly drive back down. We have already seen the sunset twice, and we will see many more in the future.

So we rolled down the mountain at a snail's pace to waste time and stopped at various beautiful spots to enjoy the view briefly. At one place, we even waited for the sun to disappear behind the clouds. The mood during the descent was similar to the end of the world. Beautiful and at the same time special and almost eerie.

When we arrived home, I even fell asleep with the light on and a phone call next to me, that's how tired I was.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

The morning today was similar to yesterday's, except that we left the house earlier. Equipped with snorkels and fins, we drove to Olowalu Beach, which is apparently good for snorkeling.

Shortly after we set off, we noticed a stowaway on our car's hood. It was a gecko that must have snuck onto our car overnight. The wind during the drive almost blew it away, and we were rooting for it to make it to a safe place. At one point, its life literally hung by a thread as it lifted its upper body and could only hold on with its hind legs. Afterwards, it hid by my window, where the wind wasn't as strong anymore.

When we arrived at the beach, we put on our gear and explored the underwater world. It wasn't very colorful or bustling, but we still saw some beautiful and exciting fish, including the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a which is known for Hawaii.

When we wanted to turn back, I suddenly spotted a turtle. It came so close to us that we could almost touch it. We even watched it eat, which was a beautiful spectacle. In general, it was fascinating to watch this creature and see it glide through the water.

After a tanning session, we packed up and drove to Kihei to a cafe where there is apparently good shave ice. We still hadn't tried it, and it had been on our bucket list for a long time.

So we ordered a Tropical Fantasy shave ice and tried it out critically, as it hadn't really appealed to us so far. Nothing special. Almost like an ice cube with a little syrup on it. Conclusion: Once is enough.

With this refreshing snack, we drove back to the Airbnb briefly to drop off our things and then continued to the airport. There we returned our car and ordered an Uber back home.

Once again, the Uber ride was a "chaferfest" (referring to the driver being talkative). Our driver Christopher was a chatterbox, but really kind and funny. He even asked us if we had ever driven a truck because otherwise, we could have driven his car. Apparently, he had done this once when he had two passengers who had never driven a truck. However, since we had just returned one, we declined his suggestion gratefully.

In the course of the conversation, he found out that we are traveling on a budget and don't earn money in Switzerland as students. He wanted to cancel or stop the Uber ride so that we would have to pay less. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and he felt bad about it. He also mentioned that it's not always about the money for him, but more about being able to put a smile on his passengers' faces, which he definitely succeeded in doing with us.

Now, for the third or fourth time this week, a little operation was on my agenda. Since the beginning of the week, my left toenail has been causing problems since it fell off in the hostel. Now, I have to clean it every evening and remove any pus. As if that wasn't enough, today I actually stepped on a thorn about one centimeter long, which deeply penetrated my heel. For the moment, I was able to remove most of it, but a small, fine piece was still stuck in my foot.

Since it was an annoying spot, I had to leave the operation to Chantal. Fortunately, she managed to get the thorn out completely, and now I only have one foot problem left.

Afterwards, we sat on the rooftop terrace and enjoyed the view with a glass of wine (from Maui) and some chips. Unfortunately, I didn't like the wine at all, it just hit me in the head right away. But with dinner, it got better, and we ended the evening with a sunset and starry sky.