Maui Wowie

After that never ending day, it was finally June 24^th 2023. A new day! I woke up and got packed to leave while listening the unwell man continue his monologues from yesterday. I dragged my luggage down to the street and got an Uber to the airport. I was going to split the Uber with my other roommate going to Japan but he had other plans first so it didn’t work out. At the gate, I realized that yet again, I hadn’t eaten a meal, wouldn’t be able to for a bit, and was very hungry. This time it was breakfast I missed so I bought a protein and fruit box from Starbucks to hold me over before getting on the plane.

I took off from Honolulu and a few minutes later, I heard that we were descending. Shortest flight of my life! Even on such a quick flight, Hawaiian Airlines had the time to provide us with a cup of tropical juice. Upon landing in Maui, I went to pick up my checked bag but it never showed up. For some reason, it had been put on a later flight. While I waited, I bought a Lei (those Hawaiian necklaces). They hadn’t provided one for free like you see on TV. Eventually, my luggage arrived. I wasn’t too bothered by having to waiting because my rental car reservation was for 2:00 anyway and by the time I got my luggage, it was 1:30. I rode the tram to the rental car place and got my key. I had a new Nissan Altima!

For the first time in my life, I was driving in Hawaii! I luckily got used to driving back on right side of the road again after my driving stint in New Zealand. It took around forty minutes to get from the airport to my hostel in Lahaina. At this hostel, I would be sleeping in a private tent which was the cheapest option I could find on the island. I got checked in and moved my stuff into my tent. I called my parents briefly and then had to go into the world and find something to eat. I went to a café down the road (it turned out to be a bit fancier that a café) and I got some Mahi Mahi fish which was yummy.

It was still early after eating so I went to the beach and waded into the water. I then drove to Food Land and bought some things to eat for breakfasts and lunches so I don’t starve as easily. I also met one of the people living at the hostel. She was born in Pittsfield and kept saying “Go Patriots”. She talked to me a bit about what to do here in Maui. I decided to sign up for a surf lesson and a tour to the top of Haleakalā for the following day! In the evening, I met a dude living here who was super friendly and kept offering me cheesecake and other sweets he had in the kitchen. It was clear that he was a main player in the hostel. Apparently he has a lot of life lessons because, according to him, he has screwed up a lot.

It had been a long day. I was ready for bed. I was glad I had brought my headtorch from my tramping days because it came in handy in my tent when it was dark out.

The next morning, I woke up early to roosters and other birds making lots of sounds. I got ready, ate breakfast, and made my way down to the surf lesson. I was very early so I chilled on the beach and then returned to the surf center at the proper time. We were given special shoes and our surfboard. I was in a group of five which consisted of two couples and me. Our instructor took us down to the water, showed us the basics on the land and then we paddled out to a buoy to start surfing. One at a time, we’d paddle out to the instructor and he’d help us get started and then we’d try to surf back to land, paddle back to the buoy, wait for our turn and repeat. I was so nervous to try it but I got up on my board on the first try and it was fun! It reminded me of sledding because the surfing was great but then you’d have to trudge back to the starting place by paddling on the board which was exhausting.

I was glad there were five people in the group because it gave me time to rest before my turn. Towards the end of the lesson though, the instructor started having the couples go in pairs so that they could get cute photos of each other together making a heart with their hands. As the fifth wheel, I just went solo but this meant less time to rest between surfs. By the end, I was exhausted!

I headed back to the hostel, made a bagel with cream cheese and lox for lunch, and then walked into the Lahaina town to check it out. I saw an interesting art exhibit with drawings of celebrities, the Lahaina Banyan Tree, the Fleetwood Mac restaurant, and a lot of stores I probably couldn’t afford anything in. I got some pineapple-orange shaved ice at the end because my friends told me I should try it. Delicious!!

I drove over to a Whole Foods in Kahului which is where I was supposed to be picked up for my Haleakalā tour. I got there early and was able to buy some food for dinner. In the fruit section, I found a new food called Longans. They are a fruit that looks a lot like a lychee on the inside and tastes a bit like one. I learned that I don’t like them as much as lychees though.

Our tour was led by a couple that owned two minivans. It wasn’t some big tour company. They just picked us up outside the Baskin Robbins and drove us to Haleakalā. I was put in the car with the wife tour guide and a couple visiting from Florida. After a quick stop at a giftshop, we drove up the volcano and when we got to the top, we took lots of pictures and waited for the sunset. It was stunning! We were above the clouds. And amazingly, even in Hawaii, it was cold! That was because of how high up we were (10,000 feet about sea level). I was the only person on the tour who was not there as part of a couple and I was also the only one under the age of fifty. I’ve found Hawaii isn’t really a place people go to alone lol. That said, everyone was very kind and I felt very involved.

Once we were back at the Whole Foods, I had to then drive forty minutes back to the hostel in the dark. Upon my return, I ran into a few fellow residents including one dude from Arizona I had met the day before. After chatting a bit, they invited me to a bar but I politely declined. I had to be up very early the following morning. 

Instead of the 5:00am alarm from the roosters waking me up, I relied on my phone to wake me up at 5:00. Yes, 5:00am. The reason was that I was heading off on a snorkeling trip and I had to be at the boat launch at 6:00am. I quickly got ready and drove to the meeting spot. This was a much bigger tour than Haleakalā and instead of a bunch of couples, it was a bunch of families. And me. My family and I had actually signed up to do this tour in June of 2020 but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to cancel our Hawaii trip. So, I was finally going to experience it for myself.

We loaded onto the boat and found seats. There was some breakfast snacks put out on the table for us to eat. As the boat drove towards Molokini Crater, we were given our snorkel goggles and flippers. I got a wetsuit and floaty as well because I learned from our French guide when snorkeling in Sydney with Owen that these accessories don’t make you look weak, they help you better enjoy your time seeing fish which is the whole point of snorkeling.

When we got to the crater, we climbed into the water and had about forty minutes to look around at the fish. When I jumped in, there was mainly just one kind of fish that I saw and it was very pretty. As cool as it was though, forty minutes just felt a bit too long for looking at the same fish.

We were supposed to go to Turtle Town next to see sea turtles but apparently the current conditions meant that area would have cloudy water and we wouldn’t see turtles. So, we just moved to a different part of the crater and we had another hour to look at those same fish. Again, they were nice fish, but it was just too much time in my opinion.

Back on the boat, we were able to dry off and get lunch. On the website it promised vegetarians would get a veggie burger with all the fixings. Instead I got some sort of meat sandwich I had to remove the meat from because they missed that I had selected “vegetarian” when I signed up. So, yet another failed meal. And then I missed the cookies they were handing out because I had to pay for the wetsuit which in my opinion should have been free.

I was hot, hungry and lonely when I returned to the car. The fish were nice but I felt like the tour was a bit of a disappointment. And I was tired of doing all these things alone while watching all these other people enjoying with their families. I wasn’t going to be able to fix the lonely issue just yet but I could fix the hot and hungry part. To fix the hot, I turned on the car and with it, the A/C. And the hunger? I found a pizza place nearby and ordered a medium pineapple pizza to go.

Because the day started so early, I still had a lot of it left. I knew that the first season of the show White Lotus was filmed at a Four Seasons right around where I was on the island so I decided to check it out. I ended up, unsurprisingly, in a very rich, gated community area of Maui. I wasn’t sure I’d even be allowed to get to the Four Seasons and it was hard to park anywhere so I gave up and went to Big Beach instead.

The boys at the hostel had told me about Big Beach yesterday. This beach is known for huge waves, strong currents and dangerous shore breaks. I sat in the car in the parking lot for a bit talking to my mom and Elina (my dad was on another call). That certainly helped my loneliness. They also helped me get some ideas for what to do tomorrow. I was boiling at this point so I headed to the beach and enjoyed watching the insane waves come in. The beach definitely had some strong currents and I was very careful not to go too deep.

The lifeguards announced how dangerous this beach was and how many injuries/deaths had occurred in the past. No one is allowed to surf here.

I felt done with the beach so I decided to return to Lahaina. On the way, I went back to the Four Seasons to see if I could park at the hotel. I rolled down the hill and found myself being greeted by valets. I explained I was just trying to turn around and then I got out of there. It certainly had White Lotus rich vibes.

By accident, I had left Target as my destination on my maps app so I ended up at a Target near the airport. I was going to go tomorrow to Target to buy a phone tripod (I had lost mine) but since I ended up there by accident, I bought the tripod then. I also got some Caprisun juice boxes cuz hey, I’m on vacation.

Finally back at the hostel, I found a fish restaurant and got takeout salmon which was very yummy. I caught up on some computer work including writing my blog. I was talking to one guy at the hostel that was interested in going with me to the Bamboo Forest tomorrow which sounded fun but then I saw that the Bamboo Forest is way on the other side of Maui, past Hana and much farther than I wished to drive.  After some investigation, I decided to sign up for a pineapple farm tour in the morning and then I would drive to the Garden of Eden botanical gardens in the afternoon.

I was feeling better about the whole loneliness thing. It’s temporary and I had some fun activities planned so should be another great day in Maui!