Hawaii – Mother Nature Greets You
Before coming to Hawaii we heard that every island has its own different vibe. And because we had 4 weeks we decided to see 4 islands. Makes sense? 🙂
Kauai:
Our first stop was Kauai which is also known as the garden island. We first stayed in Poipu located in the south of the island. Sometimes the south coast gets some waves for surfing but unfortunately not while we were there. So instead we drove around to explore the island. In terms of nature Kauai has a lot to offer. Most famous is the Waimea canyon and the Napali Coast. As you know we explored the Napali Coast with the a bit too adventurous Kalalau Trail (see post before). A couple of days before we also explored the canyon with the short canyon hike. April is the end of the rain season so the canyon was extremely green which gave a nice picture together next to the red stones of the canyon.
We always wanted to do a helicopter tour on our trip and we were told the best is to do it over Kauai. Because we did the flight before the Kalalau trail we didn’t have enough of adventure yet, so we had to do the “doors off” helicopter tour. 🙂 It was a great way to see the island from a different perspective and we also brought back some nice pictures of the coast (ok, maybe a bit too many).
Big Island:
Once we organized everything after the flooding on Kauai we only had two days left for Big Island. We still decided to go even for two days, because Patrick really really wanted to see a volcano with lava 🙂 . When we stayed at Kona we enjoyed to feel the spirit and to see the scenery of the Ironman World championship. As Nina had lost her running shoes due the flooding she bought a new pair of shoes in a shop for runners. It was full of posters with Ironman participants and winners who visited the shop before. Let’s see maybe Nina returns one day and gets a poster in there as well. 😉
On our second day we went to see the volcano. The most spectacular was to see the magma lake during dawn. The ranger explained us that the volcano shows increased signs of activity and that something is going to happen but they don’t know when. Only a few days later the volcano proved here right. There was a big eruption 3 days after we left and thousands of Hawaiians had to be evacuated by now. It’s incredible that we almost got into a second natural catastrophy within one week. Looks like Hawaii is also a place of extremes. Glad we at least skipped on the volcanic eruption this time.
Maui:
We were really looking forward for Maui to hang loose and to sun, surf, beach and cocktails. We even booked a private surf guide in advance as we heard that surfing in Hawaii can get very competitive. At the end we were really sad even though we drove around for 9 days we couldn’t find any good waves. Either too much wind on the north shore or absolutely no swell in the south and west. Unfortunately also the weather was bad again which slowly dampened our mood.
Every Sunday there is a drum circle at “little beach” which is famous for hippie community that sometimes likes to play the drums naked. So at least we were lucky the Sunday we went as it was the best and sunniest day with a really nice sunset.
Oahu:
We have met a few people before who traveled Hawaii and most recommended to skip Honolulu. Thats why we planned in only four days. But at the end we have to say we regret to not have stayed longer. We found Oahau has a lot to offer. We liked the beach at Waikiki, the clear water and of course the mellow waves which were really fun. And not to forget about the plenty restaurants in Waikiki. It was a good way to finish our Hawaii trip.
