Quick Trip to Hawaii

Published on June 27, 2009 in United States

Yan-Shih and I have just returned from a trip to Hawaii for Ian's wedding - and what a fun, fast-paced time we had! I left work a few minutes early on Thursday and went straight to the airport, where I met Yan-Shih, and we boarded our 6:00pm flight to Honolulu. The flight was slightly bumpy, and we tried to sleep. Our flight of choice was Jetstar, which was mediocre as always (imagine flying EasyJet for 10 hours), but we knew to plan ahead as much as possible.

After arriving in Honolulu we quickly boarded the little bus to the other terminal, and boarded a second plane to Maui. A short island hop later and we landed in Kahului. Immediately after leaving the airport, and marveling at how tan everybody was, we hitched a ride with the Thrifty van to the rental car depot. Just as we arrived at the depot we glanced over and saw a tow truck with a totalled car - this acted as a sombre reminder to purchase the highest level of insurance we could. We arranged to pick up the car extra early on Friday, and hitched a ride back to the airport. We waited 30 minutes for the next bus, and departed to the main part of Kahului.

A short busride later (the mall we wanted to go to was only 4k or so from the airport), we walked into the Maui Seaside Hotel. The hotel staff were kind enough, yet the hotel was just what we expected. We rested for a few minutes, then left to catch a bus down the Piilani Hwy. The bus slowly meandered down the coastal road, and when we saw most of the locals jump off, we followed. Yan-Shih had some craving for "American food", and the best I could think of was Denny's. After Denny's we played on the beach some, and waited for the bus the other direction. A few hours later we were back at the hotel, and in bed by 11:30pm.

Friday started a regular regime for us: waking up early. The alarm buzzed at 6:15, and we were on the Dollar bus heading to Thrifty at 7:00am. I had arranged a "mystery car", and at 7:15am were delighted that it was a clean Dodge Charger. Well, clean on the outside, the inside was a bit smoky, which led to an increased carsickness rate when combined with the curvy roads. I closed my eyes and visualised being a 16 year old again (visualising driving on the right side of the road), and we set off. I adjusted quickly, and thankfully the Hawaiian drivers were quick mellow - nobody seemed to be in much of a hurry. Juxtaposing this to Sydney, and the hellish traffic we have here, I was quite happy.

The main reason for waking up so early was so we could go up to the Haleakala National Park before going to Ian's wedding. To maintain the "American food" motif, we at breakfast at IHOP, where Yan-Shih proceeded to drink six cups of coffee. I should have known better, just as a parent should know better when their kid starts devouring candy. A short (by Sydney time) drive and we were at the brim of the Volcano, surrounded by Japanese tourist groups.

Although the Thrifty rental guy said stick to the highways, I soon veered onto the side streets to see some of the countryside. We passed through some beautiful scenery, much of which reminded me of driving around New Zealand's South Island. Upon leaving one uneventful turn a small town emerged, which we naturally visited for coffee. Soon we were back on the road, and after a few wrong directions, hit the Hana Hwy.

Ian had warned me about driving the Hana Hwy, and this was actually the main reason behind spending as much on insurance as we did on the car rental. The first part of the highway was quite tame, but quickly turned curvy. Two and a half hours later we emerged in Hana, successfully, and pulled into Ian's guesthouse.

Although Ian and Xiaowen weren't there when we arrived, we sat down and interviewed Xiaowen's parents. Soon Ian arrived, and we started helping entertain the steady stream of guests. The guests started to wander out or to bed, so after helping clean, we snuggled onto his couches and fell asleep.

Bright and early the sun illuminated Yan-Shih, which meant I was awoken shortly thereafter. We finished checking email, and left for the wedding.

The ceremony was just lovely - Ian and Xiaowen were very lucky to have this special moment in such a great location, surrounded by close friends and family. After the ceremony we had lunch at the resort and went back to the guesthouse. Ian and Xiaowen finally looked relaxed, and we left.

I should explain why we could only stay for less than 48 hours. Our entire trip to Hawaii needed to be short; I have just started a (greaaat!) new position, which means I think it would be irresponsible to take significant vacation. Our flight back to Sydney needed to be very early on Monday, so early in fact that we needed to stay the night in Honolulu on Sunday. This meant staying Saturday night near the Maui airport.

After saying our goodbyes we departed and I drove back to our Hotel. We arrived sleepy, but content. However, we weren't hungry, had a car, so drove up into the hills. Looking across the lights of Kahului reminded me of parking on top of Park Street in Ashland, but with an ocean. Our thirst for "American food" heightened, and we ate some Taco Bell.

Sunday we woke up early, again, and drove to the airport. Soon we were on the plane, again, and landed in Honolulu. Our itinerary wasn't particularly full for Honolulu; actually, the only thing on our list was seeing Pearl Harbour. We boarded one of the buses from the airport, and within an hour were at Pearl Harbour. One of the benefits of traveling light is that we could just jump on and off transport. Visiting Pearl Harbour mimicked the feeling of visiting other famous sites; I'd read so much about the attack, but I could start to have a personal visualisation of what it must have been like. The entire memorial area has been wonderfully organised. Before visiting the Arizona we listened to an introduction from a previous veteran who shared his story of the attack. I still feel moved when I hear veterans from WWII speak.

After the memorial we went to our Hotel and checked-in. The room was small, but clean enough. We left our bags and started wandering around Waikiki Beach. Naturally we found the semi-night market, and had some reasonable sushi. Soon we started to fell tired and went back to the hotel, where Yan-Shih continued work on her PhD, and I fell asleep.

At 5:30am we woke up and left for the airport, and by 7:40am the plane was leaving Hawaii. I've been on a lot of flights, but this was likely one of the worse. Since we were flying Jetstar, there were no individual TVs (unless we wanted to pay $30 for one). The large guy in front of me kept pushing his chair back and moving, which meant I couldn't even use my laptop or table. Last, the row next to us had a psycho kid that just couldn't sit still. For the first five hours the kid kept saying "daaad daaad daaaad" over and over, mixed with "oi ei oi ei oi ei". Then, when the mom would go to the bathroom, the kid would should "maaaaa maaaa maaa maaa". I'm extremely patient, but even I was getting a bit annoyed. Everybody in the near vicinity had the same look on their faces: "give that kid some whiskey." Well, maybe not quite that look, but something like that. He soon fell asleep, but was right back at it for the remaining three hours.

Leaving that flight was a great feeling. We were back home by 5:30, and awake early the next morning for work.

So, what would be my final thoughts on Hawaii? I felt Hawaii was a combination of a handful of elements from other places we have visited. The hills were like Taiwan, the bush like Laos or Thailand, the beaches like here in Sydney, and the laid back attitude like back in Ashland. It was certainly nice, and I bet living in Maui would be about as relaxing as anywhere, but we were still relieved to be back in Sydney.

Tagged as: hawaii | ian | united states | wedding

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