Island Hopping

While we’re here in Hawai’i we wanted to travel to some of the other islands and experience the wild and culture that each has to offer. Looking at our travel schedule earlier in the week, we realized that we need to start getting some things booked so we decided to head to Maui this past weekend.

Early Departure

We had to wake up at 3:00am in order to get Keona dropped off at Heather’s, (her sitters for the weekend, whom we found on Rover.com). After getting her dropped off at ~4:30am near Honolulu, we headed to the airport to get checked in for our 6:30am departure.

I’ve never been on a prop plane before or boarded directly on the tarmac so it was an interesting experience. The gate is on the ground floor and you simply walk out and follow the path guarded by the security ropes on both sides.

Propeller View

Our seats were right next to the propeller which made really interesting sounds as it ramped up and took off – much louder and more variable than jet-engine planes with internal props. The views were amazing, as you’ll see in the video towards the end of the post.

Early Arrival

When we landed, we were greeted by Celine, our RelayRides host for our trip. We rented her 2015 Honda Fit and it proved to be a great decision as we travelled the island.

Since we arrived so early, our hotel wasn’t available for check-in yet so we decided to grab some breakfast at a local joint. We ate at LuLu’s Lahaina Surf Club and Grill – which appeared to be one of the top local spots. The ceiling was decorated with canoes and old surf boards, with lots of local woods.

While at breakfast we looked up some area attractions and entertainment where we found the Dragon’s Teeth Hike on our list so we headed about 5 miles north to start exploring.

Dragon’s Teeth Hike & Lunch

The hike lead us past one of the holes on the golf course and along the shoreline. We were met by walls of large, sharp & point lava rocks that had been shaped by the water and wind over thousands of years. It was interesting to see all of the little creatures that were in the small tide pools while the tide was out. Everything from eels to fish and sea urchins.

After the hike, we headed to Dukes Beach House that was right on the water and enjoyed some lunch. We both went with the local Fish & Chips (caught locally) and enjoyed a couple island beverages.

Aston Kaanapali Shores

Once we were finally able to check-in we headed down to the resort pool and decide to relax for the day. When we checked-in, they upgraded us to a suite from a single room, which ended up having a full living room, kitchen, bathroom and a separate bedroom with a large king bed. We definitely didn’t have any complaints and we also had a partial view of the ocean.

The drinks were good and the sun was hot. It was a great day to relax by the pool, read a book, and enjoy some down time. We knew we had quite the trip for us in the morning, as we were about to wake at 2am and make the trek up to the summit of Haleakala.

Mount Haleakala

Haleakalā means “House of the Sun” in Hawai’ian and rightfully so. You’re able to witness God and the most gorgeous sunrises here. The park ranger said that she’s been working there for 17 years and has never seen the same sunrise twice. Talk about magical.

We started our morning on Saturday with a 2:00am alarm and got ready for the trip. We left at 2:30 and it took us about 2.5 hours to make the drive across the island and up to the summit at 10,000 feet. The winding and curving roads on the way up kept us alert as we passed through layers and layers of clouds.

The clouds were plenty at the altitude of the summit, but we were still able to witness a great sunrise. As the sun broke through, there were some native Hawai’ians that were belting out a warrior sunrise chant, it was a powerful atmosphere.

Here’s the video of the flight scenery and the sunrise at Haleakalā National Park at the summit.

After the sun rose, most people made the trip back down but Lauren and I drove up to another look-out where the observatory is and hiked around for a bit, waiting for the fog to finally clear. It never fully cleared but we got some photos of the landscape and even one of the observatory.

I’m glad we stayed because we were able to take our time on the way down and take lots of photos and stops and enjoy the gorgeous views. We stopped at a lavender farm at the bottom of the mountain where we also grabbed coffee and some breakfast.

Road to Hana & 7 Sacred Tidepools

With our limited time on the island we unfortunately weren’t able to make the drive on the road to Hana and see the 7 sacred tidepools which have a lot of mystical and mythical characteristics. There’s been tales of everything from aliens and bases to government coverups, which I definitely would have been interested in. Not to mention the flowing waterfalls and tidepools that you’re able to cliff jump into.

Until next time,

Aloha & Mahalo!