Aloha!

Fernweh

fern∙weh, noun, orig. German

     An ache for distant places; the craving for travel

Two days after arriving home from college, my family and I left for a weeklong vacation in Maui, Hawaii. Since we have not had a proper vacation in years, due to young children and expenses, we figured this was the year to have an adventure. So, I basically arrived home, dumped all my stuff in my room, packed a bag and we were off!

We drove to the airport in Austin at 3am and went our separate ways. Because of how the plane tickets worked out, my dad and one of my brothers went in one plane, and my mom, two other brothers and I went in another. Unfortunately, my older brother was unable to come due to work obligations. There were several legs to our journey. Our first flight took us from Austin to San Francisco, where we boarded another plane to get to Kona, HI, where we then took out last plane to Maui. Once we picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel (which had an amazing view of the ocean) we pretty much called it a night. We arrived on the island at around 3pm, but because of the time zone difference, it felt like 8 o’clock at night.

Day 1

This was a “relax and explore” day. First we went to the beach that was near our hotel and spent the morning body surfing and playing in the sand. The waves were not that big, but were strong enough to carry us to shore, which made for some fun times! We then cleaned up and had a quick lunch in our hotel room, then drove around and explored the town we were staying in, “Wailea”. We were still kind of messed up from the long day of travel and the time change, so we chilled at the hotel by either taking a nap, sitting these super comfortable chairs by a fire, or playing basketball or mini golf. We then ate dinner at this really neat fish taco/fish and chip type restaurant called “Coconuts”.

The view from our hotel room balcony

Day 2

Banyan Tree

Convertible!

We got up early in the morning to go back to the beach to watch the sunrise and look for shells. We didn’t find any cool shells, but it was extremely calming to walk on the cool beach when nobody else was there (expect for a couple of people doing some yoga). Later that afternoon, we had picked up the convertible we had rented (because why not?) and drove up to the town of Lahaina. Lahaina is a rather touristy town on the shore full of boat docks, restaurants, surfers, museums, and shops. We stopped by the famous “Banyan Tree”, which is a GIANT area of stumps, branches, and vines. It looks like a bunch of different trees, but actually it is only one tree whose roots connect all of the vegetation in the area. We stopped by a courthouse museum and an old prison. In the prison courtyard there were all types of fruit trees, such as mango, papaya and banana trees. There were a bunch of mangos on the ground, so we indulged in some fresh mangos on the way back to the main street. We stopped for lunch at a local pizza place, and had some delicious Hawaiian Pizza (what else were we going to order?) After browsing the shops, watching some crabs on the rocks and smelling that fresh salty ocean air, we headed back to the hotel. That night was Luau night! We went to a traditional Luau, complete with leis, hula lessons, tiki lamps, and scrumptious Hawaiian food, starring the whole pig. While eating, professional dancers performed various hula dances and showed off their hula skills.

Hula Dancers!

Luau food (yum!)

Day 3

Little Foot was awesome!

In the morning of day 3, my mom and I drove across the island to Mendes Ranch to take a trail ride around the ranch. Even though I already have opportunities to ride horses, it was still exciting to ride a horse in such an amazing location with my mom. The horse I rode was named Little Foot, and he was super sweet. It was nice there because the horses each had personality, and not just plodded on the trail like other typical trail horses. The views were BREATHTAKING. We rode up the mountain and walked right on the edge of the cliff. Pictures cannot capture the beauty or the feeling experienced on the trail. We mostly walked in order to take in the views, but we were able to gallop up the hill for some periods. The adrenaline it built and the feeling of pure joy as we charged up the hill surrounded by lush forests and the expanse of the ocean was an experience I will never forget. Later that afternoon, the whole family and I went to a different beach in Makena. This beach had very strong waves and a bit coarser sand. We had rented some boogie boards and had a great time riding the waves. However, we were inexperienced in wilder waters and started getting pounded by the waves and intense riptides. One time I had just ridden the perfect wave back to shore, but then I got sucked back into the ocean just as this massive wave crashed right on top of me. I lost all control and orientation, and was tossed back on the beach. I scrambled as quickly as I could away from the water, which was trying to pull me back in again. I was really lucky not to be hurt (although I lost my goggles). After that I was a bit nervous, so we just messed around closer to shore in the sand before heading back. That night my parents went out on a date, so I kept an eye on my brothers in the hotel. We were pretty exhausted though, so we just ate and went to bed.

The view of the ocean from Little Foot's Back

Day 4

That morning my dad, 12 year old brother, and I went on a boat trip to do some snorkeling at the Olowalu reef. This reef is one of the larger reefs in Hawaii and is home to tons of different fish, sharks and sea turtles. We arrived at the boat with the other passengers and settled down with some pineapple juice for our journey to the reef. The ocean spray, the rock of the boat and that fresh ocean smell felt amazing. Once we reached the reef, we put on flippers, flotation devices, and snorkel masks and jumped into the ocean. The reef was not as colorful as I had imagined, but it was still incredible. There were fish darting everywhere, mostly black and yellow fish, but we saw some cool parrotfish here and there. We even saw a sea turtle strolling by! It was like a whole other world down there. On the boat, the water looks calm and absent of all life, but once you dip your head under the surface, you are able to see the abundance of life and activity down there. Once we had looked around to our hearts content, we swam back onto the boat and enjoyed some delicious BBQ chicken. My brother and I were feeling a bit nauseous however, so we did not feel like eating too much (which was disappointing because the food was so good!) But once the boat started moving, the nausea went away. The crew dropped the sails and we cruised around the ocean for a while before heading back to shore in Lahaina. Once back on shore, we met up with the rest of my family and explored Lahaina some more.

I didn't want to drop my camera in the ocean, so here is a picture of our boat :) 

Day 5

It was Sunday, so we all went to a local church my mom found. Everyone was so friendly and the worship and service was fantastic. It was so neat to meet our brothers and sisters in Christ all the way in Maui! It was also Mother’s Day, so the church also had some food after service. After church, we let Mom decide what to do that day, which involved finding this scrumptious Hawaiian deli place and watching the sunset on the beach at Black Rock beach. We got to watch some cliff divers and a wedding that was on the beach! I indulged in some “cliché-instagrammer-girl” photos of the spectacular sunset.

...yes, those are Dad's flip flops. Don't judge :P 

Watch out for cars coming
the other direction!

Day 6

This day was spent on The Road to Hana. This road travels around the far side of the island and is full of twists and turns, one-lane roads, old bridges, waterfalls, cliff-side roads (sometimes with some very sketchy railing) and amazing views and trails. We spent the full day driving on the road, stopping at some views, exploring some trails, and trying not to die as my parents took turns navigating the road. The first stop we took was on a trail to a waterfall. We followed the narrow trail to the first waterfall, then climbed over some rocks and trees to a hidden waterfall further away from the trail. Another stop we made was a failed attempt to make our way to a black sand beach we saw from the road. We followed a “trail” into some dense ferns and vegetation, only to discover that it was not a true trail at all and got (sort of) lost in the jungle. Countless mosquito bites, mud splashes, a few cuts and one broken flip flop later, we eventually made it back to the car. After stopping at a small fish taco shop in Hana, we stopped by a black sand beach. There was not really sand, but rather smooth black rocks formed by lava. There were several caves formed by the water and a blowhole, which was very exciting to watch. This spot was in a park/campground, which had tons of mongooses (mongeese?) running around. I have officially decided that a mongoose is super cute. We continued our journey along the road behind the mountain, were at times there was only 2 feet between the car and the edge of the cliff. It was kind of nerve-wracking! But the beautiful views of the mountain, cows and the ocean was totally worth it.

This trail was a success!

This "trail" was a disaster

Day 7 (and Day 8ish?)

Sadly, all vacations must come to an end eventually. Our plane back home left at 6 that evening, so we checked out of the hotel and spent the afternoon at a park by the ocean. We then arrived at the airport and split up once again in our groups to head back home. This time, we flew from Maui to Honolulu, Oahu, to Los Angeles, and then waited for 3 hours for our last flight back to Austin, where we then drove for an hour from the airport back home. It was super weird because we left Maui at 6pm on Tuesday, but got back at 1pm on Wednesday. The time zones really mess up your internal clock!

Hello California!

This trip was truly spectacular and filled with fun and adventure. I am so blessed with this opportunity and my awesome family to spend it with! Mahalo (thanks) for reading, I am excited to share this with you!

Aloha!

~Jennah