MAUI
The vacation had begun in our heads the day the tickets got booked – which was 3 weeks before the Labor Day weekend. The flight to Maui was smooth. We were thrilled to feel the Hawaii weather- very windy, nicely hot and super sunny. We took our rental car, did some groceries and drove along the beautiful west Maui coast. As we were crossing the string of beaches, we started to make a mental note of what beaches we liked, we soon lost count and gave up :) We drove over to Nohonani Condo's – what was going to be our home for the next 4 nights.
Nohonani: Where we stayed
The moment we entered the place, we were enthralled! We knew we had booked a place with ocean view – but this place had a ROYAL ocean view. The 360 degree video that we had seen on the internet was all fine, but could not nearly match what we felt being there. The house had a huge balcony with the shoreline just a few feet away. Being on the second floor, we felt the proximity of the ocean; yet we could see the vast expanse from a height. The bedroom opened into the lanai (balcony) and also had a generous ocean view. Right opposite the balcony was a huge wall size mirror – so you got the feeling of vast ocean on both ends of the living room.

We were already expecting a “home” like place – with kitchen, washer, dryer etc; but we were pleasantly surprised with the extra “aloha touch” – there were books and magazines (books like “Maui Revealed” and tons of fiction); most stuff that is needed for the beach, but is hard to carry on a flight – beach chairs, a tent for shade, a boogie board, a floating bed, snorkeling gear, beach tennis gear, mats, beach towels and some lovely hats! We were thrilled! There were decorations on the wall which read “Life is good at the beach”; “Paradise has an address” and “Welcome Home”. Anuj already started regretting booking only 4 nights here.

We started taking pictures; and as we always do with things that pleasantly surprise us, we planned to bring our parents here next time they are in the US. We sat in the lanai and sipped guava juice (which was really good btw). We spotted turtles just a few feet away from the shoreline. Every now and then, turtle head would appear and go away in a bit. We would yell with excitement every time we saw a turtle head.

The lanai soon became our favorite spot in the house; and the awesome weather allowed us to be in the lanai anytime of the day or night. Every morning we used to have a wonderful relaxed breakfast of tea, toast, juice and fruits right there in our lanai. The already picture perfect view was often adorned by rainbows as well – the horizon to horizon rainbows.

Every time we entered our condo, we could not help saying “Wow”. We felt really at home. Where we stay in a vacation often makes or breaks the trip; this one was definitely made thanks to Nohonani.

Beach outside the condo: After settling into the lovely condo, we immediately hopped to the beach outside. There were some beach chairs already; we added the shade with the umbrella. We were enjoying the clear waters, the blue color, the weather, smell of the ocean, the waves touching our feet and receding. There were hardly any other people; and that continued to be the case through the rest of our stay. It was “our” slice of the ocean ;) - I settled into reading “Maui Revealed” and getting a hang of the place; while Anuj started to dip his feet into the water. It was so windy, the umbrella blew away a couple of times and Anuj had to go run after it every time :)

We made some bookings for the next day; just drove around a bit after that – found a nice place for sunset view. We found a place with outdoor seating where we could hear music and had some cocktails and dinner. The cocktails in Hawaii look really pretty – they are colorful, fruity, often decorated with pineapple or the famous Hawaii flower.

Mornings

I don’t know if it was the time zone difference or the awesome sunlight but we used to wake up pretty early and really fresh – no matter what time we slept. The weather had been pretty conducive; and we did not wake up with bloated heads, stuffed nose or sore throat (like we often do in Seattle :(). We used to wake up “happy”!

Tour in Maui

We had booked the tour with Prince of Kuhoi – because they had a boat with shaded area; and because it was planning to make 2 stops. The tour started with a modest breakfast and information on how to snorkel. We also signed up for snuba diving – which takes you underwater on oxygen, but does not require as much gear and training as scuba diving. Molokini was our first stop – and we were there in 20 or so min. We got into our wet suits and snuba gear. Even before diving into the water, we could see fishes. We were going to be doing snuba diving for the first 30 – 40 min. This was a bit weird because we did not even start with snorkeling and jumped to snuba. We were almost first timers (although I had done some snorkeling years ago in Mauritius). Naturally, we more or less struggled with the equipment, the chords, water pressure when more than 10 feet under water. The views were not better than snorkeling views either. When the instructor indicated times up for snuba, we were a bit relieved. We took the snorkeling gear and swam away from the boat. That’s when the fun began! We really loved what we saw – beautiful pretty fishes and corals – a whole new world visible to us just by dipping our head in the water. We got the hang of snorkeling pretty soon and swam hand in hand in the designated area for more than an hour. We were the last to return to the boat, and got some complaining looks from the crew; we were a little tired but thrilled ;)

Next stop was again 20 or so min away. It was called the Turtle town. We were absolutely thrilled to see turtles; and swim with them. We saw 4-5 of them. They would go down on the sea bed and come out to breathe every once in a while. They were gorgeous. At one point, a turtle almost collided with me because of the waves. The moment I saw it approaching, I instinctively swam in the opposite direction. Turtles are vegetarian though :) - and couldn’t have hurt me in any way. This time we were more careful with time. Anuj returned 10 minutes earlier (the waterproof watch that bhaia had given came in pretty handy :)) – so he had the time to dive a couple of times into the ocean. I was literally “hanging around” in the water as long as they would let me ;). The trip left us in a great mood and turned out to be good in introducing us to snorkeling. The only disappointment was that the underwater digital camera we had excitedly bought from amazon, died minutes after being underwater. Later we ended up buying two more disposable underwater cameras - all of which gave an average of 3 pictures :)

We pushed off after we had lunch on the boat. On our drive back, we pulled over in a fruit stall. This was exotic (and a bit nostalgic) to us – just stopping by the road for fresh, sweet coconut water and real sugarcane juice.

Beach hopping:
Although we are not even close to mastering the art of slowing down, we are certainly getting better at realizing what we really enjoy vs where we are pushing ourselves. On our second morning in Maui, we dropped the plan to learn surfing and decided on some relaxed beach hopping instead. We also decided to stay around our condo and not go to the beaches rated “best” if they were half way down the island.
We packed beach towels, beach mat, snorkeling gear, beach umbrella, some water, books (which we hardly read) and change of clothes (which we hardly used) – yeah, it was a lot of stuff! We also sprayed sunscreen on every inch of our body. This became our routine “beach drill” for the rest of our stay. We were pretty good about re-applying sunscreen; but we noticed other people had UV protection shirts – which seemed like a good idea especially for snorkeling. The weather was such that we did not mind our clothes drying on us.
We drove along the coast to find a stop we liked. It was miles and miles of beach and each prettier than the other. Some of them were just out there; and some had some facilities and amenities (like restrooms, showers, some benches); some were very sunny and others had trees for shade; some had people surfing and paddling; others had families picnicking. We did not find any beach to be too busy for us; but a lot of beaches offered the private quiet atmosphere.

Olowalu Beach: We were attracted by the really calm, blue and clear waters and pulled over on a spot that offered the same. It was very pretty. We took the little boogie board with us into the water and had some fun just swimming around. The highlight of the spot was a swing around a tree branch. Also, we could sit in a shaded spot under the tree where the waves would still come and touch us.

We spotted some fishes and wanted to start snorkeling but the gear had some missing parts. This turned out to be pretty fortunate because we ended up going to “Boss Frog’s” right across the street, a shop that rents all beach equipment and snorkeling gear. That’s where we met Robyn!
Being lost and Robyn rescuing us:
I think it takes a while to get the hang of the place and figure out what is going to be “your way” with the place. For a brief period we were also a little lost. Although we had access to lots of books and information on the internet, a lot of it was not pertinent to our immediate purpose. Literally a case of “water, water everywhere; not a drop to drink”.

It was during this period that we attempted to drive to Hana. Instead of taking the map suggested by google, Anuj decided to take a route that seemed shorter. The Kahekili highway (or Highway 340) winds next to the coast on pristine and sparsely inhabited north side of west Maui.  As the long winding (often one lane) road did not seem to end, we started reading about it in the guide book and realized that its mostly famous (or infamous) for how narrow it can get. If we ran into another car, one party had to back up to find a place for two to pass. Although the winding drive did offer exotic views, we could not stop for any of them; [we did make a small break to pick up Julia’s banana bread – which called itself “the best banana bread on the planet on the planet” :) -- it was not bad! ]

So Robyn, who worked at Boss Frog’s, gave us a lot of very useful information within minutes of where we were living. She even told us nice places for food, easier ways to park and even happy hours. We wished we had met her earlier. We rented gear from her. Robyn mentioned later that she had not been on the highway 340 more than 4 times in the last 20 years that she has spent there. Later we even saw T-shirts which read “I survived the road to Hana” - oops!

We cound not do the road to Hana as it was getting late, but on our way back we stopped at the Hookipa beach famous for the "Jaws" surfer waves. We later decided that the reading of the guide books should be done prior to the trip. In fact, Anuj recommended that I should keep reading all travel books all the time - much like a search engine crawler I suppose. I negotiated and we agreed that I will read the travel books right after he books the tickets! ;)

Napili Bay Beach: After some direction from Robyn, we drove to a nearby beach known to be a good snorkeling site. It was awesome – we were on our own and looking at really beautiful fishes – right at the shore. Right across the beach was a sea side restaurant, where we stopped by for some snacks and cocktails. After another round of snorkeling, we were just lying on our mats, reading books, just chilling out and enjoying the sun. Snorkeling, grabbing a bite and falling asleep under a tree – recipe of bliss!

Kanapalli Beach:

We decided to hop over to Kanapally beach to watch the sunset. We walked around the shore as the sun set. It was beautiful.

Kapalua Bay:

Next day we again went to another beautiful beach in the neighborhood. We were early enough to get a really nice spot under the tree. Here we spotted turtles! A mother turtle and a baby turtle. We loved to swim around them. Again we returned for a second round of snorkeling after lunch. This beach was rated one of the top 10 beaches per some site – but it was not too crowded or commercialized. It looked like a normal beach – in fact another tourist asked Anuj if it was “the famous beach”? Anuj told him yes, you will know it when you swim here.

Iao valley waterfall: Maui is quite famous for waterfalls. Although most of the waterfalls were too far away from us, we had one in mind that was not too far away. After the day in the bright sunny beach, we headed to the waterfall in the late afternoon. The area around the river was lush green and had a cool breeze about it; the river had several little cascades – the atmosphere reminded us of Lonavla, Khandala. As we walked around the river, we saw flowers, plucked guavas right from the tree and helped ourselves ;) - there were squirrels. Everything around that place felt honest, real and beautiful. Even the short drizzle for a few minutes made Anuj say “now that’s what is a genuine rain” (as opposed to the Seattle rain I suppose ;))

We found a group of kids in a particular spot and decided to step in ourselves. The kids were with a guy who seemed to look middle aged to us. He looked pretty relaxed and started talking to us about India (in a lot of places people used to excitedly share their India experiences with us). It turned out that he was planning to head to Kerala for Panchkarma which he thought would help him since he was around 60. We were surprised to hear his age and he said that growing up in Hawaii can make you look a lot younger. We stepped into the waterfall and knew what he meant. Cool, fresh water with its strong flow made us literally laugh with joy. We were refreshed to the core – every pore in our bodies was breathing and alive! We felt so one with nature.

The little Beach:

This beach was known for people getting together on Sunday nights on the beach for some partying. Anuj had researched this beach; not sure of his search criteria but it was a clothing optional beach ;) After a long drive and a short hike we reached this beach a little after sunset. This place had a hippie air about it. We heard some nice foot tapping beats, and found a group of people humming and dancing around drums. Just as it became dark, some folks started performing the famous Hawaiian fire dance. We all sat in a circle around them as they took turns playing with the fire. We particularly liked the performance of a young beautiful Hawaiian woman – she moved gracefully with the beats; and a handsome guy who had the body of a Greek God and did some pretty interesting stuff. Although some of them were really very good at it, some novices were also trying it out - it was really natural and spontaneous. There was no commercialism around this – no tips/ money was expected anywhere; in fact there were no amenities or shops around this place either – it was just a Sunday get together for people in this area and visitors like us were welcome to participate. We loved the rustic, traditional music and the performances. Several hotels and resorts offer Hula shows and such but we enjoyed this setting a lot more.

Night life in Maui:
Sun used to set around 6.30 pm and darkness would follow soon. There wasn’t a whole lot to do after 9 pm, except on Fridays and Sat. We used to take a shower, get dinner and sleep by 11 typically. We would sometimes walk around in the downtown. Once at 10 o clock in the night, we were walking past a basketball court and came across a group of people with some drums. It turned out they were preparing for some performance. We just watched them dance to the awesome drumming. They were really good - and I wanted to join them!! Check out the 2 minute recording on the iphone. Its pretty good!

Leaving Maui:
On the day of departure, we managed a short drive in the area – checked out the vast beautifully manicured golf resorts. Even though we were in love with the beaches, we figured that there is a lot of tourism in Maui around golf. After returning the snorkeling gear, we stopped by the farmers’ market and sampled fresh fruits and spreads. I tasted passionfruit for the first time. We even bought a piece of real sugarcane! The lady volunteered to chop it for us; when we said “no , thanks” she was surprised and we described to her how we ate sugarcane back home in India using our teeth :D
We were in love with Maui! We were smitten with the thought of leaving the place 2 days before departure. Maui was exactly what we needed – an awesome place by the beach, not too commercialized and a lot to do! This time around we were mostly on the west coast. Next time we would like to check out the south beaches and the Hana highway with the beautiful waterfalls. Of course, we could not leave the place without promising ourselves “a next time”. We geared up for our short flight to Big Island!
Big Island:

First thing at the Kona airport, we rented a convertible soft top jeep (Wrangler) – this was going to be a dear friend and companion over the next 5 days in Big Island. We had decided to spend 2 nights on the east side (in Hilo); and 3 nights on the west side in Kona. We were driving along the west and then along the northern coast of Big Island. Drive to Hilo was fascinating – with clear blue oceans in the background; and lava outcroppings all around the road. People had written their names and such with stones and white chalk on all the blackened surfaces. We took a small diversion to view Waipio valley. The view was spectacular indeed, but the one thing that struck me was the way land is treated as “supreme” and man considered its servant in Hawaii. The Waipio valley had been well protected from the urban interference and there were several boards discouraging people from casually strolling around in the valley; but allowing them to go if they really wanted to go.

We reached Hilo in about 3 hours; we were not too excited about Hilo – the place was rainy, it was hard finding any open places for dinner or even coffee; and the hotel was not great (rainbow studded ocean view is something we had already started to take for granted ;))! We ended up spending most of our time on the eastside in the adjacent towns called Puna and Volcano.

The Lava Adventures:

First night we went to the Hawaii Volcano National Park and headed straight to their observatory. On our way we spotted steam vents. As luck might have it, the active volcano that had erupted in March 2008 had not been glowing for several months; until the day we arrived, of course. The huge burning glow was a fascinating spectacle; Anuj was excited about taking its picture and was chatting with the other photographers.

Next night we drove to see the Pu'u 'O'o lava flow. The last car was allowed by 8 pm and we managed to enter at 7.50 pm. Near the car parking was a little fair of sorts – with an array of tents in dim lights – mostly selling pictures of the spectacular lava flows taken at different times in the last 50 or so years. Most pictures had been taken on days of eruption, from a helicopter – and were fabulous. After crossing the tents, there was a short hike to the lava viewing area. This walk was on a very rough terrain made by lava outcropping, and every one had to be very careful and use flashlights. There were stickers on the ground indicating the path though and that day happened to be very well lit with the moon light. The designated destination was a little distance from the lava (understandably so  although I really wanted to get a better view by going closer) – we could see some fiery substance merging with the ocean; and the ocean water converting to smoke and steam around that area. It is interesting to see the interplay of two major natural forces – fire and water – we could literally see “Smoke on the water”. I don’t know if it was the night, the ocean or the lava - but everyone seemed to talk only in whispers. We were the last people to leave the viewing area.

The last day before leaving east side, we bid farewell to the volcanoes after a short hike in a crater and visiting the lava tubes.
Waterfalls and hot pond

Believe it or not some waterfalls in the area were actually “privately owned” – they were within private property (often plantations) – we were a bit amused by the idea of paying money to see a natural waterfall. We saw the three tiered Umauma falls and the Akaka falls. The areas around the falls had short hikes, where we saw several beautiful flowers. Right at the entrance, people were selling fruits and hats and baskets made of tree bark and leaves.

Every day in Hawaii brought new wonders with it – something exotic, something new which we had never done before! The hot pond was the wonder of the day for me. The pond, although man made, only had natural sources of water – on one hand the ocean water was flowing into the pond, bringing in few fishes with it; and on the other hand, underground water heated by the lava was seeping into the pond – making it really warm. Because Hilo was a little rainy and not as sunny as the rest of the island, it was very pleasant to dip into warm water. We spent a long time in the water – swimming, floating and chatting with people in the pond. I met a really beautiful 11 month old baby named Sarah – who was thoroughly enjoying being in water – she was very cheerful and such a pleasure – no wonder her dad held her so snug. [We met her again the next day in the place where we went for breakfast. Its kinda nice to run into the same people at different spots in a small town.]

We were very relaxed as we stepped outside the pond. A local was selling some smoothies and juice. The juice (made with passionfruit grown locally) after the dip in the pond felt pretty good!
We drove around looking at the beaches in the area. They were really quiet and seemed secluded. We stopped by on one of the rocky beaches. We were admiring the large powerful waves striking the rocks, when a guy came over on his bike towards us. The first thing he said was that it was private land we were on; and that he owned it. We were scared imagining the consequences of trespassing private property – but the guy turned out to be friendly and very interesting - after he was assured that we posed no danger to him or his property. He said we were free to bring food and drinks and watch the ocean; as long as we did not leave any trash; and as long as we knew that it was “his land”. He went on to describe how he doesn’t like rich people buying lands and commercializing them – he said that the government is helping the locals protect their land. We chatted more and he started telling us about the local eats – he actually recommended a place and was trying to tell us the tricks to get a kamai’ana (discount :)). His name was Crandall.
After leaving his land, we stopped by another point, where two guys were seated by their car in front of the Kehena black sand beach. They were high on beer and other things – but were interesting to talk to. They told us that there were dolphins "all day" right at that point. The waters looked too wild to us for swimming but it was good to know. We chatted for a while with them. In general, we quite enjoyed talking to locals, we found the conversations genuine and their information authentic.

So we headed for the dinner place Crandall had mentioned. On our way we took a small detour to get some wine. Close to the wine shop we noticed small baskets of fruits; with a small donation box next to them. We found such unmanned baskets of fruits in several places in Hawaii. We picked two papayas and wine and went over to Kalani – for what turned out to be one of the best dinners we had had – Candle light dinner, moon lit night, outside seating and warm people. It reminded me of the delicious organic, vegetarian lunches at the Vipassana meditation center. Crandall was also there and welcomed us as if we were his guests, and as if he owned the place ;) - he probably was friends with the owner; and was introducing us to them and insisting that we leave our hotel and stay in that resort. We found him to be very kind and sweet. We were reminded of India –where meeting someone two times is reason enough to invite them to stay over 

Fiery lava, wild humbling oceans, lands with secrets buried beneath its dark surface, beautiful vegetation, “real” God-fearing people - all in all - this area felt very exotic, majestic and even mystical.
Drive to Kona

After packing our bags from Hilo, we started our drive to Kona. Anuj had planned our trip in a way that we would have driven along the entire coast of Big Island by the end of our trip. So we were driving through the eastern and then the southern coast this time.

We stopped on a black sand beach of Punaluu. It was the first time we had seen jet-black sand. It was a bit weird to see beach towels lying on the black sand – wouldn’t they get dirty!?! We saw a native looking guy – completely tanned, bare chest, grayish unkempt hair – who was selling coconut water in his van. Going by his looks, I was prepared to use sign language, as I approached him for coconut water. We were a little surprised that he had a regular American ascent  and thanked us for the business. He later told us that our car was a 4 wheel drive and that we could go to a nearby green sand beach. He was very kind and agreed to cut the papayas we had picked yesterday. As we were walking with coconut water, some Japanese tourists were looking queerly at us – and we were trying to describe to them how we drink water from the shell. While we were enjoying our “tropical” lunch of coconut water and fresh papayas on the black sand beach, we spotted two turtles right on the shore. All tourists were fascinated and were taking pictures –these turtles were a lot darker than the ones we had seen in Maui. Turtles must be frequenting that very spot, for a sign board right next to them read “Turtles resting” – and told the tourists to keep their distance. We saw another board which said “Seals resting” – we were contemplating whether to wait for some more time and we might spot one.

We decided to follow the coconut guy’s cue and drove in search for green sand beach. I like vacations where we can accommodate new unplanned stuff we hear about on the go. Even the paved road to the South point seemed very sparse – hardly anybody around. The next 4 miles were pure dirt-driving. We met a couple – Danny and Regina – who also wanted to go check out the green sand. We were more than happy when they asked to join us in our four wheel drive jeep. On hindsight, we would have probably returned mid-way if they were not party to our adventure. Dan looked tall and strong; with the road ahead smelling of adventure, Regina and I decided to take the backseat – and let the boys have their thrill  it turned out that Dan had over 25 years of experience as a mariner; and had done lots of off-the-road driving. With Dan by his side, Anuj was more confident driving through the big bumps and trenches; reversing the jeep when some bumps looked too steep and creating new routes on the go. The next 30-40 minutes involved a lot of work from the driver and the navigator; not to mention we had no insurance for off-the-road driving. Despite a lot of uncertainty about the destination and whether we will even make it, we finally made it to the southern-most point of United States – and probably the only green sand beach in the world. Sand was green like fresh henna! We had never seen anything quite like it. There was nobody on the beach, although we did spot people racing through the bumpy terrains on ATVs. After spending some time around the beach, we wisely decided to drive back before the sunset. Dan was joking how we took so much trouble to look at green dirt  I say it was worth it not just for the green dirt; but for the trouble itself ;)
Kona

Anuj was a little high on his adventure – I wished I had recorded his singing in the car as we headed to Kona ;) I was pretty hungry and silently threatened poor Anuj to find food before we reached the resort. We stopped by a small Italian restaurant [Mi's - thanks to iphone, yelp and of course the reviewers] – it turned out to be an awesome meal – cooked by the husband and served by the wife. We were fairly tired by the time we reached the resort. After some adjustment, we ended up getting a corner room on the fifth floor – which implied a huge L shaped balcony with 270 degree panoramic view of the ocean and the resort. It was the kind of room, pictures of which are put on the marketing material and make your mouth water. Frankly, we loved our Nohonani balcony in Maui more ;) - are we spoilt or what? But guess what, it was my day to be spoilt – my b’day! Yay! I cherished the phone calls, mails and messages from friends and family – got reminded of all the wonderful people I have in my life!

It was around noon when we started our quest for the dolphins. We went to Aloha kayak rentals. They were pretty cool and rented their kayak with life jackets for the day. The guy at the desk was tall, tanned and well built – with a strong chest and upper body and narrow waist. Most men in that area look like that and sport tattoos of dolphins or other sea creatures on them. This guy surprised us by asking if we had been to the green sand beach! Turns out that the dust on our jeep was narrating stories! We made a mental note to clean the jeep before we returned it ;)
Dolphin Encounter
With the kayak loaded on top of our jeep, we drove to a nearby Kealakekua Bay, where dolphins are seen often. With the help of the locals at the bay we mounted our kayaks and started rowing. We were rowing not too far from the shore. The water was crystal clear; and fairly calm. Beautiful mountains behind the shore, made our ride pretty scenic already. After about a mile of rowing and no luck with dolphins, we started singing songs to call dolphins. Anuj even creates some sound with which he believes he can communicate with dolphins ;) but hey – that worked! One fin, three fins, oh so many fins – there were dolphins all around us – so close to us. I was jumping in my kayak and suggesting we chase dolphins – while Anuj was trying to restore some sanity. I was so excited, I jumped into the water to take a closer look. There were so many of them under us as well – they were not even visible outside. They were really fast and seemed to move in formations. They were all in a big group – and all of them seemed to move in the same direction. It was actually as pretty as they show it on the TV (only the music was missing ;)). The water actually was very very deep but we could see fairly deep inside. It was pretty amazing to see the sea like that – I felt like a “tiny” guest in the world of dolphins– In my excitement, I lost my snorkeling breathing pipe - so I had to take a breath every few seconds; before I could look again (not to mention the pollution I caused). Anuj generously offered his gear – but I was asking him to jump in as well. I was already holding the strap so that the kayak does not get drifted away. Anuj recommended we first figure how to mount the kayak from the water. It was not easy but with Anuj applying some torque so it does not turn; and with my leg first I managed to mount it back. Now it was Anuj’s turn to jump. His iphone was probably still intact at this point - yes – the kayak upturned with his jump. There we were – out in the ocean, both of us in water, free dolphins around us and our kayak upturned. That’s romantic – what say ;) There was another guy not too far away who was snorkeling and he helped turn our kayak. Anuj mounted first and then I did. We decided to just watch the dolphins for some time, they were jumping in and out of water. Some of them would come out and spin! I had no idea free dolphins naturally did that. Later some locals said, sometimes dolphins get excited and jump across your kayak! How wonderful would that be? Anyway, after a while their pod left. With one snorkeling pipe, there wasn’t much point going to the other shore, so we returned back to our starting point – soaking in our adventure!

There were a lot of surprises on the first day; so we decided to go there the next day as well – we were much better prepared - we did not carry iphones or fancy goggles not meant for water ;) The second day we were able to unload our kayak and enter the water without any help! We were rowing better and faster! But there were no dolphins on our way to the destination. Anuj’s songs and sounds did not bring them either. It was probably earlier than yesterday, so we decided to spend some time near the Captain Cook monument. We lifted our kayak and placed it on a rock. There were several other kayaks there and people were resting there with books and food etc. We saw the spot where the Captain was stabbed. A local told us his story – apparently, his being white made the locals believe that he was God! Once he got hit by a stone and was bleeding – and that’s when their illusion broke and they killed him! Anyway, the water near that monument was very very clear. Snorkeling in that area was like swimming inside a huge aquarium. It was full of colorful fishes – these were much bigger than we had been seeing so far. I loved Anuj’s confidence in his imaginative stories - he claimed to know what the fish was doing or thinking – he would tell me which fish is lost, confused, scared, which fish is chasing the other etc. We had bought another camera with us today – Anuj took some pictures but saved the reel for dolphins. We kept asking people if they had seen dolphins today – and everyone said no. It was a slightly cloudy day – so that was to be expected. After a while, we decided to head back to the starting point. About half way through the ride, when we had almost given up hope, we finally saw some fins! There seemed to be very few today. Although they did jump and spin, they were there for a very short while that day. In fact, when I jumped into the water to see if there were more under the surface, I did not find any. Oh well – we tried!
We went to return the kayak. There was no one there; so we left the equipment right there. We also found a water hose – and washed our jeep right there - we were thrilled with our little steal ;) although I doubt if the kayak guy would care if he knew what we did. But it was kind of funny that it was he who brought to our attention that our car needs a wash and we washed it using his water and his soap in his absence ;)!
With our kayak returned, car washed and our agenda fulfilled we were free to enjoy the rest of our evening! We walked into a Kona’s Joe Coffee – and sampled some really good coffee! This being our last evening in Hawaii, we walked around the downtown and collected some memorabilia. We were back in the private lagoon of our hotel to enjoy the last sunset of our trip.
Manta Ray tour
On the evening of 5th, we went for a night snorkeling tour. They prepare some flash lights and make all the tourists float in one circle using a floatation device. Apparently, at night Manta Ray get together to eat. There were six of them and they were swimming up and down the water; very often coming very close to us. Although really big (bigger than us), they are vegetarians so they did not pose any danger to us. The water itself was pretty turbulent – which made us all feel a bit sick. No offence to manta ray – but that was not the best way to spend my b’day evening. Although we did only two tours in Hawaii – we would probably not do another again - they take up too much time and don’t leave you with a sense of adventure. The best of Hawaii is out there for anyone to explore – tours are a turn off.
Wrap-up:
We had not done a beach vacation in a long time; in fact we had hardly done a long vacation with just the two of us. We loved the “honeymoon” and decided that honeymoon is an ongoing deal not a one-time thing! Truly, Hawaii was wonderful for our body, mood and spirit – we were more easy going, enjoyed everything and smiled a lot! The jokes did not have to be funny for us to laugh! I think every bit of the trip was very romantic but the one that tops the list is Anuj holding my hand underwater and having our snorkeling pipes kiss :)

We told each other of our fun memories of Goa, Mauritius, Kenya, Kerala, Bombay and everywhere else. We kept thinking how we can move to Hawaii. Our ideas ranged from being a waiter in a restaurant; to separating Hawaii from US and becoming the President! I am sure Hawaii being a part of US is the only thing that’s keeping us from being its President ;). [Last time Anuj had wanted to separate a state was when we came to know that Canada offers one year paid maternity leave; now Washington state already shares the border with Canada - how cool would it be if the state was also merged with Canada! Anuj should write about how the world should be ;)]

With something new and different everyday, Hawaii gave us a glimpse of how much there is to see, how much there is to explore. We can totally see why Hawaii is called paradise! We’ll always remember, no matter what … there’s Hawaii!

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