Travel Diaries 2 - Reminiscing Hawaii

Warning: This is a really long post in which I have tried to squeeze in all beautiful memories of our vacation to Hawaii in Dec 2010 – Jan 2011. Please go ahead only if you are interested or else you will be bored to death: D

At 8:30 pm on Dec 27, 2010 we landed in Hawaii, a place somewhere in central Pacific Ocean between USA, Japan and Australia. Fresh from the memories of Banff and Jasper, we didn’t have many expectations on Hawaii as we know no place could ever be as beautiful as Banff. And as expected Hawaii is not as stunning as Banff, Lake Louise or Athabasca but there is certain trademark bohemian spirit, lovable crowd, rich canvas which took us into its arms and made us feel at home and at heaven.

The 7 day trip to Hawaii Islands has been a once in a lifetime event which made us so refreshing, recharged, happy and strong that we discovered ourselves and redefined our parameters of bliss and happiness. And I’m glad that my wife’s birthday was celebrated in such an ambience.

Hawaii is an archipelago of 8 islands and there is something for everybody to relish in their vacation. Scenic beauty, natural wonders, sports and adventurous activities, cosmopolitan urban culture, native vernacular spirit, vibrant crowd, multitude cuisines, various climatic zones and more. We were fortunate to witness all of these in a span of 7 days without making it hectic or over-burdening ourselves.

Out of 8 islands, we chose to travel across 3 islands which were completely different from each other.

Oahu – The island with activity; dynamic and oozing energy. We spent most of our time here. This is a paradise for all those who want water sports, adventures, extreme sports, parties, activity and vibrant atmosphere Our first brush with jetskiing and snorkelling happened here.

Jetskiing is not very easy especially for non-swimmers like me who get anxious when the guide warns before hand that there is an ample chance of falling in the waters of pacific :O ..Agreed that a lifejacket is given but grrrrr…..with this premonition I went into the waters and to my misfortune the waves were high enough to scare me off. But after some 20 minutes, I handed over the handle to my wifey who could’ve saved herself even if she capsized the jet ski J. But the experience itself was awesome.

Parasailing on pacific waters was again a different experience not as anxious though. Having tried paragliding and river crossing earlier in Manali (India), this was no different, except we get drenched by the waters amidst the activity.

Snorkelling was splendid. I can’t swim, but the renter handed me over a couple of fins, snorkel gear and asked me to jump into the ocean. They strictly instructed not to walk in the waters as that might harm fish, aquatic life and coral reef. So we only have to swim and I don’t know swimming. WTF @$% (this is what I exactly exclaimed) but I wanted to do it so badly after knowing the worldwide fame of Hanauma Bay Snorkelling.

First challenge was to put the face inside water and breathe through the snorkel gear which was tougher than jetskiing :D. After practising that for a while, I started swimming with fins and holding my wife’s hand tightly. I guess fins helped me a lot. The moment I saw schools of colorful fish in the ocean, I abruptly picked up swimming and left my wife wondering where I was. Ended up deep into the ocean where the seabed was far beneath me.

But that moment was not scary as some kind of over confidence crept in and I swam across safely to the shore. That was my hurrah moment. A huge accomplishment, eh !

Another day we went along for hiking through dense forest. It was a two hour trek through the woods before we ended up before a refreshing waterfall. Our shoes went out of shape and color after the trek :D

Every evening was the time to take a stroll on the most popular street of Honolulu city, the Waikiki beach walk, a colourful street with street side performances, hangouts, restaurants, tourist spots and a galaxy of the world’s most popular brands like Louis Vuitton, Versace, Rolex, Prada, BVLgari, CD, Chanel, BCBG and likes. Steering my wife (and also myself) across those stores without temptation was another hurrah moment as a step into any of those stores would’ve made a serious dent on my wallet.

We have tried atleast 10 different cuisines during our stay in Oahu, but our trials to hunt Indian restaurant went in vain as understandably there were no south Asians visible in our whole trip.

We celebrated Ammadu’s birthday here as we wanted that kind of celebration environment around us and trust me, the ambience was way way vibrant than Las vegas strip (where we spent last new year’s eve). People were ecstatic and filled with energy. The night didn’t find a respite from fireworks, music, dance, parties, noise and fun. I tried to manage a small ice cream cake with “ammadu happy budday” written on it. The baker was kind enough to oblige me.

Before the clock struck 12, we went for a stroll, got amused by the crowds, their tantrums and antics, settled in the beach, witnessed a times-square ball drop drama enacted and fireworks which put Independence Day Washington DC fireworks, Niagara or Disney fireworks to shame. Later back home, she’d cut the cake and we spent some time in the ocean facing balcony and danced to the loud music from the bar and grill below. We had so much time for ourselves that we fell in love with each other all over again J I could see happiness on her face and that was the vacation objective all about. Another hurrah moment J

On her birthday, we rented a coupe and drove along the pacific coast for 4 hours. The weather was on a hotter side, but no complaints, we went from freezing Toronto J. The next day we rented mopeds (scooty) and rode till our nostalgia of riding bikes back home waned away.

Big Island: This is the biggest island among the 8 islands and is the land of natural wonders. We flew to this island from Honolulu. This island is a home for volcanoes, lava tubes, black sand beaches, green sand beaches, deserts, rain forests, snow clad mountains, waterfalls, arid lands. We saw everything except green sand beach as it would have taken a lot more time to reach the place, but regret not going there now. We deliberately skipped snow capped peaks as we are already sick of such places: D

The most amazing place was the black sand beach. I never ever heard about this earlier. When initially heard, thought it would be some black soil which we often use for gardening. But that was black SANDDDDDD…holy smokeee…I could not believe my eyes. We were awestruck. The black color is given by the flowing lava which got hardened at the coast. Waking on the smooth hardened lava was something I never imagined I would do.

We walked into a lava tube, a cylindrical tube / tunnel created under the volcanic mountain when lava flowed earlier. Such an incredible experience it was. Then was the time to reach the active volcano. Though we didn’t witness live flowing red hot lava, we saw fuming volcano which was emitting clouds of sulphur dioxide and also steam vents which were oozing out steam, heat and smoke. I only read and saw this phenomenon on television but never thought I would stand beside that. This was as good as standing on a glacier in Jasper National Park.

We would have missed a lot if we didn’t travel to this island.

Maui: This is another island which is a traditional scenic area, just as we understand, expect and perceive what natural beauty is. The island can be called a visual epic for its eye-popping beauty.

We drove in bus to the highest peak of the island called Halaeaka which is a dormant volcano with its peak staying as high as 10,000 ft plus. But more than this height is under the sea. So, technically the whole height could be around that of Mt.Everest. The greenery and vegetation gradually diminishes as we ascend the mountain and on the top, there is no vegetation at all, thanks to very low oxygen levels. If we run or pant, we are out of oxygen. And when we stand at the summit, we could see clouds way below us, just like when we see from a flight.

Then we traveled to Iao valley which is a definition of a conservative beauty of the Mother Nature. Springs, beautiful mountains around, valley in the cradle; After this we went to a beach and basked ourselves in the relieving tides.

During the whole vacation, apart from the places we’ve been to, something which attracted us the most is the love and care the natives and Hawaiian residents bestow upon the tourists. They know their lives are dependent on tourism and they do everything to make visitors happy and at the same time, they never compromise with their own roots and culture. They project their culture which they are proud of and want the visitors to taste their hospitality and heritage. This was endearing.

Politically, Hawaii belongs to USA but apart from roads and sign boards, I didn’t see anything American - be it the people, culture, attitude, spirit. It’s more of an Asian and Polynesian spirit that we could see there.

Words I would remember forever are

ALOHA – means hello, bye and love you. They regard this word a lot and attach everything good, soothing and nostalgic to ALOHA.

MAHALO: Thank You

HANG LOOSE: Their version of “Chill”

The beauty of Hawaii, the place; love of Hawaiians is something I can never forget in my life.

The whole trip has been captured in the form of video and image collage by Hema and can be accessed by those in her or my facebook friends list or their friends at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=144367478949665&saved

I have uploaded few pics in my facebook travelogue album which can be accessed at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=496016489053&set=a.379957089053.158000.516769053

ALOHA