Honeymoon pt 6: Hawaii

Hawaii has always been one of our favourite places to visit. We love the beaches and relaxing atmosphere of the islands, and it has that exotic feel without the dangers of other exotic places. Hawaii was also one of the a places where Sophie and I first met briefly back in 2006, as I described in my book. So this was a special place for us.

We landed into the lovely open-aired airport in Honolulu and was picked up in a Mini by Sophie’s good friend Melissa, who Sophie hadn’t seen in years. This was the first time I met her, even though her design company Unleash Studio was the unofficial sponsor on my book tour. Check out her creative shirts and print designs. Melissa took us back to her wonderful apartment near Waikiki, where we caught up on old times and caught up on some much needed sleep. After all, we did just travel back in time (our flight left Sydney at 6pm and arrived in Honolulu at 8am on the same day). After our beauty rest, we headed out for dinner and then to Chinatown for some local nightlife.

My friend Adrian from North Vancouver was in town as well, as he was living like a local on Waikiki Beach while preparing for an online exam. We grabbed a few drinks at a bar, while the girls went to Victoria’s Secret. The next day, we drove up to the North shore to hang out on Sunset Beach and see the giant waves break at Waimea Bay during sunset. The water was as warm and the sand as soft as always. This was the real surfer’s paradise. Melissa was an amazing host and driver, and spending a couple of days with her was more than fun. We said our goodbyes and departed for Maui, the final destination of our honeymoon.

Sophie and I had both been to Maui before so we were really looking forward to returning for a week. This time, we had a nice little private bungalow booked in Kihei. Shaped like an octagon, this little studio unit was situated in the front yard of the owner’s main house and had everything we needed in one spot. Plus it was only a short 5 minute drive to the beaches. In Kihei, we spent the mornings and afternoons in the ocean at various locations, including a couple of our favourite beaches that we remembered from before. We reminisced about our past visits here but were even happier and thankful to be sharing these new Maui experiences with each other now.

Each day, Sophie would get her fix of shaved ice (usually lychee and passion fruit flavoured) from Ululani’s while I would devour a couple of spam musubi’s. And when we weren’t in the water, we would explore the sights. We would drive up to The Haleakala crater for sunset instead of the more popular sunrise, which I had done twice before. The views were as spectacular and as cold as I remembered. It was funny to watch every tourist pull up in their cars and get out wearing only their beach-wear thinking the temperature would be the same at 10,000 ft above sea level. We were in total relaxation mode in Maui and definitely on Maui time. Life was good.

When our booking in Kihei was up, we drove up to the northwestern part of the island through some very narrow single lane roads that overhung the cliffs. Driving in the opposite direction as most of the traffic probably didn’t make things easier either. But we were rewarded with Julia’s banana bread, which stood in the middle of nowhere. It was so good that we bought 3 whole ones. Continuing on, we made it to Kapalua and checked into the Ritz Carlton for the last few days of our honeymoon. Since we’ve been mainly staying with friends or other more economically friendly options throughout the trip, we decided to splurge at the end.

And although the rooms were just average, The Ritz had a beautiful property with a great view of the ocean. We were walking distance to 2 beaches and very close to several others as well. In Kapalua, we found our favourite beach of the island at Kapalua Bay. The sand was prestine, the water was crystal clear and, other than the 7 weddings that were happening simultaneously on the Sunday, it wasn’t crowded. It seemed every couple that dreams of a wedding in Maui heads to Kapalua Bay during sunset. Each wedding consisted only of the couple and a witness, which was the photographer. It was quite a spectacle to see one after another appear on the beach. We joked that we should offer our wedding filming services to each of them. Infinitum Weddings would make a killing. It was more amusing than an annoyance.

We would be in the ocean for sunsets, with each evening being more magical than the previous. And when the sun was completely down, we would drive into Lahaina for a stroll down the strip, picking up some yummy Mexican food from Ono Tacos on a number of occasions. What a perfect location for our last stop. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

On the last day, we checked out of the Ritz and grabbed brunch at a local favourite called Gazebo. We drove back to the airport, returned our rental car and flew back to Honolulu for our connecting flight to Vancouver. This was it. The last stop of our official honeymoon. What a great trip it has been. We visited family in Hong Kong and Macau, friends in Australia and Hawaii, and new places in New Zealand.

As we boarded our flight in Honolulu, we realized that our official honeymoon might be over, but we were actually only halfway through our around the world flight. We still had Vancouver and New Orleans on our radar and a couple of extensions to our itinerary up our sleeves, no doubt. This was not the end of our honeymoon. This was only the beginning for us. The first of many trips together as husband and wife. We have a lifetime of excitement to look forward to.

Thanks to everyone who we had the pleasure of spending time with during this trip and everyone who is a part of our lives. We are lucky to have you in our lives. See you all real soon somewhere in the world.

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