Day 2
Well Day 2 was rather uneventful. I went swimming and saw some sea turtles. We also hit up a couple tourist traps such as a buddha statue and some town . . . Lahaina. There was a place with $1 beers though, so it worked out.
Anyways, went back to the hot tub where I met Johnny and a couple other cool people. During the time, I informed them of my Natty Light problem, and everyone had a couple rounds. As a matter of fact, Johnny and Gouta decided that they were going o start buying Natty Light so there beer doesn't get stolen. At this point I was pretty happy about converting the Hostel over to Natty Light. Then got an invite to a coffee shop that serves alcohol where I met the coolest girl ever from Denmark. We didn't speak much at the coffee shop, but when we left, we started dancing down the streets. I kept singing this song I made up called "We're dancing, don't need no music!" Then she asks what's the name of the song that sounds like that one. And I sing "This song kinda sounds like another one, but I really don't know the name of it." Well, we crack up laughing, and dance and sing the whole way home. Unfortunately, before the end of the night I found out she has been at the hostel for a month and already has some hostel romance going on. She's leaving in 2 days, going to the Big Island, then swinging back to Oahu. I decide to wait in line and see if I can win her over back in Oahu.
Day 3
I wake up at about 7:00 a.m. I'm restless as all hell, and I'm thinking the tour doesn't leave until noon. So I decide to make a Walmart trip since I forgot my memory stick, and I can only take 17 pictures. Well, I hit up all the tourist traps such as Office Depot, Old Navy, and Walmart, and I make it back at 10:50. And I am pleasantly surprised to see that the tour bus left at 10:30. So I sniff out the Danish chick, Christina, and I ask her what she is doing to which she replies "We are going to see monkeys," and I invite myself to go along. I'm waiting around, and she comes up dancing, and I'm just like oh shit, I'm gonna have to generate that level of excitement while I'm sober. We finally leave for a 2.5 mile walk to the Maui Tropical Plantation, and we dance and sing the whole way there. We finally get to the place, and get to see a total of 2 monkeys.
I had been under the impression that this place was full of monkeys, but no, just 2. So, you are suppose to pay for a $10 tour where you get on big tour car, and they drive you around the plantation. We decide not to do it, and walk to the beginning of the tour and see a ginormous, Do Not Enter sign. Christina asks me what we should do, and without flinching, I say we go for it. Well walking around, Christina sees a big basket of coconuts, and she wants one, so without flinching, I say we steal it. This wasn't exactly the perfect crime because Christina goes through each coconut, looking for the one with the most juice, and then we shove it in my backpack. Well, further down the path, she decides she wants a huge papaya nearly the size of the coconut. Being 5', she sends me to jump and get the papaya in plain view of the entrance. We shove the papaya into my now bulging backpack. Then Christina sees an avocado that she wants. At this point Maiken, and Mike are walking about 15 feet behind us, and there are some workers in plain view, but I decide to give it a go anyways. Well the Avoccado wasn't budging, so we had to leave it behind us. A little later a truck drives up to us, and a lady hops out to inform us that we aren't allowed on the path, but she lets us finish the tour and walk out since we are nearly by the exit. I couldn't get out there fast enough, so I was just ready to jet out the exit even though nobody who worked there really cared.
Well we made it out safe, and hitchhiked back into town. We get some pizza, then decide to go ahead and hike Iao which is a rainforrest.
Iao peak
Now, we are with Mike who maintains trails for a living. so he takes us through the woods and decides to scale up the side of the mountain. Me and Christina decide to follow along. The mountain was so steep that you pulled yourself up with the trees. It's late and we finally get to a point where the brush is much thicker, so we sit back enjoy the view, and decide to turn around. Well, at some point I think "Man, my sister would love Christina." Never really thought that about any girl before.
Christina (camera pointing down)
This picture was pointed straight down. (You can see my shoe at the bottom of the tree and my knee in the bottom right corner)
We get back and my hot tub buddy, Johnny, mentions that we should get started early, and the chicks will follow. This starts a long running inside joke between the two of us that we dubbed "the vibe." Everytime we get together the chicks will soon follow. We'd be standing in a big group of people that just happens to have a lot of girls, and we'd just look at each other and say "the ladies can't resist us." Or everytime a girl would hop in the hot tub, we would give each other a high 5 like we had something to do with the girls getting in. It was good fun. Here's a picture from the last day we vibed it.
The Vibe
Day 4
I'm pretty exhausted and the tour for the day is whale watching. So I skip out and tag along with Johnny and Jess. Unfortunately, they are stoners, and it takes until 2:00 before they go somewhere, and we just went to a couple of beaches and they smoked weed. A really boring day, but I needed the relaxation, and I got to spend 4 hours in the hot tub.
Day 5
Haleakala hike. Well you start at the summit 10,000 feet which is above the clouds, The total hike is a 3,000 feet in elevation and 12 miles in distance. You start above the clouds and then eventually you are hiking in the clouds. The hike ends with a pretty intense round of switchbacks, at which point my Norwegian roommate, Gouta, starts running up the side switchbacks. A little about Gouta. He was a chiropractor and physical therapist who decided to go to Hawaii on a one month vacation because he wanted to do Yoga and go surfing everyday. I might just have to steal that idea one day. Well, I see him running up the mountain, I get a little excited, and I start going at a really fast pace, a little slower than a run. Finally at the end of the trail, I see Gouta, but I have just done the hardest hike of my life and didn't even reach the summit. Not happy about this, I take the road to the summit which turns out to be an extra 7 miles. Well the tour bus catches up to me and tells me I only have 2 miles left. I refuse the ride, but i drop my stuff off and start running. I can run 2 miles no problem, but after a 17 mile hike, going up a mountain, my running didn't last long. I was stupid enough to drop off my jacket so I am 300 meters away from the summit when the wind really kicks in, and it is getting really cold. One of the cars comes to pick me up, but I'm not stopping, but luckily Rich comes back down the mountain with my jacket and volunteers his wind breaker. I would have had to stop if it wasn't for him. But I reached the summit.
You know, I came to Hawaii because I didn't know where I wanted to go with my life. Well, during that 19 mile hike, I knew I'd finally found it.
An endangered cactus that is only found in like 3 places.
Hardcore
The Nene, an endangered bird. You can't feed it or it dies. I wonder why it is endangered.
It falls off on each side as you walk from one mountain to the next. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop and take more pictures because I was on a mission to the top.
Titanium core
Day 6
Well, somehow, I got invited to go sailing. It was a great time.
. . . There was a whale, but now it's just a splash.
Took a picture before I left. BTW, this boat can sail across the world and cost 20k which gave me some ideas.
After a few days of intense activity, I spent a couple hours relaxing in the hot tub. Johnny walked up to the hot tub twice, and both times, a girl showed up less than a minute later. The Vibe is strong.
Day 7
Well the tour for the day was Iao, so I decide to finish what I started and try to summit. I leave on my own, and bike 3 miles up hill on a shitty free bike which was hardcore. It wasn't wise to go alone, but I enjoyed a good day alone in the woods. I reached the top of the tree line (titanium core), and after much denial, I realize that there is no chance of safely reaching the top of the mountain. I side tracked for a good 50 feet, with no help in sight, I finally call it quits, and go back down another 20 feet where I feel safer. I sit down, have a snack, and do some writing in my journal. It starts to rain so I head back. I decide not to back track since I never felt that safe sidetracking. Unfortunately, the way that I went down was a lot thicker with smaller bush-sized trees and a lot steeper than the way I went up. It was quite treacherous. It felt really good once I got back into the big trees and away from all the loose looking boulders.
Well I did get high enough up to catch a view of the river this time.
Straight up pic from the highest point I got to.
Straight down pic from the highest point I got to.
Hiked back down 20 feet, sat on this limb that I somewhat securely lodged on the other trees, and camped out.
Day 8
Well I gave myself an extra day to go to the beach, but the tour bus broke down, and they got it fixed an hour after the tour was suppose to leave. So at the last second I get the I must move bug, and I hop on the tour bus. I had a good day, put down some awesome fish tacos, and on the hike, I decide to just take a nap under a huge Banyan tree.
Another picture from Red Sand Beach
Well, Maui was great. It was the time of my life, but I don't think I'll ever be back. I got to see a lot of amazing things, and I completed the hikes that I wanted to complete. I'll really miss the people that I met, but there are plenty of other places to see and people to meet.
Well Day 2 was rather uneventful. I went swimming and saw some sea turtles. We also hit up a couple tourist traps such as a buddha statue and some town . . . Lahaina. There was a place with $1 beers though, so it worked out.
Anyways, went back to the hot tub where I met Johnny and a couple other cool people. During the time, I informed them of my Natty Light problem, and everyone had a couple rounds. As a matter of fact, Johnny and Gouta decided that they were going o start buying Natty Light so there beer doesn't get stolen. At this point I was pretty happy about converting the Hostel over to Natty Light. Then got an invite to a coffee shop that serves alcohol where I met the coolest girl ever from Denmark. We didn't speak much at the coffee shop, but when we left, we started dancing down the streets. I kept singing this song I made up called "We're dancing, don't need no music!" Then she asks what's the name of the song that sounds like that one. And I sing "This song kinda sounds like another one, but I really don't know the name of it." Well, we crack up laughing, and dance and sing the whole way home. Unfortunately, before the end of the night I found out she has been at the hostel for a month and already has some hostel romance going on. She's leaving in 2 days, going to the Big Island, then swinging back to Oahu. I decide to wait in line and see if I can win her over back in Oahu.
Day 3
I wake up at about 7:00 a.m. I'm restless as all hell, and I'm thinking the tour doesn't leave until noon. So I decide to make a Walmart trip since I forgot my memory stick, and I can only take 17 pictures. Well, I hit up all the tourist traps such as Office Depot, Old Navy, and Walmart, and I make it back at 10:50. And I am pleasantly surprised to see that the tour bus left at 10:30. So I sniff out the Danish chick, Christina, and I ask her what she is doing to which she replies "We are going to see monkeys," and I invite myself to go along. I'm waiting around, and she comes up dancing, and I'm just like oh shit, I'm gonna have to generate that level of excitement while I'm sober. We finally leave for a 2.5 mile walk to the Maui Tropical Plantation, and we dance and sing the whole way there. We finally get to the place, and get to see a total of 2 monkeys.
I had been under the impression that this place was full of monkeys, but no, just 2. So, you are suppose to pay for a $10 tour where you get on big tour car, and they drive you around the plantation. We decide not to do it, and walk to the beginning of the tour and see a ginormous, Do Not Enter sign. Christina asks me what we should do, and without flinching, I say we go for it. Well walking around, Christina sees a big basket of coconuts, and she wants one, so without flinching, I say we steal it. This wasn't exactly the perfect crime because Christina goes through each coconut, looking for the one with the most juice, and then we shove it in my backpack. Well, further down the path, she decides she wants a huge papaya nearly the size of the coconut. Being 5', she sends me to jump and get the papaya in plain view of the entrance. We shove the papaya into my now bulging backpack. Then Christina sees an avocado that she wants. At this point Maiken, and Mike are walking about 15 feet behind us, and there are some workers in plain view, but I decide to give it a go anyways. Well the Avoccado wasn't budging, so we had to leave it behind us. A little later a truck drives up to us, and a lady hops out to inform us that we aren't allowed on the path, but she lets us finish the tour and walk out since we are nearly by the exit. I couldn't get out there fast enough, so I was just ready to jet out the exit even though nobody who worked there really cared.
Well we made it out safe, and hitchhiked back into town. We get some pizza, then decide to go ahead and hike Iao which is a rainforrest.
Iao peak
Now, we are with Mike who maintains trails for a living. so he takes us through the woods and decides to scale up the side of the mountain. Me and Christina decide to follow along. The mountain was so steep that you pulled yourself up with the trees. It's late and we finally get to a point where the brush is much thicker, so we sit back enjoy the view, and decide to turn around. Well, at some point I think "Man, my sister would love Christina." Never really thought that about any girl before.
Christina (camera pointing down)
This picture was pointed straight down. (You can see my shoe at the bottom of the tree and my knee in the bottom right corner)
We get back and my hot tub buddy, Johnny, mentions that we should get started early, and the chicks will follow. This starts a long running inside joke between the two of us that we dubbed "the vibe." Everytime we get together the chicks will soon follow. We'd be standing in a big group of people that just happens to have a lot of girls, and we'd just look at each other and say "the ladies can't resist us." Or everytime a girl would hop in the hot tub, we would give each other a high 5 like we had something to do with the girls getting in. It was good fun. Here's a picture from the last day we vibed it.
The Vibe
Day 4
I'm pretty exhausted and the tour for the day is whale watching. So I skip out and tag along with Johnny and Jess. Unfortunately, they are stoners, and it takes until 2:00 before they go somewhere, and we just went to a couple of beaches and they smoked weed. A really boring day, but I needed the relaxation, and I got to spend 4 hours in the hot tub.
Day 5
Haleakala hike. Well you start at the summit 10,000 feet which is above the clouds, The total hike is a 3,000 feet in elevation and 12 miles in distance. You start above the clouds and then eventually you are hiking in the clouds. The hike ends with a pretty intense round of switchbacks, at which point my Norwegian roommate, Gouta, starts running up the side switchbacks. A little about Gouta. He was a chiropractor and physical therapist who decided to go to Hawaii on a one month vacation because he wanted to do Yoga and go surfing everyday. I might just have to steal that idea one day. Well, I see him running up the mountain, I get a little excited, and I start going at a really fast pace, a little slower than a run. Finally at the end of the trail, I see Gouta, but I have just done the hardest hike of my life and didn't even reach the summit. Not happy about this, I take the road to the summit which turns out to be an extra 7 miles. Well the tour bus catches up to me and tells me I only have 2 miles left. I refuse the ride, but i drop my stuff off and start running. I can run 2 miles no problem, but after a 17 mile hike, going up a mountain, my running didn't last long. I was stupid enough to drop off my jacket so I am 300 meters away from the summit when the wind really kicks in, and it is getting really cold. One of the cars comes to pick me up, but I'm not stopping, but luckily Rich comes back down the mountain with my jacket and volunteers his wind breaker. I would have had to stop if it wasn't for him. But I reached the summit.
You know, I came to Hawaii because I didn't know where I wanted to go with my life. Well, during that 19 mile hike, I knew I'd finally found it.
An endangered cactus that is only found in like 3 places.
Hardcore
The Nene, an endangered bird. You can't feed it or it dies. I wonder why it is endangered.
It falls off on each side as you walk from one mountain to the next. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop and take more pictures because I was on a mission to the top.
Titanium core
Day 6
Well, somehow, I got invited to go sailing. It was a great time.
. . . There was a whale, but now it's just a splash.
Took a picture before I left. BTW, this boat can sail across the world and cost 20k which gave me some ideas.
After a few days of intense activity, I spent a couple hours relaxing in the hot tub. Johnny walked up to the hot tub twice, and both times, a girl showed up less than a minute later. The Vibe is strong.
Day 7
Well the tour for the day was Iao, so I decide to finish what I started and try to summit. I leave on my own, and bike 3 miles up hill on a shitty free bike which was hardcore. It wasn't wise to go alone, but I enjoyed a good day alone in the woods. I reached the top of the tree line (titanium core), and after much denial, I realize that there is no chance of safely reaching the top of the mountain. I side tracked for a good 50 feet, with no help in sight, I finally call it quits, and go back down another 20 feet where I feel safer. I sit down, have a snack, and do some writing in my journal. It starts to rain so I head back. I decide not to back track since I never felt that safe sidetracking. Unfortunately, the way that I went down was a lot thicker with smaller bush-sized trees and a lot steeper than the way I went up. It was quite treacherous. It felt really good once I got back into the big trees and away from all the loose looking boulders.
Well I did get high enough up to catch a view of the river this time.
Straight up pic from the highest point I got to.
Straight down pic from the highest point I got to.
Hiked back down 20 feet, sat on this limb that I somewhat securely lodged on the other trees, and camped out.
Day 8
Well I gave myself an extra day to go to the beach, but the tour bus broke down, and they got it fixed an hour after the tour was suppose to leave. So at the last second I get the I must move bug, and I hop on the tour bus. I had a good day, put down some awesome fish tacos, and on the hike, I decide to just take a nap under a huge Banyan tree.
Another picture from Red Sand Beach
Well, Maui was great. It was the time of my life, but I don't think I'll ever be back. I got to see a lot of amazing things, and I completed the hikes that I wanted to complete. I'll really miss the people that I met, but there are plenty of other places to see and people to meet.
posted by robbo at 8:15 PM
3 Comments:
nice blog, makes me want to go there instead on honolulu
Well, we'd love to have you here, but you should definitely consider it. www.mauihostel.com
It's Iao NEEDLE - not peak. And how come Johnny isn't drinking a natty light in the hot tub? Vibe Shmibe!
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