Our Adventure Begins! Maui, Hawaii

Wow, what a couple of days we have had- definitely a roller coaster of emotions for sure! After a day filled with packing, settling up loose ends and saying our goodbyes, Jordan and I headed to the airport for 9am with our flight departing at 12pm. First thing to make note of, as Jordan reminds me, is that Lynsea (Jordan’s sister) was especially early and ready to drive to Toronto – a rare occurrence that Lyns is early- she’s got two kiddies to get ready! J

Jordan and I decided that we would both have copies of all of our documents (just in case one of us lost our pack or it got stolen). We are walking into the airport and what do you know, Jordan forgets the documents. Good thing he remembered them before it was too late! After a quick check-in and tearful goodbyes, we swiftly were through customs and in the waiting area. Just before we boarded our plane, we noticed that we had seats that were not together so after asking a couple to nicely switch us seats, we were asked by one of the flight attendants if we would mind switching to an exit seat since there was a child in the seat currently who was not allowed to be sitting there. This was a huge BONUS for us (especially me since I like to stretch out my legs). After gladly switching seats we were also informed that because we switched seats, we were getting either two complimentary alcoholic drinks or meals. Since I have a tendency to get motion sickness, we decided on the meals which consisted of a pepperoni pizza (who knew?) and a chicken wrap- delicious! So far, we were having great luck with everything!

Oh, I almost forgot- since our connection was in Los Angeles, I was on the ‘celebrity hunt’, determined to spot some celebrities! To my surprise, I walk onto the plane and sitting in first class was the guy from Gilmore Girls (Luke). While he is not a big time celebrity (and was the only celebrity we ended up seeing), I was stoked that I got too see at least one! (Jordan on the other hand couldn’t have cared less, but did actually suggest that we put on our sunglasses and pretend we were celebrities in front of TMZ- however, we didn’t see TMZ either haha).

After a 20 minutes hike around LAX to find our next boarding location, we decided to take up my uncle’s suggestion and go to the restaurant (that is a much, much, much, smaller looking version of the CN Tower) called The Encounter. We only had an hour for lunch, quickly downed our meals (and a beer each) and were waiting for our flight to Maui.

This flight felt much longer- even though both flights were roughly 5 hours. Our first flight was with Air Canada and was flawless- equipped with our own personal tv’s with the ability to choose from multiple movies, tv shows, games, etc. Our second flight, with United, was a blast from the past- equipped with a whopping 6 tv’s, old school Verizon telephones and seats meant to fit small children. The lesson learned here- book with Air Canada and never with United. Oh, and did I forget to mention that the pilot was probably flying one of his first flights ever as the entire flight was filled with turbulence and uneven flying (drastically, going from left to right) = worst pilot/flight ever! As I’m writing this, Jordan reminds me of, as he says in his own, “don’t forget about ET in the seat next to us with her bright LED book light that practically lit up the whole plane”.

After landing and getting our rental vehicle (which was upgraded from a Toyota Yaris to a Chevy HHR- Bonus!) we found our hostel (Banana Bungalow International Maui Hostel) and went to bed. Although it was only 10:30 pm Hawaii time, it was 4:30 am back at home and we both had been up for nearly 24 hours and were therefore totally pooped!

            We woke up at 6am thanks to the crowing (?) of what seemed like 10 roosters and decided to start our day right away. Since we arrived late at night in Maui, we were unable to see any of the scenery so when we woke up and walked outside of the hostel staring straight into a giant set of mountains, both of us were in complete awe. We are so lucky to be on this trip and I think seeing this scenery really put everything into perspective for us. 

            More excited than ever now, we decided to get the ‘show on the road’.  Since our complimentary breakfast of pancakes at the hostel wasn’t available until 8am we decided to stop in at a Walgreens to grab a couple of muffins and coffees on our way up to see Haleakala National Park where a dormant volcano rests at 10, 023 feet. The drive was absolutely stunning and around every bend (and there were hundreds) it got even better. The views were absolutely jaw-dropping and we were so happy we decided to take this drive! However, I must say that going around these hair-pin bends with no guard rails whatsoever and looking down the cliff to the 10,000 feet below us that we just drove up, certainly did a number on my nerves!

            Since we had such an early start to our day, we were back down in the town of Kahului by 11am and decided it was time to grab some lunch and hit the beach! After a delicious meal, we did a bit of window shopping and decided to try and find a somewhat secluded beach where the locals swim. We ended up finding the most beautiful beach, with stunning views of Molokini (a small island off of Maui). We brought our snorkels with us and certainly made good use of them! On a side note, Jordan looked hilarious in his as he bought a child’s size since it fit his face better!

            By 5pm the sun was starting to go down and we decided to head to the  (outrageously priced) grocery store to buy some food for dinner but decided to settle on 4 apples and 5 bananas (all that we could afford)- oh, plus a bottle of wine and 6 beers- all of which cost, after applying for the Wailea Discount, $22. Gina, we realized we could 'class it up' a bit and by a corkscrew bottle since Jordan brought the swiss army knife/bottle opener (Thank you!!). We didn’t realize that by applying for this ‘membership’ (by just giving a phone number) we would receive local pricing instead of tourist pricing. For example, a tourist price for a bag of cherries was $10.99 versus a local price of $7.99 (still outrageously expensive).

            More to come in the next few days so keep posted and hope you enjoyed!

All our love,

Kikki & Jojo