NYE in Hawaii & Our First Couple of Days in Australia!

Well, where to start? Firstly, I apologize for the lack of blog’s lately; it’s been a hectic week and a half! It’s great to hear many of you sending us notes saying that you can’t wait to read our newest blog! Well, the most important and exciting news we can share with you all is that…WE’RE ENGAGED!! J After 7 years of dating, Jordan popped the question in Hawaii on New Year’s Eve day at a beautiful private waterfall that we found. Since I know you all are wondering how it happened, here’s how! While in Maui on our 5-day mini-vacation, we decided to drive the “Road to Hana”. This road trip took us roughly 11 hours and was worth every minute of it! We set out at 5:30 am and after a 25 minute delay because one of the fellow backpackers parked behind us (and therefore we had to knock on some doors to get him to move his car) we were on the road. Our first stop was alongside the road to snap some pictures of some (what looked like professional) surfers riding these incredibly big waves. Were they ever impressive! 

 We continued on and stopped at “Twin Falls” which is a ‘touristy’ stop with a couple of little waterfalls. Little did I know that Jordan was scoping out spots to pop the question with the ring in his shorts pocket!

 After deciding that these waterfalls were neat but we knew we would see better ones, we drove on until we saw a huge waterfall in the distance. Jordan was DETERMINED to get to it and so we climbed over a watershed and into the jungle to get to this waterfall. After a 20 minute hike and both running shoes being completely dunked in the water, we were there. This waterfall was totally stunning and had beautiful pools surrounding it.

 I was sitting in awe looking at the waterfall when I turned around to face Jordan (who was sitting just below me) and there he was holding up the most beautiful ring! It’s actually quite funny because he asked me to marry him and at first I didn’t respond to his question because I just kept saying “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness”! He had to ask me twice before I actually replied with a “YES, OF COURSE!!”.  It was something straight out of a storybook and I’ll tell you, you couldn’t wipe the smile off of both of our faces! It couldn’t have been more perfect! 

We both decided after to swim in the little water-pool at the foot of the waterfall. Well, I would love to tell you that we jumped in, stood underneath it and loved every minute of it but in reality…IT WAS FREEZING!! Determined to say that I swam in a natural pool, I (after about 15 minutes of slowing lowering myself into the water) did a couple of laps and was out in a jiffy! Jordan made it to just about his waist and that was all he could take. I was rather impressed with the effort since I, the water lover, even found it almost unbearable! We decided that the numbing effect should only last song long and hopped out and hiked back to the car-not before completely “muddying” (?) up our shoes! Needless to say, Jordan’s proposal was certainly the highlight of our trip!

As we continued our drive, complete with 600 hair-pin turns and a single lane road on the side of a giant cliff, I actually began to feel nauseous because for the majority of the drive I had my head down looking at my ring! The trip really was the most beautiful drive we’ve ever experienced and we highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Maui. Jordan’s parents are actually headed to Hawaii in March and we can’t wait to share with them our experiences of Maui. The most beautiful part of the drive was actually past the town of Hana. The insurance on rental cars is void if you go past Hana (because of the steep cliffs and rocky roads). Since the weather was beautiful, we decided to carefully drive on and it was worth every minute.

Jordan’s Insert: Just past the town of Hana, Kirsten and I were still loving the drive but were looking for another attraction to pull over and stretch our legs. To our surprise we see a hand painted sign that said “Lava tube next left”. As we mentioned all of the 600+ turns were hairpin so it didn’t allow much warning. As we came around the corner I swerved quickly down the rough road. About a mile down the road we turn up what looks to be someone’s driveway and discover the Lava tube. Here sat a very charismatic owner who instantly talked us into paying $12 each to tour the tubes. Kirsten and I reluctantly paid the man and said to each other “I hope this is worth $24”. We head on down the path which leads us to a winding stair case into a cave. 

Once we enter the cave it is literally pitch dark.  Equipped with flash lights we both head on through this incredible cave system full of stalactites and stalagmites that were unlike any that I have seen before. These ones looked like they were made of chocolate fudge if you can believe it. About a kilometer through the cave we come to a massive bolder lodged in the rock and we crawl underneath it which brings us to the end of the excursion. Unfortunately the man did not own the land any further then this which meant we had to turn back and hit the road again. Needless to say it was worth $24 dollars for us nature buffs (mark you will love this!).

After 7.5 hours in the car, stopping every once and a while to take in the scenery, we found a little farm that sold local fruit, vegetables and coffee. Since we had been up for so long, the coffee was much needed. The13-acre farm was run by 13 people who bunked in tree houses and worked to provide the town with fresh food. It was very cool to see and we instantly thought of Jordan’s Aunt Cathy and Uncle Greg who live in Tweed, Ontario and have a very whimsical garden equipped with a “Zen Den”. You guys would have loved it there!

After a few days on the road visiting Haleakala Crater and driving the “Road to Hana”, we decided to head back to our beach that we found. Driving out to the beach we saw at least 30 whale spouts blowing water up into the air. It was by far the coolest thing to see! The whales were just rolling in the water and every now and then you could see a tail come splashing down or a fin gliding through the water. Keep in mind this was at least a half mile away but it was still so great to see! 

Our 5 days in Hawaii were absolutely amazing despite the fact that my computer got a major virus on our last day there. After dropping it off a tech-shop for the entire day and picking it up at 10pm that night, it was fixed and we were back on our lucky strike. Our flight flew out the next morning and since Hawaiian Airlines allows for 70lb bags travelling to Australia, I jammed as much as I could into my suitcase (so I ONLY had to carry a 35 pound backpack on my back, a 20 pound knapsack on my front and drag my 70lb suitcase behind me) J.  Our first flight was a mini 30 minute flight in which we were upgraded to exit seats for the 2^nd time this trip! To our utter surprise and excitement, the 10.5 hour flight from Honolulu to Sydney we also got to sit in exit rows! 

 

We could stretch our legs out in front of us and still had 2 feet in front of us…it was pure luxury. 

We HIGHLY recommend flying Hawaiian airlines. It was by far the best flight I have ever been on equipped with free wine (bonus!), a delicious meal consisting of chicken curry, broccoli, salad, lime/raspberry cheesecake and guava juice, as well as unlimited snacks (chips and pound cake) and a ham/cheese croissant! The only downfall of the flight (other than the fact the Jordan was becoming quite congested) was the fact that it was FREEZING due to sitting right by the door. After grabbing a couple extra blankets and putting my feet on my back pack (and therefore off the chilly floor) we were warm and cozy and ended up getting a few hours of sleep.

The time change between Hawaii and Canada is five hours (Canada being 5 hours ahead) and so when we arrived in Sydney, we only subtracted two hours from Hawaii time and skipped a whole day. For example, we arrived (Hawaii time) at 9:30pm on Tuesday January 3^rd but in Australia time it was actually 7:30 pm on Wednesday January 4^th- we had lost a whole day! The Hawaii stop-over certainly made the world of a difference in terms of getting used to the time change!

                Since this is a massively long post, I’m going to end here and will continue the next blog starting with arriving in Australia! All in all, our mini-vacation in Maui was absolutely amazing and we couldn’t be happier about getting engaged!! Our next blog will be up soon!

Happy New Year!

 Kirsten & Jordan

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