Hawaii

18/2/14
Maui Island
Day 1
Soaked up the sunshine on the beach, then accidentally added an hour detour to my walk to the bus stop.

Day 2
Hired a moped and had so much fun driving on the wrong side of the road. Went to the nicest beach on the island and then ventured over to the nudist beach and discovered a drum circle, had a nice nap on the beach while listening to the sound of the drums and the ocean.

Day 3
Extended moped hire as I could not part with it... Went to do a nice scenic loop of the island got half way (40minuts round) and discovered the road was closed. This was a great challenge for me with a narrow road and windy roads, but not much traffic, loved it! Eventually got to the town I was aiming for to find it was just a tourist town, but found the best photo gallery I have ever seen, from Peter Lick and the friendly staff gave me some great info about his work.
Was lucky to find a section of the beach away from the resort goers, and in doing so found a local. He was a retired stunt man who has been in some major movies, a nice lonely, old guy living an extravagant lifestyle while also enjoying the local culture. We got chatting and he loved that I was from Australia, he shouted me lunch at a nice cafe on the beach and I got some insiders info. He had a dog that he was very attached to, so figured I could trust him.
One highlight of this whole trip was finally getting to experience the sunset in nature. Went to a hidden lookout some fellow backpackers had told me about, watched the whales and took a great variety of photos. When I got back to the hostel I felt the best I have felt since I left home.

Day 4
The hostel is really starting to feel like home now, it is set up like a house and the people are so friendly from all around the world. I do seem to attract the Danes though, made friends with three Danes and they invited me on a trip to see the sunrise from the top of the crater. I also made friends with a Latino who had a car and organised to do some surfing to get that one ticked off the list, so this was my biggest day yet.
One of the Danes is a very keen photographer, and insisted that we leave at 3.30 in the morning due to the 2 hour drive to get to the crater, so on four hours sleep I saw the sunrise and some great views. Then when I got back it was off to the beach, unfortunately by the time we got to the beach to waves were a little to ferocious for me, but I attempted it. I also learnt some Spanish, funny enough my new friend loved women, and found another girl on the beach while I was in the surf. We ended up having drinks together and this American, free living chick became my saviour the following day when the Latino was getting a bit too full on. He was not very easy to hang out with, a bit controlling and talked about himself non-stop.

Day 5
Went to the beach with the Latino to meet up with my new American friend, thankfully we managed get away from the egoistic, Latino and had a great afternoon on the beach sharing our common interests. Thankfully she had a car, so I managed to get home that night.
Another long day as I now needed to carry all my gear to the next hostel, a short hike, made longer by the extra weight I had accumulated with food and pamphlets. I went to this hostel mainly for the free tours and also for the nice outdoor area. When I got here I was immediately home sick for the other place, as I discovered this place was massive, a little run down and full of young party goers.

Day 6
Once again, I had luck on my side, I had not gotten a spot on the bus for the turtle tour, but waited around to see if a seat would be free, and sure enough, I got on last minute! This island is incredible, this time of year the whales come from Alaska to breed and have their calves, they have estimated about 1000 hump back whales to be in the waters at the moment, and most beaches you can hear them singing when you put your head underwater! It is incredible, I just wish I could hold my breath longer to hear more of their songs.
Now as for the turtles, they are round most reefs. I was lucky, cause I got to see lots of turtles, and you can swim so close you can touch them, I respected the local law and reframed from touching them. Turtles also make noises under water, they are kind of cute.
So started to make friends at my new hostel, played beach volley ball and had some cheap cocktails before heading "home". I always call home where I lay my head at night.

Day 7
I was lucky to get on the tour again, today it was whale watching. I was very happy that we actually went with the pacific whale foundation and all proceeds go to the foundation for whale protection and research. I saw lots of whales, one jumped very close to the boat, it was spectacular. It was here that I made friends with my favourite friend so far. We decided to rent a car the following day to go on a road trip. Tonight just so happened to be free beer night, so of course had to partake. It was here that the American college type atmosphere really came alive, and I got to play some American games (not all drinking games).

Day 8
 Probably my favourite day on the island, today I did a long trip around Maui with two awesome people, one from Germany and one from the Holland. We ventured in true backpacker style, saw some awesome waterfalls and bays and happily broke the rental agreement to see the best scenery on the island... Words do not do this day justice...

Day 9
Took advantage of one more day with a car, we got a group together and were best friends before we even got to our destination. We had Aussie (me), Holland, Germany and Sweeden and took the opportunities to learn from each other, the day ended up been quite educational. We ventured round a beautiful town and found some great local beverages during happy hour. It was another long day, but we wished it lasted longer as we did not want to part, AMAZING people, thank you, or as the Hawaiians say, mahalo...

Day 10
Moved back to Northshore hostel for the homely vibe, was very grateful to be dropped off this time. Today I did a hike into the famous Iao valley with my Dutch friend. This was very scenic with the towering larva carved mountains. Funny enough, we ran into the tour from the hostel and discovered a long, amazing hike that we would have missed otherwise. We also got a free ride back to save the 5km hike along the road home. Yet another awe inspiring day.

Day 11
Today was my final day, and I had to get and see those turtles again. Thankfully my Danish friends wanted to join me, so I got a ride to the place they call turtle town. The reef here is beautiful, and of course the turtles are always my highlight. I grew to love the turtles so much that I bought a necklace from a local with a turtle carving, the turtle is said to represent healing, and I really need it as my cold is still lingering stronger than ever. I have had the cold for nearly two months, I guess that is what happens when you don't know how to slow down.
There has just been so many opportunities to explore, and I don't regret any of it. Every day here I have grown, been amazed, and overwhelmed at the abundance of experiences. Every day I have met someone that I have learnt from, been inspired by nature and become even more philosophical. Every day I have experienced the true meaning of fun and freedom, and journeyed deeper to my core, as I let go of societal and personal restrictions...

Tomorrow I fly to Hawaii big island to start my Lomi Lomi massage course, and so another journey begins...

22/2/14
I took a dive, blind folded with what I planed in Hawaii... I had a Lomi Lomi massage course booked with someone I had never heard of and did not get referred to and got accommodation with someone I didn't even know, and funny enough landed myself on a tiny 9 seated air craft to fly me onto the big island, and took a taxi with someone who did not seem to know where he was going... But like always, I was going with my intuition and it payed off.
The accommodation was perfect and the massage course gave me all I was seeking on my travel to Hawaii. My teacher was very much a traditional Hawaiian, the massage was very authentic and on top of it all I learnt a great deal about the Hawaiian history, culture and philosophies. Not bad for a blind folded dive hey...

2/3/14

Oahu

I ended up on this island very unexpectedly... I had wished to stay on the big island for a number of weeks with so much to explore, however I soon realised that I was reacting to the sulfur in the air from the active volcano. This was not helping my lingering cough, and I am actually mildly allergic to sulfur. With all this in mind I decided to leave the island straight after my massage course, and the next cheapest island was Oahu.

I had been avoiding this tourist infested island, but I soon came to realise that the aloha spirit was very much alive. Everyone on this island was so happy, even the locals. I actually felt like I was back in Australia with the bustling Wakiki area reminding me of the Gold Coast.

While the hostel was not so flash, I was in a prime location. With the first 10 minutes of been on the iconic Waikiki beach I had already picked up a phone number from a good looking Canadian guy. This put a smile on my face, and even though I turned down the opportunity to have some drinks with him, I felt blissfully young and free, and yet exhausted at the same time from my busy day.

Of course, I had many adventures on this island, but to make it short, I will list my highlights...

Free activities... Learning hula, watching hula and live Hawaiian music and yoga.

The mountains... Wow, now wonder they filmed Jurassic park and Lost here

The beaches... Most stunning so far

Hiking... Once again, staying away from entry fees and tourists

Kayaking... Ahhh, the serenity been out at sea by myself with 360degrees of breath taking mountain and island scenery.

Snorkelling... Could not resist swimming with my turtle friends again, in an amazing bay formed by a sunken volcano

Hiring a car... Ahh the freedom to travel where ever, when ever I wanted

Escaping the touristy area for some quiet time in a cheap guest house nestled in-between the beach and the mountains.

And... I think that is most of it, the photos tell the story better than that though.

5/3/14

I now have the very expensive two day flight to Lima, Peru. That means 24 hours to learn Spanish! But first, gotta experience a real American city, with a 17 hour stop over in Los Angeles...

After a full day of exploring Oahu, with hikes, stunning views, and scenic drives I arrive at the airport with my hire car. The last 2 hours was the perfect goodbye from Hawaii, with a massive whale sitting close to a stunning lookout. The whale seemed to be waving me goodbye with its massive fin slapping the water. Then it was onto the notorious sandy beach. I soon discovered why it was called sandy beach as I walked out of the surf covered in sand. So I was able to take some of the beach with me on the plane. Then the most stunning sunset I have ever layed eyes on, and that is not an exaggeration. I wished I had time to take photos as I saw it set over the ocean and city, but I was already running late for my plane.

An overnight plane trip got me into Los Angeles at 4am in the morning, so red eyed and a little exhausted I somehow managed to find my way (for only $1) to the centre of Santa Monica. I had absolutely no knowledge of this famous city, but it just goes to show, that sometimes "winging it" can turn out for the best. Relying souly on directions from locals I navigated my way to the heart of Santa Monica, stumbled across some lovely farmers markets... In the middle of a main road and met up with a very good friend of mine (who I met on the plan from Brisbane to Vancouver). So maybe if I was more organised I would have been able to spend more than 2 hours with my Aussie friend, but I would say that my day still went splendidly well despite missing a whole nights sleep. Oh and I got 2 hours sleep on the beach with some homeless people, no kidding.

Then it was back onto the plane for a 13 hour expedition to Lima. This part of my trip was cruel and reminded me of how it felt coming off double night shifts with next to no sleep. I arrived into Lima in the middle of the day, it was stinking hot and I had a total of 2 hours sleep. By this stage I was almost delirious, now having missed 2 whole nights of sleep and traveled across multiple time zones. I was relieved to find my driver who took me to my hostel driving like a true South American, through typical South American traffic. 

It is now day 2 for me in Peru, time to learn Spanish and sort out my next adventures. Adios...