2012 – Page 2 – Globitrotter

Hawaii

Our two weeks in Hawaii we regarded as a “vacation in the vacation”. Although we did some camping, hiking and sightseeing on the Big Island we have spent many days just hanging around the hotel, pool or beach without doing much at all. It has been great since the weather has been perfect with tropical temperatures without being too hot. The water is also warm enough for me to swim in without any larger issues (I really do not like cold water).

The pool at the Sheraton Waikiki. If you do decide to go to Waikiki we can really recommend this hotel. On the more expensive side but well worth it.

About a week we have been hanging in Waikiki which might be the most famous place in Hawaii with a nice beach, an abundance of restaurants and bars and hotels. The first two days before we went to the Big Island we actually got two nights in a luxury hotel free of charge from the travel agency where we booked our flights. That was really a treat and we hardly left the hotel for the entire time. They had a very pool by the beach and nice restaurants.

On the Big Island the main theme was volcanoes but we managed to spend some time on the coast as well. Kailua-Kona, on the west coast, turned out to be a very cosy little town with nice sunsets. If you want to escape the crowds in Waikiki this might be an alternative. Only thing is they don’t have a lot of nice, long, sandy beaches on the Big Island which might be what you are looking for in Hawaii.

Sunset in Kailua-Kona.

Unfortunately the volcanoes were not very active at this point. There was no place we could see lava which we were hoping for. We did have a pretty cool outing to the top of Mauna Loa, one of the two high volcanoes on the island. It is higher than 42oo m and we camped on the summit. It was hard carrying everything up there. Obviously we are not used to the altitude anymore after spending more than 2 months on sea level… We made it eventually and it was a lot more windy than we thought. But the views were nice and worth the effort.

Pinching the tent at the summit at sunset.

At the summit with the crater in the background. It is always cold above 4000 m, even in Hawaii.

For the last 5 days at Waikiki we had decided to treat ourselves a nicer hotel with a balcony for lazy mornings and the afternoon glas of wine or beer. We booked a balcony with pool view to avoid facing a street with lots of traffic. We were upgraded and ended up a bit higher so that we could also see the sea from our room. Nice.

The pool from our balcony at night.

The view from the balcony in the afternoon.

Tomorrow we leave for New Zealand where it is spring and probably about the same temperatures as in California. But summer is coming, again… 🙂

Here you can see more images from Hawaii:

Hawaii

Halloween in Waikiki

The day we returned to Waikiki after spending one week on the Big Island it happened to be Halloween. This was of course nothing we kept track of and were very surprised to find that the main street was full of people dressed up as all sorts of things.

We saw tigers, polar bears, frogs, bees, angels, devils, birds, Chip and Dale, Ironman, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Leia, Luke Skywalker, doctors, nurses, patients, police, convicts, Pacman, Angry Birds, Super Marios, the Hulk, pirates, zombies, scary looking people and of course the people that are just wearing as little as possible just to get the attention.

We had a lot of fun just walking around looking at the spectacle. It reminded me a lot of the Halloween I spent in Castro, San Francisco, more than ten years ago. The difference being there was less alcohol in Waikiki, everyone seemed sober and it was really quite calm although lots of people. Everyone wanted to be photographed with the best dressed and often it was impossible to move because a photo session was going on with a Batman, a bunch of crayons (yes, people dressed up like crayons with different colors) or an octopus and Jack Sparrow meeting. The street performers had a rough night when the normal people were stealing all the attention. 🙂

A guy taking pictures of the Hulk and the Black Widow

My personal favorite, the cookie.

No dress up party without a Darth Vader. We saw a number of different Vaders with different costumes. This one was one of the better.

Wondering where to go next Halloween? Waikiki is not a bad place.

First part coming to an end

It is now time for us to leave main land America where we have spent almost 2 years. First 1.5 years in Phoenix and then 5 months on the road in the States and Canada. We are looking forward to our “vacation in the vacation” on Hawaii before going on to New Zealand for new adventures. It feels good to be on our way, the past weeks has been a bit just waiting to go on. We have spent time selling the car and giving things away that does not fit in our bags. This means leaving has been on our minds for a long time.

Our stay in the USA and Canada was the first part of our trip and the second part, New Zealand, is coming closer. We will be traveling with a different car, still one you can sleep in which is necessary for the budget to work, in a new country. We need to find out where it is ok to spend the night, where to shop and what food is good. It has been easy in America since, after living in Phoenix, we were very familiar with everything and knew what to look for and expect. We are looking forward to everything being new and exciting.

This was the last place we visited before returning the rental car. It is the boardwalk at Redondo Beach, LA. A very nice place I had never heard of before but really worth visiting. A nice pier with restaurants and shops and less touristy than Santa Monica.

West Coast America in pictures

It has taken us about a month to go from Vancouver to Santa Barbara where we are now. In just a few days we are leaving main land America and will fly to Hawaii for a few weeks. During this month we have done a lot of different things. We have visited cities, beaches, wineries and friends. I have collected photos for you to look at instead of text to read. Enjoy!

Vancouver to LA

Adjusting to the environment

A couple of weeks ago we realized something. We like hiking peaks, ridges and anything with a view really. Hiking through a lot of forest we usually do because we have to just to get above the tree line which is where it gets interesting (we think). We have avoided all trails that are completely in the forest and flat and it was easy to do so as long as we were in the mountains. Now we find ourselves more along beaches and rolling hills rather than steep mountains. This makes it harder for us to find something we want to do and we end up drinking a lot of coffee and tea instead of moving. We had to stop buying brie cheese, bread and chocolate because I was gaining weight. Something has to be done, obviously, because I really like those three things.

One day we hiked through a pretty nice forest in order to watch fish jump up a water fall. That was cool, but the hike was quite boring. We discussed though how nice it would be to run on a trail like that. Imagine instead of running on streets or on a treadmill, which we are used to, we could run on this soft and interesting trail with rocks, roots and steps. This is where we decided we needed some more gear.

Nice trail for running on Vancouver Island.

Since we had left our running shoes at home we had to go shopping. Our running shoes are made for pavement so they would not be very suitable anyway. We needed something that can handle water, mud, rocks and slippery roots. Off we went to our favorite store, REI, and bought shoes and backpacks. The backpacks we have are intended for hiking and a lot more weight so they did not work either. Out we came 500 dollars poorer but with equipment that will keep us busy and fit during our travels.

On the beach at Ozette.

We tried our new gear at Ozette in Olympic National Park. Here we found a loop, a 3 mile trail leading out to the beach, along the beach for 3 miles and then 3 miles back on another trail. We ran the first 3 miles, walked along the beach which was filled with drift wood and rocks, and ran back again. It was great! Hiking through the forest to get to the beach would have been boring but now it was fun! The trail was like a board walk through thick, lush, moist forest. Anyone who have played Temple Run knows what I am talking about. This was like the live version except minus the coins, power ups and monkeys chasing you (well, I did have Andy running behind me…)

Having a break before running back.

We have done a few more runs along the coast and it is really quite fun. I have noticed that my cardio fitness might not be the best but we have time to improve that…

Back in America

Yesterday we crossed the border and came back to the USA after spending about 6 weeks in Canada. We were both surprised that we got the feeling we were coming home. It seems that the 1.5 years we spent in Phoenix made us appreciate everything that we used to have around us. There was Olive Garden, Jack in the Box, Five Guys and other things we passed every day. Not that we liked or visited these places often or ever but just the sight of them made us feel just like home. Our home in Phoenix was the first one we had together which makes it special.