Maui, Hawai'i (2nd to 9th of April)

We landed in Maui on the 2nd of April, in the morning. We took our rental car and we drove south to Wailea Beach and Makena Beach. The sea was just amazing, with different shades of blue. The waves and the currents were pretty strong. I was "knocked over" by a wave and my head filled with sand....it took me different days to get rid of it :)

Makena Beach.

In the evening we drove up north again, close to Paia, and met our couch surfing host Jonathan. We cooked dinner and talked about Maui and the other Hawaiian Islands.
The following morning we drove to Hana, in the East of the island, of course we took the famous "Route to Hana". The narrow and curvy route mostly follows the ocean but it is also in the jungle. The East of the island is the wetter side and therefore there are a lot of water falls and scenic views all along the road. Our destinations was not Hana itself but the road to it. 

Waterfall on the road to Hana.

Another beach-relaxing day and laundry day followed. We first stopped in Kahului, together with Wailuku, one of the biggest cities and airport city. Doing laundry isn't usually exciting, but this was the first time we used a laundromat, so it still was a kind of event! For the beach part of the day we chose the sugar-beach in Kihei, close to one of the best shave-ice, the Hawaiian ice cream (ice shaved very thin with addition of different syrups of your choice), places in Maui.
On Friday 5th we drove to the Haleakala National Park, an inactive volcano. The crater is located at about 4000 m above sea level and is characterized by its mars-like landscape of volcanic rock and ash cones. It is also a natural habitat of different endangered local bird and insect species, that only live in Hawaii, for example the nēnē goose. The meaning of Haleakala is "house of the sun" and is still an important place for Hawaiians, who come here to for some ceremonies and celebrations.
The volcano and his landscapes are really amazing and we learned different things about volcanic rocks and lava flows in the  visitor center.

Haleakala National Park.

After the park we drove to Wailuku to our hostel, where we stayed until the end of our stay in Maui.
On Saturday we explored a bit the city of Wailuku, did some shopping and ate local food and on Saturday we drove to Lahaina on the West coast, the old whalers city and now the more touristy part of the island, with lots of hotels and shops. On the way to Lahaina we stopped at a great scenic lookout and we could spot some humpbackwhales from the distance. In Lahaina we first stopped at the Whalers Village, an open air shopping mall, and then went on a semi-submarine tour. From the bottom of the semi-submarine we could see different fishes, corals and other sea creatures. The coral has unfortunately lost a lot of it's life and colour in the past years. Apparently this is due to the tons of sun screen  that gets into the ocean...

Sunset in Lahaina.

On our last full day in Maui we decided for another beach day and spent the day near Makena Beach, where we also had been on our first day.
On Tuesday 9th of April in the morning we flew to the island of Hawaii, also called the "Big Island".

Kaua'i, Hawai'i (28th of March to 2nd of April 2019)

We landed in Honolulu on the 28th at 2 pm. We only spent 1 night in Honolulu because we would come back at the end of the Hawaii trip. We spent the night walking around the center of Honolulu and Waikiki beach. On early morning of 29th March we took our flight to Kaua'i, the garden island. As soon as we picked up our rental car we drove up north and stopped for a nice breakfast in Hanalei, a little charming town with about 400 inhabitants. Our goal was to reach the north-west part of the island and drive until the end of the road before the cliffs of the Nā Pali coast would stop us. However, shortly after Hanalei the road was closed, due to the floodings of last year. So we returned to Hanalei, went to the beach and explored the shops of this little town. After lunch we drove back South in the direction of Kapa'a and stopped different times exploring the surroundings. We stopped  at the farmer's market and bought apple bananas, a smaller type of banana which is supposed to have a slight apple taste (I didn't really feel it though).
In the evening we met our couch surfing hosts Phil and Julia. Phil is a real Polynesian, born and raised in Kaua'i. Julia is from Austria and living on the island since 1.5 years. They welcomed us warmingly and offered us the first traditional Hawaiian meal: Kalua pig, a whole pig prepared in an underground oven, the imu.
On the following day we drove to Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon  of the Pacific. This canyon has been eroded over the years by wind and water and displays the most beautiful colors of red rock and green forests. From one point of the park, there is a nice view of the Nā Pali coast, caractherized by sharp cliffs that drop straight into the ocean. The Nā Pali coast is not accessible by car, but can only be visited by boat or look at from above the sky.
Sunday was a more relaxing day. We explored the south-east of the island, Poipu Beach and surroundings. First we admired the spouting horn, a hole in the cliffs where water is regularly expelled by high pressure, which creates a nice water blow. Then we went to the beach, but first we needed to buy a beach towel. We didn't pack one deliberately, so that we could buy one from Hawai'i as a souvenir.
In the late afternoon we returned to our hosts and attended to a drum and fire dance class (organized by Phil). He taught us different ritms and sounds typical from his culture and showed us how to dance with fire. The sounds of the drums were just awesome! We cooked dinner for our hosts and some of their friends and room mates and had a very nice evening together.
On the following day we took a tour organized by Phil. He brought us to the jungle and showed us different plants, flowers ans trees used for food, medicine or crafts in the Polynesian culture. We cut some bamboo and later on crafted a nose flute with dry bamboo previously harvested. Nose flutes are played with the nose because the air coming from the nose is considered more pure than the one passing through the mouth. And the sound of it is just beautiful (if you can play it). For lunch we returned to Phil's house. Julia had prepared a very good lunch with some typical hawaiian foods, like Kalua pig, cooked taro roots with chese, pineapple hummus and coconut candies. Also, Phil showed us were how to open a coconut, nose flutes and bracelets made of raffia. It was a great experience and we learned a lot about Hawaiian culture!
We spent the rest of the afternoon in Kapa'a, toured the shops a little bit.
We had our last dinner with Phil and Julia and had our last chats. On the following morning, the 2nd of April, we flew to our second Hawaiian island: Maui.
Our experience in Kaua'i was great and we are very thankful that we had the chance to meet and interact with all the nice people we met!

Northern and Southern California (21st to 28th of March 2019)

On Thursday 21st we continued our drive towards Santa Rosa. We took the scenic highway Nr.1, which is a beautiful drive along the ocean. We stopped a lot in the many view points and took some nice pictures! We also quickly stopped in Mountain view to see the Android statues. Approaching San Francisco we took the wrong route and were forced to pass through the city of San Francisco, which turned out to be nice because we drove on the typical "up and down streets" and took the Golden Gate bridge.

Along Highway Nr. 1

We finally arrived at Chris and Kathy's apartment and were greeted by their cat Buckley.

On Friday it was raining, so we took the chance to finish planning our trip a bit and then we met Stephanie for lunch and spent the afternoon together chatting and playing with her cats.
On Saturday the weather was nicer. We met Steve and Pamee for breakfast and then went for a hike in Calistoga, Napa Valley. After the hike we stopped at the winery Chateau Montelena, however there was 1h of waiting for the tasting, so we decided to go for another winery in Healdsburg. The situation there was not better, so we just went home and had some wine there. Also we bought a piece of raclette cheese. Steve and Pamee have received a raclette machine for last Christmas but had never used it. So it was a good occasion to try it out! We had a nice dinner and then played "Ticket to ride" (USA version). It really was a wonderful day and we enjoyed seeing the Collettes again!

At the winery Chateau Montelena with Steve and Pamee.

On Sunday 24th we finished up our planning and started our drive towards San Diego. For the night we stopped in Coalinga, where we were hosted by  Elizabeth. This town is in the deserty part of California and is apparently the biggest  producer of fruits and vegetables in the world! The following day we drove the last part direction San Diego. On the way we stopped at Walker Canyon admiring the ocean of blooming Californian poppies. So beautiful!

Wild poppies.

In the evening we arrived at our friends house in La Mesa. Shawn, Charlotte and little Aiden greeted us warmingly! It was so nice to see them again after 6 years!

On Tuesday the 26th of March we drove up to Solana Beach and to Elija Lagoon, where we did Annie's Canyon trail, a nice trail passing through a very narrow slot canyon. On our way we even encountered a rattle snake, right on the main track! We walked a little more around the trails of the lagoon and took a look at the visitors centre, where we had a quick talk about rattle snakes with one of the park rangers. After the lagoon we stopped for a slice of pizza and a beer at the Pizza Port in Solana Beach and then went for a walk along the ocean.

Slot canyon.

Rattle snake.

Shawn prepared a delicious dinner and had organized different flavoured cakes for Lorenzo's birthday! We had a really nice evening!

On our last day in San Diego, we met up with Annika, our English teacher during our stay in 2010. We met for lunch at the Liberty Public Market in Point Loma, a new complex of shops, restaurants and more. Previously it was a military complex not in use anymore.

After lunch we drove down to the Cabrillo National Monument Park, which is at the bottom of the little peninsula. Very nice view of the ocean and the City of San Diego and Coronado. Before heading home we drove up to Mount Helix, just above Shawn and Charlotte's home. From this little hill you can see San Diego and the surrounding towns. On the very top there is also an old amphitheater made of stone, which is still in use for performances on some special occasions like Easter or Christmas.

Shawn and Charlotte had some cousins visiting, so we went with them to Downtown La Mesa for dinner in a nice (and good) restaurant.

On Thursday 28th we had to leave for the airport to catch our flight for Honolulu. 

We are so thankful that we had the chance to see all our Californian friends again! They all were super nice and welcoming. Hopefully we can return the favor soon and meet them again in Switzerland.

Mt. Helix