The Bridge over the Queen Elizabeth

Wed 16 and Thu 17 Feb

Today (Wed) and today (Thu) was a confusing travel day. We woke up very early and headed to Maui airport for our connection to Honolulu. I left La to check in the bags while I returned the hire car (easy peasy, Thrifty in Maui are very friendly) then very stressful wait for the car rental shuttle to the terminal which the staff kept assuring me would only be a minute. 20 minutes later it rocked up (I could have walked to the terminal and back at least once in that time!) and was reunited with a slightly anxious La (where were you? what took so long?).

The flight to Honolulu was short and uneventful. We then had a boring 2 hour wait for our flight to Sydney during which we tried to spend some of our remaining US dollars on coffee and cinnamon buns. The flight to Sydney was quite empty so we commandeered a spare row and La managed to get 40 winks pretty much lying stretched out across 4 seats. Meanwhile I watched 3 movies (shared screen: bummer) - 'Convicted', 'Unstoppable' and 'Salt'. Sometime half way through the flight we crossed the International Dateline and lost a whole day in a matter of seconds. To be fair, we'd been gaining time ever since we left London so we could afford to lose some. But a whole day!?

On arrival in Sydney we of course declared everything that might have been on the food and animal products list at customs, having watched too many episodes of 'Nothing to Declare'. In fact, I was looking forward to being questioned, just to say I had been and to see if they would clean my running shoes or something. Alas, there were such long queues that our declaration of food (4 choc-chip macadamia biscuits and 40 tea bags) and animal products (two lei made from small shells) were waived through with disdain and the next minute we were in the Sydeny arrivals hall and receiveing a very warm Aussie welcome from my friend T, and her sons B and T. It was sunny and hot and lovely to be with close friends. G'day mate, welcome to Australia!

Temp: 26 Deg C with 80% humidity

Time: -3 hours but crossed the date line so lost a day (GMT +11)

When we got home, my friend's husband A, my best mate from school and best man at our wedding, was home from firing people at work. We relaxed and chatted and had an awesome meal (grilled tuna; T is a fantastic cook!) and chatted some more and caught up. It was great to be in Australia.

Noon, noon, night. Day 32/33

Fri 18 Feb

Apparently February in Sydney is often humid and sticky and hot and in this respect it did not disappoint. However it is apparently not common to have neighbours angle-grinding roof tiles and sawing aluminium sheets at 07:30am, but we were nevertheless treated to both of these. Ah well, at least on the weekends this would only start at 8am!

Spent the morning with T, jump-started their spare car and got a new battery for it and went shopping. She drove us to Bronte beach, we parked and then we did the beautiful walk along the rocks that runs from Bronte to Bondi. Sydney has beautiful beaches with white sand and big waves and blue ocean. It was wonderful. At Bondi beach we strolled across the sand and were amazed at how many beach goers there were out on a working day. Also amused by the school groups doing surf lessons.

Had fish and chips and my first Australian coffee (a 'flat white' of course!) at a cafe next to Bondi. Delish. Nice and fresh and the batter was light and crisp. Then we walked back along the same path to our car and back to T&A's place. La and I took their spare car for a spin and did some shopping at one of the many Westfield malls in East Sydney. This one (East Gardens), in common with many other malls in Australia, has a huge fresh fruit and veg shop in what would otherwise be a thoroughfare. I think I counted 6 different types of peaches and 3 nectarine variants. La was in heaven.

Back at home, T had collected their two young boys from school and then I watched in awe as she made fresh pasta from scratch, mixing and kneading the dough, then rolling it into fettucine and leaving to rest before supper was started. She made it look enjoyable, if not quite effortless. For Shabbes supper, some of their friends came over, also with kids of similar ages to B&T. Supper was awesome - challah and hot smoked salmon, then the fresh pasta with tomato sauce or pesto (both homemade by T) and then fruit, ice cream, wine and coffees.

Shabbat Shalom all.

Day 34

Sat 19 Feb

Woke up and A made lattes (fresh ground coffee and an espresso machine with milk frother - the whole experience!) then headed off to Rose Bay to meet up with my former boss B and his wife G and son A. They had left London to return to Sydney last July or thereabouts. We had a delicious breakfast (La and I both had scrambled eggs on Rye toast which were much better than that sounds!) at Sugarloaf Espresso then went for a walk with ex-bossman and crew along the sea-front of Rose Bay, one of Sydney Harbour's gorgeous inlets. Yachts, seaplanes, kids learning sailing, standing boards and harbour beach (no waves).

As it so happened, our next arrangement was lunch in a few hours, also in Rose Bay, so we walked some more the opposite way round Rose Bay and surrounding streets. Lunch was at Den sushi with some friend's of La's mom. The food was again superb and I was introduced to the friends and their daughter and husband. After lunch we returned to T&A's place in Maroubra (technically Kingsford, but the Maroubra side!) to chill a bit and I went with T to another shopping mall (Pacific Square) which has a meditteranean deli that makes awesome biltong and has a huge selection of olives and 6 different types of fetta. Also the local supermarket there stocks South African products so bought some Ouma Rusks. Very cool.

For supper we were out in Vaucluse visiting our former upstairs neighbours G and N and baby J. They live in a flat in Vaucluse, near Diamond Bay, with an almost sea view if you stand on their balcony. Their area is very windy which in the humidity was a great relief. G braaied boerewors and steak for us guys and the girls had mielies and stir fry. Delish. They had also left London for Sydney sometime last year and it was great to catch up with them. N had rudely missed La's hen night as she went into labour that afternoon and J was born the next day and he's now almost walking and has grown so big.

It had been a very busy but great day in Sydney catching up with friends from London and SA.

Day 35

Sun 20 Feb

I was up early and had a cold shower as it was so humid and hot. Besides being a keen barrista, A also loves to bake, so for breakfast we had fresh Rye bread and cinnamon buns. And coffee of course. Yum.

Have I previously mentioned that Australians have very high standards in coffee making? Coffee culture is huge here and pretty much every restaurant and bar will be able to sell you very good, fresh coffee. Espresso based drinks are the norm. In fact, unless you walk into Starbucks (which is very uncommon and hard to find, thank goodness), you will struggle to find plain old filter coffee anywhere.

We took a bus to the city with A and younger son T (wife T and son B went to a birthday party but would meet up with us later). The bus route took us past some Syndey landmarks like the main rugby stadium and Centennial Park, Oxford Street (full of Asian take-aways, strip joints and bars) and Hyde Park (much smaller than you'd expect) and terminated at Circular Quay which is sandwiched between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Awesome views of both from the Quay and then we walked to and around the Opera House. Amazing. And it was a glorious day (ignoring the humidity) with sunshine and blue skies and the harbour is fabulous. The harbour actually refers to the whole set of inlets from the heads westwards and includes several beaches and wharfs and piers and neighbourhoods. Enormous.

We bought ice creams and then took a ferry to Watsons Bay. The ferry route offers mroe incredible views of the bridge and opera house and makes several stops along the way. T and B had finished at the birthday party and boarded our ferry at Rose Bay and then we all continued on to Watson's Bay. La and I were trying to spot the house used during Masterchef Australia 2010 which is somewhere in Diamond Bay and we probably did!

At Watsons Bay we had fish and chips from Doyles for lunch then walked along the beach and quayside and took a stroll up to The Gap - a cliff-side lookout point over the Pacific which is also unfortunately a popular suicide point. We all bussed back to Rose Bay and then drove home. The afternoon was hot hot hot and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. While the kids had a bit of a nap La and I ended up in T&A's bedroom with them (no, none of that!), which was the only airconditioned room in the house. Heaven. I don't think we even spoke to each other, just read and relaxed in the glorious coolth.

That evening we had an early supper at some friends of my sister and she had invited a whole bunch of old friends drom our youth movement camp days. A busy evening, but nice to catch up and meet this one's boyfriend and that one's kid. Our supper host runs a deli so we had awesome bagels and cold cuts. After supper we still had one more arrangement and met up with La's first cousin, originally from Pretoria but who moved to Sydney many years ago. Drinks and catch up with her family rounded off a very busy day.

Day 36

Mon 21 Feb

It was much cooler this morning. Apparently the wind had shifted from hot easterly (from the desert) to cool westerly (from the ocean) and this is known as The Change. Whatever, it was a great relief from the humidity. I went for a jog down to Maroubra beach, about 4km away. Then had a nice big breakfast as reward for my run and then drove about an hour to the North to visit D, a friend of La's mom in St Ives (aka St Africa due to the high number of South Africans living there). D was at school with La's mom which meant she was at school with my aunt. And she was also in the same hall of residence at Wits as my mom. Looking through some of D's albums we found photos of my aunt and mom as students; incredible.

After a refreshing tea and croissant, D then drove us around North Sydney, taking us to Manly (beautiful palm tree-lined beach and great cafes and shops) then on to Dee Why, where we had an awesome lunch at On Shore cafe (I had a steak sandwich, La had Greek Salad). We pressed on northwards past Collaroy beach and on to Narrabeen Lagoon, then headed inland to the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase national park, a huge, lush forested area. In the park we visited the West Head lookout point with awesome views of the Tasman Sea, Pittwater and the back of Palm Beach. Then back to St Ives (stopping first to pick up D's grandkids from school), to pick up our car and drive back to the Eastern suburbs.

A and I had a guys night out planned so I changed into something slightly smarter than flip-flops and shorts and bussed into the city. We started off at a very cool bar frequented mostly by city types (I was with one!) then continued with some pretty incredible Japanese food in The Rocks area (sashimi and teriyaki chicken). Rounded off our night with a whisky (Irish) at the Blu Bar (top of the Shangri La hotel) which has an incredible view of the Sydney Harbour bridge and Darwin Harbour. It was so nice to catch up with A, comparing wedding ring tans and giggling like school boys. An awesome day!

Day 37

Tue 22 Feb

Today La and I took a bus to the city for a good wander round. We got off at Circular Quay and headed straight for the International Passennger Terminal. There were three good reasons for this. First, it had started to rain so we needed to take some cover (we'd left our brollies in London!). Second, we were on the hunt for restaurants featured in Masterchef Oz and Peter Gilmore's Quay Restaurant was there (photos taken of the outside!). Lastly, the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner was berthed. Boy is it huge, and we could just about imagine what it would be like in the upper deck rooms, each with its own ocean facing balcony. Awesome.

From there we walked around the quay a bit, popped into the Park Hyatt (mainly to use the loos but also the views of the Opera House and the Bridge from its terraces are incredible) and then strolled around The Rocks. This area is a few blocks of shops and cafes and museums located more or less where the first British colonists settled. We had a forgettable lunch (but with great coffee) at the Fine Foods Store then went to the Rocks Discovery Museum. The museum takes visitors through the history of The Rocks development and the early life of the first colonists, and there was a nice exhibit showing the growth, changes and decline of European colonies over the last few hundred years or so.

We then cut across town to the botanical gardens, gorgeous plants and trees, although the wrong time of year for most of the flowers. Also in the gardens were hundreds of bats, most roosting in trees, some flying around, all making an incredible amount of noise. We even stopped for coffee (excellent) at the cafe, located more or less under the bats. From there we made our way to the Woolloomooloo Bay side of the gardens to have a gawk at the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, which is older but bigger than the QE. Then back along Mrs Maquarie walk, saw her chair (a rocky outcrop more or less bench-shaped) and along the waterside to Farm Cove (towards the Opera House) and passed Government House, all still within the gardens.

We bussed back to T&A's place where T had just finished preparing fresh gnocchi for supper and rounded off a busy day with a glass of wine and game of '30 Seconds' where La and I thrashed T&A. Yay us!

Day 38

Wed 23 Feb

This morning after breakfast and T had taken the boys to school, she joined us for a bit of retail therapy at Bondi Junction, a huge mall in Bondi. We managed to find gifts for our hosts and sons without T noticing as she had some serious bookclub business to discuss with the soon-to-be-closing Borders there. She joined us for coffee (La had awesome hot chocolate, I stuck to flat whites) and then we drove into the city to pick A up who had taken the afternoon off to spend time with us.

Lunch was at Dolcissimo in Haberfield, the area of Sydney where the best, most authentic Italian bakeries and restaurants are found. It was salad and pizza all round and we concluded our meal with Affogatos (shot of espresso served over a scoop of ice cream). Delish. Back home to T&A then La and I went to Maroubra beach for my first swim in Sydney. It was great. Big, powerful waves. Cool but not cold water. Beautiful.

La and I headed to the city for sundowners, a return visit for me to Blu Bar at the top of the Shangri La and a first for La. This time it was still daylight when I was there and the views of the harbour and the bridge and the Opera House were even more spectacular than the night views a few days earlier. Then it was a quick walk down to Kings Street Wharf to meet friends of La's mom for dinner. We had an incredible meal at Malaya, delicious and the courses just kept on coming - in fact we had so enjoyed (and were full from) our starters and the stir-fried main dishes, practically licking the plates clean, that we were totally surprised when they brought out the curry dishes. Yum. Somewhat heavier, La and I walked across town for our bus home, sated and another great day in Sydney over.

Day 40

Thu 24 Feb

Today was more a rest day. We caught up on emails, did a bit of shopping, ate leftover pizza, spent time with T&A and kids, and had chilled supper at their house.

Day 41

Fri 25 Feb

Up not too early and went for a run around the Centennial park, about a 4km perimeter route, surrounding a lake, horse bridal way, sports fields and some foresty bits. After breakfast, La and I drove down to Rose Bay shopping area where our friends from Sunday night have their deli - Biancas. It is a wonderful mix of home cooked Jewish foods like gefilte fish and hamentaschen and South African goods. Chatted for a while with B who does the cooking and bought some boerewors for a braai Saturday night.

Did some more grocery shopping for T and bought very missable (wish I could forget) pies for lunch. La was more sensible and had a salad. My coffee was nice, of course. T picked the boys up from school and I joined them at Maroubra beach for a swim.

Shabbes supper was at A's brother and fam who put together an awesome meal of challah, antipasta (incredible feta and olives and homemade sushi and salad) and mielies, potatos, braaied tuna and salmon. Dessert was fruit and icecream and T's homemade Mars Bar chocolate sauce. Delish.

Shabbat Shalom all.

Day 42

Sat 26 Feb

We were all up early for our day trip to the Blue Mountains. This is a really beautiful, forested area West of Sydney and so-called (so they tell us) for the blue hue caused by the gases emitted by the Eucalyptus. We got out at Scenic Point, took the cable car down the cliff, wandered round the forest a bit, past old coal mining gear and exhibits and then back up the mountain on a fernicular/train, apparently the steepest in the world.

Lunch was at Leura Gourmet, a cafe in the town of Leura. For dessert, the boys had ice creams and we had coffees then headed back on the road to Sydney. A and I had time for a quick swim at Maroubra (awesome water, waves, quite busy even at 5pm) then back home in time for a braai with G and N and little J (our previous upstairs neighbours) who came over to us for dinner. Boerewors and chicken for the meaties and vege 'not burgers' for the veges. Delish!

After the guests had left, La and I packed (Melbourne tomorrow) and then joined T&A for a '30 Seconds' rematch over chocolate and teas. La and I must have had too much wine at supper as we were not on our game and they easily beat us. I guess that makes it 1-1 which means they will have to visit us in London for the decider. A fine end to our Sydney stay.

Day 43

Maui - Sunsets, snorkelling and whales

Wed 9 Feb

Up early today for our flight to Hawaii! We were gently woken with the tinkle of teaspoons on teacups, courtesy of our hostess, who brought us tea/coffee in bed. How awesome! Had a quick breakfast then off to the airport. Car rental return etc was painless but then got caught in the full body x-ray security queue and it went sloooowly. But eventually got through, allegedly with no more radiation than what you get every 3 minutes sitting in an aeroplane at altitude. Allegedly.

Landed in Honolulu airport, for our connection to Maui, with great views of the islands as we descended. The terminal is really unique; sort of a set of airy buildings, all built in the 50s or something, connected by passageways with a least one side totally open allowing the breeze to flow through. And boy did we need some breezing as it was hot and humid and very sticky. Coming from (slightly) cooler LA we were both dressed in jeans and trainers. And we were pretty much the only people wearing longs and closed shoes in Honolulu. It was wonderful.

Temp: 30 Deg C with 70% humidity

Time: -2 hours i.e. GMT -10

Connecting flight to Maui took less than an hour and the bag and rental car collection were painless. La was chief navigator, she setup the GPS and double checked that its directions agreed with those from the B&B to the T. They did (thanks again Francis!) and we were quickly underway on the road northwards to Lahaina where we would spend our first 3 nights. Gorgeous views of the setting sun from the road and we arrived at our destination about half an hour later.

Our room was waiting for us with the keys in the door; a very comfortable upstairs suite, with views of the ocean from a shared lanai (balcony) directly outside our door. Awesome.

Headed down to Lahaina town centre for some supper - by this time I was starving (tiny breakfast, shrivelled sandwich early lunch and no tea make me hungry) and the B&B had recommended a cheap and cheerful place called 'Aloha Mixed Plate', which serves salads, stir fries, burgers and the eponymous Hawaiian mixed lunch plates. You can actually order these any time of day, but they have their origin in the lunchtime meal eaten by sugar cane labourers. It consists of two scoops of rice and one scoop of macaroni salad with some sort of meat/veg/fish. I had mine with teriyaki chicken and La settled on vegetarian stirfry with noodles with tofu. Delish! The place was pumping and is very popular with locals and tourists.

Snack, sarnie, AMP. Day 25

Thu 10 Feb

So, perhaps this place we're staying in (Garden Gate B&B) should just be called a "Bed". Breakfast barely existed. It was billed as "continental" but I reckon there would be a lot of 'sacre bleu!' and tutting from any continentals. Basically a few yoghurts and stale bagels, no butter, no cereal, no pastries (do mini muffins count?). At least there was coffee, but no milk, only that dodgy flavoured cream in little plastic cup things. Anyways, we did have a nice chat with a friendly retired couple from Ohio who have been coming back to the same Bed for 10 years, so it cannot be all that bad.

We borrowed some beach stuff from the Bed, which was very well stocked with grass mats, body boards, surfboards, cooler boxes, beach towels, swim noodles, snorkeling gear etc. Headed northwards, passing through Kana'apali with its high-end resorts, which block direct access to the beach on one side of the road and have landscaped the other side into gorgeous golf courses with fairways right next to the road; no fences or hedges. Beautiful.

We stopped in Napili, found parking in a side street and then headed for Napili Bay beach. A gorgeous crescent of reef, sand, palm trees and shallow, gorgeous blue ocean. Not a beach with big waves but still powerful enough to knock swimmers over and breaking very close to the beach so when you get dumped, you sort of end up with your head in the sand. Actually, this can be quite dangerous as evidenced by the guy receiving paramedic treatment (CPR, drip, neck brace, the works) as we arrived on the beach. This beach was also lined with resorts, but not quite as luxurious as earlier.

The day wasn't that sunny but with the humidity we were wonderfully comfortable. We sat, we read, we ate (chicken sandwich for me; humidity makes me hungry), we walked, we read, we sat. Paradise. Of course, in homage to our adopted country, I hand't really applied that much sunscreen because it wasn't that sunny, right? Success; that evening, my shoulders, face and chest were a healthy (well cooked) crustacean crimson. With red chili sauce. Hot hot hot.

Rounded off the day with some take-out pizza and a crisp Rosé at sunset on our lanai. What a great first day! We were sun- and heat- tired, a little sunblushed, but it was paradise!

Mini-breakfast, noon and night. Day 26

Fri 11 Feb

Our second morning in our Bed began with a simple breakfast again, and this time we asked for milk! Yay. Then drove to Ma'alaea harbour to check out the options for snorkelling trips. You can buy these pretty much anywhere on the island but we'd been told by the Ohians that the harbour had some good deals.

Chatted to Scott, a tour guide-booking dude in a hut in the harbour. He gave us some brochures and ideas and then we headed for Ma'alea beach; not as nice as Napili Bay, but very quiet and more secluded. Headed back to the harbour and booked a snorkel trip for Saturday morning with 'Frogman' tours. By this time I was starving (talk of goggles and fins makes me hungry) so headed for 'Beach Bum's bar and grill' for some lunch. La had a veggie burger and I had a regular one and did some sampling of their hot and very hot homemade BBQ sauce. Delish.

Some time during lunch, the weather turned from 28 Deg C, humid and slightly overcast to 28 Deg C, more overcast and more humid; in fact, torrential rain type of humidity. Apparently it only rains 7 days a year in Maui and I think we experienced all 7 days of rainfall in 2 hours. We did the obvious thing in these situations - went for ice cream. I had chocolate with macadamia (grown on the island) and La had choc chip mint and coffee ice cream. The rain continued but was very localised apparently - we drove back towards Lahaina and within a few minutes we were out of the rain. Bizarre, but I guess not really for an island with big volcanic mountains to tease the weather gods.

Back in Lahaina we did some shopping (T-shirts and boardshorts and shorts, tally is now La 3, Dave 7), loads of window shopping in the crowded 'old' town, walked along the boardwalk, saw this huge Banyan tree which took up pretty much all of a park. The Banyan trees sort of spread their branches, then drop more roots from the branches which become more trunks, then grow more branches so you can walk under the tree and there are benches and grass, but all under the same tree. Very cool.

Also had the always pleasant experience of timeshare salesmen parading as discount tour operators. The bastards. And the sales woman still didn't answer my question on how they could sell me whale watching for $5. All in all another great day in paradise, topped off with more chilled wine on our Lanai.

Morning, noon and night. Day 27

Sat 12 Feb

Snorkel trip day. We had to check in to our boat (Frogman II; allegedly the first one was swallowed by a whale) by 07:15 which meant we missed "breakfast" at our Bed. But wait, no we wouldn't because our Bed doesn't do breakfasts on weekends. Grr. But I digress...

On the boat we had some jokey boat safety stuff and some hilarious boat toilet humour (jokes about the boat toilet, not what you were thinking), then we set out. The sun was beginning to rise and it was alreayd wonderfully warm. Had a continental breakfast on the boat which was better than what we had to choose from (on weekdays) at our Bed so that was nice and then the boat dudes (tall, blond, very bleached and La says very well built, but I'm not to worry apparently) took us through snorkeling 101 and issued goggles and snorkels and fins.

We arrived at Molikini crater, our first snorkel point, which is a partially submerged dormant volcano crater (half in the water, the other half out, with the inside bit a relatively shallow spot packed with fish and covered with coral.) With some initial trepidation, we entered the water and then underwater bliss. The water wasn't too cold, just about 23 Deg C, and we didn't need a wetsuit. And fish and fish and coral and fish and it was incredible! Beautitiful views from the boat of Molikini and Maui.

We snorkeled for about an hour, then back onto the boat and off to the second spot, an area of reef/ocean just off Wailea (or was it Maluaka?) beach, unofficially known as Turtle Town. We did spot one or two from the boat, but unfortunately were not as lucky from the water. Ah well, still loads of fish and fantastic coral views. We heard later from the owner at our second B&B that other tour operators have more dudes on shift and in the water spotting for animals and pointing them out, but what can you do? We still had a great time.

On the way back to the harbour (note we were about 11 miles from where we started so not that close) we had sandwich lunch on deck which was just as well because I was starving (saltwater up my nose makes me hungry) and had a DIY sandwich and salad meal but that was ok as gave more options for La. And they also had a coke/sprite etc soda gun thing and let me tell you, cold ginger ale is the best thing for thirst on a boat! Delish. Also did a little whale spotting from the deck - December through April is Humpback whale season in Maui so we were always on the lookout for the telltale spout and cries of 'thar she blows'. More about whales another day.

Back on dry land, we drove back to Lahaina and parked at Hanakao'o beach which is close to Kana'apali beach which has all the posh resort hotels. We then walked along the beach to the areas in front of the Hyatt and Mariott and soaked up the atmosphere on their decks and swam in their parts of the ocean. So there! The resorts look great but not sure why most people were at the pool when the beach was like 20 metres away? Go figure.

Back to the Garden Gate Bed where we had left our bags, ate some leftover pizza in their garden and then headed south to our next B&B in Kihei, more south than Ma'alea harbour, where we did the snorkel trip. On the way, we stopped at a lookout point along the road . The sun was almost setting and this spot is great for whale watching. We had at least half a dozen sightings but they were too far out to see much detail.

Checking into the new B&B was interesting. Owner (Eva) was not around but she had left notes taped to the garage about how to find our room and left it unlocked. Must be a Maui thing this, i.e. owner not present at check in. Our suite was quite large, but weird as the entrance from the driveway takes you straight into the bathroom and then you access the rest of the suite from there. Very strange. Also, the big clothes cupboard could be accessed from both the bedroom and the bathroom - basically they had turned their garage into a suite and the doorway between the bathroom and bedroom had been converted into a cupboard. Also, no sea view, no sea breeze, very dark and the linen and towels smelt damp. Mrs C was not happy. Not quite bad enough to sacrifice our deposit (actually, the full amount for 4 nights) so we thought we'd see how it went.

Did a drive-by of the main Kihei road looking for restaurants for supper and settled on a fantastic place called 'Cafe O'Lei', which was not a coffee place, so don't think the pun was intended. Very trendy, very busy, we had to wait for 45 minutes for a table, but it was worth it. I had steak and La had Mahi-Mahi (a firm white fish, very delicious). Very nicely presented, great food and not too pricey.

Snorkel, noon and Maui Mahi-Mahi. Day 28

Sun 13 Feb

Not a great night. May have mentioned earlier that our suite is a converted garage and that the driveway is directly outside our door and windows? Well, it is, and our hostess is an early riser and feels the need to run errands at 05:30 and being American she drives a huge Toyota truck (that's a bakkie for South Africans) and we had the window blind things open to get some air movement. So that woke me up. Then had just drifted back to sleep when she got back from errands. And every time I tried to go back to sleep I got wonderful whiffs from the damp linen. Humph. Then she was getting breakfast ready, but the kitchen and upstairs lanai eating area are directly above our room. She also has some dogs, so we heard her back and forth and the pitter-patter of unclipped toe nails. (sigh) I won't complain about the noisy birds because they are beautitiful and natural and a joy to hear in the morning.

But this place (Maui What a Wonderful Life B&B) does do a decent breakfast. Fruit, juice, teas and coffees with milk, cereals, yoghurt, toast, jams and boiled eggs. So this somewhat made up for the damp, noisy no-sleep. And Eva is charming and helpful and offered information on what to do and what to avoid.

We decided to not do the beach thing today as still looking a bit lobstered from snorkeling and previous beaching. Instead we picked up maps and borrowed an audio guided tour of a driving route to Hana, a pristine, relatively untouched viallage about 60 miles away, to the North-East of the island.

They say the road to Hana is about the journey, not the destination and this is true. It is a beautitiful coastal road, winding up and down with the sea on one side and the foresty mountains on the other. The twists and turns are so sharp and the road so narrow that the speed limit is restricted to about 15 mph. But the drive is gorgeous, deep cuts into the mountain with glimpses of waterfalls followed by sharp bends out towards the sea. We stopped a few times along the way to take photos at viewing points and to investigate swimming options in numerous waterfalls, giving a miss to several roadside bamboo shacks selling coconuts and fresh fruit.

We had a forgettable lunch at Hana beach and then drove through Hana village, which consists of a school, a few hundred houses, a luxury hotel and the famous (in Hawaii, at least) Hasegawa General Store which is actually quite something. Want to buy a spare part for a tractor, some deoderant and an ice lolly? You got it! Then it was back on the road, taking all 600 or so twists a second time back towards Kihei, only briefly stopping at Paia Bay to watch crazy surfers catching some huge Hawaiian waves.

Back in Kihei, we scouted out some restaurant options for that night and Valentine's day, then sat for about an hour on Kamaole Beach to watch an awesome sunset. That evening was one of the clearest of our stay in Maui so we took full benefit of the lingering dusk and took some classic snaps of the sun dipping down over the ocean. Breathtaking.

For supper we went to Cuatro, a fusion Latin/Hawaiian restraurant that is apparently the best restaurant in Kihei. La had the seared tuna and I had Mahi-Mahi. The owner entertained us with war stories about moving his family from the mainland USA to Hawaii, how he and his wife also run a cleaning service (including crime-scene clean-up - eugh!) and explained why early bird supper was so popular on Maui - a combination of discounts and the age demographic of most of the tourists. Apparently Maui is for "the newly wed and the nearly dead". I suppose as this was a delayed honeymoon for us we did fulfil the former.

Breakfast, scenic drive, and sunset. Day 29

Mon 14 Feb

Woke up early and went for a run in Kihei along the main strip which takes in some of the beach. It was hot and humid, but not as bad as it had been in Lahaina a few days ago. After another great breakfast we headed further south to Wailea beach, a beautiful wide beach. Sunned and read and swam a few times and snooped on the views from the Four Seasons' pool.

Had simple lunch of rolls and salad and leftover steak from a few nights before - delicious - then headed for Kihei town centre to try book into a whale watching tour. The company that we had snorkeled with also arranges whale watching but due to their 2 for 1 deals, they had no space till the following Saturday. Instead we took a chance and drove to Ma'alea harbour where Pacific Whale Foundation is based and managed to get into their last trip of the day.

Now, at this time of year they say that it makes very little difference which tour company you use for whale watching as there are so many whales to be seen. But we were very happy with this crew because they always have at least one marine biologist on board (in fact we had two on ours) and any profits from their tours go towards supporting study/observation of whales and saving whales etc.

The trip was awesome! We saw whales to the left, to the right, the front and behind. Most of the whales were mom and calf pairs. And occasionally a male 'escort' - a suitor hoping to be next year's dad and who had probably successfully driven off other suitors for that privilege. We saw several full breaches, when the whale leaps out of the water, both adult and calves doing this. Hundreds of head slaps, dorsal fin waves and tail flaps. Then the staff lowered a special microphone under the water and broadcast the whale song over the PA. Incredible. Snapped nearly 200 action shots during the 2 hours, some of them even usable!

Supper was a mostly forgettable Italian meal at Aroma de Italiana. It wasn't terrible, but nothing particularly special. But then the elation of the whale watching was a hard act to follow.

Breakfast, beach, whales. Day 30

Tue 15 Feb

For our last day in Maui we decided to rent snorkel sets and do some of our own fish spotting. After breakfast we headed down to Snorkel Bob's rentals and picked up masks, fins and snorkels. Our first spot was a reef accessed from Wailea beach where we had been yesterday and actually this was close to the region known as turtle town where we had snorkeled previously with Frogman II.

We sat in the sun to warm up a bit then I headed into the water kitted up. You sort of duck wade till waist deep and then swim about 20 metres then you're at the reef. Coral and rocks and fish. Beautiful. Then I sat with our stuff while La went out alone. Then we went out together. Snorkelling rules!

Picked up some sandwiches then picnicked down the coast a bit at another snorkeling spot called Makena landing. Several other people snorkelling there that day had spotted turtles but we weren't as lucky. Did see loads of fish, though, and heard whales singing again (they in the know say that whale song can travel up to 3 miles). Incredible. We had asked a young Dutch couple to watch our stuff while we were in the water and we had asked another young couple from Saskatchewan to watch the Dutch couple. Hawaii is very popular with Canadians, it seems.

Rounded off the day with a bit of window shopping and a sunset drive then watched the sunset from a park near Maui Sunset Condos, an affordable-looking complex to the north of Kihei. Then supper at Stella Blues Cafe where I had a pretty decent burger and La had a huge portion of Nachos with tuna and Mahi-Mahi. It was a gorgeous cool, but not cold, evening and perfect end to our week in Hawaii.

Breakfast, snorkel, night. Day 31