Category: Travelling Tales

(This is the penultimate recap from the holiday- normal service will resume soon!)

On Tuesday we flew from Portland to Kahului, on Maui, for a more relaxing week and a more traditional honeymoon destination. We are lucky in that we have travelled to Hawaii twice before- the first time we visited Oahu (the island with Honolulu), Maui and Big Island (the one with the active volcano), and the second time we had been to Oahu, Maui and Kauai- for both those previous trips we were over there for a couple of weeks, as you have to fly between each island and so need to allow time to travel. For this holiday we only had a week, so decided we would go to one island, and stay there.  In the end Maui was the choice, as it has lots of things to do, but it’s not covered in huge highways (the ones by Honolulu are crazy), and we would be able to relax after a week and a bit of constantly travelling.

Portland had a rule that nothing at the airport could cost more than it would elsewhere in the city, which was a great thing. We had a few things to finish up for a random breakfast of apples and almonds (as you can’t take certain things into Hawaii), and then we picked up lunch at the airport. I found a place that did a super spicy chai, plus a vegan wrap with veggies and an amazing peanut sauce, and some vegan banana bread for us to share. The flight was about 6 hours, and we flew with Alaskan Air which really impressed me- there was food to buy and no entertainment (I had a load of podcasts to listen to) but they brought around tea and biscuits, and you were actually given the hot water and teabag of your choice- loads better than the BA coffee-coloured tea!

Once we’d picked up the car, we popped to Walmart (thinking it would be the best place to pick up some bits- in fact Wholefoods was cheaper and had a better selection) and then drove up to where we were staying, Ka’apanali, on the west of the island (where we had stayed before).

Once checked in we walked the 2 miles along the coast to Whalers Village, a shopping and dining village close to lots of hotels. It has a Vintage Island Coffee shop- first stop, acai bowls!

We walked back along the coast as the sun was going down- beautiful.

Wednesday- Due to jetlag (it’s another 3 hours from the west coast) I was awake early so headed out for a run down the coast. I did 5 miles to Whalers Village and back.  Look at the size of the hibiscus flowers! I cannot resist taking photos of them- they are so pretty and colourful.

We then walked to Duke’s (a beachfront bar/restaurant) and had breakfast there as a first day treat.

We shared banana macadamia nut pancakes and French toast with lilikoi (a bit like passionfruit) syrup, plus little glasses of POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice. Sitting there with views of the sea is pretty much perfect.

Later we drove down to Lahaina, a big town slightly south of where we were staying. It’s a lovely place to wander- it used to be the capital and a port for lots of whalers (thankfully the only whale-based industry there now is for watching and not killing). There is an old jail, lots of art galleries, a huge banyan tree, lots of quirky shops and views of the sea.

We were both looking forward to a Dole Whip- we love these at Disney  and the only other place we’d seen them before was the Dole pineapple plantation on Oahu (so wrong island for this trip), but last time we were here we found a place that did them- this one was topped with Maui gold pineapple – so delicious. I ended up with a bit of a headache which was probably from being out in the sun and maybe not drinking enough after the run (and maybe being a bit dehydrated after the flight the day before), so once back we sat in the shade and read our books, had a game of mini-golf once the course was in the shade, and then had a swim in the pool as the sun was going down.

Thursday- Due to having zero acai bowls the day before, we made up for it by going back to the cafe for lunch (we bought some cereal to have for breakfast as our room had a little kitchenette)- they also make an amazing sandwich with peanut butter and mango, in cranberry and walnut bread, so we shared a sandwich and an acai bowl.

Super delicious.

Then we headed down to the Maui Ocean Centre, an aquarium by the ocean. They had a huge dome showing a 3D film all about the whales of Maui (filmed off the coast) which was pretty spectacular. We listened to a talk about turtles- one fact that I found so interesting was because turtles are not reared by their parents, hatchlings raised in captivity can usually be released back into the wild because a lot of their behaviour is based on instinct rather than being taught. That may be obvious to some but it hadn’t occurred to me before.

There was also lots of information about projects going on across Hawaii to make the habits more natural and remove non native species. I also didn’t know anything about the military using one of the islands for testing bombs, (until some time in the 90’s) but that has ended now and they are gradually replanting and repairing the land.

Oh, and guess what? They also sold Dole Whip- it was our lucky week!

We made sure we were back in time to walk along the beach at sunset and take more photos.

Friday- I was up early for a 6 mile run along the coast (more stopping to take photos of flowers of course).

I was so sweaty when I got back! I think when you are running you don’t notice it as much because the breeze sort of cools you, and then once you stop it just pours out. Just me?

We then had more time reading (I was reading a book about a guy cycling around the world and it was very relaxing), popped to a plantation to have a wander around the garden, and then headed over to Ioa State Park to view the beautiful valley and rock needle.

We shared a pineapple and coconut smoothie in the plantation gardens

Beautiful Iao State Park- so Hawaiian with the lush green slopes

I had a look on the parkrun tourist tool to see where my nearest one was- over 2000 miles away! (If you have not used it before, just google tourist tool and it pops up- it tells you your closest parkun and you can move the point to where you will be, say for a weekend away, and also if you add your barcode it can show you only events you haven’t been to before).

Saturday- we decided to try somewhere new for an acai bowl, and walked along to Whalers Village, but although this one was good (topped with papaya and coconut) it wasn’t as good as our favourite.

More hibiscus flowers on our walk back…

Another day, another sandwich- this time with a ginger chai alongside…

We drove to Paia to have a wander- we’d not been here before but it was another lovely place with lots of art galleries and little independent shops. There is an artist called Heather Brown who we love, and have bought a few of her prints before. One art shop was selling them, so we picked up a couple more to take home as souvenirs.

It was a baking hot day, and as we walked past a  shave ice store Andy decided to get one. I am not usually a big fan, as I find it very syrupy, and then end up with brain freeze from eating the plain ice at the bottom, but this store made the syrups with fruit juice, and the ice was really shaved so thinly, and it was actually really good- probably the best shaved ice I’ve had. We had a tropical mix with pineapple, mango and coconut.

Then we headed to Ho‘okipa beach as we had read that giant turtles go onto the beach in the afternoon to sleep there overnight. Sure enough, there were already lots on the beach. The section of the beach was roped off, although one turtle was actually laying on the rope and some people didn’t notice it. Sadly some people were going into the sea and wading over to the turtles, even though you have to stay away from them.

(Bottom left picture- all those mounds on the beach are more giant turtles)

Our plan was then to drive up to Haleakalā National Park to watch the sunset, as the last few times we have been to watch the sunrise, but now that is so popular that you have to book a slot. Anyway, there was a crater cam and it was just surrounded by clouds, so we decided to skip the long drive and head back instead. The drive back should have taken maybe an hour, but the traffic was so bad I think it took close to 3 hours in the end. There is only one road which goes to that part of the island, and there had been a couple of accidents. By the time we got to Lahaina it was dark (and late) so we bought a picnic from the Safeway store to have once we got back.

On Sunday I went out for a longer run (8 miles in the end)- I decided to see how far the path went south of Whalers Village- I think in fact I could have run all the way to Lahaina if I wanted to go further. I found this cool Aloha sign by one of the hotels (a little further south of Whalers Village) and a lovely lady offered to take my photo for me.

I was OK running- slowly and taking breaks to take photos, but when I got home and looked in the mirror I looked a right state- it looked as if my top had been dipped in water as it was totally drenched in sweat.

Thankfully I had bought some coconut water (with lime- this was gorgeous) and a papaya to have for breakfast alongside our delicious pb puffins.

After cooling down, reading in the shade, we popped to get our standard lunch (share an acai bowl and pb mango sandwich), and then headed to Lahaina to buy a few souvenirs and gifts. We had seen Leoda’s Pie shop on our trips before, but never been- there was always a huge queue so we decided on this trip we would make sure, so on our way back we stopped off to get a pie to share- we went for key lime as it would be tropical and we were not disappointed.

We ended the day with a walk along the beach (and in the sea) at sunset.

On Monday we were moving hotels  to a different part of the island for the final night, so after checking out and having a final acai bowl, we drove to the more resort-y part of the island (Wailea). There we were welcomed with the proper lei’s (flower ones as opposed to shell ones at the other place).

We were planning on doing some snorkelling here, but the red flag was out at the beach (meaning dangerous currents) so we couldn’t do it.

The lady at the front desk was very friendly and asked if it was our honeymoon- although I do not like a fuss and felt rather awkward being asked about it. Once in our room there was a knock at the door and a bottle of fizz was delivered to us- I asked Andy if he had ordered it (I didn’t think he would have) and was told that it was a wedding gift- how kind! A shame I don’t drink though!

This (for some reason) really unsettled me- I am not sure why but I think I felt a bit out of place in the hotel anyway (it was a more expensive place-we used a free night from hotels.com- but filled with families with kids so not a really exclusive place by any stretch of the imagination) and I really don’t like a fuss so I just felt like I was being stared at (stupid I know).

Anyway we walked along the sea at sunset and I felt a lot better after that!

Tuesday was our last day in Hawaii- we had a swim in the hotel pool (the waves were too big for snorkelling still), and then went for breakfast. We thought it would be an end of Maui treat, but it was so overpriced and nothing special ($23 for one portion of French toast!). We went over to Kihei and had a little walk along the beach, but it was very quiet and the tide was high so we couldn’t walk far, so we drove to Big Beach instead. You couldn’t go in the water there because the waves were so huge and dangerous (some people still were) but it was amazing to watch.

(No, the beach wasn’t in Australia..) The waves come in sets and there would suddenly be the most enormous wave- it was very hypnotic.

You can see below a few people going near the water in the picture below- we saw a few people get knocked over and apparently this beach has the most broken bones because people underestimate the strength of the waves. There were lifeguards but also signs saying do not go in the water/ do not stand with your back to the water but of course you also see people ignoring the signs because they want the perfect photo.

The plus point of the resort hotel was that you could use a courtesy room after checking out, so we used the room to have a shower and change clothes as we had an overnight flight. There’s a Wholefoods near the airport so we went there for a quick dinner before getting our night flight.

And then it was farewell to another amazing time in Hawaii- the perfect mixture of relaxing, sightseeing, visiting new places and old favourites.

Do you like to go back to the same holiday destination or do you like to always visit new places?

On Sunday morning we headed to the train station to board our (8 hour) train to Portland. It isn’t that far, but the trains in America go slowly (and give way to the freight trains too). We had big comfy seats and we had brought some food with us (no fresh fruit though as you can’t bring things like that across the border- just packaged snacks). On that point, the border is weird as unlike Eurostar where you go through passport control before getting onto the train (or lovely Europe where you just travel from France to Germany or wherever without restrictions), here the train stops just before getting into the USA, and immigration agents walk the length of the train checking everyone’s passports- seems so slow compared to over here.

The train ride itself was really scenic, mainly hugging the coast- we saw loads of bald eagles and deer. We have done part of that journey before (to Seattle, which is further north than Portland) but the evening one, so it was mostly dark, so it was lovely to see the views. We could see Mount Rainier (a really beautiful mountain and a National Park) and in the cities we passed by big football stadiums. I mainly listened to podcasts and my headphones managed about 7 and a half of the 8 hour journey.

(And back to the upside down photos- I thought I had sorted it, and it worked in the last post- sorry!)- the hotel just loved pineapples!

Once in Portland we dropped our things in our hotel and headed out to see the sights.

We had a lovely wander about, stumbled across an amazing looking cookie sandwich shop- you basically chose your cookie and ice cream flavour and could even have it dipped in chocolate if you wanted to. It was good!

After that we walked along by the water for a bit- there were lots of restaurants and it had a good lively feel .

On Monday we went out for brunch (Portland is apparently a city that does brunch as opposed to having one dish that it is known for)- this place did French toast dipped in cornflakes for a lovely crunchy coating. We shared a bowl of fruit too. Then we headed off on a tram to Washington Park, a huge park with a zoo, arboretum, Japanese garden, rose garden, forestry centre and a children’s museum. Once in the park there was a free shuttle that took you to the part of the park you wanted to visit. We started with the rose test garden (which was free and had loads of roses growing as well as a few statues). From here there were lovely views across the city and into the mountains too.

Then we went into the Japanese garden (you had to pay, and on Mondays they didn’t open until later for the public). It was a gorgeous garden- very calming and beautiful.

Once back in the city we had more of a wander. There was lots of cool street art (even the bins had cartoons on them) and there are scooters everywhere, and by everywhere I mean just laying in the pavements because they all work by an app so people don’t need to return them to a stand, they just leave them on the floor once done). We visited a few quirky shops (including a huge bookstore- Powell’s- an entire block of a book shop), a lovely little shop with local art and products, and then came across Voodoo doughnuts. Now, I am not a bit doughnut fan- I would not normally choose one, but Andy persuaded me to share one with him.

It was a peanut butter and chocolate one, and it was really good, with bits of cookie all over the top too. One to share was definitely plenty!

We finished the day with another walk by the waterfront- lovely.

On Tuesday I went for a run by the water. I had read in the guides that Portland was the best running city in the USA, and I did see loads of runners, but the route I took wasn’t the best. I ran along the river, crossed over a bridge but then ended up running next to a huge highway so it was really noisy. You did have good views of downtown Portland across the river, and the runners were a friendly bunch, all waving or saying hi (some people even reached their arms across to deliberately wave in front of me, which I really liked). I think had we been closer to the big park in Leave No Trace (a brilliant film) then it would have been more my style of running route.

Then we had breakfast in our hotel as we had a voucher. I loved the plate- it suited me perfectly (I have a reputation of getting very grumpy when I am hungry…).

Then we checked out (tip- get a print out of the bill as it turned out our bill had dinners and drinks on it from another person who had clearly given the wrong room number… thankfully the hotel took it  off our bill) and headed to the airport to pick up the hire car.

We spent the day driving along the Columbia river gorge, and it was stunning. Lots of gorgeous views of waterfalls and of course the river. Multnomah Falls was particularly stunning, with the bridge across the middle to really put into context how tall the falls were (189m)- bottom left picture.

We also stopped at a dam which had a really interesting visitor centre, inside viewing of the salmon ladder and even some ospreys nesting. Once we arrived at our hotel (in Hood River) I had a bit of a headache so we made a cup of tea in our room and then popped out to a lovely local supermarket and picked up some bread and hummus for a simple dinner, as I didn’t fancy eating out anywhere.

The next morning we went to the amazing Pine Street bakery as we had seen their amazing looking cinnamon buns, and then we drove into the mountains on our way to Bend.

We had a stop mid-way in a place called Government Town, which looked big on the map but was actually rather tiny, and then closer to Bend found a lovely lake to walk around, with views of the mountains (Mount Hood).

And then we had a long drive to Bend. We saw the aftermath of a couple of horrific car crashes (a few cars had driven head on into trees) but as we passed the ambulances, fire trucks and police cars were all arriving. It’s horrible to see, and a reminder to keep your eyes on the road even with all that amazing scenery.

Once in Bend we had a little walk in the centre, by the river, before checking into our Air BnB- a lovely apartment close to the centre. It was nice to spread out for a bit instead of living in one hotel room.

Bend had an art trail- including art on many of the roundabouts- in fact roundabouts are so unusual in America that they had a guide on how to drive on them in the welcome magazine!

Bend was a really great place to stay- it seemed to be a bit of a hub for people heading out to do various activities in the day.

The next morning (Thursday) I went out for a run along the river. There were loads of people out and about and the path went on for ages- I could have run much further than the 5 miles that I ended up doing.

After breakfast we drove to Smith Rock state park, a canyon in the high desert. It was very impressive (but sweltering)- a huge canyon with a river running through the bottom. Lots of people were rock climbing, and there was some information about how it was one of the first places that people started rock climbing without ropes (or free climbing maybe). We saw a sign warning of a cougar sighting- eek!

On driving back to town we saw a Trader Joe’s and had to stop by for some bits. We’d been listening to the Off Menu podcast (if you don’t listen to it, then give it a go- each week someone is interviewed about their dream meal, and it goes off on lovely tangents about travel and food)- they were raving about Trader Joe’s dark chocolate almonds with sea salt and turbinado (no idea?) sugar, and so of course we had to pick some up. They are delicious. They also did mini pb cups with a fruity filling, sort of like a chocolate pb&j. Good stuff.

My mainly peanut butter based snack and breakfast items

We then walked along the river to the old town part of Bend, enjoying an iced chai latte (they make them super spicy in Oregon) and then some ice cream. As we walked back through the park, there was a little festival going on, with music playing and lots of stalls- it had such a great atmosphere and we mooched around some of the stalls for a bit.

There were people tubing on the river (floating along in big inflatable rings) and we were tempted to give it a go. I was looking at the river and saw the head of an animal poke out of the water, duck under and then pop up again. I got excited thinking it was either an otter or a beaver, when a guy floating closer shouted “look at that snake!”- erm, nope I was not going in the water after that- if that was how big the head was, how long was the snake??

On Friday we checked out and drove to Crater Lake- the main point of our Oregon trip. We love going to the US National Parks and this one had been on our list (particularly Andy’s) for a long time.

Would you go in the river if you’d seen a big snake?