New Zealand (26-30 January 2014)

26 January: After a 3 leg (Maui->Honolulu->Auckland->Blenheim) set of flights we arrived in Blenheim with tired kids, but with great accommodation at the home of Ray (an old Uni mate), Nancy, Elena (13 yrs) and Niveah (8 yrs). Ray had taken up a position at the Hospital for a year in Blenheim, so we decided to stop by for a visit and they graciously welcomed us. Blenheim is in the Marlborough wine country, and you could tell as there are a lot vineyards in the valley. Ray and Nancy's abode was a great place on the edge of town with a huge yard (trampoline, pole tennis, swing set, trees, lots of balls), and very spacious guest accommodation. It was an early evening for most though Ray and I had a long catch-up into the next morning.

27 January: Today it rained in the morning, but then cleared up in the afternoon, so we headed over to the large open space to the south of town called Wither Hills Farm Park. We had a great excursion to the top of a hill that served as a lookout over town that had views of some inland peaks, the Marlborough Sound region, Cloudy Bay and the North Island. Here are some pics during that excursion.

We then went to one of the town's parks and the kids had a great time going down the park's flying fox. What a great place a flying fox (aka a zipline) in the park, no way that would fly in the US of A due to liability issues...

28 January: Today was a nice day, so it was off to the beach, namely Marfells Beach about 30 minutes south of town. Kids had a great time beachcombing and making beach shelters. Ray, Robin and I had a go at catching the small waves on the SUP board and beach kayak. All of us also had a great time lounging on the beach with these huge tie-down beach umbrellas that sheltered us from the ever increasing winds. Very nice outing in a beautiful setting. This also marked our furthest excursion to the south of the equator over our 7-month sojourn.

29 January: Today we travelled to Picton to catch a water taxi to Lochmara Bay and its eco-sustainable lodge on Marlborough Sound. Very nice spot with the quintessential kiwi tree ferns all over the place. Had a nice long stroll through the property checking out karkiri (parrot birds), farm animals, hammocks and the many scenic overlooks of the bay. It was pretty hot by NZ standards, so we also availed ourselves of the excellent swimming locale (well Ray, Robsie, Luca and I did anyway) whilst the others had a great time collecting small starfish aplenty, interacting with several wild ducklings, and feeding a large school of herring-type fish. The Sound comprises excellent boating waters, a wonderful place to kayak, and generally a beautiful setting that has whetted our appetite for a return trip to ply its waters.

30 January: Today marks the end of our journey. We loaded up the car and were off to Blenheim Airport to catch our 9:45 flight to Auckland. As Ray pointed out, domestic flights are bliss in the small regional airports as one can roll-in a half hour before the flight, no security and generally the experience of 30 years ago bygone, refreshing. It was great to catch up with Ray (a couple of years since our last catch-up in Perth), and see Nancy, Elena and Niveah (3.5 years since our last catch-up in Humboldt California). Many thanks to them for their generous hospitality and showing us around the local environs! Here's a pic of all of us (sans Elena who had to go to school) just before our departure back to good ole Perth.

Closing Note: Well we completed the trip of a decade (purposefully left out trip of a lifetime). We are keen to have another big trip in about 3 years time before the kids really are to old to leave school for too long! What a great experience with all the folks we met, places we saw, great family time with relatives and amongst our clan! What would have we done differently one might ask? Nary a thing! We did anything and everything we had any desire to do. My advice to you other Griswold's out there, just go for it if you have the opportunity, generally you only get one chance. This is Clarke Griswold signing off for at least 3 years, thanks for following our adventure!

Maui #2 (22-24 January 2014)

22 January: Our final 3 nights on the Hawaiian isles were in Wailea along the western shore of the southern portion of Maui. Very comfortable spot with very manicured lawns, golf courses galore, resorts with pools and mellow beach action. Soraya, Dirk, Ella and Reese were staying there as well for their winter holidays in an accommodation next to the beach, so we spent a lot of time with them during our final 3 nights in Hawaii, which was great. Here's a pic at the pool next to the beach that also include Connie (Dirk's mother), and Doug and Leslie (Dirk's step-brother and wife) who were also visiting the isles.

And a pic of Dirk and Reese just thereafter. A great reason for all of these folks to converge on Maui at this time was to celebrate Dirk's 40th birthday, which was to occur tomorrow.

23 January: More beach action today down at the Renner's abode. We considered rallying to the north shore to watch the large swell that was peaking today, but the combination of the kid's not being up for it and the high traffic volume generated by onlookers of the big wave action on the north shore was enough to deter us. The highest wave at Peahi (Jaws) was purported to be 62 foot, and there were a lot of local and global fly-in big wave surfers tackling it (Robin avidly followed the day's proceedings through Facebook, apparently filming for Point Break 2 took place). Further as today was Dirk's birthday, we had a splendid time at the beach catching the large-ish waves of the protected Wailea waters with the kids (and adults) getting in a lot of boogie boarding action. Afterwards, Connie and Jerry (Dirk's father) hosted a great birthday celebration dinner. Here are some pics on the grounds next to their accommodation prior to the feast.

Soraya with her 40-year old husband.

Dirk and his mother Connie.

Us.

And Dirk blowing out the traditional mega-cake...

24 January: Dirk and I during a reasonably inebriated state during the previous night's festivities made a commitment to make the 1.5 hour drive up to the summit of the volcano (Haleakala), which involved a 5 am start to view the sunrise at 6:45-7:00 am. We made it and were well rewarded with a spectacular view just prior to the onset of the sunrise with the big island to the east (lower right of picture), .

And capturing the start of the sunrise rising over the cloud shrouded ocean.

Here's a view to the east with the west Maui mountains in the background and the shadow of Haleakala (10,023 foot shield volcano) outlined with the peak's shadow in the middle left of the picture. Also note the bizarre alpine vegetation in the forefront. It was amazingly cold, I probably have not felt this cold at any time over the 7 months of our trip owing to the general coldness, high wind chill and totally inappropriate beach clothes we were wearing.

The Haleakala crater is huge (can fit Manhattan in it) and a bizarre landscape. Great excursion!

We were back at Wailea by 9 am which left ample time to load the car (Robsie had packed up during the excursion), and then we headed over to Dirk and Soraya's place to have a final frolic in the ocean before making our way back to the airport. Here's Dirk at the end of a boogie board wave ride...

A typical chaotic beach scene with Soraya attending to Reese at the shoreline, Luca and Frankie waiting to body ride some white wash near shore, Sam going out to catch another body surf ride, and I believe me in the whitewash a bit further on...

Sam practicing his surf lifesaving high step exit water moves...

Well we waited until the last minute to make a hasty departure to minimize the amount of time spent seeing our 'see ya laterz' to minimize moist eyes and to allow just enough time for a quick gander of the tail end of the large swell that was pounding the northshore at Hookipa Beach. Big sets were still 2-3x overhead. Here are some typical waves we saw from the lookout.

And as per usual the rugged west Maui mountains provided a spectacular backdrop.

It was an activity filled last couple of days in Maui with lots of beach, waves and pool activity with the relatives. So by the time we arrived to Honolulu Airport after the short flight from Maui, the girl's were plum-tuckered out. Here they are just lying in the international terminal as we got our boarding passes for the flight to Auckland New Zealand.

It was great to spend time with Soraya, Dirk, Reese and Ella one final time before out final stop in New Zealand to our rapidly ending approach of our round-the-world excursion. Once again thanks for all the Bend-ians for the good times!

Molokai (17-21 January 2014)

17 January: Another early start (530 am) from Haiku on the north shore of Maui to get over to the Molokai ferry terminal in Lahaina on the west shore (1 hr or so) for our 715 am departure. Of course this being Hawaii, naturally there would be a surfing wave next the harbor as illustrated with this shot from the boat prior to the ferry's departure...

Maui only has two small-ish harbors (by Perth standards that is...) on the entire island (excepting the commercial freight port), gob-smacking considering the number of water-nautical types abouts. This results in controlling the recreational boat traffic in general and coastal development on the ocean-side of the island (probably helps a lot with conflict with the large summer whale population as well). We ran into a commercial fisherman on Makena Beach several days ago and he deploys/retrieves his tuna boat everytime he goes fishing (30 footer) on a trailer on one of the few boat ramps. Here's the crew waiting for our departure with the harbor in the background, and what you see is about it!

We're off with the west end of Maui behind us...

Lanai to our port side (a couple of whales in this pic but difficult to see)...

And Molokai on our port side... This is the highest density of islands in the archipelago, and with the most protected waters bounded by the three large islands (Maui, Lanai, Molokai). Hence, 90% of the summer humpback whale population is concentrated in this region called Lahaina waters.

The 1.5 hour ferry trip was a whale watching feast. We spent most of our time looking rather than taking pics, but here's a token shot of some fin slapping. Everyone saw a big whale do a full breach extremely close to the boat (entire body airborn!), and Robsie managed to spot a relatively close simultaneous breach by two juveniles!

We made it, promptly got a rental car and headed over to the western shore of the island where the only condo development exists. Originally we had booked an 'off the grid' accommodation on the southern shore of the island, but got spooked when the last several recent reviews on AirBnB indicated some friction between the neighbors and the guests, so we pulled out.We were happy with the large, well-appointed apartment (with views) with a large swimming pool and spa to boot... Yes we have gotten soft with time during our travels!

The pool is particularly handy on the western end of Molokai because the winter wave climate is energetic and there are only 1 or 2 spots that the kids could swim relatively safely! Here's a shot of Papohaku Beach near our accommodation, the longest white sand beach in all of Hawaii at a mind-boggling 2-3 miles length.

Big waves, undertows, etc... made for unsafe swimming conditions while we were on the beach (tough to explain to hot kids) so they made the best of the situation by cooling off via pouring drinking water on themselves!

And reluctantly content just playing in the sand...

The early start soon took its toll on Frankie, who decided to have a kip-nap on the beach...

Which eventually manifested into a half fetal position...

Sam in front of some breaking whitewater giving the island shaka (hang loose) hand gesture in front of some whitewash with a faint Oahu in the background.

Then back to the pool to cool off...

And have a nice sunset dinner on the balcony overlooking Papohaku Beach.

18 January: Robsie got up early in the morning to have a beach walk of Papohaku Beach sans kids and husband. A couple of shots of this remote beach and waves follow, nary another soul on the beach...

Then a late-morning swim-spa at the complex...

We were informed by the locals that the only safe swimming beach under the current wave climate on the western end of the island was Dixie Maru, a small horse-shoed shaped cove that dissipates most of the wave energy due to outer reefs and its orientation (about a 5 minute car ride from our accommodation). The shorebreak was plenty good enough for Frankie and Sam to catch some rides on their boogie boards.

We then were mesmerized by three surfers and one boogie boarder riding the double-overhead waves outside of the cove for the next hour or so...

Frankie and Luca then availed themselves of the excellent tree climbing opportunities adjacent to the beach.

Then back to the hacienda to enjoy the sunset. Here's a great shot by Robsie of the 'burning palm'!

19 January: Today we headed over the eastern side of the island. As typical of all the Hawaiian islands, it is much moister on the eastern portion that is facing the generally prevailing trade winds, while the western portion (as where we were staying) is much more arid because of the resultant rain shadow. After a brief stop to get some supplies in the metropolis of Kaunakaki (pop. 2000, major town in Molokai with a total population of 7,000-8,000 inhabitants and probably <1000 tourists) ,we headed to the easternmost extent you can drive on the single east-west road, namely the Halawa Valley. The last 5 miles of the road or so was primarily single lane and the last couple of miles quite cliffy..., but then it opened up to the valley...

With a beautiful waterfall at its westernmost extent. It's a couple of mile hike up to the waterfall and plunge pool, but it crosses private land. The kid's were not up for it, and organizing the tour company was too much of a hassle (they have permission to cross the private land) so we appreciated this aspect of the valley from afar.

Halawa Stream empties into Halawa Bay below. This is also the beginning of the famous Molokai cliffs along the northeast coast of the island, purported to be the highest sea cliffs in the world that rise out of the ocean 3500 feet.

Here's Sam yet again on the boogie board catching the occasional shorebreak sets that came through the bay...

And Frankie being creative with the considerable amount of natural debris that lined the Halawa Bay shoreline, undoubtedly brought down by the stream from the valley and upper mountains during the frequent deluges.

Robsie taking in the view of the cliffs to the southeast and a nice little point break that had 2 surfers and 1 SUP plying their skills.

And a view up the Halawa Valley from the beach.

We then headed back down the road to the southeastern corner of the island to Murphy's Beach. Molokai has the longest fringing reef not only in Hawaii, but the US of A (20+ miles). Here are the kids and me checking out the inner reef sealife, nice fish and coral!

And a view of the small beach with the lush vegetation at the high tide level.

Great spot with lots of locals (75% of Molokai's population Hawaiian ancestry making it the most 'Hawaiian' island of the archipelago) doing the famed Molokai-an weekend family hang out. Very cool! Our family also enjoyed the very mellow Molokai 'slow down and relax' style on this beach.

As well as just getting sandy...

20 January: Mellow day today, purposefully so. Pretty much swim at pool, watch some waves at the local beach, swim at pool, well you get my drift (we didn't set nary a foot in the car). Here's a nice wave at the local beach (Kepuhi Beach).

There were a couple of surfers out there and lots of onlookers. Good size waves (many double overhead). The surfers were probably a bit out of their league so didn't get any good snaps of wave riding. But here's a pic of this poor slog with the oncoming whitewater to give an indication of the size of the waves (he's in the centre of the picture). Oahu is in the background.

 And a pic of the crew on the bluff above Kepuhi Beach.

The day's pool shot of Robsie and Luca swimming in the deep end of the pool.

 And a snap by Luca of me and Robsie chilling out!

21 January: Today we got packed up and out of our accommodation by 10 am as per requirements, but then lounged at the pool for the next couple of hours. We then headed off to the north central portion of the island at Palauu State Park to get a view of the peninsula of Kalaupapa National Historic Monument from a 1000+ foot lookout. You can take a mule ride down a 1500+ foot escarpment, but the kids were too young as the age requirement was a minimum of 16 years old. Here's a pic of the crew at the lookout with the peninsula in the background and the start of the famed sea cliffs of Molokai in the background (tallest sea cliffs in the world at 3000+ feet, but can't see them...).

A shot of the entire peninsula. In days bygone this was a leper colony serving the Hawaiian Isles as its remoteness ensured no mingling of the infected with the general population. A Belgian catholic priest showed up in 1873 when he was 33 years old and 'sorted out' the scene here bringing in a large dose of civility that earned him sainthood (as well as contracting the disease that lead to his death 16 years after his arrival). After his death this altruistic task was then taken up by Mother Marianne Cope (arrived from New York) and she too earned sainthood for her efforts...  

So one of the short trails at the park led to the lookout, the other to a sacred Hawaiian rock, and as with so many cultures, the rock was phallic. Here is the crew next to this wonderful geologic formation...

OK, our time in Molokai was nearly over so we filled up the car with petrol and returned the car to the airport. We then piled into a large rental car van transporter to get us from the airport to the harbor (about 20 min). The driver managed to pile a lot of snowbirds in there (way over capacity) and then we squished in... Kids sat on the floor, I straddled the luggage, and hence seat belts not an option. This exemplifies the flavor of Molokai, laid back, no rules because everyone is so mellow. Molokai definitely is not for everyone... If you want resorts, guided tours and umbrellas in your drinks don't come here. If you want to relax, mingle with the locals and find your own way in this relatively undeveloped (from a touristic perspective) isle then consider a visit. Also if your are keen for remote surf breaks, hiking over the western island spine into one of the northern valleys (very few do) and kayaking the northwestern sea cliffs, then a pretty good adventure holiday could be had here. We loved it, total relaxation and undoubtedly the best accommodation we have had in terms of value for money (the place was huge!).

The ferry back to Molokai was unbelievable in terms of whale watching with heaps of breaches, fluke slaps and an enormous number of whales all over the place. No pics, we just decided to observe our cetacean comrades in the 'laid back' Molokai-an manner...