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Hawaii Honeymoon: Maui Part 3, Under The Sea

May 10, 2010 / Hawaii / 1 Comment

People who get sea sick should NOT get on boats. It’s as simple as that. Yet, I always find myself on a boat when I go to Hawaii. This time I was enticed by the idea to visit the Molokini Crater off the coast of Maui.

The crater, rising out of the ocean.

Wearing a wetsuit top as the water was pretty cold still.

Lanai island in the background.

In the water, the ocean life was pretty average – I’ve definitely seen better variety and numbers in other places, such as on the Big Island of Hawai’i. It was still enjoyable though, even with the sea sickness!

The next stop was “Turtle Town”, an area off the coast of Maui with a large population of turtles. I think I saw about five different giant turtles. Seeing them swimming towards us through the clear sea was amazing – gentle giants of the ocean.

Here they come!

Bye for now!

Back on land, we received a tip from a local photographer on a place to spot more turtles, a beach called Black Rock. We swam a few meters off shore, and, sure enough, there were more turtles!

Black Rock – another gorgeous beach.

This guy ate a lot of sea grass. Or fungus. Or whatever it is they eat.

Lookout on the way back to our hotel.

Last night in Maui.

Hawaii Honeymoon: Maui Part 2, Sunset on Haleakala

May 10, 2010 / Hawaii / 0 comment

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to watch the sunrise from Haleakala, the second tallest mountain in the world (the second is on the Big Island of Hawai’i). This adventure required us to get up at 2:10am (!!) for our 2:30am pick up. I felt pretty terrible on the bus, driving through the night up the side of the volcano, but it was all worth it when we arrived at the summit at about 5:30am, just before the sun rose.

The sun rise is spectacular from this spot as the sun peaks through the clouds, giving a view like none I’ve ever seen before.

Dark. And cold (5 degrees!).

Getting lighter (but no warmer).

I was getting pins and needles in my hands at this stage, but kept on snapping!

Finally, the sun peeks over the clouds.

The glow fills the sky.

Oh hai there! Amazing to witness.

Freezing, but worth it!

Fully risen – beautiful!

We took a tour with Maui Downhill to the top because we wanted to bike down the mountain after seeing the sunrise. As a bonus we got to wear these sexy banana suits. I was seriously doubting whether or not I could wear one, but I was so cold that I was willing to suffer the fashion disaster to stay warm. Clearly I’m no fashionista.

Obligatory pose for the honeymooners.

Check out the view from up here!

After an easy bike ride down the mountain, we stopped at the base – near some lovely horses. This fellow wanted to be friends.

We arrived back at our hotel at about 11am – and went straight back to bed! It was exhausting, but an amazing experience.

Mother’s Day!

May 10, 2010 / Family / 0 comment

My mum’s pretty great. I know I’m lucky to have such a wonderful mum, so I like to spoil her on Mother’s Day. This year I took my parents to lunch at my favourite local cafe, Not Bread Alone, and then went for a drive to Middle Head Harbour to check out the historical area and the amazing view.

It was perfect Sydney weather – stunning bright blue sky and amazing warm sun. We wandered around for a while, then checked out the nearby cafe, Burnt Orange. I had tried to book us in here for lunch, but it was booked out, so instead we went for afternoon tea when it was a bit quieter.

Happy Mother’s Day Mum!

xox

Hawaii Honeymoon: Maui Part 1

May 8, 2010 / Hawaii, Holidays, Travel / 0 comment

A delayed honeymoon is a great idea for several reasons. 1. It’s practical as you can save up after the wedding for your trip. 2. It extends your wedding celebrations even longer. Our honeymoon was delayed because we wanted to go to Hawaii and the rainy season extended until the end of March.

We decided to visit two islands we hadn’t been to before – Maui and Kauai, with a day on Oahu at the end for shopping.

First stop on our trip was Maui. Each hotel gave us a complimentary bottle of Champagne with a really sweet card congratulating us on our wedding and honeymoon. The funniest was the last hotel, who address the card to “Mr and Mrs Knight”. *snigger*.

Free champagne? Yes please!

Lovely bedroom in our suite.

Mai Tai? Don’t mind if I do!

Celebrating with cocktails. Yay we’re married!

We stayed just outside of the main town of Lahaina, on North Ka’anapali Beach. The town is a bit touristy, but has the most amazing Banyan tree. It’s impossible to capture how large it is in a photo – suffice to say it’s worth visiting the town just to see the massive tree.

Biggest tree ever.

We bought this pineapple for a dollar on the side of the road.

During our stay we drove the road to Hana, which stretches along the coast. We stopped off at many parks and waterfalls along the way.

No idea what this is. Love Hawaii and the weird and wonderful things lying around in the national parks.

One of many falls on the side of the highway.

The most beautiful waterfall was right at the end, called the seven pools of Oheo. It’s basically seven waterfalls that stream into each other – amazingly beautiful.

Photo op!

Sunsets on Hawaii are just amazing. We pulled over while driving a few times to photograph the sunset on the side of the road.

Beautiful view on the side of the road!

Just another perfect day in Maui.

Happy Birthday Alec!

April 9, 2010 / Family / 1 Comment

This week marked my dear husband’s birthday. As a little gift I bought him the Hulk shirt below. It’s a little joke between us because he calls me the Hulk when I’m angry. Better to embrace it, I say!

Hulk Smash!

We then went to dinner at Becasse for their degustation dinner. I chose Becasse because of their excellent reviews and the fact that they had a vegetarian degustation menu listed on their menu as well as the regular one. Score! The food was amazing, especially with the matching wines. The service was outstanding – completely flawless.

Happy birthday my beautiful husband. I love you.

Return to Gunners’ Barracks – High Tea

April 6, 2010 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

The wonderful folks at the Gunners’ Barracks gave us a complimentary Champagne high tea as a thank you gift after our wedding, so we decided to use it to celebrate our three-month-versary over Easter weekend.

It was a bit of a gray day, but the view still looked spectacular.

The husband. Musing over the last time we stood in this exact spot three months earlier.

Elegant china.

Tasty savories – scones, curry triangles and cheese tarts.

The sandwiches and delicacies came wrapped in a napkin to protect them from the predatory kookaburras. The waitstaff told us they liked to target the sandwiches… we laughed and started to eat up. True to the warning, a kookaburra swooped in and snatched a sandwich off a plate and took off before I caught a good look at it. Stealthy little bugger. Seriously impressive sandwich-stealing ninja skills.

The sandwiches – a mere moment before the kookaburra stole one.

Beautiful teas in polished tea pots. Mine was called “blueberry muffin” and indeed tasted like its namesake.

A very civilised way to spend a public holiday.

Amazing view from Georges Head.

I love you husband!

Easter Sunday at the Show

April 5, 2010 / Family, Sydney Life / 1 Comment

Alec spent the previous week sick and started to feel better just in time for the end of Easter Weekend. I had pre-booked show tickets so we went to spend a few hours at the Easter Show before heading out to have dinner with my parents on Easter Sunday.

The show is always fun, but it was a bit of a disappointment this year. The animals were fabulous, but the fresh food dome was lacking in a lot of fresh food! In the place of local cheese and food companies were lollies and bottled spicy sauces. So sad.

I also enjoyed the cakes – they’re always inspiring.

Woof!

Sushi cake!

Facebook cake? Hmm.

Corn – always a highlight.

Tasty chocolate-dipped strawberries.

I found cows from my old high school. Go Hurlstone!

My matching husband. Thank you for accompanying me.

A quick trip to the animal petting zoo.

Woof – The Dogs Settle In

April 5, 2010 / Animals / 0 comment

I’m loving having the dogs living with us. They’re settling in more and more and their personalities are coming out again. Kahlua has been extremely happy as well (she can be moody and depressed, so it’s great seeing her so happy all the time). I play games with Kahlua each morning when we get up. She likes playing fetch with her rope – I captured her playing in the little videos below.

Fadhila’s Trivia Night Birthday

April 4, 2010 / friends / 0 comment

My friend Fadz had a trivia night birthday party last week as well, held at the Fringe Bar. It was my first trivia night in a bar, and it was a lot of fun. We started out knowing most of the answers and thinking we were all that, but as the game went on and the questions got harder and we didn’t exactly kick ass like we thought we would. It was so much fun and I would love to do it again.

Happy quarter century Fadhila!