Maui | Part One

I am so thrilled to finally post some photos from our recent honeymoon trip to Maui! Talk about a gorgeous island! I had never been anywhere in Hawaii before (or anywhere tropical for that matter) so I was extremely excited for this trip to say the least. I even went back to working full time as a waitress before the holidays so I could save up some extra spending cash for our trip. This being the reason for my blogging absence during December, and then of course during our trip in January. After the crazy holiday season, and the long and painful hours on my feet at the restaurant, all I wanted to do was sit on the beach and sip large amounts of fruity alcoholic beverages...and guess what, that's EXACTLY what I did. Not to mention the hiking, snorkeling, surfing, sun bathing, watching sunsets, and eating. LOTS of eating. :) Our trip to Maui was everything a vacation should be. Maui just has this wonderful laid back vibe. There's no rushing or getting aggravated over silly things like traffic or long lines. Their lack of "city life" is what really drew me in. It had me at small towns, rolling green valleys, clear blue waters, and the smell of morning rain on the asphalt. And after our seven days in paradise, we came back well-rested and refreshed, ready to face reality with a little more of a positive outlook. Plus, we really missed our dog. :(

Rainbows are ubiquitous in Maui (and most of Hawaii for that matter!). Nevertheless, I could not stop photographing them. The below photo was looking out of our hotel room balcony:

We took a little "hike" to the Nakalele Blowhole on the North Shore of Maui. However, I would classify it as more of a climb than a hike due to all of the rocks you had to crawl through to get down the cliff to the blowhole.

Lots of these little fellas crawled around the rocks surrounding the blowhole.

The ground was covered in porous volcanic rock as you can see below...

Will just had to look inside the hole...

I was cool with not having the blowhole explode in my face...

The view had us imagining that we were in an episode of Lost. Minus the time-warping and smoke monster.

Tourist pose time!

The hillside along the road was incredible. So much beauty and life everywhere we turned.

On our way back down the winding road we made an unexpected stop at a little hiking trail that ran through an unbelievable rainforest, which dropped us right onto the rocky beach of Honolua Bay, one of the best surfing spots on the island.

At the end of the trail was a few very old shacks and abandoned cars. Not sure if people actually lived out there, but I met a kind local who allowed me to photograph him hanging out with his little kitties.