Earlier this year, Zach and I celebrated our honeymoon! Nearly a year of marriage later, haha.
After nearly three years of planning, we finally made it to Maui. The trips we plan are almost always perfect because we're such great itinerary makers and stick to our schedule. This truly was the perfect honeymoon!
Our first full day in Maui, we explored the Road to Hana (of course). We actually ended up spending about half of our trip on the Road to Hana. Zach is an expert now, haha.
The next day, I picked up lunch and pie from Leoda's Kitchen and we hiked the Waihee Ridge Trail!
While Zach worked during the day (he never takes time off), I explored some of the west Maui beaches.
In the evening, we drove to the Nakalele Blowhole.
We decided to continue on the west Maui loop which we soon regretted, finding the road worse (scarier!) than the Road to Hana. And the sun was setting as we left...it was probably the worst part of our trip (although Zach will disagree), but we survived, haha.
Finding ourselves with free time, we spontaneously visited the petroglyphs.
And then found dragon's teeth on the way to dinner!
Now that we both had the day off, we visited the Kula Lodge on the way to Haleakala National Park.
That evening we went to a luau on the beach!
Now for Zach's least favorite, we woke up super early to watch the sunrise at Haleakala. It was too cloudy to really get a view unfortunately and then we were stuck on a tour bus with a guide who kept talking for hours. I was able to tune it out (and fall asleep) but Zach wasn't.
After catching up on sleep, we went to the Paia Fish Market. One of the best meals of our trip!
A week into our trip! We explored the Road to Hana again, stopping at the Garden of Eden and Ho’okipa Beach to finally see some sea turtles!
The most memorable part of the trip for me was our dinner at Mama's Fish House. It really lived up to the hype! I wish we could eat there everyday!!
Our last full day on Maui, we explored the final stretch of the Road to Hana. We had to make sure we saw it all!
We found the 7 Sacred Pools and swam at a hidden spot called the Venus Pools! That was surely a highlight as well. I hope we go back sometime (maybe with kids) and I will cliff jump into the water. I was too scared this time to go by myself (and I had already broken doctors orders by swimming, haha). But Zach said we needed to save some activities for next time :)
The next morning, we headed out to make it back to the Mainland. Although we did a lot during our short time there, we already have a list of new activities and areas to explore! Hopefully next time with a growing family.
We weren't able to do as much physical activity as usual because I was still recovering from surgery, but I'm really happy with our first trip. Zach already wants to go back and even talks about moving there, haha.
Can't wait for our next big trip. Have some ideas in the works...just need to see what the next few weeks bring us.
To be honest, the last few days have been really difficult for me. It's nice to remember happier times and hopefully look forward to some much anticipated changes.
Until next time, Hawaii...