Thanksgiving, Maui style

So I was laying on the beach last weeking thinking to myself "Self, what does one do in Maui for Thanksgiving?" And the answer was, do something fun, that you've never done before.

So, having kept an eye out for deals since I got here, I had a fairly good idea where to get value for money. I decided finally on a couple of things. First and foremost, I decided to go wake-boarding on my favourite beach here, in Kapalua Bay. There is a place across the street that rents them for the day, so I picked one up, and headed for the waves. For those who have never done it, wakeboarding is basically surfing, except you don't stand up. So it's much easier. All you have to worry about is swimming upstream into 8ft swells.

The day had one particularly interesting moment, as i was swimming out to catch a wave. As the the wave was coming towards me and I was just starting to ride up the front of it, a rather large sea turtle burst out of the wave not 10 feet from me. Up to that point in life, I did not know that sea turtles were surfers. But this guy sure was. I bailed off the board, and hoped i missed him, because a high speed collision with a 300lbs turtle would have been a bad end to the day.

When I returned the board to the rental shop, I booked two more events, a morning snorkel at Molokini and a luau for the night. The luau was a total scoop, because it's usually a 7-10 day waiting list, even now during the slow season, but I got in on 24 notice. Molokini was everything I had heard and more. It's a volcano that didn't quite break the surface, stopping short by about 30 ft. about half of the rim is collapsed, and the remaining half is just barely above the surface, creating a small crescent of an island. Because of the direction the ocean currents flow, the bowl of the volcano is sheltered, and this translates to incredibly clear water and a very active reef. The morning I went there was no wind, and thus no swells in the water. Visibility was almost 200ft, and the fish were amazing. I spent two hours in the water, trying to see everything, and failing. but it was really worth it.

The luau was a complete surprise. It was a 5 course meal, with entertainment for each of the courses. It was more or less a taste of polynesia, with each course themed for a different culture. There was a Hawaiian course, a Aotearoan (the ancestors of the Maori) course, a Tahitian course and a Samoan course, each with appropriate dances performed by the hula girls and boys. The last course was dessert, accompanied by fire juggling. All in all, it was amazing food, and an incredible show. I'm firmly convinced that hula girls have an extra joint in their hips somewhere.

Last but not least, I decided to spoil myself a bit today, with a 1hr massage at the Westin Maui Spa. The hotel is beautiful, with a huge koi pond in the centre of it, stocked with a wide assortment of koi bigger than my thigh, pink flamingos, black swans, and parrots. A truly beautiful place. By purchasing the massage, I had access to the spa for the whole day, so first spent an hour in the sauna, steam room, and hot tub, then had a good long shower and a shave. The massage was in an outdoor cabana on the edge of the koi pond, in a secluded little nook. It was my first time in a spa, and I will definitely be heading back some time.

So, now, after a long weekend of new experiences, i'm ready to kick back on the beach tomorrow, and chill out some more.

It was bound to happen

Gentle readers, there is only so long a person with as fair skin as I can last on a beach under the Equatorial Sun before a slight miscalculation can lead to painful results. In this case, the miscalculation was placing my trust in spray on sunscreen.

A previous sunburn had resulted in my inability to reach the middle of my back. The Melbournian Sun made me pay quite severely for that mistake. So I decided that when I arrived here in Maui, I would get some other sunscreen that would be more easily applied. Spray on sunscreen seemed to be the best answer.

However, I discovered the fatal flaw with this type of application the hard way. I thought I had been very thorough, spraying and spreading the sunscreen liberally, but found out later that day, and more painfully the next, that this sunscreen does not, in point of fact, spread.

So as I sit here, writing this entry, I'm doing my best impression of an albino leopard. Everywhere I sprayed the sunscreen on is lightly tanned, but still fairly pale. Everywhere I thought I had spread the sunscreen to is a delightful pink.

At some point before the end of this trip, I will have to take a picture of all the failed sunscreen measures. It's a growing collection. But, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and in this case, leathery and supple.

Filling the hours of the day...

This is by far one of the hardest tasks I've had to do in recent years. I must admit that I did not account for this factor when I planned to come here, and am now struggling with the challenge it presents

[/tongue in cheek]

Yesterday was an exceptionally clear day, and so I had a pretty good view of the islands of Molokai and Lanai from the beach I have been visiting since I got here. I don't know the exact distance of either island from the shore upon which I was standing, but I would guess it's at least 10 miles. I was so moved by these views that I immediately laid down in the sand and stayed there for the next few hours.

The beach itself is pretty amazing. It's divided in half by an old lava flow, creatively named Blackrock, upon which sits a hotel, the Sheraton I believe. I have been visiting the northern half, which easily runs for 2 miles along the shore. the sand is soft, and there is an easy 20 - 30 ft of beach before the high tide line. I'm still hoping to get to the southern half, which I guess must be better, for that is where both Westin hotels have been built, and they're not known for shoddy locations.

Further north are two other beaches I hope to soon visit, Napili and Kapalua. These are closer to the north shore of Maui, and thus should see more wave action. Much of the surfing on Maui takes place here.

I went to visit a sushi restaurant last night which had been recommended by a friend of mine, named Sansei's. The sushi was amazing, but I will have to return to it later next time, as after 10pm on Thursdays and Fridays, much of the menu is 50% off. It also becomes a Kareoke bar, but I think I will save the patrons the experience of my Johnny Cash renditions.

Today, I plan to do less than nothing. Sleep will be the order of the day, and I think it best to do that out of the sun. I'm still catching up from the marathon of work I did prior to leaving Australia. I remarked earlier to someone that this was a unique vacation because, due to its length, I feel no rush to do anything. It's really quite liberating.

The sandy shores of Maui

It was a long time getting here. Not all the work and time prior to the trip, the actual event of travelling to this island. I travelled through four airports, two baggage checks, and 3 seats that flat out weren't designed for me. I particularly enjoyed the crossing of the International Date Line, which allowed me to arrive in Maui 6hrs before I left Melbourne. Lost a Wednesday when I flew to Melbourne, and had a 46 hr long Tuesday when I returned from there.

First impressions of Maui is that it is everything everyone has ever said it was. In a word, Paradise. The volcano behind me, as I type this, is majestic and beautiful, which is hard to ascribe to something that was born in the most violently desctructive way imaginable. But it is possibly the most beautiful backdrop to the area that I could imagine.

This afternoon, I'll be driving the 5 miles up to Ka'anapali Beach, widely accepted as the best beach in all of Hawaii. My lengthly and detailed plans for the day consist of applying sunscreen and sleeping on said beach for at least 4 hours. Also, the town of Ka'anapali is home to some of the restaurants recommended to me by friends in Seattle, so I will attempt to visit some of them.

All in all, I expect this vacation to be every bit as restful and memorable as I hoped it would be. The scenery couldn't be better. The locals are very friendly. The food is simple and tasty.

Last night, after eating a tasty Cheeseburger in Paradise, I walked up the street stopping in many of the art galleries that line the street. The works there were amazing, and unsurprisingly some of them were verrrry expensive. Son of my parents, the ones that most appealled to me were of course the ones that all cost at least $50,000. Won't be hanging any of them on my wall any time soon, but at least i have a good eye for art.

Fait Accompli

15 days and 160hrs of work later, my last big push is complete, and I am officially done in Australia. I did not manage to finish every last detail, but I did get the bulk of it done, and hand off the rest. The two project managers who are both now here in Oz are happy with how I have left things, so I'm leaving with almost no guilt.

I will miss certain aspects of being here. One of the significant differences between this trip and my time in England is that I made some good friends here, whom I will miss. But, as they say, you never know what tomorrow may bring, so I will look forward to meeting them again, wherever we may be in the world.

I will also miss living on the beach, as I did. Waking up to the sun streaming in the windows, sleeping to the sound of the surf crashing on the shore, and riding to work along the beach.

I don't know when I will next see my friends from the US, or my friends here. There is already talk of me returning to Melbourne some time next year, around April, but much water must flow under the bridge between now and then.

So take heart, gentle readers, that though it did try hard, Australia did not kill me or cause me any permanent harm. My next post will come to you from the sandy shores of Maui, where I will swing gently in the breeze in my hammock, and catch up on a lot of sleep.

Melbourne Cup

There is a very large and historic horserace that occurs every year in Melbourne, and has for the past 146 years, called the Melbourne Cup. It has become so big an event that it is now a public state holiday, and the entire city comes to the racecourse. As this was my last week here, I decided to go.

However, it is very bad form to come to a racecourse underdressed, and since I had not packed any of my suits, I decided to rent an outfit. Since I've always wanted to try wearing one, I decided to rent a kilt.

It was a really fun, albiet chilly day, but I was definitely one of the star attractions of the field, being photographed by numerous passers-by and even filmed for a segment on the Australian Currrent Affair television show. The jersey I'm wearing is the Sydney Swans AFL jersey, last year's title winners, and subject of some previous posts. Apparently I also bear some resemblance to a famous member of that team from years past, so was cheered often as I walked around.

I was even greeted by some true Scotsmen, who complimented me on my kilt, and said i carried it off well. But initially they wanted to know if I was actually Scottish, because I would have held some sort of record for Largest Scotsman Ever if I was.

Attack of the Hives Pt II: The Return

About two weeks ago, I finally decided that the "bug bites" that were spreading over my shoulders were not actually bites, but hives resulting from an allergic reaction to something. I mentioned this to some coworkers, many of whom told me that they too were allergic to some of the materials here on site. I work around a lot of concrete dust, carbon fibre dust, and general crapola, so it's not too far-fetched to imagine myself reacting to some of it, especially in lieu of the previous bronchial issue. So, I went to the same doctor as last time, and he gave me come cortizone pills to clear it up.

At the same time, I had moved out of the place I had been living in, and into an apartment with my good friend and coworker Robert, aka DRB. During the course of the week there, the hives cleared up, and I attributed this solely to the medicine.

This week, the project manager arrived, and moved into the apartment with DRB, displacing me. This had always been the plan, so I moved back into my old bedroom at the previous place.

As it turns out, my initial thinking that the hives were actually bug bites was all too true. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and discovered a bug crawling up my arm, roughly the size of a large tick. maybe the diameter of a pencil lead. I flicked it off in disgust. When i returned to bed, i turned on the lights to see if there were any other bugs, only to discover an easy 3 dozen of the little buggers crawling over the bed, as well as blood spots decorating the sheets where they had been feasting on me like a vegas buffet. And i noticed many bites on my skin in the mirror, mostly concentrated on my shoulders.

By morning, the hives had returned, big time, and by the end of the day, they had spread down my arms to my wrists, connected across my back at the base of my neck, and spread onto my chest and sides. And they itch like all get out.

Needless to say, I'm not sleeping at that apartment any more. I packed up all my stuff and dropped it at DRB's place, where I am also sleeping on a spare bed. The woman in charge of housing here is looking for new places, as the other two guys living in my old place are not thrilled by the idea of staying there much longer, and the landlord has been deaf to our complaints for months now.

Fortunately, the script for the cortizone was much more than i needed to get rid of the hives last time, and I have much of it left over. So once again i'm drugging myself in the name of self improvement.