Day 76:

Day 76 was Saturday, January 11, 2025, once again. Not the Saturday that we spent at the botanic gardens and the movie in our prior blog. No, this is the Saturday when we landed in Maui, got our car and drove to our VRBO condo in Kihei on the west of the island. We crossed a spacetime rift (international dateline) while passing through the 8th dimension (across the Atlantic Ocean) and returned to the same day we had already lived (technically 23 hours earlier on the clock, not 24 but let’s not be niggly and split hours—pun intended).

On our first day in Maui, we were both wiped out. The cold I was battling had turned into a sinus infection though I didn’t know at the time. We walked to the beach for a few minutes, went grocery shopping for breakfast for the week, had some dinner and went to bed. A mundane recovery day.

Day 77:

If Saturday was mundane, Sunday was awesomely chill. We went to the beach at Kamaole Beach Park III, found a shady spot, sat and read. Yup, that was the day. There was some food in there somewhere. And sitting. There was some driving to the beach. And sitting. It was 81 degrees, and I was seriously hoping the warm, moist air would help my cold. And the sitting part.

Day 78:

Monday was similar to Sunday. We drove south to Ulua Beach Park which was about 10 minutes further down the coast. The beach was known to have better snorkeling. Hey! A fellow can dream. We sat once again, read our Kindles and watched the birds.

You still there? Stay with us. It does get a bit more interesting shortly. Like the next day.

Day 79:

Tuesday, January 14, the weather was reasonable to take a scenic drive. We headed out mid-morning for the eastern tip of the island. About an hour into the drive from Kihei, Hana Highway 36 turns into Hana Highway 360. The secret to driving 360 is to eat a big breakfast of bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy. Now, we’re talking old-school gravy here. You know, the kind made with bacon and sausage grease. You might even throw in some English style breakfast eggs, the ones that they cook in about three inches of grease. Yes, a healthy dose of grease sitting in the stomach is just what is needed for this insanely winding road. Ack!

So, this road was started in the 1800s and the bridges were completed by the 1930s. And never updated again. Oh, they dumped some asphalt on them here and there. But updated? Nay, nay! The speed limit is 15 miles per hour for at least half of the 44 miles from Highway 36 to the Kipahulu Visitor Center in the Haleakala National Park, the farthest point of our drive. There are dozens of bridges set into 90+ degree switchbacks. Maybe two or three bridges that are not single-lane. I really wanted to write that the road is a disgrace for the state of Hawaii. I really wanted to write that. It just seemed so negative to write that the road is a disgrace. So, I don’t think I’m going to write that the road is a disgrace.

The road is beautiful. It would be a hoot to drive in a go-cart. Or a moped. A little one. That doesn’t go over 20 mph. Of course, you would need full body armor from the random crazy who thinks that whipping around a 15-mph corner at 40 in the middle of a barely two-lane wide road is a grand idea.

Our first break along the way was at Pua’a Ka’a Falls. There is a roadside park and, I believe, some restrooms where the road-weary traveler can barf their guts out in a cold sweat while praying that God kills them on the spot. In fairness, neither of us got that sick. Perhaps a bit woozy. We would have stopped just the same. What made this spot picturesque was the green pool at the bottom of the 20ish feet falls. The water was too cold to swim in. As such, there were probably a dozen people swimming. Yeah, just…no.

From Pua’a Ka’a, we continued on into the town of Hana. By then it was after noon and we were famished. I’m not a big fan of food trucks as a general rule. Small menus. Crap-shoot for the food quality. If you are ever in Hana—you know, just randomly stopping off in Maui like folks tend to do—Kilo’s Kitchen is fabulous. It is a permanent food truck restaurant and a fine spot for a picnic at the shaded bench tables. I had a ginger-spiced chicken thigh dish that was the special of the day. Faith had a brisket sandwich. The food was so freaking good if you find yourself winding along 360 in need of a bite.

After lunch, we headed on toward the national park, making another stop along the way at Wailua Falls. While the road is crazy to drive, the scenery is almost a tropical fantasy. Ever few miles there is a new waterfall, or a gulch, or a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean. As with Pua’a Ka’a, Wailua Falls has a pool at the base of the falls where folks swim. This one was a bit tougher to get to. We had to walk along a narrow, muddy trail above the Wailua Stream and step over the odd boulder to get to the photo spot near the falls and the pool.

Our last stop in the southeasterly direction  was the Kipahulu Visitor Center. The center sits adjacent to the ‘Ohe’o Gulch on the Palikea Stream, and the Pacific Ocean. The ocean is far below the cliffs at the edge of the park where the water crashes and churns against volcanic rock while the wind regularly blows a blustery gale. We walked the trails along the edge of cliffs, dodging ruins of ancient buildings that had been constructed of volcanic rock before the arrival of Western settlers.

The ‘Ohe’o Gulch has a series of pools amid  a cascading set of small waterfalls. Palm trees and a variety of tropical vegetation line the edges of the gulch’s volcanic rock beds. The Kuloa Point Loop Trail follows along the edge of the gulch for around 100 yards until it turns east back toward the park.

By 3:30, I was feeling poorly again. A couple of hours earlier I figured out that the crazy cold I had picked up in New Zealand was gone, and an infection had taken up residency in my sinuses. Darn squatters. Once they get in, it is tough to get them out. Eviction letters (prescriptions). Courts (doctors). Lawyers (pharmacists). Enter the superhero, azithromycin, AKA Z-Pack. Z-Pack’s Kung Fu is strong and kicks some serious butt on bacterial squatters. Unfortunately, my Z-Pack was at the condo a couple of hours away.

We started our way back. We had hoped to take in Black Sand Beach near Hana. This is part of a state park. We didn’t realize that we had to have reservations just to drive down to the beach and take a look. The folks at the gate told us they were all booked and we had to turn around. They got downright nasty when I turned around in what was apparently their own private little turn-around-spot. Some people’s kids. At any rate, we didn’t get to see the Black Sand Beach.

We did get to see some folks surfing at the Ho’okipa Beach Park. And we got back to Kihei with less than 10 minutes to spare before a gorgeous sunset that we watched from a random beach a few miles north of our condo. When we got back to the condo, I immediately took a dose of azithromycin.

Day 80:

When I got up on Wednesday, I was already starting to feel better. It was the best I had felt since the first day of that dratted cold back in Wellington over two weeks earlier. That was a good thing. We had booked an 11 AM whale-watching trip with Redline Rafting courtesy of GetYourGuide.com.

“Admiral, there be whales here!” Okay, I know I’ve used that quote in a prior blog or two. But a Star Trek classic never gets old. Am I right? Of course, I am. Everybody in the world loves Star Trek. Everybody. Even the people who hate Star Trek.

Our tour was just 90 minutes. We saw maybe a dozen or more humpback whales. The highlight was a mother, her calf of maybe one or two weeks, and a male companion. The calf would breach over and over. Since it was a quarter the size of a full-grown humpback, the breaches weren’t quite as impressive. It was, nevertheless, great fun to watch.

After whale-watching, we had a bite of lunch and headed to the beach. Kamaole Beach Park III is one of the recommended spots along Kihei for snorkeling. Yes indeed, I was feeling so much better by mid-afternoon that I was ready to give it a shot. My first time out, I was fortunate to see a green sea turtle. It was a juvenile, probably less than two years old. Don’t take my word for it. Check out the video below. “Video?” you ask. And well you would if you read our blog from Phuket. I lost my underwater camera on the beach the first time I used it.

When we were in Sydney, we happened across a JB Hi-fi store. They are computer and electronics stores. And they have cameras. They were having a sale. DJI is a company that made their name in drones and drone cameras. For several years, they have been competing with GoPro for action cameras. The store had a DJI Osmo Action 4 camera. The latest model is the Action 5. They are underwater ready for shallow dives down to 30 feet. There is an accessory case that will increase that to 150 feet, and a floating handle. If you have the handle on it, the camera, case and handle will float to the top if it gets loose from you.

You guessed it. I bought one. They didn’t have the case or the handle. I spent the rest of the trip from Wellington through our second day in Maui collecting the case and the handle. I found the case in Auckland at a specialty camera store. I found the handle at a snorkeling shop in Kihei. The two best things about the DJI are that it was cheaper than a GoPro and the underwater color handling is light years better. I rented a GoPro while diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns. Below about 5 feet of water, everything turns aquamarine.

While I was busy snorkeling, Faith was chilling on the beach. There was a Hawaiian monk seal chilling on the beach as well. He is such a regular there that he gets his own special roped-off section. They are endangered. Habituation is where a wild animal becomes overly accustomed to tourists and starts to beg from them for food. It puts the animals at greater risk of getting killed, either by eating something safe for humans but poison for the animal or getting struck by a car or a boat. So, they rope this fellow off to help avoid habituation.

Day 81:

Thursday was another day of beach fun and snorkeling. I had two of my three doses of Z-Pack and I was feeling worlds better. We decided to go back to Ulua Beach Park. The snorkeling was really good on Day 80 at Kamaole. It was even better at Ulua. I did two long snorkeling sessions at Ulua. I saw sea turtles both times and a host of other lovely fish and coral. Faith hung out on the beach in her beach chair catching rays, reading her Kindle and watching the birds.

If you watch the videos below, do so with your volume turned up. Those are not sound effects. The sound of the humpback whales singing can carry for hundreds of miles in the ocean’s dense salt water. I was wearing earplugs while I was snorkeling to avoid an ear infection. I got a sinus and ear infection snorkeling during our Star Trek cruise to Curacao last year that lasted for a month. I didn’t want a repeat. I didn’t know what I had until I started culling through my photos and videos. Whale song!!!

Faith definitely knows how to relax better than I do. I want to go and see and do and experience and savor. I call it savoring. Faith might call it gulping. I have been accused before of being a speed tourist. Each to their own. I like to see as many different things as possible while Faith likes to take in each new site and absorb it. For example, when we go to museums, I can be done in half the time of Faith though we both love the experience. She loves to read the background history of the different works of art and the artists. You could say that her focus is depth while mine is breadth.

Day 82:

January 17 we checked out of our condo and headed to the far northwest of the island, Kapalua. I read online about a “great” snorkeling spot, Honolua Bay. The bay is a protected marine reserve. It was said to have fantastic snorkeling. Maybe it does at other times. It definitely didn’t the day we were there. The water was so murky, I could barely see five or six feet.

I talked about my experience snorkeling in murky water in our blog about Ballina, Australia, Day 57. The murky water in Shaws Bay gave me the creeps. It was so stressful not being able to see with my head down in the water. While the visibility in Shaws Bay was worse than Honolua Bay, it was more sheltered. Honolua Bay has a wide mouth on the Pacific Ocean. It gave me the creeps every bit as bad as Shaws Bay. I have had issues with the ocean since I was 9 years old and watched Jaws in the theater. Scarred for life, I tell you. Scarred for life. I snorkeled for maybe 30 minutes before I gave up.

We headed further south to see if we could find a better spot. We stopped one more time and asked. The story was the same, murky water with mediocre visibility. Shine that. We gave up, I showered on the beach and changed clothes. Then we had lunch and headed back down south toward the airport.

We had seen the Maui Ocean Center aquarium on our way to Kapalua. It was only 30 minutes from the airport and seemed like a fine way to close out our Maui trip. We spent a couple of hours in the aquarium looking at all the different Hawaiian and other tropical fish. It was good fun. The Ocean Center had a panoramic theater, like the sky dome at the planetarium in Brisbane where we watched a digital show set to Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. In Maui, we got to swim with the humpback whales in 3-D without even getting wet. Woohoo.

Day 83:

"Wait a minute, there Buster Brown! This blog is called Around the World in 81 Days. How did you get to Day 83?" That's a fine question you asked when you asked the question that you asked. You may recall from our first blog entry on this trip, I referenced the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. In the novel, Phileas Fogg made a bet of half of his fortune that he could travel around the world in 80 days. As he traveled, he journaled. When he arrived back in England, his journal said that he had arrived on the 81st day, 80 days and some additional hours. And he had. But he hadn’t. He had logged just over 80 slightly shorter days. But by the London Calendar, he had traveled just over 79 days. It was only after his valet, Passepartout pointed out that he still had a chance to win that Fogg returned to the Reform Club in victory.

Phileas logged his first day differently than we did. He left at 8:45 PM on October 2, 1872. He logged his first full day on October 3 at 8:45 PM. We started counting our days in the blog from the moment we left the airport on October 29 into that evening. That was Day 1. After all, we did go to the Museum of Modern Art and see the Harry Potter play.

If we followed Fogg’s method, the completion of Day 1 would be October 30 in the morning. Our blog had day 1 as October 29 and Day 2 as October 30. So, Day 83 from a blog perspective is actually the completion of day 82 in terms of morning-to-morning days where several of the days were less than 24 hours long. It was the completion of 81 days in terms of 24-hour calendar days. So, while our blog journals recorded 83 days, our San Antonio calendar recorded 81 calendar days, and we experienced 82 morning-to-morning days.  We left on October 29 and arrived home on January 18. Yup, 81 days.

 I know, it makes my head hurt, too. Give it a try. Use this website to calculate October 29, 2024, through January 18, 2025. You will see that it is 81 days.

Our true Day 81 was spent with far too little sleep and far too much travel. Our first flight left Maui at 9 PM on the 17th, Day 81, and arrived in Denver 6.5 hours later. We were both able to sleep maybe 4.5 to 5 hours on the flight. We had a three-hour layover in Denver before our flight to San Antonio.

We were super-happy to get home. It was an indescribably awesome trip. We had a wonderful time making our first trip completely around the world. We planned and executed the whole trip ourselves with a lot of online planning help. Here is a quick summary of our trip highlights:

• Days 1 – 4, New York with the Modern Art Museum, Harry Potter and the great shoulder breakage in the botanical gardens.

• Days 5 – 21, mostly South Africa including Cape Town, the Garden Route, several safaris, Johannesburg. We also had a few days in Zimbabwe/Zambia/Botswana for Victoria Falls and another pair of safaris.

• Days 22 – 26, India with the Taj Majal and the crazy city of New Delhi.

• Days 27 – 42, Thailand with Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai (elephant baths!!!!) and Phuket along with a jaunt up to the Golden Triangle.

• Days 43 – 63, Australia with over 2800 km of driving and stops between the Daintree Rainforest near Port Douglas and Sydney including koalas, wallabies, and such.

• Days 64 – 75, New Zealand from Wellington to Auckland with some super-cool Lord of the Rings locations and the geothermal craziness around Rotorua.

• Days 76 – 82, Maui with beach fun, snorkeling, a crazy winding road trip and humpback whales.

Thank you for joining us in our journey. We will likely use this blog site to chronical our 5-year-mission that is coming up in a few weeks. Yes, it is almost time for the Star Trek Cruise. Though it isn't going to last 5 years. Just 7 days. For now, as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

- Cheers and thanks again for following along -