Road to Hana

Hello all, Maui keeps getting better the longer we are here! We keep meeting new people and making new friends along the way. It's a lot of fun talking to people from all over the world, we are living with a bunch of Americans of course but we have spent some time with some Swiss and some Aussies and to hear all their stories has been great. The other day we decided to drive the road to Hana and despite getting motion sick from the windy road it was beautiful. Great beaches, amazing forests and jungles, and of course beautiful waterfalls!

Check out our vid!:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YlIoFVRz_SM

The adventures begin!

There were certainly a few tears shed at the airport Monday morning, but all went smoothly with our flights. After two 5 hour flights and a 3 hour stop in San Francisco, we got to Maui's Kahalui Airport at 4:30pm local time, about 10:30pm Toronto time. And since we had been up for two full days, we were getting a little tired! Sleeping on the plane was as uncomfortable as ever, so we passed the time with some movies and crazy eights! We managed to get our selves a cab almost all the way to our accommodations, but the cab wasn't in the best condition for dirt road driving so we ended up hiking the rest of the way to our Retreat, about 1/2 a mile or so. Unfortunately by this time it was dark, so we didn't get to take in much of the beauty of the land, and we missed a couple signs, so it was probably more like a 1 mile hike by the time we were done! When we finally arrived at the Opua House, one of the other guests greeted us very warmly and called the owner to come and meet us to give us the low down. Being sweaty and exhausted, we were so thrilled with the warm welcomes we got from everyone here at the Maui Eco Retreat, and we felt right at home.

After a much needed full night of rest, Jason and I awoke to the beautiful smells sounds of Maui. There are coconut palms absolutely everywhere, flowers on every tree, bananas, guava, passionfruit, and citrus all around us. The best part, picking it right off the tree and eating it! We have been eating our fill of local fruits, and after getting our rental car in order yesterday, we took a day-trip down to the ocean. It was about a 30 minute hike down the very steep jungle, with lots of ropes for support on the cliff-like terrain. We took some videos as we stopped to take in the views on the way down, and we could see some locals spear-fishing off the rocks below. We got to chat with them once we got to the bottom, and it turns out that they had a pretty good catch earlier in the day, but as they were fishing some more, an eel came along and starting stealing their catch and pulling it down into his hole! They were then in the process of retrieving their fish and lobster from the eel's lair. We went for a very salty dip in the choppy waters (little did we know their would be a tsunami warning later that night), and made the very high climb back up to the top. The views here are breathtaking, the weather is gorgeous, and we feel like we've found a little private paradise for ourselves. Today we've taken a trip to the nearby waterfall, which is definitely a lot easier to get to than the ocean, and met a nice couple there from Ottawa. The drop from where we were down to the bottom of the waterfall is about 150 feet, and you can see straight through the trees to the ocean again. Amazing. Tonight one of the current guests is departing after spending 3 months at the retreat, so the other folks are having a little party for her. They've invited us to come and make some music around the bonfire with them after dinner :)

Looking forward to our snorkelling trip that we've booked to Lanai to see one of the world's best snorkelling  spots, and to see some local dolphins and sea turtles!!! We also plan on biking down the Haleakala Crater while we're here, but we'll keep you posted on our adventures. There will certainly be some underwater camera shots to see from our snorkelling trip! Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow yet, but just relaxing here and watching the view from our private deck is enough. Check out the videos we've taken so far, and we'll definitely have some more soon!

Today (yesterday to the folks in Canada) was a day filled with mixed feelings and emotions. Laurin and I set out for the airport at 4am still running if of no sleep that night. We were joined at the airport by our parents and Laurin's grandparents and were ver happy to have them there. Though we are very excited to start out adventure, we both crossed security fighting off tears. The love and support our families have given has blown us away and though at times it's hard to say in in words, we love you all and will miss you all so much! So come visit!!

Getting down to the wire now, we only have one more day of packing and last-minute details to take care of! This whole week has been a tear-fest, and it's sure to continue til after we're on that plane. Jason just has such a hard time controlling his emotions ;) In all seriousness though, we will miss everyone terribly, but through the blog, facebook, and email there's no excuse not to stay in touch! A big thank you to the Funga Drummers, who gave us an amazing send off on Monday night. We played some tough stuff, but it was tons of fun. We will miss all of our drum family, and our drums, but we know they're in good (and might I add calloused) hands. Thanks Dad, and Jamie, for taking care of them for us. Don't forget to tuck them in!

4 days until we fly out!!! Thanks to everyone who came to the party last night, couldn't ask for a better send off. For those who have asked about where we will be staying in Maui, here is a link to the retreat.

Enjoy!

http://mauiretreat.com/main/?accommodation=lotus-room

BJC Farewell

Thanks to Barry and Paul for an awesome farewell lunch and to all who came out. After 4.5 years of working with this group, there were some good times, and some stressful times but all times made for good memories. Special shout out to my peeps on the TRU team! Thanks again, most of you will be missed....lol

Final Stages

Well we are less then 3 weeks away now. We moved back in with my parents and have sold most of our stuff. The car is the thing that will make this all real, once it is gone it will fully set in. Laurin and I are just starting to contact WWOOFs and are getting more and more excited. This is also our last week of work and it couldn't have come sooner, though I am sure we will miss the steady income.