When we found out I was pregnant, we really wanted to take a nice vacation, the last while we were childless. Unfortunately, we were booked with various obligations EVERY single weekend from mid-March through September (booked weddings, family weddings, friends weddings, bachelor parties, birthdays – the list goes on) – and September was really the last feasible time to fly, so we put aside any thoughts of a romantic getaway. In late June, we had a cancellation of sort (a long story) for a weekend in July… so we started throwing around ideas. Brandon wanted to go to the Bahamas, I had been and it wasn’t that special. ‘I want to go to Bora Bora.’ ‘What about Jamaica?’ he suggested. ‘Nope, it’s practically the same as the Bahamas’ was my response (I have no idea if that is true, but I had a goal!). ‘Let’s go to Bora Bora,’ I insisted. ‘But you can’t fly that long – isn’t it like halfway around the world.’ I shot that down – ‘It’s only 2 hours further than Hawaii, i’ll be fine.’

After two or three days or emailing vacation packages, flights, ways to work around our scheduling constraints, contingencies, etc etc, I FINALLY convinced Brandon we should go to Bora Bora! We booked that day and left two weeks later, with a week planned in paradise at the Bora Bora Nui Hotel & Resort. And we went all out. A resort. The overwater bungalow, the most amazing indescribable place to sleep ever. We spent a week laying on our little private porch, diving into the water when we got warm, snorkeling , kayaking, taking the little private island’s boat to the mainland, driving around the island, checking out the locals and the local way of life, dinners under the stars, laying in the warm sun, watching the sunset, soaking in the blue skies and fluffy white clouds, relaxing. Oh, relaxing. One night, one of those nights that I will never forget, we had a boat from the Yacht Club pick us up and take us to dinner, then take us back again. We flew across the pitch black lagoon, the unbelievably bright stars overhead, the warm salty air blowing in our face, Brandon and I snuggled on the seat together, our stomachs full from the most amazing dinner ever. I wanted someone to pinch me to see if it was real. We sat silent, soaking it all in. Ten minutes of pure bliss. Six days of pure bliss.

I never got sick of the blue sky, the aquamarine lagoon with seafoam and cerulean streaks running through it, the boats speckling the horizon, or the surf breaking over the lagoon’s edge a mile out. I think the pictures reflect this. Enjoy, and may you feel at peace (and one day obtain your dream vacation).

These musicians greeted us when we got off the plane in Tahiti… at 3:30 in the morning.

Coming into Bora Bora:

The Bora Bora airport:

The Bora Bora Nui
See what I mean about the amazing ‘streaks’ in the ocean?  (look at the horizon)

The hotel actually gives you snorkeling equipment you can hold onto for your whole stay

Our room:

More horizon

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The sky was a deeper blue than I have ever seen anywhere

A boy playing soccer on the beach (his friends were all lagging)… doesn’t that sound like an amazing way to grow up?

Mount Otemanu was almost always shrouded in a cloudy mist:




We rented this little buggy/car thing and drove around the island one day

Sunset


I have a weird thing for foreign money… I take pictures of it so I can remember what it looks like, but still get to spend it

A canopy bed: my other childhood dream

Our porch was massive

The fishes underneath our bungalow

Moorea, from the balcony of our room in Tahiti (which, in case anyone is curious, is like sleeping at a Motel 6 after staying at the Ritz – it might have been nice if you started there, but not so much once your standards were taken to a whole new level)

ps – Brandon said on our third or fourth day there that he was ‘never going anywhere else on vacation again except Bora Bora.’ I think I converted him And, contrary to my insistence, I was NOT fine flying that far – on the way to Tahiti, my ankles were so swollen on the plane that I could barely walk. Luckily a few days of swimming helped the swelling recede entirely, and I made it home just fine!

After the last large San Diego storm, I glanced out of my window and saw the most amazingly colorful sunset i’ve seen since summer. I grabbed my camera (my new ‘third-arm’) and dashed down to the bayfront walk alongside the Star of India.

These are all straight out of the camera! (and still subject to my broken frame action) Aren’t the colors amazing?

Day 5 ended with one of the most awesome experiences ever. After I finished work for the day, I ran up and changed into my bathing suit, sprinted to the beach and plunged into the water as the sunset waned, in my efforts to quell the effects of the mosquito swarm that attacked me in Kea’au. As I was getting out of the water, I saw a whale breach full out of the water somewhere between 300-500 yards away. It was amazing – an image that will be forever captured in my memory (although not on film, since I didn’t bring my camera).

Day 6 consisted of more work, a long walk through Wailea, a little more work and some packing, and then a lovely dinner in the warm humid air of Maui. I wasn’t sad to leave Maui like I was when I left the Big Island, but the lonely hotel just didn’t have the same draw as my family or my husband in San Diego. And at heart… i’m a homebody who likes being at home

Now for some pictures!

The hotel had this elaborate soothing stream running through the common areas, culminating in a large pond in the lobby.
(experimenting with some uber-low shutter speeds)
In the stream/pond, there were the LARGEST Koi I have ever seen. I mean, aren’t these things ridiculously massive? You could also buy ‘Koi food’ and PET the Koi for a small fee. I was slightly afraid that the massive Koi would do something crazy (like eat my hand), so I declined.
Makena:

Day 3: My mom and I went out and did more errands, and finished them up with a stop in the nearest town to their house, Pahoa. If you didn’t believe me about the ‘middle of nowhere’ thing before… i’m sure you won’t doubt me anymore after this. Pahoa is a ‘quaint’ sort of town, wood buildings, one street, all that jazz. Kind of like being thrown into a western

My mom was on the phone after we parked, dealing with my 15 year old sister being a snot (we’ve all been there), so I wandered into the Mexican restaurant and got a tasty Lillikoi margarita with ling hui mui on the rim (sorry no pic… next time). My sister is a bartender there, and made me a delicious drink.
(by the way, these are all straight out of the camera – and my photoshop frame action went nuts, so they look a little weird)


My mom and I had lunch at the delicious Thai food place, Ming’s, after I finished my drink.

And… these are the rest of the stores in Pahoa town. Seriously. I did mention it was only one street, right? (and isn’t the local H&R Block sign hilarious? You just can’t get away from some things… including taxes)

Day 4: Time to leave already! My previous couple of days flew by. I’m usually ready to go home by the time I leave anywhere – i’m the type of homebody who likes to hang out in my house and read a book or watch tv. But this trip was so short, I felt like I had hardly been there at all. Relaxed, yes, but already missing my family (before I even left).

Before getting on the plane to my second Hawaiian destination, I stopped by and took some pictures of the house my dad is building. Some interesting and uniquely Hawaiian details:

The lava steps leading to the house from the side of the yard:

The view from the second floor (look! Mauna Kea with snow and dense tropical trees!):

Day One:
Some people know this, others do not: my family all lives in Hawaii (mom, dad, 3 sisters). I haven’t been home for a year and a half (since August of 2006!), so I was ECSTATIC when my ‘day job’ said I could go for a work-related thing to Maui – and that since it was actually cheaper than flying direct to Kahului, they would pay for my fare to the Big Island to visit for a few days! I left Thursday morning, and spent most of the day flying (the headwinds must have been insane, because it took 6 hours to get from SD to Honolulu, then a 2 hour layover, then another hour flight to Hilo).

My mom picked me up, and we had a lovely dinner at the Hilo Bay Cafe. As I downed my delicious fresh Ahi, I suddenly realized how relaxed I was – even more so than on my week long vacation, and I had only been there for an hour! Its just something about Hawaii, something about being around my family and being home – even though I didn’t grow up there, I firmly believe that home is where your family is. And even though i’m married and all growed up, this is still true.

Day Two:
I woke up early the next morning, and went on a lovely 2 1/2 mile walk with my sister through the lush rainforest surrounding their home, from the house they are renting to the house they are building. They live in a small city called Kea’au (and really on the outskirts of that), in a place that has minimum one acre lots that (until recently) HAD to be used in part for agriculture if you wanted to build a home on the lot. Since the city removed this restriction, house have been springing up all over the place – but compared to big city living, its deserted.

After spending the morning running errands, my mom and I rented a 4 wheel drive car, and began the trek up Mauna Kea – nearly 14,000 feet above sea level – to go see the sunset (something i’ve always wanted to do). When measured from the base, Mauna Kea is actually over 28,000 feet tall – the highest mountain in the world (but with 14,000 feet being under sea level, it tends to get left out of those highest mountain discussions). A big storm had come through the week before and dumped tons of snow on the mountain! So I literally went from ocean breezes to snow in the period of 2 hours.
(taken from the car at 50 mph):

During the hour ‘acclimation’ period at 9,000 feet, we walked around the chilly visitors center. The views were amazing – even at only 9,000 ft, we were so high that we were above the clouds. When we got to the top, we walked around again (slowly – it was REALLY cold plus you get 40% less oxygen up at the summit). The snow had melted into icicles of sorts:

And apparently, silly people would consider going offroading in it:
Observatories are scattered around the top of the mountain – Mauna Kea is considered the best stargazing in the world (no air pollution or light pollution to deal with, and it’s relatively warm considering the altitude). They have two observatories there that actually capture better pictures of space than the Hubble! Four on the mountaintop in the distance:

As the sun set to the west, it cast a giant perfect shadow of the mountain to the east:
My mom and I nibbled on sandwiches (in the car with the heater on, of course) and drank massive quantities of water to stay well-hydrated as we waited for the sun to descend in the sky. And finally, sunset! As the sun set, the observatories opened up for their nightly stargazing. I had never seen an observatory open before, and watched awestruck as pieces of the giant building turned, windows opened, the roof retracted, and the people within the building prepared to view the heavens.
On the way down, we stopped at the visitor’s center again for a quick snack, bathroom break and a ‘stargazing party’. The stars were incredible, scattered across the clear sky and too numerous to ever think about counting. The volunteer guide pointed out constellations I could never see from the mainland. Writing about this now, capturing these memories, makes me long for home even though I just left. Even though my husband and his family lives here in San Diego, I hope a day can come where we can move to my home and live the peaceful and relaxed life of the islands.

The rest of my trip to follow…

Just a heads up to any potential brides – i’ll be responding to email, but cell phone coverage isn’t all that great so I might not get back to your calls quickly. I’ll be back next wednesday, hopefully with tons of fabulous pictures of the hidden fabulous places around the big island.

Mahalo!

Brandon and I strolled through the modern shops and old cobblestone streets right after arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We eventually made our way to the old fort and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring and taking photographs. In addition to being one of the most beautiful things I saw on our trip to the Caribbean, it was the only time I pulled out my camera in earnest. One image in particular stuck out in my mind – the older woman sitting on the bench, enjoying music. She made the best subject ever. She was sitting, silent and still, absorbed in the music across the courtyard. She seemed serene. I wanted to be that way too – I silently vowed to make that my goal for the rest of my trip. It was nearly pitch black, but I set my camera wide open, balanced on a bench as a makeshift tripod, and got a shot.

Fast forward home. My flights – during the long Thanksgiving weekend – were seriously delayed. I barely made it on my plane, literally running a 400m dash in the Denver airport, then gasping for breath the next 20 minutes from being out of shape and at 6,000 ft, about 5900 ft higher altitude than usual. After arriving in San Diego at midnight, I was locked out of my house from my well-intentioned brother in law, who took my keys to feed my doggies, until he came at 3am on his way to work. Instead of sleeping in the next day, I woke up early and drove to Palmdale to see my best friend off before she was leaving to join her husband in Connecticut.

The point: at some point in all this, I remember taking out my memory card and replacing it with a new one, so I could get some photos with Lucinda and her daughter Kate. So I knew the card was at home… but after a week, I had no idea where. I got caught up in work, forgot about it. Then right before Christmas (when I sold my old D80 after receiving a fabulous upgrade), I went on a rampage. I cleaned everything in the house. And it was nowhere to be found.

I was crestfallen. But then… last week… I found it! And now I have photographic proof of my presence on that lovely evening. The picture didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped (my biggest issue with the D80 was grainyness at higher iso’s), but in my mind, it will always be the masterpiece I envisioned when I saw the woman on the bench.

Brandon took a picture of me taking the picture (his words: you look ridiculous, you know this, right?)
And something lighter and more tropical like to end on a positive note!