Welcome home me...

Well here we go, the trip that I looked foreward to so much is over. The good thing is, that I enjoyed it more then I ever thought I could. Sure sometimes it wasn't easy because we did quite a few things that both Paul and myself did but after talking to some very wise people (thanks Simon) I've realized that if anything, I will grow from what has happened in my life and I will learn as well.
The trip over went rather well, nothing too exciting, which is how you want it when you're flying :P. Upon arrival at the airport, I heard someone scream out my name. I looked around and just as I was getting off the plane, Maja and Pam were as well (except they were on a different flight as I was). We ran towards each other, hugged, jumped up and down and squealed like idiots. It was good to be there. We had waited so long and worked so hard.
The following day, I wanted to do the hike in the Iao valley, but because it had rained the day before and I didn't want to get all my things dirty because we'd just gotten there, I decided against going (silly me)... instead we went to little beach, the noodie beach on the island. We bused over and then hitch hiked. It was my first time hitch hiking and the guy that picked us was totally cool :). The day at the beach was awesome, we were SO white that we blended in with the sand. We hitched back with a guy named Joe who ended up getting a flat tire on the way back... that was quite an adventure (but a good one)
We did the road to Hana which was gorgeous! We stopped at some black sand beaches, swam in a cave, hiked through a bamboo forest, chilled at a red sand beach and saw plenty of breathtaking scenery. Our tour guide was really good as well, he explained many things and when I got back home, I was able to teach mum n dad.
We spent more time at little beach. This time we built a sea turtle out of sand and named him Gorgeous George. He was a damn fine lookin sea turtle :) Every time we were on little beach, I'd play around in the waves and try my hand and body surfing. Towards the end of my trip I was quite impressed at my skills :P (well I'd call them skills.... locals prolly think I was crap but I was having a damn good time!).
Really, other then the road to Hana, we just played at the beach. We also went whale watching and saw some pretty amazing whale things (like breaching whales, whales doing the backstroke and many other behaviours). Our last two nights were at the Westin and that was a whole experience in it's own! I had never stayed anywhere schmantzy like that before! It was SO stunning! It's funny, I don't feel like I can describe it because I know I could never do it justice. I'll have to find a way to get photos on my blog so maybe that will help. Anyways it was amazing!
Our last day there was by far the best! I woke up at 6am to snorkel black rock. When I got outside, I saw that it was cloudy and it was raining (nothing serious... but it hadn't rained before during our trip). I knew that if I didn't go, I'd be mad at myself for not going. I am SO glad I did. On my way over, a rainbow formed over black rock and it looked very dramatic against the black clouds. When I got it, the water was rather warm... I was less then 20 feet from shore when I saw my first sea turtle of the morning. Also, while I was swimming, I could hear the whales SO loudly that I felt that if I looked over I would see one. I'd heard whales before while swimming but this was something else! They were so loud, I was almost scared. I continued to snorkel and saw two more sea turtles and MANY fish! It felt like I was in an aquarium.
After snorkeling and packing up, we went to little beach for the last time. There, we met up with the rest of the hostelers and had a really good time. I played in the waves as much as I could and really didn't spend that much time sun bathing. Every Sunday, there is a drum circle that starts around three and after sunset there's fire dancers. Our flight was at 10:30 so we stayed long enough to experience Sunday nights at little beach.
Anyways time for dinner and more mental preparation for school tomorrow. I sure wish I was still in Maui... this being home business sure sucks.