So, we flew Auckland-Honolulu on Air NZ, and then connected to Hawaiian for the short hop over to Kahului/Maui. For me a first on a B 717 (basically a DC/MD9, but renamed after Boeing bought MD).
At the airport, Brooke picked us up, although we had a rental car, and good instructions to get to her place. We got a 4-door Jeep, which was fun to drive! Brooke invited us to stay with her for the whole week, which was amazing - thanks so much, Brooke!
Day 1: PWF offices, meeting people, and our first whale watch tour in the afternoon!
The view from the PWF offices
One of PWF's catamarans
And whales everywhere! Wherever you looked, you could see whales - either close by, or a blow in the distance - AMAZING!
launching the hydrophone
Kid's club on board - lots of infos and games for them!
One day, Marko and I went for a drive along the coast to the famous surfer's beach at Hookipa and the major "pull-in" surf JAWS!
Hookipa Beach
There was a slightly crazy guy on the way, advertising with "Infos about Jaws". We stopped, and found out that he was living in that boat next to the road, and had kind of a garden - he called it Community Garden. He lives on "donations", and kept us for ages. We talked about lots of stuff, gave Marko a DVD about the island with footage of pig hunting, Jaws, etc - and of course he was one of the people in that film. He also offered us coconut (Marko had to learn how to open it), and fresh papaya....
And finally JAWS (or is it? ;-)
The waves look small'ish on the photos, but they were massive!
That evening, Greg called a meeting for all PWF naturalists, and we were asked to give a talk. In Marko & Micha style, we rather had it as an interactive discussion, and I think it went pretty well. I got some really nice feedback later that week from naturalists :)
Next day, we were invited to the second whale watch trip - this time a cocktail cruise in the late afternoon. We went over to Lahaina (a beautiful town!). Below some photos that are against everything both Marko and I stand for, but I guess it is what tourists (and operators) want and do...
The busy small harbour at Lahaina:
Daniel, Kristen, Brooke, Marko
Whale Symposium:
Greg Kaufman - founder of PWF
And next day yet another beautiful WW cruise - this time a "Cruise with the Experts", meaning that the speakers from the Symposium and Greg were on board, giving commentary and being available for questions... Another great trip with lots of whales again!
Kaanapali
Semi-Sub
The last morning, Kristen took Cristina (from Equador) and myself snorkeling, while Brooke and Marko went surfing again. We had a great time in the water, and after that we went for lunch at Taco Bell (YAY!) and shopping. I had to buy another bag to get all my stuff home ;-)
Late afternoon we dropped the car back at National, and checked in for our flights with Mokulele GO! to Honolulu. Well, we tried, but we were told that the 50 seater CRJ200 is oversold by 27 seats, and there would be a very slim chance for us to get on that, since there are people who were on the morning flights and got bumped. We made the point that in case of us missing that flight we'd also miss the international connection, and the next flight to NZ would be 4 days later (not that we would have minded another 4 days on beautiful Maui!!!), and yet, he said we'll have to see at the gate whether they can do anything. Anticipating the worst, we went through security and to the gate, just to be told that we are confirmed on the flight - all good. The funny thing about that airline is that they seem to have Kamikaze pilots! I saw the plane pulling to the gate - well, it was more racing to the gate! I thought it would slam into the terminal because the breaks failed, when at the last minute they slammed on the break. Turnaround was just 20 minutes, and off we were. Marko also noticed that they are racing on the taxiway, and they did a flying start, i.e. did not hold at the threshold of the runway. After only 20 minutes we touched down in Honolulu, and again raced to the gate. When we deplaned, the next bunch of passengers were already waiting on the tarmac! Crazy! Anyway, we got our bags and walked the loooong way from the commuter terminal to the international terminal, and checked in without any problems. Some time at the lounge, and off we went into the night. Arrival in Auckland at 6am, after a comfortable flight. And another great trip with wonderful people, amazing whales, a beautiful island, ends... Thanks PWF for the invitation - I appreciate it!
Late afternoon we dropped the car back at National, and checked in for our flights with Mokulele GO! to Honolulu. Well, we tried, but we were told that the 50 seater CRJ200 is oversold by 27 seats, and there would be a very slim chance for us to get on that, since there are people who were on the morning flights and got bumped. We made the point that in case of us missing that flight we'd also miss the international connection, and the next flight to NZ would be 4 days later (not that we would have minded another 4 days on beautiful Maui!!!), and yet, he said we'll have to see at the gate whether they can do anything. Anticipating the worst, we went through security and to the gate, just to be told that we are confirmed on the flight - all good. The funny thing about that airline is that they seem to have Kamikaze pilots! I saw the plane pulling to the gate - well, it was more racing to the gate! I thought it would slam into the terminal because the breaks failed, when at the last minute they slammed on the break. Turnaround was just 20 minutes, and off we were. Marko also noticed that they are racing on the taxiway, and they did a flying start, i.e. did not hold at the threshold of the runway. After only 20 minutes we touched down in Honolulu, and again raced to the gate. When we deplaned, the next bunch of passengers were already waiting on the tarmac! Crazy! Anyway, we got our bags and walked the loooong way from the commuter terminal to the international terminal, and checked in without any problems. Some time at the lounge, and off we went into the night. Arrival in Auckland at 6am, after a comfortable flight. And another great trip with wonderful people, amazing whales, a beautiful island, ends... Thanks PWF for the invitation - I appreciate it!
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