Expressions of Hawaii and Returns to the Island

I'm writing from a popular beach spot in Maui, Baldwin, near the hip town of Pa'ia, on this my last day in Hawaii.

Sea Turtle and Rainbows at Baldwin Beach

I've been curious throughout this journey, and even before the journey, how it would feel to return to Victoria. Now nearly on the brink of that return, I'm still curious. It's been 7 weeks away from my community, my home, my work. But honestly 7 weeks still seems short. I've been on travel stints that have lasted happily longer then 2 years. But, this time is different. I actually have a home to return to. In the past I've easily moved out of houses and quit jobs to seek adventure, and this time, I have roots to go back to. People who are looking forward to seeing me, and me them. I have a garden to tend to and a kitchen stocked to create in. I have people to hug and a bed to sleep in. Rather then a fresh start, I have fresh perspective. I am healthy and sun kissed, well and full of fresh citrus, mangoes and avocados. I hold excitement for 2018 and for a continued life on Vancouver island and all that may continue to unfurl - like a banana leaf slowly uncurls to flutter preciously in the wind, until it  becomes frayed with time, turns brown and falls off, with another sweet tube just so ready to uncurl and continue the growth process.

This journey has been refreshing. Fulfilling, and enjoyable. It's not been transformational or shape shifting like some of my other travels most certainly have been...but it's been satisfying. Enough time away to make the preparations feel worth it, to make the 'miss' I feel for my people and places at home tender, but not painful. And I like that this journey happened at a normally dark and inward time of year. When the garden hasn't missed me and I haven't missed the best Canadian camping weather. It's happened at the time of year when I like to make intentions for the year ahead, reflect on the year that was, and foster satisfaction. It felt great to do that from warm places, from new places, from places that easily remind me what I like and don't like about my life. When I adventure, I step outside of my norm, and I'm aware of what I miss, and more importantly, what I've been missing. Travel is a catalyst for recognizing what would make my life better and where I need to grow. Thank the spirits I have the privilege of travel.

The wild Waipi'o Valley

Hawaii has been a super sweet dancey sing songy note to end this adventure on. I was met by fantastic travel buds on the Big Island. These friends (one from Victoria, one Maui, one Germany) were a likely bunch of adventurers who inspired the Hawaii leg, so I knew I was in for a treat. We camped our way all over the North Western side of the Big island, with my favourite being the wild and rugged Waipi'o Valley. Steep lush green cliffs rising on either side of a stunning flowing fresh river valley. A wild beach reminiscent of those of the west coast of Cascadia...appealing for the compelling power of the waves and rush of the sand underneath, but a place I'd be unlikely to go swimming for the power of the great 'Mama O'. We journeyed up to Mauna Kea, a sacred and now dormant volcano, that has mega telescopes littered all over the summit. For years this mountain has been a space of indigenous resistance to observatory/telescope development. The Hawaiian people want to preserve their sacred Mauna Kea for the special place that it is, both spiritually and ecologically. 

Our beauty campsite at Waipi'o Valley; My camp buddies Heidi and Iris

Me, Iris, Heidi, Jim, at some magic waterfalls and deep pools that I climbed up (and they kept going!)

The sacred Mauna Kea Summit, with fallen snowy calderas in view

Between beach stops and look out points, snorkelling and swimming, we stopped in at the Pu'ukohola Heiau (translates to temple on the hill of a whale). A Heiau, as I understand it, is a Hawaiian temple; some are spiritual sites, others war zones, and others yet were meeting places. All are considered sacred by Hawaiians. The Pu'ukohola Heiau was made of huge stones, all intricately stacked to create a sacred space for the highest caste people to come. It was completed  in 1791 by many strong people (moving red volcanic rock by hand along a chain of humans 14 miles long!) under the famous King Kamehameha. It is a luakini heiau, meaning that it is a sacraficial temple, and ultimately King Kamehameha's cousin was summoned and sacraficed for the official dedication of the temple. Though I'm definitely no history buff, it was neat to be there, and learn a bit about Hawaii's history. Heidi was great to be with, living on Hawaiian land for 20 years, she has done her research. She can pronounce Hawaiian words properly, knows a good deal of history about the islands and is tuned into the current cultural scene for indigenous Hawaiians. She is equally abundant with enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge, and it proved interesting to have a more in depth understanding of some of the places we were visiting. Oh, and she brought fruit. Yum, she brought delicious, nutritious, local Maui grown fruit for us to enjoy the whole week we were on the Big Island!

While I so loved our wild camping spots (the last one with some spectacular humpback whale sightings) I also totally appreciated some of the sweet little colourful unique down to earth towns (such as Honokaa and Hawi) we stopped in on our adventures. Void of big box or otherwise recognizable store names, there was charming independence found in the cafes, gift shops and grocery stories.

Whales weren't the only wildlife we saw! There were many (cute and quick) marmots! They'd bolt across the road, rushing from tall grass to tall grass, or peak their head out from around a rock on a trail. 

Look! A whale! 2 o'clock! 

We also had the opportunity to get on a boat. The quirky driver quickly noticed the playful spinner dolphins that surrounded our boat. After many a collective oooh and awwww observing their spiral jumps and dances, we carried on under the setting sun to go on a night snorkel adventure. Not only did we see plenty o' fish under the sea, but we also held onto a floaty board thing that had LED lights on the bottom. These lights attract plankton. These plankton are eaten by mega manta rays! Though the water was cold and I was struggling to maintain the floating, still, superman posture that's required so not to scare the 5-7 metre long manta rays, I did really enjoy their swoopy dance as they came in to scoop up the plankton that we had attracted. What an experience!

After the Big Island adventures I flew with my friends on a tiny 8 seat commuter plane to Maui. (Yes, carbon debt, I know. I'm going to offset my plane trip. Anyone know the merits of these folks?) My last week of adventuring was spent on Maui, in Jim and Heidi's wonderful world. They so generously welcomed me into their brightly lit high ceiling cottage, and there we ate yummy food, slept cozy at night and practiced yoga in the mornings. By day, we adventured to Secret Beach, Little Beach, Mckenna Beach, Baldwin Beach and we snorkeled at Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve, where park staff made the effort to talk to every visitor and stress the importance of not standing on corals, and not entering the water if you have toxic sunscreen on. Only sunscreen with zinc or titanium as the medically active ingredient were safe for reef ecology. Any oxy toxy, paraben faraben mumbo jumbo in your sunscreen, and you're polluting the water and contributing to the demise of the Hawaiian coral reefs. The one we snorkeled at was apparently the only thriving reef left on Maui... Not only did we beach hop, suntan and swim with the awe inspiring sonar sound of the whales and dolphins under the water, but we also hiked. To Heidi's local waterfall spot, a nearby forest reserve, and along the dry Lahina coast, looking over the turquoise blue waters of the ocean. Ohhhhh geez, and we paddle boarded! Um, I am now a huge fan. Who do I know in Victoria who owns one? Can I borrow it all the time for lake and ocean fun! Heidi and I giggled and laughed as we paddled (it kinda felt like we were walking on water) alongside sea turtles, and attempted to surf a top our boards. It was fun, and my muscles had enjoyed it as well. 

Oh I love these silly souls. Jim and Heidi and I at the beach, all upside down

Other outrageous fun had was dancing and singing and circling! West African dance, Ecstatic Dance, Dance Church (amazzzzing and with the popular DJ Human Experience, who I know well from hearing his tunes at my local ecstatic dance event, Dance Temple). Maui has quite the dance scene and I just loved dancing in a new place, with new faces. It was juicy and fun! I sang Kirtan at a concert/gathering and sang songs aloud with my friends. I also was welcomed by Heidi to share in the very special experience of the double circle. A meeting of different generations: equal numbers of elder woman, meet to share ceremony with an equal number of younger women. What a sweet opportunity to listen and be listened to, and be reminded of the experience and wisdom of elders, and the importance they have in communities! And what a sweet opportunity to get to share more intimate time with my friends Heidi and Jim. I've spent time on hikes and camping adventures with them here at home in Victoria, but to be with them so much over the course of two weeks was a real pleasure, to deepen into knowing them, witnessing them in relationship to one another, and to really feel so drawn to Heidi as an awesome amazing sister friend. I am so very excited to welcome her to Victoria when she relocates here.

And speaking of amazing welcomes. I was welcomed home warmly by my sweetie. When a vehicle wasn't borrow-able to pick me up from the airport, he met me at the bus stop with a homeade muffin in his pocket, and my bicycle strapped to his bicycle. He strapped on my luggage and I hopped on my bicycle dream, and off we went to catch up after a couple weeks apart. The welcome has been warm from other friends as well, and I look forward to more catch ups in the coming weeks. While the rain that is falling is cold, I feel warm back inside my cozy room, where I'm finishing writing this. I'm going to keep noticing, trying to be aware, of how it feels to call this place home, this city Victoria, on unceded Lekwungen Territory. To be satisfied with all that is, and strive to bring even more harmony and joy into my life here. 

Garbage collecting in Malaysia

During my time in Malaysia and Singapore, I collected my non-recyclable non-compostable waste. I did this to challenge myself to create the least amount of waste possible while travelling. This is difficult in Asia where tap water isn't safe to drink and food often comes with bundles of packaging...where you have to get good at rogue composting and definitely not assuming that you will be able to recycle something, cause I'm all likely hood you will not be able to.

The photo is what I ended up with at the end of ten days. Mostly some snack food packaging and dental floss, some disposable utensils too. Oh I wish this could be an empty photo. Travelling is the hardest time to be sustainable for me. But by navigating language barriers and asking folks to put food in my container, and by investing in a good water filter, I was able to really avoid a lot of disposables. How do you reduce your consumption levels?

Tales from Down Under

The Christmas Tree! We arrived on xmas eve fresh from Singapore/Malaysia

The Headlands near Bermagui - Camel Rock - Southern Coast of New South Wales

Two sistars by a stellar sea arch

Hiking in the Highcountry of Australia - the Snowy Mountains

Fresh hidden water gems everywhere!

The Crew!

James and Kayla enjoying life at the hottest Sydney restaurant...if only I could remember the name...

Yep, a movie screen that slowly came out of the water, as we watched from shore, over the harbour!

The completion of the Australian chapter of my 7 week adventure has closed and I've intentionally tumbled into my closing chapter in Hawaii. And Hawaii is fantastic!- but first I'll share some sweet highlights from Australia.

The Aussie chapter started with a familiar feeling-airport greeting with my sister. She and I have lived in separate countries for maybe 10 years now, and we are lucky enough to have had the privilege of having visits often; so the airport hellos and goodbyes are familiar. This one was special, my sister and brother in law were welcoming me and my sweetie (whom they have never met) to their beachside home for three weeks over Christmas and New Years. 

We arrived to a warm-ish summer day, and a completely tidy and stocked apartment, complete with a Christmas tree (a decorated branch from the headland National Park area that they live beside), cupboard full with bulk foods, counters brimming with market fruit and veg, a neatly made guest bedroom, and a fridge full of celebratory bubbly bevvies. My sister and brother in law are such amazing generous hosts, and they were very excited to have us there, which felt so nice.

It was good to be home! In my sisters beautiful home! 

Christmas was full of epic delicious food consuming marathons, beach running, yoga mornings and smooches with my sweetie. We spent the week after Christmas adventuring. We headed down to Tua's parents place on the New South Wales coast, a popular holiday spot, but super chill vibes, as there are enough locals to outnumber the holiday goers. We checked out some beautiful sea stacks and headland walks, spent time in town at the bulk food/health food store, and went kayaking on the lake that they live closest too (with its extremely abundant jellyfish, we were unwilling to fall out!)

From Bermagui, we ventured onwards to the Snowy Mountains, otherwise known as Kosciuszko National Park, and also known as the Aussie Alps. While they certainly aren't as tall as the Alps (Mount Kosciuszko is the tallest mountain in Australia at just 2228 meters above sea level.) The park is at an elevation enough to yield the best ski conditions in Australia and cross-country skiing & camping is a favourite activity of some Australians in this park. Since it is summer now in Oz, we were treated to the high country feels of relatively barren landscapes, save for the stunning carpet of multicoloured flowers that pop up everywhere on this landscape of bogs, braided streams, (invisible until up close because of the built-up squishy flora that is the ground we walked across). Actually, it's quite a stark landscape, full of ancient looking gum trees that have remained standing even though they have died in forest fires. The result is twisted silver coloured standing relics of a forest that once was. Errie at times really. 

In traveling to the snowy mountain area, I'm reminded of my appreciation of what my friend calls the high country at home on Vancouver Island. A landscape that is unique and more vulnerable to variable weather then lower elevations. One that has a brave and hardy ecology that can withstand the climate of higher elevations. It's special, unique and different than where people generally live. I'm inspired to get back out to the high country this summer at home on Vancouver Island.

After our time in the snowy mountains, we rang in the new year and celebrated Kristas birthday by going to a yummy Sydney restaurant and cruising around downtown. 

In the first week of January, while scheming and dreaming about what I want to manifest in 2018 James and I had another camping trip. This time we made use of the interconnected rail system around Sydney, and we camped in the Blue Mountains. Later that week we had quite an entertaining camping expedition with Krista in the mix as well in the Royal National Park. This one again made use of the well-designed rail system to get out to the trailheads, where we hiked camped and hike on out to another train station! Brilliant low impact camping no car required. Both trips were super special and super unique. The Blue Mountains aren't the blue hued giants poking up from the earths crust that you might imagine. More truly the region is a massive canyon. We hiked down, down, down, beside waterfalls and along rivers, around unidentifiable snakes and plenty of sneaky lizards, into the Blue Gum forest, a preserved patch of old growth gums that we camped near, along with thousands of extraordinarily loud cicadas. Eating dinner with earplugs in was a first for me! Lucky for us, they sleep at night. Unlucky for us, we were hiking along (at first unknowingly) in a light mist of mysterious liquid, soon we were told it's the urine of these cicadas. Ha! In the hot Australian sun, we hiked up the red soil back up and out of the canyon. A really sweet adventure with a really sweet man. 

Our adventure into the Royal National Park was full of deep belly laughter, dry waterfalls, and wet ones too, massive lightning strikes and rumbling thunder, waterbeds and delicious nougat (pronounced new-ga in case you were curious ;) 

My time with my lovely sister, my caring bro in law and my beloved James finished up with some rad city events. In their typical generous fashion, Tua bought the four of us tickets to the Green Day Rock Opera in none other than THE Sydney Opera House! Little known fact, I used to be a massive Green Day fan, so I found myself singing along enjoyably to every song. 

We also went to an amazing Asian food restaurant in a trendy area of town before an epic theatrical variety show by a crew of Irish artists who said it like it is. It was a part of the Sydney festival, an annual showing of talent from across the world. 

Top this off with an awesome picnic and movie in the botanical gardens overlooking the Sydney harbour bridge and the opera house, I felt like a well oriented Sydney-sider! James and I took Krista and Tua to a Rising Appalachia show, to give them a dose of hippy, and the following day we had the pleasure of participating in a voice and movement workshop, with the sisters who are behind this rootsy activist number.

Sydney for me was punctuated by great runs along the ocean, great food consumed, great swims at various beautiful (stunning!) tropical beaches. Unfortunately, my dear one succumbed to a virus which kept us from adventuring together that last week, a sad thing, but also just what was. I have great faith that there are many more adventures to be had with him.

I boarded the flight to Hawaii after teary and smiley goodbyes with my sister. She took some precious time off work to hang with me on my last two days and we had fun duking it out with the Sydney winds! I'm so grateful we have another visit to look forward to, another time for us to connect woman to woman, sister to sister. Endless amounts of gratitude going to Krista and Tua here, for their generosity and care toward both James and I, and for the way they so openly welcomed both of us into their lives for our time in their home. And endless amounts of excitement that the 5 week adventure with James was completely enjoyable. We got along well, navigating all the ups and downs of travel in foreign lands. I'm so confident in our ability to travel with one another, and I look so forward to many adventures to come. 

K, better get back to that Hawaiian sun!