Hawaïan archipelago consits of four main islands. I didn’t had time to see all, so I picked up Maui, small island in shape of a butterfly. With my car, I could circle around the whole island, from white to red sandy beaches, from Reef snorkeling to volcanos summit, from McDonald’s parking to wild tropical forest.

After my juicy Lucy in California, I rented a standard car, but big enough to be able to sleep in it on my camping mattress. To me it’s the best cheapest way to discover Hawaiian Islands, as you can really find hips of safe spot to sleep, most of them with the best viewpoints you can find on the island. And sometimes you sleep in strange places… The kind of place I like.

For my first night in Maui, I had to find a dark place as it was the peak night for the geminid meteor shower. What a night!! Enough shooting stars to make a wish for each one of you. Lying on my car’s hood, I could see them all around, not to mention the bright Orion’s belt and milky way like you rarely see it.

Maui doesn’t have active volcano, but you get to see unusual landscapes, whether you are at sea level next to Laperouse Bay or high up in the mountains, on the top of the island, walking around Haleakala, summit of the island. Sometimes you just feel like you are on Mars.

When you get to the windward side of the island, the east coast, you see the wild part. It is called “road to hana”, as Hana is the eastern city of the island. Much less people lives here, probably because this coast is soaked by daily heavy rains and strong winds all year round. But I like wild, so to me it was just what I was looking for, away from the cities and paved roads.

Sunset here are as exceptional as there were on Oahu. No comments.

In Maui, I spent most of my time alone. Not easy to meet people to hang around with when you move with your car and when you have only few days to discover a small but reach island. And I think it’s harder to make American friends. It’s easy to talk to them, but only had a few interesting interactions here. Maybe I just miss south America and Latin countries…

To stay in touch with friends an family (I have to organize upcoming trip in the philipines) I’m going almost everyday in malls. I park my car in front of a McDonald’s or Starbucks and I hijack the Wi-Fi. Not more than 30 minutes before it’s getting much too hot in the car.

December 17th is also the day of the release of the new starwars movie. I’ve been waiting for such a long time so I booked a ticket for a 3D jedi experience. The Force is with me tonight.

Well don’t think it’s all I’ve been doing in Hawaï, that’s just a short summary. Nevertheless, some might ask : “How is Hawaï? I really want to go there…”. If you are into surf or volcanos, that is probably on your bucket list and it should be that way. If you are into nature, rainforest, beaches, hiking, relaxing… There is probably much cheaper and authentic places to visit before heading to Hawai. After all, it is USA, it is easy to travel but you might be annoyed by the malls, the resorts, the cars, the golf courses…

Would I come here again? Probably no.
Was it a good experience? It was great, unique, far from everything.

So Mahalo Hawaï !!!!!