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The A380 by British Airways could use a hell of a jetstream from San Francisco to London and made the distance in just 9 hours… well, if we could have landed straight away. But heavy winds and a busy Heathrow airport forced the pilot to fly a few loops within turbulences. This and a bouncy landing resulted in three persons to throw up – just in our seating row.

The connection flight to Zurich arrived with a few minutes delay, nothing severe. With a big welcome from family and friends (THANKS!!!) we reached the end of our fantastic journey around the world. 🙂

San Francisco

If you’re going to San Francisco…
It was our second visit to San Francisco after 2011. As we had done a lot of sightseeing that time already, we didn’t have much pressure to complete any bucket list. We skipped Alcatraz, for example. That means more time for other things, e.g. to go to the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Tip: don’t stay at the busy Vista Point (where the hop-on, hop-off buses stop) but walk 15 minutes uphill to Battery Spencer for a much better view.

Of course we could still do the famous things like Fisherman’s Wharf, China Town, Telegraph Hill or the Cable Car Turnaround.

  • Pier 39 Seals
  • Fisherman’s Wharf
  • Alcatraz
  • Transamerica Pyramid
  • Teddy Car
  • Golden Gate Bridge
  • Piedmont Boutique
  • Cablecar Turnaround
  • Papparazzi Dogs
  • Cheesecake Factory
  • China Town
  • Coit Tower
  • Stinking Rose
  • Tram

Maui – San Francisco

Three weeks on four islands of Hawaii, it was great. Less rain, less closed roads but more lava and we might come again. 🙂

For the flight to San Francisco, Hawaiian Airlines operates a rather large Airbus A330 with modern entertainment systems and tons of movies – but you need to pay for them! $8 for one movie was overpriced, not just for us. The plane flew with around 260 screensavers running. Not cool!

  • Overpriced!
  • 260 screensavers

Surf’s Up!

Where are the waves?
This morning, the Kaanapali Beach was the calmest beach ever on Hawaii, so we were not convinced if that’s a good day for surfing.

But let’s face it, we’re newbies and have booked a 2-hour beginner course, and it turned out to be a good choice. After having covered the basics (paddling, falling, standing up) on land we tried our luck within the waves. The instructors were really good. Reading the waves and timing is difficult but crucial, and our experts really did a good job to give us a quick push at the right time. We both were able to stand up and ride some waves before falling.

  • Shaka!
  • Yes!
  • Splash!
  • Yeah!

Message to Miss Sea Turtle: Gerry is really sorry for surfing over you, hope your shell didn’t get a nasty scratch.

Despite some scratches and minor injuries, we had fun and got some cool pictures. Shaka!

Road to Hana

Every guidebook on Hawaii lists the Road to Hana as a must-do on Maui. Usually, they also warn you not to start driving late, so we set our alarms to 6 a.m. Still, we were not the first ones on Hwy 336, which makes things a bit… hectic. The road’s purpose was to connect smaller towns around the island and not to achieve a touristic target. This means: many one-way bridges, hardly stopping / parking possibilities at the points of interest and sometimes dangerous traffic situations. Also, some spots are difficult to catch, even with google maps app running, or they are on private property and are now closed for public.

Nevertheless, it was still a joyful ride to Hana and beyond. Waterfalls, rainforest, beaches, lava tubes and valley overlooks – it was worth the time, even though we didn’t even get out of the car in Hana as we gave up finding a convenient parking space.

  • How to park
  • Waterfalls
  • Black Sand Beach
  • Sea arch
  • Stay out!
  • Road to Hana
  • Lava stalactites
  • Waterfalls

911 before Iao Valley

On the way down from Haleakala we got involved into an accident: a young man waved for help, his mother somehow crashed with her mountain bike into the guardrail and was bleeding quite heavily. We called 911 immediately and assisted where we could. Luckily, we could verify soon that her injuries were not critical and after the ambulance had arrived, we could leave. An uncomfortable event nevertheless.

Much less action could be expected from the Iao Valley State Park, mostly known for the Iao Needle, a 370 m lava remnant. There used to be hiking trails, but as they were on private ground and according to US law land owners can be sued in case of an accident they have been closed.

Iao Needle

Haleakala Sunrise

Sunrise on Haleakalā has become so famous that crowds were fighting for a few parking slots on the summit of the volcano. Nowadays access to the summit between 3 and 7 A.M. has been limited. Fortunately, we got one of the few last-minute registrations two days ago. It didn’t change the fact that you need to get up early for the sunrise: we set our alarms to 3 A.M. and reached the summit at around 5 o’clock.

It was freezing cold at 3’055 m.a.s.l. and a bit early for sunrise, but right on time for a few astrophotography pictures.

Moon (center), Venus (to the left), Saturn (green object to the right), clouds, crater, beginning dawn and the Milky Way… proud of this shot! 🙂
  • All together…
  • Stellarium screenshot
  • Milky Way
  • Nightsky over Haleakala

After a quick warm-up in the car (that could be misinterpreted… 😉 ) we rejoined the sunrise viewers at 6 A.M. with the beginning dawn. It really was a wonderful experience to see the sky changing colors. Again, clouds make the difference, without them it might have been much less spectacular.

  • Setting dawn
  • There it is!
  • A real spectacle

With the sun and temperatures rising we checked other overlooks and did a part of the Halemau’u Trailhead to the crater.

  • Clouds
  • Inside of the crater
  • Volcanic cones

(Not on) Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea is one of five volcanoes of Big Island, its peak is 4’207.3 m above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Most of the mountain is under water, and when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world measuring over 10’000 m.

Mauna Kea, incl. telescopes on its peak (a view from sea level to 4’2oo m)

There is an access road to the peak, resp. to the 13 telescopes, and it is possible to drive from sea level to 4’200 m in less than two hours. The peak is also famous for sunset self-drive tours, which we obviously also had in mind.

How it could have been on Mauna Kea…

We couldn’t make it however. The access road was closed during our stay. Either it was snowing or the winds were too strong (over 50 m.p.h.). At least we could watch the peak from our hotel on a clear day, which is actually not so common.

And… the sunset from our hotel wasn’t that bad, either… and a bit warmer than -3°C.

A nice sunset nevertheless