Whitehorse, Yukon

We were travelling to Quebec for a conference in October and somewhere over Ontario the captain comes on and says that if we look out the left side of the plane we could catch a glimpse of the northern lights. Luckily we were sitting on the left side and were treated with a perfect view at 10,000ft. This was my first ever sighting of the northern lights and it prompted a conversation to plan a trip to Whitehorse to see the Northern Lights from the ground this time. 

The best time to see the Aurora Borealis are from September to March, but better yet is from November to February when it's darker for much longer in the day. We decided we'd make a weekend trip up to Whitehorse early December. With it being our first time visiting, we found a local tour that would include our hotel stay, pick us up from the airport, give us 2 nights of viewing, and an optional other day time tour, which we selected as the city tour. The week leading into our trip the weather forecast was looking very favourable with no snow in the forecast for at least one evening that would have provided us a higher chance of seeing the beautiful lights dancing across the sky. As we approached the chosen weekend though the weather forecast started to change with snow started appearing in the forecast and this would dim our chances of seeing the northern lights because with snow comes clouds. 

Either way we were all booked, warm winter clothes packed, and so we took the 2ish hour flight north and arrived in freezing Whitehorse. With a population of just over 25,000 Whitehorse is a fairly well populated small northern city and has a lot of outdoor activities to offer. As part of our tour, we were staying in downtown Whitehorse at the Best Western Gold Rush Inn, a quaint little hotel with a great bar/restaurant attached to it. After settling in, we had a few hours to kill before our first night tour which started at 10pm, so we wandered the town a bit and found a cozy neighbourhood pub called Dirty Northern where we dined on a couple bison burgers for supper. In a small town it's easy to spot the tourist and so we did have a few glances thrown our way when we entered. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was nice. By the time we finished supper, most shops were closed so we made our way back to the hotel to rest up a bit before our tour. 

The tour picked us up at the hotel and there was quite a group gathered when we showed up. There were 4 vans heading out that night. The other guests on our van were either from back east, the US, Japan, or Mexico. We drove about 30 minutes outside the city to a farm that has partnered with the tour group. They have warming huts, for obvious reasons, an outdoor pit fire for roasting marshmallows and just sitting around, and a couple outhouses. The warming hut was stocked with games to play, plenty of benches and chairs, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and snacks and was a great place to sit want wait for a clearing in the sky to see if the northern lights could be spotted. If lucky, there is also a very large open field where you could go to watch the northern lights and take photos. The tour runs until 2am when they get you back to the hotel. The first night it snowed the enter time we were there and it was just bad luck. For most of the other guests this was their first experience with snow. Staying up until 2am really messes with you the next day especially when you know your city tour starts at 10am. While we had a good sleep, it really wasn't enough before we had to get up so we could have breakfast before the city tour. We found a cool cafe called Baked-Cafe & Bakery just a few blocks down from the hotel and enjoyed a nice quick breakfast there. 

The city tour, thankfully involved us being on a bus and getting out at the various stops. Otherwise I think I would have froze it was so cold. Despite having my winter gear and layers it was still very COLD!! The city tour gave us a nice introduction to some of the town sites and history of Whitehorse and the Klondike gold rush which really shaped the Yukon and contributed to the building of the railway and the Alaskan Highway connecting the north with Alaska and BC. After our city tour we decided to stroll around downtown and do a bit of shopping in the local gifts shops. It snowed throughout the entire day and gave little hope of the skies clearing up and so we made the decision to not head out that night for the second night of viewing opportunity. In part what led us to skip this evening was we were both still recovering from the night before and we had booked a private photo 3 hours tour the next morning at the Wildlife Preserve and then were heading home so we thought it better to get a good night's sleep so we could better enjoy the wildlife preserve. We'll never know if the northern lights were visible or not, but it was probably the right call. The next morning, we had breakfast as the hotel restaurant and got to take in the first 20 minutes of Canada's match against Croatia in the men's World Cup. We scored a beautiful early game, but then things went downhill from there and we lost the match effectively eliminating us from the tournament. 

The Yukon Wildlife Preserve is located about 30 minutes out of Whitehorse so we took a taxi there as we didn't have any other transportation. Because we booked a private tour, we were also invited to arrive before the park opens so we could get an early start. Situated on over 350 acres of natural landscape for the animals that reside here, you can enjoy the park year round either through a self guided 5km loop walk or via tour. Our guide took us around in a van and we stopped at the various animal habitats so we could take pictures up close. For a few of the animals, we also got to go inside the fenced area for a real up close experience. We got to do this with the deer, the lynx, and the arctic fox. For both the lynx and fox pens our guide also demonstrated a feeding and we got to see the lynx jump up and retrieve its chicken supper. The little arctic fox was quite the ball of energy, running around her enclosure it was at times hard to keep track of where she was. Our guide placed a small bowl of food out right in front of me and she came right up to it and grabbed her food before running off to hide it for later. This was quite the experience to see their wild animals up close in natural surroundings. Also at the preserve are bison, moose, caribou, thinhorn sheep, mountain goats, and elk. It really was a neat experience to see all these different types of wild animals who were brought to the preserve either due to injury or having been orphaned. 

After our wildlife preserve tour, we had few hours to kill before heading back to the airport for our flight home. The Whitehorse airport is tiny and we were one of only three flights leaving that evening. The airport is so tiny that even the airport security didn't open until only 1 hour before our flight was scheduled to leave. 

Having missed seeing the northern lights, we'll have to plan a trip back perhaps a few weeks earlier before the weather has guaranteed snow. 

To travel is to live....until next time, life is good!

Hawai'i - the Big Island

I find I need sunshine and warmth around November and what better way to rejuvenate than a trip to Hawai'i. This time around we decided to trip the big island of Hawai'i. Admittedly, this was a destination we had considered a year ago, but didn't end up going because of Covid. This year, the world is back open and so this trip was back on the table. Getting to the island of Hawai'i on our preferred airline requires a stop over through the US, so we opted for LA. We were delayed out of LA which meant we got into Kona later in the evening than we would have liked and with a 45 minute drive still to the hotel meant we didn't arrive to the hotel until after 9pm. The Kona airport is a tiny single level building which means you exit and enter your plane up/down stairs attached to the plane on the tarmac. It's quite lovely feeling the tropical warm breeze right as your step off the plane though. For a tiny airport, they had very efficient airport services and our luggage was offloaded quickly and we were on our way to Hertz to pick up our car. It was already dark when we arrived so we didn't see much on our drive north to the hotel. Driving another day during daylight we noted the scenery along the highway was mostly barren lava rock fields with the occasional new tree or flower growth and the ocean was a distance away from the highway. 

We stayed at the Westin Hapuna Beach resort situated beachfront on Hapuna beach in Hapuna Bay with the Hapuna golf course situated inland. Hapuna beach is one of the top rated beaches on the island and stretches a half mile long with white sand and a gentle slope into the ocean. It has a fairly calm surf, but also picks up a bit in the afternoon which makes it a great spot for body surfing. While the beach is a public beach, the hotel has private guest only sun loungers place in front of the hotel and so not many non-guests set up on this area of the beach. This beach also has year round life guard services. When the water is calm there is some fantastic snorkelling to be had mostly around the north end of the beach by the rocky cliff. The visibility for the most part was fantastic but at times was a bit unclear depending on kicked up sand from the tide. There is an abundance of different fish, coral, and we even spotted a sea turtle one morning. I also got to see my first octopus here that was popping in and out of a small rock crevasse. 

Our hotel room was a very lovely ocean view room with a large balcony. Shortly after arriving, we were treated to a nice cheese and fruit board with a bottle of wine that was delivered to our room. This unexpected surprise came at a great time because our late arrival meant the hotel restaurants were already closed and we were hungry so this made for a good light supper. The hotel was recently renovated and all common guest areas are all open air facing the ocean to make most of the ocean view. The lobby is situated on the 7th floor of the hotel, but it actually at street level. From the lobby there is a dual staircase that takes you down to the Piko cafe + bar where you can grab snacks, including our favourite Kona coffee popsicles, limited menu food items, and beverages. At the level below Piko is Ikena Landing, the breakfast restaurant that features both an abundant buffet along with a la carte options. The staff here were very attentive and friendly. Also on site is Naupaka Beach Grill which serves an array of salads, seafood, and other casual dining entrees, and Meridia which is a Mediterranean inspired restaurant and considered the "fancy" restaurant at the resort; a reservation is a must have here. We enjoyed a lovely ocean view dinner here one evening. The Hapuna has a sister resort a short drive away called the Mauna Kea. Another way of getting to the Mauna Kea is hiking the Ala Kahakai coast trail, which takes you along the coastline over ancient fishermen's trails through both public and private lands. Some of the houses found along this trail are absolutely breathtaking and I can only imagine the value of them. They all have unobstructed ocean views and facing west would see the most stunning sunsets. As were we heading to the Mauna Kea for supper, I had dressed for supper, including the kind of shoes I was wearing, so I was a little perturbed by the trail conditions being dirt; for whatever reason I had thought in my mind that it was a paved trail, so I may have vocalized this a few too many times, or at least enough times to be annoying to my hiking partner. The coastline view was extraordinary and as we approached Mauna Kea, and seeing the beach in its cove made the hike so worth it. We arrived just as sunset was taking place and it was breathtaking. We enjoyed a lovely supper with some live music and a hula dancer. The option of hiking back after supper was quashed by me when we arrived, not only because of the dirt trail but also because I felt it would be extremely unsafe in the dark with the trail unlit. We instead took the hotel shuttle back after we explored the hotel grounds a bit and went to see the manta ray feeding area.  

This vacation was mostly a relax by the beach vacation and we made the most of that without a doubt; I actually finished 2 books during the week! We did explore the island one day that took us inland on the Hawaii Belt Road across the island to the east coast. The big island of Hawai'i is just that, BIG, with an area of just over 10,400 square metres. Built from 5 separate shield volcanos that overlapped with their eruptions, the island has vast barren lava rock fields everywhere along with very diverse lush rainforests and white sand and coloured sand beaches. The island is mountainous and driving around on the island you end up at varies different elevations and the temperature changes are noticeable, in fact we experienced a 20C temperature from the Hawai'i National Volcano park heading back to our oceanfront hotel. Hawai'i has 3 active volcanoes, Haulalai, Kilauea, and Mauna Loa, the latter which starting rumbling and experiencing increased seismic activity in the weeks leading up to our trip; within the week of us arriving back home she erupted. With Kilauea and Mauna Loa being most active and still erupting in present day, the island is actually still growing in size. 

On our island exploration, we stopped in at Akaka Falls, which is an easy 1/2 mile loop hike through a lush rainforest that leads you to Akaka Falls. The forest is filled with ferns, bamboo, and tropical flowers. Akaka Falls is a stunning 442 foot waterfall that plummets into a gorge.  Along the path we encountered a baby wild pig sitting on some stairs, taking in the sun. Not sure where its mother was, but a park ranger was standing by to keep it safe from all the park visitors. We stopped for lunch in Hilo town and found an incredible farmer's market open with fresh fruits, vegetables, and baked goods. We couldn't resist and ended up buying a papaya for $2 and a mango loaf. Both tasted amazing and we actually wished we had bought more papaya to satisfy my papaya cravings. 

Punalu'u beach was another stop. This black sand beach is the most famous black sand beach in Hawai'i and is known for Honu (green sea turtles) basking in the sun on the beach, and possibly seeing the endangered Hawksbill turtles in the water. The sand is made from small black fragments of lava and interestingly when picking up some sand it was actually fairly soft but is quite hot given the sun. From here we drove up to the Hawai'i National Volcano park so we could visit the volcanoes later in the day and stay until dark so we could get a proper glimpse of the active lava lake within the crater. Before hiking over to the viewing point for the lava lake, we stopped in at a few other points along the Chain of Craters Road including Wahine Kapu - the steaming bluffs where steam rises out from the ground through grates; and Nahuku - the Thurston Lava Tube which you walk down to and walk inside; you need a headlamp or flashlight of some sort as it gets dark in here fast. Watching the lava lake was mesmerizing and with it active at the time, it kept changing as more lava spewed out. The view point was a fair distance away, but still at times you could feel the heat from the lava depending on the winds. Seeing this from a distance reenforced for me the power of mother nature.

One of our other activity highlights on this trip was our night manta ray snorkel. This was an unforgettable experience and after I got over the fact that I'd have to enter the water in the dark, it was so much fun too. We found a local, small tour outfit called Kona Ocean Experience. This husband/wife team arrange various different tour options and have a capacity of maximum 8 guests. For our night snorkel, there were 4 of us in total and the other couple also happened to live near us back home. The tour starts in Keauhou Bay and started just before sunset as we took a boat ride along the coastline listening to stories of the island's history. At sunset we stopped in a small cove where the island parrots come to rest; the sounds of their chirping bounced off the rocky cliffs and was quite the sound to hear. When then head back to "manta ray" village where we got into the water and held on to a surfboard with blue lights underneath. We floated around a bit to find a spot where the lights really attracted the phytoplankton which is what these enormous manta rays feed on. Out of the deep, these magnificent manta rays appeared and at first it's quite surreal to see them glide up towards the bottom of the surf board, mouths wide open (which in actuality their mouth is a small opening) to feast on the phytoplankton and the thought goes through your mind that they could also eat me. These gentle giants of the sea (they have no stingers like their cousin the sting ray) and are no real threat to humans which eased my fears. During our 45 minute "snorkel" the rays put on such a fantastic show gliding up towards us and gracefully avoiding contact with us as they did circles swooping back into the deep and gliding back up towards the light. We saw probably 8 to 10 manta rays including a couple baby rays. The manta ray species in Hawai'i can have an average adult wingspan of 15 feet but can reach 25 feet while a baby manta ray is born with a wingspan of 6 feet, coming out of its mom like a rolled burrito to fit. These incredible rays can weigh up to 3,000 lbs and live to 40 years. The spots and blotches on their bellies are their "fingerprints" (like human fingerprints) and no two are alike making it easier for researchers to track them and their movements. This tour was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so happy I got over my initial fears to do this. It was so much fun! This is a must do when visiting the island of Hawai'i. 

This trip accomplished what we set out to do, relax and recharge, explore a new island, and find a few new experiences and adventures. 

To travel is to live...more adventures await...life is good!

Aloha Oahu

Aloha Oahu!! They say better late than never, so here is the better late than never Oahu post. We took a week to explore Oahu back in April. We found a great direct flight and a good deal at the Sheraton Waikiki which is located right on Waikiki beach. It was great getting away to some warm, sunny weather and away from the rain. This was our first time exploring Oahu together. The hotel is centrally located in downtown Honolulu which I describe as a very dense, busy major city, lined with high rises, and not at all what I think of when I think Hawaii. There are an abundance of restaurant choices ranging from reasonably priced to high-end, and more shopping than anyone could ever imagine with every name brand store you can think of, and all high end fashion brands were represented. The hotel was located right across the street from the Waikiki Shopping Plaza and about a block from the International Market Place - a much larger shopping centre. 

The hotel recently renovated their rooms and we were lucky to get a high floor ocean view room. Our room was a one bedroom suite with a very spacious, nicely decorated bedroom with a balcony and view of Diamond Head, a large bathroom with a massive walk-in shower and tub, and an extremely large living/dining room with another balcony off it with a large seating area and spectacular ocean view. There was lots of closet  space throughout the suite as well and definitely designed for comfort. We felt quite lucky to get such a nice, and newly renovated room. From the balcony we had a fantastic view of the ocean and Waikiki beach and we occasionally got a glimpse of turtles swimming near the shore. The hotel had a couple pools, one being an adults only infinity pool which for the size of the hotel was actually a fair small space and so got filled up quickly upon opening. We read that you could pay and book (another way for the hotel to make money) sun loungers and so we decided that was probably a good idea given what we read. While the cost wasn't "worth it", it was worth it because we then didn't have to rush down to the pool to get a spot and it made for a much more relaxing morning. And because the rental was for the day, we could also wander over to Waikiki beach for a swim in the ocean without concern that someone would move our stuff. Waikiki beach is great for swimming and you can get a fair distance out before it gets deep. Much further out is also a great spot for surfers and you could see the surfers spend the day away waiting for that perfect wave. While Waikiki beach is great for swimming, it's not a place for snorkeling so we drove to the North Shore to Shark's Cove. Not really a cove with sharks, but a beach in Pupukea that is a rocky coastline with tidal pools filled with fish and other sea life. Getting in is a bit tricky because of the jagged rocky shoreline and water shoes are a must unless you want to risk possibly cutting your feet. Z had a great time snorkelling here, my experience was short lived because I have realized I don't have good depth perception under water and I felt uneasy about how much space I really had between myself and the rocks and coral.

The hotel had 3 restaurants, Kai Market for breakfast which had booth indoor and outdoor seating, RumFire which was a nice dinner restaurant that had live music, and then the pool bar/restaurant called the Edge of Waikiki. The hotel also had a Baskin Robbins on site and a Honolulu Coffee shop which made pretty amazing flat whites. Just outside the shopping plaza from the hotel was a shaved ice place where we may have gone a few times for some tasty treats. The day after we arrived was The Hapalua - the largest half marathon in Hawaii. Had we known it was running while we were there and had we been in half marathon condition, we probably would have registered, but instead we weren't aware until we were woken around 6am by the loud speakers announcing the start of the race. The course would have been a beautiful one to run; maybe we'll run it another year. This did motivate us to go for a run one morning though which took us towards the base of Diamond Head along the shoreline as best as possible. We discovered very quickly that running here is best first thing in the morning as the days get hot fast. Staying at the Sheraton also gave us ability to room charge at its sister property the Moana Surfrider, a hotel a short walk away. The Moana is a beautiful older hotel built in a Victorian style which first opened in 1901. We decided to enjoy breakfast there one morning at the Veranda at the Beachhouse, their outdoor dining breakfast restaurant with their historic banyan tree situated in the middle while still able to catch glimpses of the ocean view. It was quite a beautiful setting. 

We explored the immediate area around the hotel on foot, including the two shopping centres and discovered Island Slipper - an Oahu run family business that hand makes the most comfortable sandals/slippers that are very fashionable as well that I've ever tried. We also rented a car for a couple days so we could explore the rest of the island because Oahu has so much more to offer than just Waikiki. Once we were outside Waikiki city limits, I felt more like we were in the Hawaii I'm familiar with. Less dense, populated, and busy, more serene, peaceful, and calming. We found an app called Shaka Guide which had a few different driving tours and decided to mirror a couple island trips off that guide. Our driving adventure took us up the middle of the island through scenic rainforests up to the north shore. The drive along the north shore line is absolutely stunning. We stopped in at Kualoa Point for a break and practically had the entire beach to ourselves. Just off the point is Mokoli'i Island, a small cone shaped lava island that after many years of erosion is now actually separated from Oahu. We stopped for lunch at Kahuku Shrimp & Food trucks were we both ate way too much because the portion sizes are so huge!! Known for amazing shrimp here, Z feasted on a shrimp plater while I enjoyed huli huli chicken. Some of the other stops on our self guided tour included Laie Beach Park aka Pounders beach where we watched surfers catching the waves; Laie Point, a picturesque rugged rocky shoreline with big swells of crashing waves hitting the shoreline and where you can find a breathtaking sea arch at the point; and the Polynesian Cultural Centre where we visited the various shops. From here we stopped in at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nuts where we found some great flavoured macadamia nuts that we bought for home. Exploring the island we also found a gorgeous more secluded locals beach, called Lanikai beach located in Kailua; parking was limited to street parking within the neighbourhood which got filled early in the day. The beach was great and perfect for lounging the day away; the aqua blue, calm water was also perfect for swimming.  

We visited Diamond Head National Park and got there later in the day after the major day time crowds were gone which made getting parking easy and the hike less crowded. Hiking Diamond Head is a fairly easy 2.6km round trip to the summit and back. It is quite a steep climb in sections with a lot of stairs particularly towards the top; you gain 171 metres above the crater floor. There are sections where the rocky path, even when dry, is slippery because the rocks have been smoothed out with all the hiking traffic. The views up top at the observation station and are stunning and you get sweeping views of the southwestern Oahu coastline as well as the offshore islands of Moloka'i, Lana'i, and Maui. This is a must do when in Honolulu. 

Z had booked a catamaran sailboat cruise during our stay and so we opted for the sunset cruise time slot because it was geared towards adults and served mai tai's and wine. It was a beautiful evening and the cruise followed mostly along the shoreline past Diamond Head but also into more open water where the swells made having sea legs come in handy, or you faked it enough where you just looked like you were staggering around. It was a lovely hour long cruise. 

Oahu has so much more to offer than just Honolulu and Waikiki beach. In fact any return trip for us will probably have us stay elsewhere on the island, most likely up on the North Shore away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu. This island has so much beauty, pristine beaches, and nature to explore outside the big city. Our trip home was disrupted and made unpleasant by an unfortunate event back home and contributed to why this trip post is so delayed. The trip experience however was incredible and we had such an amazing time, that it's important to me that our trip memories not to be lost.

To travel is to live.... a hui hou, life is good!