Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

South West Maui - Hawaii
Round The World Trip Journal

Text By Jo & Photos By Mike

(22nd June - 10th August) South West Maui, Hawaii
The south-western end of the island is also dry and arid but this is where you find most of the money on the island. Wailea is where the wealthy people come on holiday (Paris Hilton came here when she came out of prison - we didn't see her thankfully!) and there are loads of beautiful resorts here to cater to them. You know you've entered Wailea because the roads become tree lined with beautifully manicured verges, gardens, golf courses and lots of brightly coloured bougainvillea and other exotic plants - a very different feel to the rest of the island. And the shops reflect that too - Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, etc, etc. There is a stunning mile and a half long beach path that winds its way along three lovely beaches in front of the fancy resorts and condos - great to see how the other half live. But in Hawaii, all the beaches are public so anyone can use these gorgeous beaches - you don't have to stay here. We also went down farther south past Wailea to La Perouse Bay and walked across the lava fields to an isolated beach with great views of the black lava rocks, turquoise sea, golden sand and green palm trees. Our favourite colour combinations!
We discovered some beautiful snorkeling spots down this way at Ahihi cove, Makena Beach, Maluaka Beach and Five Graves. The best were undoubtedly Maluaka Beach and Five Graves, because we swam with turtles. Mike had been desperately searching for them and here we found them in abundance - we were swimming with between 6 and 12 of them at any one time. They are green turtles and are quite big. It's quite an experience to see them bobbing around in the waves and tumbling over each other and quite hilarious at times. Jo was quite intimidated to start with but gradually inched closer and closer - they are honestly more interested in eating the weed off the rocks than eating her!

Highlights of our round the world trip:

Stop 1 - Capetown---> The City | Simonstown Penguins | Table Mountain Cable Car | The Waterfront Seals | Windsurf Action.
Stop 2 - West Australia---> Perth City | Perth Zoo | Cohunu Animal Park | Rottnest Island | Rockingham Penguins | Yanchep Park Koalas | Cervantes Pinnacles | Geraldton Windsurfing | Kalbarri Gorge | The Pink Lake | Coronation Beach Windsurfing | Gero Road to Cervantes | Carnarvon Jetty & Quobba Snorkel | Denham Lagoon | Monkey Mia Dolphins | Coral Bay Termite Hills | Coral Bay Quad Biking The Dunes | Exmouth Kangaroos | Mandurah Canals | Margaret River | Margaret River Wine Tour | Margs Windsurfing | Bunbury Windsurf | Bussleton Pier | Towns near Bussleton | Augusta Nature | Pemberton Camping | Pemberton Tall Trees | Cape D'Entrecasteaux | Walpole Tall Trees.
Stop 3 - East Australia---> Cairns Sky Rail Cable Car Over The Rainforest | Mossman Gorge | Cape Tribulation Rainforest | Port Douglas | Daintree Crocodiles | Captain Cook Highway | Beaches Near Cairns | Atherton Tablelands Fig Trees | Bowen Beaches | Airlie Beach | Whitsunday Islands Boat Tour | Great Barrier Reef Snorkel | Whitsunday Snorkelling | Town of 1770 History | Fraser Island Beach Driving | Tin Can Bay Dolphins | Noosa River | Australia Zoo Wombats | Sunshine Coast | Nanango Bush | Gold Coast Beaches | Byron Bay Beaches | Woolgoolga Beaches | Coffs Harbour | Port Macquarie Cafes | Forster Pelicans | Great Lakes | Nelson Bay Dolphins | Sydney By Day | Sydney By Night | Sydney's Manly Beach.
Stop 4 - New Zealand---> Auckland Revolving Restaurant | Rotorua Volcanic National Park | Lake Taupo & Waitomo Glow Worms.
Stop 5 - French Polynesia---> Tahiti Island Waterfalls | Moorea Island Water Bungalows | Moorea Shark Feeding | Bora Bora Island Buggying.
Stop 6 - Hawaii, Maui---> Maui Snorkel Videos | Maui Snorkel Photography | Maui Windsurfing | Maui East Coast Hana Highway | Maui North Beaches 1 | Maui North Beaches 2 | Maui West Coast Surfing | Maui South West Lava Fields | Haleakala Volcano.
Stop 7 - Hawaii, Oahu---> Kailua Beaches | Round Oahu Island Drive | Honolulu Pearl Harbour | Oahu Snorkel Videos.
Stop 8 - West USA---> Los Angeles City Tour | Venice Beach | Long Beach | Queen Mary Tour | San Onofre Surfing | Route 66 Drive | Las Vegas Casinos | Grand Canyon.
Stop 9 - East USA---> Miami Beach Art Deco.
Stop 10 - UK, HOME---> Back To Heathrow, Bringing To A Close Our Amazing Round The World Trip.