We knew the day had to come that we would leave our Hawaiian paradise bungalow and despite the half a week extension it came to soon. Grumpily packing up our belongings snapping at each other like love birds. We booked our accomadation in Kona and set off on a day trip to visit the North and North West of the Big Island. The first stop took us to ‘Waipio Valley’ Having being strongly advised not to drive down the 25% hill we parked at the top, pulled out our prepared picnic and headed to the view point.

I quote wikipedia “The road gains 800 vertical feet (243.84 m) in 0.6 miles (0.9 km) at a 25% average grade, with steeper grades in sections. This is a paved public road but it is open only to 4 wheel drive vehicles. If classified as a road, it would be the steepest road of its length in the United States and possibly the world.”

The view was breath taking, a real jurassic park moment. The sheer faced cliffs on both sides surround a flat as a board valley nestled far below. We read the signs that told of the story of the kings that lived there among 4 sacred nioi trees and how it was the location of the ancient grass palace of the ancient Hawaiian kings. The valley was raided and the sacred trees burned to the ground. Today the valley grows Taro and its black sand beach is popular with surfers.You get a sense of the natural privacy the valley creates. With the road down being quite literally the steepest road in the World it puts off all but the biggest 4×4’s and the $50 each price tag on a 10 minute ride down to the bottom puts off all but the richest. Looking out over the view, enjoying our pack up we enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the sea.

Keen to see the west coast beaches we had not yet seen we headed off. Getting lost again we stopped a local and asked if he knew of a good beach to visit. ‘Oh sure, there is one a mile away and its always quiet’. Pleased we were not a million miles away we hurried down to Kauna’oa beach. Wow. Met by a mile long white sand mecca. shared only by a few other people we couldnt believe it. We jumped in the clear blue water, no rocks, no seaweed and no beasts it was like a different world to the westside we had loved so much.

Slightly in shock that it really was true you could go from lush rainforest through snow capped mountains and desert then onto a white sand beach in a matter of hours! Lisa grinned ear to ear as we floated an hour away in the warm water. We pulled ourselves away and headed to Kona and our accomadation for the night. After 2 1/2 weeks in our private heaven it was a knock back into the real world! A humble hostel with creepy crawlies, damp rooms and worn funiture we grumpily sat on the bed and waited for sleep to come. The next morning we got up early and headed to the airport for our trip to Maui. As we arrived in Maui we recieved a promising email from Dori, one of the previous 20 emails I had sent out to rental companies in Maui looking for a deal. Dori thankfully loved our story and hooked us up with a great deal right on the beach! Within an hour of arriving in Maui we where once again on a white sand beach, fridge full and loaded with amazingly cheap booze! $8 for a litre of smirnoff vodka…. I mean it would be rude not to! We spent the next 3 days exploring Maui, visiting the vineyard and tasting wine made from Pineapples, watching the crazy windsurfers, driving the wonderful coast roads, chilling on the beach and trying to pin down our Hawaii wedding.

We had been in touch with a wedding planner on Maui and we had penciled in a beach ceremony with a native Hawaiian ‘Charles’. It was to take place on a beautiful beach ‘Charles’ was going start by blowing the conch, sing a Hawaiian chant for us then hold us a traditional hawaiian ceremony. Everything was planned but we couldn’t get hold of Charles! A little confused and a little worried we waited patiently trying to contact him each day. At the end of the 3rd day (the night before we were due to have the ceremony) we abandoned hope! Totally gutted we put out a pleading tweet and opened the previously mentioned bottle of vodka.

We drank away our sorrows, danced around to whatever music was playing on the radio (I remember lion king at one point) and forgot our worries. Halfway through our night I checked my email and found an email from Jaques at the Hilton Waikoloa. I read it out to Lisa and we pondered whether we could afford to go back to the Big Island for the Hilton to help us realise our dreams of a Hawaiian wedding! If you don’t know the outcome of our decision click here!

See what happend next on our wedding adventure!