00:00:10
Speaker 1: From Newstalk ZB. Travel with Wendy Wu Tours. Incredible destinations with those who know them best. It is time to talk travel and I'm joined by Megan Singleton, blogger at large.com.
00:00:24
Speaker 2: Aloha.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Aloha. How was Maui?
00:00:29
Speaker 2: Maui was great. So Maui is only a 25-minute flight from Honolulu. You actually spend more time just going to the airport and getting through security than you do up in the air to get there. And it's well worth visiting. Some people might remember the big fires of Lahaina about three years ago.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely.
00:00:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was a beautiful historic town that had shops and boutiques. It actually had been the capital of Maui for 200 years. And it's completely gone. And I've just put a photo up on the blog. But the great thing is that they do plan to restore it. So the first thing they've been doing with permits and consents and everything is getting all the residential buildings back up. And that is done. So there are whole new homes there and people are living there again. And there's still a lot of businesses that did survive, including the amazing banyan tree, which people may remember. It is still there and it has got new leaves on it. And it's a great story. In fact, I've got goosebumps just telling you that. But don't let that fire and its restoration put you off. They're expecting big openings of new businesses in about 2028 because I've just written up the perfect day trip for when you need to tear yourself away from the beach, away from the cocktails, and go and have a day in your Jeep Wrangler, driving on the wrong side of the road, and finish at the top of Mount Haleakala for sunset. Now, that mountain is 3,000 metres. It's It is cold. In the winter, there'll be snow up there. So I know better, but I wasn't prepared. I had a sarong around my neck, and I wrapped my hands into my sleeves because they turned into pins and needles as I climbed to the very top and summited for sunset. I know.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: I know.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: But it's hard to imagine when it's 28 degrees down the bottom.
00:02:15
Speaker 1: Anyway. I'm just looking at the– and anyone who has been– to Hawaii will know this and have had this experience, you know, that you can be at the beach one day and then you can mountain bike down a volcano the next and be up in the mountains. Like it's sort of, it's got a little bit of everything, hasn't it? The photos are wonderful.
00:02:34
Speaker 2: It's got a bit of everything. And so on the day trip, I've actually found another sweet town. Well, I didn't find it.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: But I went and visited.
00:02:41
Speaker 2: A town called Paia. And I've been there before and I just feel like it's really expanded. Like there's a lot more boutiques and galleries and local artisans and jewelers. And so we actually whiled away a good two to three hours there on our day trip. And it's well worth doing, especially with Lahaina not being there right now. Gorgeous little town. I've got a little tip for where to go for brekkie on the way. Some lovely beaches. You could take two days to do all of this. But it is a long way, like just from the summit of that mountain back to where we stayed at the outrigger at Kanapali Beach. It's an hour and a half just coming back down, zigzagging back down that mountain and getting back home again. But I've just written up this day trip, where to stop, where we had lunch, the views, the rainbows again. Oh, gosh, it's just been amazing. And it's a real slowdown, Maui. You know, you've done Waikiki and that was fantastic. but epically busy and expensive. And over there, you're just kind of on island time. You can just go and buy your food from a local grocery store if you want to or eat out on the beach. Why not? So I loved Maui very much.
00:03:55
Speaker 1: Oh, no, I'm just looking at the photos. Absolutely beautiful. But you're right. It is very scorched earth, isn't it?
00:04:00
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, it's two volcanoes.
00:04:03
Speaker 1: But in particular, in the old capital.
00:04:07
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes it is. But there's more than that to see and definitely the people of Maui want that to be the message. It's been three years and they survive on tourism. So they grow cocoa there, they grow coffee, they make all sorts of oils and things. They have an amazing luau show, which I'm going to write up in another blog post, which was the best luau event I have ever been to. So good, on the beachfront in Old Lahaina. So even while nothing's there, 300 or 400 people go each night to this event. It's incredible.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Megan. Check out her blog, bloggeratlodge.com.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live to Newstalk ZB from 9am Sunday or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: From Newstalk ZB. Travel with Wendy Wu Tours. Incredible destinations with those who know them best. It is time to talk travel and I'm joined by Megan Singleton, blogger at large.com.
00:00:24
Speaker 2: Aloha.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Aloha. How was Maui?
00:00:29
Speaker 2: Maui was great. So Maui is only a 25-minute flight from Honolulu. You actually spend more time just going to the airport and getting through security than you do up in the air to get there. And it's well worth visiting. Some people might remember the big fires of Lahaina about three years ago.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely.
00:00:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was a beautiful historic town that had shops and boutiques. It actually had been the capital of Maui for 200 years. And it's completely gone. And I've just put a photo up on the blog. But the great thing is that they do plan to restore it. So the first thing they've been doing with permits and consents and everything is getting all the residential buildings back up. And that is done. So there are whole new homes there and people are living there again. And there's still a lot of businesses that did survive, including the amazing banyan tree, which people may remember. It is still there and it has got new leaves on it. And it's a great story. In fact, I've got goosebumps just telling you that. But don't let that fire and its restoration put you off. They're expecting big openings of new businesses in about 2028 because I've just written up the perfect day trip for when you need to tear yourself away from the beach, away from the cocktails, and go and have a day in your Jeep Wrangler, driving on the wrong side of the road, and finish at the top of Mount Haleakala for sunset. Now, that mountain is 3,000 metres. It's It is cold. In the winter, there'll be snow up there. So I know better, but I wasn't prepared. I had a sarong around my neck, and I wrapped my hands into my sleeves because they turned into pins and needles as I climbed to the very top and summited for sunset. I know.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: I know.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: But it's hard to imagine when it's 28 degrees down the bottom.
00:02:15
Speaker 1: Anyway. I'm just looking at the– and anyone who has been– to Hawaii will know this and have had this experience, you know, that you can be at the beach one day and then you can mountain bike down a volcano the next and be up in the mountains. Like it's sort of, it's got a little bit of everything, hasn't it? The photos are wonderful.
00:02:34
Speaker 2: It's got a bit of everything. And so on the day trip, I've actually found another sweet town. Well, I didn't find it.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: But I went and visited.
00:02:41
Speaker 2: A town called Paia. And I've been there before and I just feel like it's really expanded. Like there's a lot more boutiques and galleries and local artisans and jewelers. And so we actually whiled away a good two to three hours there on our day trip. And it's well worth doing, especially with Lahaina not being there right now. Gorgeous little town. I've got a little tip for where to go for brekkie on the way. Some lovely beaches. You could take two days to do all of this. But it is a long way, like just from the summit of that mountain back to where we stayed at the outrigger at Kanapali Beach. It's an hour and a half just coming back down, zigzagging back down that mountain and getting back home again. But I've just written up this day trip, where to stop, where we had lunch, the views, the rainbows again. Oh, gosh, it's just been amazing. And it's a real slowdown, Maui. You know, you've done Waikiki and that was fantastic. but epically busy and expensive. And over there, you're just kind of on island time. You can just go and buy your food from a local grocery store if you want to or eat out on the beach. Why not? So I loved Maui very much.
00:03:55
Speaker 1: Oh, no, I'm just looking at the photos. Absolutely beautiful. But you're right. It is very scorched earth, isn't it?
00:04:00
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, it's two volcanoes.
00:04:03
Speaker 1: But in particular, in the old capital.
00:04:07
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes it is. But there's more than that to see and definitely the people of Maui want that to be the message. It's been three years and they survive on tourism. So they grow cocoa there, they grow coffee, they make all sorts of oils and things. They have an amazing luau show, which I'm going to write up in another blog post, which was the best luau event I have ever been to. So good, on the beachfront in Old Lahaina. So even while nothing's there, 300 or 400 people go each night to this event. It's incredible.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Megan. Check out her blog, bloggeratlodge.com.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live to Newstalk ZB from 9am Sunday or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
