2 worlds, 1 trip ...

August found us jetting westward to celebrate a friend's nuptials in beautiful British Columbia.  Due to a convoluted series of events, what was originally going to be a 2-week camping adventure around Vancouver Island turned into a 4-day tour of Galiano Island followed by a week in Maui.  Random, I know.  This trip was crazy.  I don't know where to begin.  Perhaps by warning any women in their first trimester of pregnancy that an epic journey is not the greatest of ideas.  In retrospect, we should have stuck with our original itinerary and skipped out on the "B only flies free till January so we have to go to Hawaii while we can" adventure.

BC was amazing.  The wedding was on Galiano Island, the ceremony was beautiful, oceanfront, and 'real'.  It was sooo great to catch up with friends at the wedding as well as in transit through Vancouver.  We camped at Montague Harbour Marine Park on Galiano, definitely recommend this!  A note about BC parks for those interested:  many don't have showers, so be prepared to do a bird bath, especially if you're easily lured into the salty waters of the Pacific like us!

We started each day with a stroll along "Shell Beach" at low tide.  The sand on the beach is actually all crushed shells, and B was fascinated (ok, me too) with the abundant life left exposed on the shore.  Purple sea stars, sea urchins, jelly fish, clams, empty shells, herons munching on tasty finds, otters swimming about, etc.  We found a gem of a bakery (the only bakery on the island?) that served up amazing cinnamon buns every morning, pair that with a chai and that wonderful hungover feeling associated with 1st trimester blahs was kept at bay!  We spent an entire day driving to and fro on Galiano, taking in the beautiful scenery and laid back vibe of the island.  So much to see and do on Vancouver Island & surrounding area, definitely planning a return trip sometime when the monkeys are bigger (i.e. can kayak!).

low tide fun!

The day after the wedding we packed up our already tired selves (from 3 nights of camping and 3 hour time change) and made the long trek to Hawaii.  Car, ferry, , plane, car.  By the time we actually landed in Maui, picked up the rental car & made the hour long drive to the condo we rented, we were zapped. Add to that an additional 3 hour time change, and we had one messed up B (and me)!  It took a couple days for us to get our heads straightened out.

This was mine & B's 1st time to Maui, and hubby's 5th or some such thing, mind you he hadn't been there since he was a child.  So we were all pretty excited to explore the island and see all it has to offer ... although not at the quick pace we used to travel at pre-B!  After B tossed her cookies 3/4 of the way up Haleakala we decided long twisty drives are not part of the package.  Thus activities like driving up the volcano and following the road to Hana were completed in part, enough to give us the general idea, but we learned our lesson the 1st time and didn't push B's limits!

hippy culture still alive and well in northern Maui

Travelling at a toddler's pace is becoming second nature to us now, so we really enjoyed our time playing at the beach, running around banyon trees, examining koi ponds, snails and stray cats around the condo, and other toddleresque activities :)  It's important to have down days; for us every other day was unplanned.  No long drives, no epic adventures.  Those were the laze around on the beach & take turns snorkelling while one of us plays with B days.  Afternoon naps were had by all, not a difficult thing when the sun is super hot mid-day and you naturally seek out shade anyways!  The days when we did drive, we tried to coordinate nap time with drive time.

Ooooh, a huge snail!  Let's poke it.  Repeatedly.

Having a condo was key.  Kitchen, check.  Washing machine, check (so thankful for that after the volcano incident ... nasty car seat carnage from that one).  Room for B to wiggle, check.  Cheaper than a hotel, check!  We did end up eating out a fair bit, but attempted to do our dinners at home and lunches out (much cheaper that way).

Baby Beach, Lahaina, Maui

A note on flying with a toddler:  while they may still be considered a "lap held infant" and fly for free, they don't necessarily want to sit on your lap for takeoff, landing and turbulence (surprised?  didn't think so).  We lucked out with an empty seat between hubby & I on all flights, this was key.  We buckled B into the seat when flying was smooth (but adhered to the rule of her on our lap for the rest of the time), thankfully there was a t.v. in the seatback for her to watch kids shows (a novelty as she doesn't watch much at home), and a few small toys from home made the journey enjoyable.  Sleeping on the plane was uncomfortable, but do you honestly ever expect a comfy sleep on a metal tube rocketing through the sky with a toddler beside/on you?

All in all it was definitely a memorable journey!  Glad we did it.  Wouldn't repeat it.  Would do each trip separately, most definitely!  Looking forward to exploring closer to home next summer when our 2nd wee one is here ... perhaps a road trip to the east coast?! ...