MSP - DFW - LAX - LIH - APW - NAN - AKL

31 October 2025

Hello friends and family!

Thanks for your patience as it's taken me this long to sit down to type up some of the notes from my journal about the first leg(s) of my travels. So here goes. Fair warning, it was a whirlwind the past couple of weeks. I journaled in much more detail, but I am choosing to type up the highlights as I wait in Whangarei for my bus to Waipu for the next leg of my trip. Reach out via email, WhatsApp or text if you feel so inclined! 🙂

For those of you wondering why in the world I started in Minneapolis (airport code MSP) and stopped in Dallas (DFW is the airport code)...My best friend, Veronica, and her family live near there, so it was a wonderful reason to book my flight out of the Minneapolis airport, so I could have my dad and sister drive me there to drop me off, hang out for a couple of days to visit, and then be on my way. As for the stop in Dallas, there was an event there, on October 11, that I was looking forward to attending. I am part of a group called Single Purpose League (SPL for short), and it's a group of single Christian women from across the world, who have a virtual community hosted by Annie F. Downs (she's a Christian author and speaker). They've done a wonderful job creating  "a trusted space where unmarried women find purpose, authentic friendship, and spiritual growth." I took that from their website, and it's so true! Anyway, I spent the weekend in Dallas hanging out with other SPL women. Friday night a group of us attended the Texas State Fair. It was as I expected, and I got to 'meet' Big Rex. 

Saturday morning there was a small group of ladies from Indiana who were taking a walk to and through a nearby nature area. It was lovely and made me forget I was in the middle of a city, which is always great! Saturday after lunch was the SPL IRL (in real life...since it is, by design, typically only an online community) main event of speakers and digging into Psalm 23. Reach out directly if you're interested in hearing more about that. 

SPL IRL group photo!

We then headed to dinner and the Cain concert, since Annie, who I mentioned earlier, is currently touring with the band and hosting/mc-ing the shows across the country this Fall. It was so much fun, and I knew way more of their music than I realized. Apparently working at a Christian radio staion for the past three years (shout out to The Family Radio Network, Inc.) got me hearing more music than I realized. On Sunday morning, a small group of us attended church at Shoreline City Church. It was huge compared to my home church (shout out to MillCity!), maybe triple the size sanctuary and they have four services each Sunday! Then we ended up eating brunch together at First Watch. It was delicious and an amazing time of fellowship. Since I wasn't leaving town that day, same for a few other ladies, we decided to spend the afternoon walking on the Katy Trail. It was a bit hot, but the trail was mostly shaded, and I believe we ended up walking something like seven miles! I captured this photo along the trail, which I think sums up my trip quite splendidly.

 Another bonus to visiting Dallas is that my friend Nicole and her family live there, so I was able to spend a couple of days with them before heading to the island of Kaua'i (airport code LIH for the city Lihue). I chose to make a return trip to this island since I had visited in May 2022 for my cousin Amanda's wedding; I absolutely loved it and wanted a longer time to explore, hike, and scuba dive). I rented a car for my first few days in Hawai'i and walked the last few days. I stayed at a resort near Kapa'a called Aston Islander on the Beach. I was offered to upgrade to a room with a partial ocean view for $0 and it made for a stunning place to sit on my balcony most of the times I was actually in my room.

(I am not naked, just wearing my strapless swimsuit top 😆)

On Friday (two weeks ago from when I am typing this), I drove to and through Waimea Canyon Park to Kalalau Lookout. I am not sure if this is normally as far north as you're allowed to drive up the west coast of the island, or if that's just the case now, with the road construction. Regardless, it was a stunning lookout, and when my debit card failed to work in the kiosk for the parking $10 and one-person entry $5 pass, a family offered to pay for me. What a blessing, as there was no way for me to pay with cash. 

Kalalau Lookout, Kaua'i 

Then I was on my way back south a little ways to the Nu'alolo Trailhead. It's an out and back trail 3.8 miles (7.6 miles total). I started the trail with a couple from Utah and only passed a handful of other hikers, as it is considered a difficult trail. 

The end of the Nu'alolo Trail. Definitely worth the nearly 4 mile (just under 4 hours) hike with 2,454 feet of elevation gain (thanks for the stats from my All Trails app)!

On Saturday, I drove up the east coast of the island to the shuttle pickup location for entry into Ha'ena State Park. I hiked the Kalau Trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach, a total of 4.16 miles. 

Lookout point along Kalau Trail, Kaua'i 

This involved a water crossing to get to the beach, which they advised hikers not to cross later that same day, due to the rising water level from earlier rains. I was lucky that I was there early that day and got to cross the flash flood zone safely both diections. 

Sorry if this picture is sideway. Water crossing to Hanakapi'ai Beach. That water was about up to my knees!

No swimming at this beach. Apparently it's the most dangerous beach on the entire island!

Thanks to a local park ranger doing a short nature walk, I learned about the local poi plant (also known as taro). What it lacks in flavor, it makes up for in health benefits, so I decided to stop at a recommended food truck to give it a try. It wasn't anything fancy, but I enjoyed it. 

Poi (taro) plants being grown.

On Sunday, I attended service at Kapa'a Assembly of God church. They gave me such a warm welcome, including many hugs and a welcome swag bag. They even invited me to a potluck they were having after service for their pastor appreciation. It was a great time of fellowship! 

I drove to Kauapea (Secret) Beach after lunch and spent about an hour in the shade reading my book. Then I had to return my rental car.

On Monday, I watched the sunrise while drinking my coffee and eating breakfast

 Then I went to a yoga class and wandered around Kapa'a for a couple of hours. I ate an acai bowl for lunch and went to another yoga class that evening.

On Tuesday, I went diving with Seasport Divers out of Poipu. They were a very professional, well-run shop with very new equipment. I did three boat dives with Tom our boat captain, Anthony our dive guide and five other advanced divers, in addition to myself. Overall, the diving was very good, but I have a feeling there are other (better?) Dive sites we could've gone to, if the current had been different. We dove safely, and it was still a great experience. We got to swim through lava tubes on the third dive, and that's when we also saw a few turtles swimming around! It was the first time I ever dove with Nitrox, and now I'm in the process of getting certified to be able to dive with it in the future. It means there is a slightly higher percentage of oxygen in the air tank which helps keep the level of nitrogen in my body less. This is especially helpful when diving deeper, like I am certified to do with an advanced open water certification. Basically, I am able to safely stay deeper for a longer time.

Seasport Divers dive boat behind me, after we came back from three dives.

Tuesday night, I walked to a luau at The Sheraton. It was very informative, and I enjoyed it a ton! Who doesn't love some good fire twirling action?!

Wednesday was a laundry and travel day. I headed to Honolulu to be there and ready for my departure flight on Thursday. I watched the sunset at Waikiki Beach and sat next to a local Christian woman and chatted. I had a nice Poke bowl for dinner at Maguro Spot. On Thursday I had most of the day free, since my flight wasn't until nearly 11pm. I walked to a place called A'iwi Waffles for a gluten free breakfast and cold brew coffee. Both were so delicious, and since it was not a super busy place, I sat for a couple of hours to write in my journal. 

My trip from Hawaii included a flight first to Samoa (APW) and then a flight to Fiji (NAN). This is where I crossed the international date line and basically "lost" Friday when I time traveled into Saturday. 😆 I then flew from Fiji to Auckland (AKL), which is a city in the northern-ish part of the North Island of New Zealand. I wasn't tired due to jet lag, since Hawai'i had basically been 23 hours behind; it was an easy time adjustment. I was tired, however, because I didn't get to sleep on the planes as much as I would've preferred. Fiji Airways, bless them, fed me on every single flight. That was great, except that meant they didn't dim the lights until a couple hours into the flight, so my flying naps were cut short. I chatted with a woman in the Honolulu airport who lives and works as a Forensic Police Officer in Fiji. She encouraged me to return to Fiji for a visit and offered her house for me to stay at in the future. 

On Saturday, 25 October I arrived at my hostel in Auckland. I went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant and then was asleep by 8pm.