Songdoc's just back from six fantastic weeks in New Zealand and Australia. It was about 60% exhausting, intense work -- and 40% awesome vacation.

I LOVE New Zealand -- and Tropical North Queensland in Australia is absolutely beautiful. It's where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef and it's a nature lover's paradise. (Trip reports will soon appear.) Stayed at an incredible resort: www.thala.com -- and I'll definitely go back again.

If I had never been to Kauai I'd be raving that N. Queensland is the most beautiful place in the world. But Kauai's got me spoiled. Parts of Qnsld reminded me of the Big Island (but with kangaroos ;-) )-- but other parts are quite unique and very "Australian." Every day was wonderful and different. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef was beyond my wildest expectations.

Now ... to answer your question. If it were solely up to me, I would have included Maui on my upcoming trip. But DP's exhausted from all the travel and didn't want to go someplace where we'd feel compeled to explore and sightsee.

So, in four weeks (hopefully I'll be over the jet lag from NZ and OZ) we'll head back to Kauai. I'll be teaching and performing at the Kauai Music Festival (www.kauaimusicfestival.com) which includes the most amazing concerts featuring the best Hawaiian talent -- open to the public -- including AMAZING ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. If you haven't seen Jake go to YouTube or his myspace and watch "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"). I'll stay an additional 3 weeks in my favorite spot on the North Shore to collapse and hopefully, do some writing.

So ... what's the moral of the story??? Careful if you go to Kauai. It just might make other places else pale in comparison ;-)

Thank you all for such great info.

Have a great time on Kauai.