Maui Travel Journal-Tuesday

June 20, 2006

Sigh. The final day. Up and over to the cove first thing. There was another couple there checking out the turtles as well. There were 4 turtles in the little inlet just munching away on the algae. The water was only about 2 feet deep so it was really easy to see them all. They were getting pushed around a bit by the current. Took some pretty good shots. The turtles look smaller in the pictures since we were standing about 10 feet above them but they were pretty big. We were out there for about half an hour until it started to rain. So much for seeing turtles without having to get wet. Back to the room to eat and get cleaned up. Packed the rest of our things then made for the airport. We were totally silly along way waving at things and telling them goodbye. But hey what good is vacation if you can't be silly. Matt dropped me off at the terminal with the luggage and went to drop off the car. We got our bags thru the agricultural check and then got ourselves checked in, made it thru security much faster than last time and hit up Starbucks. Sat in the waiting area and gazed at Haleakala out the window one last time. Did I sigh already? Time to get on the plane and head home. Nice flight with the exception of the same hippie family that was on the flight over. This time they were behind us with their monkey children and all the family drama. Good thing we had headphones. Landed about 10 minutes behind schedule and J was there waiting for us. Kind of weird to be back in all the traffic, driving 70 in the slow lane after being on 2 lane roads with a speed limit of 45 for 10 days. All in all a great, relaxing trip. Looking forward to the next one already. Aloha!

Maui Travel Journal-Monday

June 19, 2006
Sunny this morning and out the door around 7am. Headed over to Honokeana Cove. The turtles were hanging out on the surface. There was only one other snorkeler there and he was getting out. There is a little inlet to get in/out the water and he asked if there were any turtles there since he didn’t want to scare them. He said that they hang out in the inlet early in the morning. No turtles, so he got out and we got in. Getting in and out posed a bit of a challenge. Had to slide down the ledge into the little channel. There are slippery algae covered rocks on the bottom (guess that is why the turtles like it there). The channel is really narrow with not a lot of clearance. It would probably be easier if the tide is higher. The surge kind of pushes you back as well, best to try to work with the current. We were in the water about 30 seconds and the turtles were on the surface again. One of them was huge, had to be about 3 feet long. He dove back down and sat in a little hole in one of the large coral formations. There was smaller turtle sitting on top of the coral. The larger turtle really kept an eye on us as we swan around. Swam a little further out into the cove and saw another turtle making its way to the surface. I tried to give it space but it kept swimming toward me, I guess he was as curious as me. Turtles are protected in Hawaii and you can’t chase them down or harass them but if they are interested in you, they will come to check you out. Matt in the meantime is exploring other parts of the cove and spotting turtles as well. He pointed one out right under me. The turtles kept surfacing from time to time. They were very clean so there must be a great cleaning station there. There was a terrific mix of fish there although not in large numbers. We saw Moorish idols, Achilles and convict tangs, cleaner, ornate and yellowtail wrasse, raccoon and millet seed butterfly, blue parrotfish and sergeant majors. The cove was very calm. Extremely clear in places but there must be freshwater springs underneath since the water got ‘fuzzy’ in places. Not murky at all though. Our excursion was cut short by this totally irresponsible man with 2 boys that barely knew how to swim. Each boy had a mask but no snorkel. They started chasing the turtles around and hovering right above them. Turtles will not come up for air if you are right above them. I had a feeling this was going to turn out badly so we decided to cut it short. On our way back to shore Matt pointed out another turtle under a coral ledge right under us. As usual, I ran out of film in the underwater camera since I figured that we couldn’t possibly see any more turtles. As we were looking at this turtle it turned around to look at us and it looked like it waved its flipper at us. How cool! Getting out is a bit easier, just let the surge push you in, take off the fins and when another surge comes in haul yourself out. Helps loads if Matt gets out first! Went back to Maui Dive Shop to drop off the snorkel gear. Bought a really cool fish guide for next time. Off to Longs to drop off the camera, were told the photos would be done about 4pm. Then, oh darn, back to AMP one last time. Coconut prawns for me and the mixed grill for Matt (had to break him of the Kalua pork addiction). The island chutney that came with the prawns was pretty tasty. Perfectly spice for the sweet prawns. I am gonna have to figure that recipe out. No room for the Naughty cheesecake so add that to the list for next time, that list is getting long. Back to the condo to wait for the pics to be done since it is much cooler in Napili than Lahaina, plus it is only a 10 minute drive. Since we had been mosquito free since moving from Ka’anapali to Napili, we decided that Ka’anapali must be Hawaiian for Mosquito ;) Back to Longs and then Safeway for water and sandwiches. Got most of our things packed up and it all fit. All the new stuff went into the carryons since who cares if your old stuff gets lost. We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out and enjoying the rest of the day. We went back over to Honokeana around 5:30pm. The turtles were just bobbing away out there. Took loads of pictures just trying to catch one. I need a faster camera. We walked over to the inlet and there was a turtle swimming there. I got a few decent shots before some kids jumped in and started chasing it. We decided to go back in the morning to see if we can catch some there before the tide goes out.

Maui Travel Journal-Sunday

June 18, 2006

RAIN!! Pretty heavy at times this morning. Kinda nice though. Went to Whalers Village to get books at Borders. Still sprinkling a little. There were tons of bikers out today. Parked on Dickenson again since we lucked into a space. Tracked down a silver turtle necklace at one of the ABC’s on Front St. Since we were out really early (again) we took some pictures along Front St. while waiting for BJ’s to open. Exchanged Matt’s shirt since the girl had given us the wrong size the day before. Pizza and beer overlooking the ocean, what could be better? How about topping it off with a pizzookie or a monk seal swimming right outside the harbor entrance? Seems like the wildlife just flocked to us on this trip. Walked to the Banyan Tree. Appeared that the same artists were there as last time. It would be better if there were more traditional Hawaiian crafts. There was a tiki carver there but it was way expensive. It was hot in Lahaina again so we headed back up to Napili where it was cooler but humid after the morning rain. We tried to read but fell asleep. Guess all the activity caught up with us. We took a walk after our short nap. We checked out the tide pools then around the point to Honokeana Cove. There were lots of snorkelers there. We decided that would be our trip for Monday. Passed a couple of local boys fishing with throw nets. Pretty cool to see that. Another beautiful sunset with turtles frolicking in the surf. Back to the room to read for a bit and rest up for our last full day on Maui. Sigh.

Maui Travel Journal-Saturday

June 17, 2006

Can’t believe we have been here of a week already. Where did the time go? Strange that time went so fast but it seems like we have been here forever. Guess that is the sign of a good vacation. We were second in line for breakfast at the Gazebo at Napili Shores. This place is great but get there early! They open at 7:30am and the line starts forming at 7. They are only open for breakfast and lunch. We headed out the door around 6:30 and just sat by the pool enjoying the scenery. We met a nice family that lived nearby. The husband, Johnny suggested that if we go back to Kahakuloa we stop at Lorraine’s stand (and tell her he sent us) for shave ice since it was the best on the island. Since we were near the front of the line we got to pick our table once the restaurant opened. We choose a table near a window so we could look for turtles while we ate but there were none out. The menu has a lot of choices. You can order breakfast all day. We decided that we would try the pancakes that everyone raves about. Matt had the banana-macadamia nut and I had just macadamia nut and we ordered a side of bacon. Unless you are a big breakfast eater, do yourself a favor and order the short stack of pancakes. These things are big. Glad we chose the short stack since it was 2 pancakes with a large dollop of a flavored whipped topping piled on. They have regular maple flavored syrup and coconut syrup. If you choose the coconut syrup keep in mind that it is extremely sweet so a little goes a long way. After breakfast it was off to the Maui swap meet in Kahului. Only 50 cents to get in, what a bargain if you are looking for something to do. Coming from West or South Maui, it is on Puunene just before the post office on your left. You can get some inexpensive gifts to take home. There is a good selection of local produce there as well. We bought a handmade photo album for $8 and a beaded Hawaiian print purse for $16. Silver jewelry is well priced here also. If you didn’t already have breakfast the snack bar sells a really good looking breakfast burrito made with egg and Portuguese sausage. Our next stop for the day was Pa’ia. We had previously only driven thru on our way to Ho’okipa Beach but thought that we would take a walk around. It is a very funky place. There is quite a mix of shops-art galleries, surf shops, organic food. There are all types of restaurants. A lot of the storefronts were boarded up. Since the town has been a plantation town, then a hippie hangout and now a mecca for surfers, I wonder what it will be the next time we visit. Off to Makawao. This town is referred to as the “cowboy town”. It did kind of have that old time western feel but seemed more “new-age” to us. Lots of art galleries. We found a Christmas ornament for Gramma at one of them. Went to Komoda Bakery (again looking for something raved about on the internet) but they were out of the famous malasadas since we were there kinda late and they go fast. Just another thing to add to the list for next trip. I don’t know that I could have eaten anything from there anyway after the sugar overload at breakfast. It was still early in the day so we went to Ho’okipa for a picnic lunch. This has become some sort of tradition for us I guess. We had kind of thought we wouldn’t stop by here this trip since we had been the two previous times. We stayed for awhile and took some pics. I have no idea why we didn’t take any pictures of either Pa’ia or Makawao. Oh well. By this time it was only noon so we stopped by Maui Ocean Center. $42 well spent. They have great displays of the types of marine animals that live around the islands. It is very informative especially for people not familiar with the ocean. This would be a great place to go before a snorkel trip to get an idea of the types of fish you would be likely to see. They did a great job of showing the eco system starting at the surge zone and working toward the deep reef. They had black and white tipped reef sharks in a reef environment that was excellent. Next we looked at the Hammerhead Harbor exhibit. This is Sherri Heaven. They had 3 hammerheads in a exhibit that has a glass front, like you are looking in a fish bowl but you can walk around so you are looking down on the sharks. They didn’t appear to be very old. Into the shark, ray and jellyfish building. The jelly display was cool. It was interesting to see all the stages of their development. Next stop, shark tank! All I can say is, WOW! Sandbars, hammerheads, spotted rays and some sort of ray in between the size of the spotted ray and a manta ray. Top it off with a big scary looking tiger shark! Right after we walked into this part of the display there was a large porthole window looking into the tank and the tiger swam right at the window. It was creepy. I wouldn’t want to see that coming at me while in the ocean! And of course I had forgotten to charge the camera the night before so the battery died. This was the best shark exhibit I have seen. Better than Sea World San Diego or Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas. What could possible top the shark experience? How about Turtle Lagoon. Same type of set up as Hammerhead Harbor. While everyone was clamoring around the glass trying to get pictures, Matt and I walked around to look down at the turtles. They stopped by one at a time and poked their heads up to check us out. Luckily I had my camera phone so I got a couple of shots. We hit the gift shop on the way out. Bought a hibiscus sticker for the truck and of course a t-shirt with a shark on it. As if this wasn’t enough for one day, we made out way back to Lahaina for an early dinner. We had no trouble finding a parking space on Dickenson Ave. We went by BJ’s first to see if they still had those amazing cheese triangles that were breaded with macadamias. No such luck. Matt bought a t-shirt to wear to the BJ’s back home. Since I can’t have cheese triangles, it is off to the obligatory stop at Cheeseburger in Paradise. No line whatsoever. We got a table next to the water this time. Definitely not a place for everyone. Some people might not like the fact that you have to order your fries separately. Kinda overpriced but you are eating a burger on Maui overlooking the ocean and what could be better than that. Went to Take Home Maui on Dickenson so we could send home pineapples. Made our way back to the condo to just hang out. Actually did a load of laundry! Thinking that I might have to buy a packing box and ship all this stuff home.

Maui Travel Journal-Friday

June 16, 2006

South Maui Beach and Snorkel Day. We had breakfast in the room then went for a walk around the south end of the point. There is a small bay here called Honokeana Cove. It is right below the Napili Point condos. The bay is totally calm and there were at least 3 turtles just floating on the surface. There was a couple of people snorkeling and they went right past one of the turtles without even seeing it though from our vantage point it looked huge. Vowed that we would have to snorkel here later. We also saw a small pod of dolphins off shore. They appeared to be bigger than the spinner dolphins we had seen previously. We hopped in the car and headed for Ahihi Bay. Stopped by Secret Beach along the way. This spot is gorgeous. A lot of couples get married here and I can see why. There was only one other couple there when we arrived. A police car passed us as we were getting back in the car. There was some sort of accident about 200 yards up the road. We had to wait a few minutes until the ambulance left. Word of advice, when the sign says Slow and Limited Sight Distance, pay attention! They mean it. Ahihi Cove was packed as usual, not many folks at the bay though. It was nice to see a park ranger in the parking lot at the bay giving people information on the Reserve Area. The water was a little murky close to shore and the cloud cover made it difficult to see at times. Just didn’t seem as clear as our previous trip possibly due to all the rain that Maui had over the winter. This didn’t stop Matt from seeing a turtle. I saw a huge blue fish that I think was a parrotfish. The bay started to fill up so we decided to head off to Big Beach. All the way along the road to the Big Beach lot I was looking for the Jawz taco truck that I had heard about on Trip Advisor but it wasn’t out. Now I was bummed. However, as soon as we got into the parking lot there was the truck parked right next to the path. The parking lot was packed but we found a spot and headed straight for the truck. Best mahi mahi tacos ever!! I was really craving the shave ice since it was hot out but the taco was so huge that the shave ice would have to wait. We took some pics at the beach and made our way back to the car since it was only 11am and blazing hot already. The south end is really hot and dry. I can’t even imagine staying in this part of Maui during the summer. We stopped at the beach in front of the Maui Prince. We parked in the south lot and didn’t have a problem at all finding a spot. This place is great. Nice parking, shower and best of all a clean restroom. Lots of grass and shade around but it was all taken. Looks like a great place to snorkel so we will have to try it next trip. Since it was still early in the day we didn’t want to head back to the condo yet so off the Tedeschi Winery in Ulupalakua. Matt has the winding road driving thing down by this point. The tasting room is very pretty; they had a nice gift selection. We were wary of drinking the wine that we had bought at Safeway on a lark until we sampled them. We need to get the Ulupalakua Red. The Maui Blush was pretty good. Stay away from the framboise, very syrupy and sweet. Back to Napili around 3pm. Hit the shower, Napili Market for dinner to go with our wine. Another gorgeous sunset with loads of turtles swimming in the bay.

Maui Travel Journal-Thursday

June 15, 2006

Moving Day. We are off to Napili Shores today. As usual up early. Headed over to Sir Wilfred’s at Whalers Village for bagels and coffee. Pretty good deal-cup of 100% Kona and a bagel for 3.75. We got all of our stuff packed up. It all fit coming here why won’t it all fit now? Must be all the stuff we bought but we had plenty of extra room in the suitcases. Checked out of the Westin around 10am even though we had a noon check out. Only one discrepancy on the bill. Somehow we had a valet charge on the bill even though we self parked the whole time. It was taken off the bill with no problems. We had driven up to Napili earlier in the week so we knew where the condo was. We decided to drive north to Honolua Bay. There was a ton of cars parked there and at Mokule’ia this time. Glad we weren’t snorkeling there this trip. Matt wanted to keep driving since we hadn’t gone past this spot before. We stopped at the lot above Nakalele Blowhole but didn’t hike down since we had all of our stuff in the car. Ran into Dave from Maui Eco-Adventures. He had just come back up with his tour group. He said that they saw monk seals and turtles. Figured that we would come back later in the week. Kept going along the road to Kahakuloa. Definitely Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Narrow and winding doesn’t begin to describe it. I can’t imagine people driving this road in a car bigger than what we had (Chevy Cobalt). There is barely any room to pull over to let someone pass. It is a beautiful drive though. The town of Kahakuloa itself is situated next to a river that descends thru the valley. It is tiny and remote. Would we drive the road again? Maybe. It is absolutely not for those prone to car sickness. We were almost at the end of this particular stretch of road when we saw a van parked on the other side of the road with an older lady in the driver seat. She is parked on yet another hairpin turn and as we get closer Matt thinks that she has broken down when all of the sudden she yells “Smoke?”. I think that she wants to bum a cigarette until I see that she is making the universal motion for taking a hit of pot (keep in mind that we are traveling at about 15 mph). Now if you ever needed a joint it is probably after driving this road. However, by the time we figure out what she is doing we are about ½ mile down the road and have passed a police car traveling in the other direction. And the police car is now right behind us. Could this be a sting operation? Glad we didn’t find out. After many gut wrenching hair pin turns we were back in Wailuku and it was time for lunch. Unfortunately, we have no pics from this drive since I had put the camera in the trunk and there was really no place to pull over to retrieve it. We kept driving to Lahaina and hit AMP again. Another Kalua Pig Sandwich for Matt. I tried the Mixed Grill Plate, which had teriyaki chicken and beef and grilled mahi mahi. It was pretty tasty. We just had to try the Cheesecake Lumpia. Caramel Banana cheesecake wrapped in a flour tortilla, deep fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar. Just the right size for 2 people to share. This might be just as evil as the Hula Pie. After indulging our sweet tooth we made our way back to Napili Shores to check in. We got the room that was furthest away from the ocean but it was probably quieter because of that fact. The room was next to the koi pond and looked like it was in the middle of a garden. The room was much bigger than the room we had at the Westin since it was a studio condo. The grounds were very peaceful. The resort itself is old but clean. We rented the condo thru Outrigger although they can be rented from individual owners as well. There was a really cool cloud burst right after we got settled but it didn’t last long, maybe 5 minutes then just stopped and the sun was back out. We explored the area a little then off to the market. We couldn’t find the one right up the street so we drove to the Star Market in Honokowai. There we picked up breakfast and sandwich fixin’s. Once we came back to the resort, we took a walk to the other end of Napili Bay. We checked out the menu at the Seawatch Restaurant at Napili Kai in case we wanted to hit that up later in the week. Came back to the room to make sandwiches and grab a couple of beers. Then we were off to the pool area to watch the sunset with our drinks in hand. Saw some turtles in the bay around the rocks. They are almost impossible to catch on camera since as soon as they come up for air they go right back down. Back to the room to shower and plan out the next days activities. We had another bout of rain this time with thunder. This part of the island is much cooler and wetter than Ka’anapali.

Maui Travel Journal-Wednesday

June 14, 2006

Up ay too early again, what is up with that. Will probably adjust to island time around the time to head home. Quick continental breakfast and off to Lahaina Harbor for our trip to Lana’i with Paragon. The boat arrived on time at 8:15am and we left the dock by 8:30am. The crew, Fritz, Bobby and Annabelle, all looked like they were Jeremy’s age. After motoring out into the channel, the crew raised the sails and we sailed for quite a bit. They even let a little boy steer the boat. We had beautiful weather and water conditions. I took about an hour and a half to get over to Lana’i. The coast of Lana’i is very rugged. We got to the snorkel sport right outside Manele Harbor but the water was brown and murkey due to runoff from all the wet weather they had over the winter. This gave us extra beach time at Hulopoe Beach. Capt. Fritz rounded the point and showed us the beach, he gave everyone water safety advice and explained where to swim and snorkel. There was a large beach break that the captain wanted to warn us about. The Manele Bay Hotel overlooks this beach. There was a large pod of spinner dolphins playing in the bay and they came right up to the boat to check us out. We headed back to the harbor to disembark with out picnic lunches. We walked over the hill to the beach passing a couple of wild turkeys along the way. We found a nice shady spot in the park to eat, and then headed to the beach. The water is beautiful there. We walked to some tide pools along the left side of the beach. It was neat to see smaller versions of the fish that we had seen while snorkeling. The island itself looks really desolate although we heard that Lana’i City is completely different than the area we were at. While the heat on Maui had been ‘oppressively hot’ the heat on Lana’i would have to be described as ‘hellish’ or ‘f-ing hot!’. Back on the boat by 1:40pm. Again we got out into the channel and the sails were raised. We hit some large swells on the way back and almost everyone was soaked. It was like being on a large version of Grizzly River Run at California Adventure, but of course way better. We were amazed at how warm the water was since it was deep. We thought the temperature would be cooler that the water at the beach. It was also a gorgeous shade of blue and very clear. Not like California water at all. Back in Lahaina by 3:45pm. Woo hoo, made it back to the parking lot before time ran out. This was a great way to spend the day. The crew was great, very funny and helpful. We would definitely go on a trip with them again but probably not to Lana’i. Did I mention how hot it was there? Got back to the hotel, showered and picked up our 50% off voucher for attending the TS presentation from the concierge. Went to Safeway for beer and grub. We ate dinner on the balcony and watched the clouds roll in over the mountains. I could get used to this. We were so tired after our long day that I think we fell asleep by 8.

Maui Travel Journal-Tuesday

June 13, 2006

Up way too early. It was still dark so we grabbed the camera to take pics of the moon from the beach. Tried to go back to sleep but ended up making coffee and getting breakfast from the Ono restaurant buffet. After that we went to the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas timeshare presentation. We ran into one of Matt’s coworkers from First Am who was doing the presentation with his wife. Ashley was our host. The villas were amazing and it is a very good deal. We were not ready to buy one but they gave us a deal on another stay within the next 18 months so we took it. Went to ABC at Whalers since we needed Tylenol and sunscreen. Ended up buying lunch at Mr. Sub. The sandwiches were huge so we saved ½ for dinner. Then we went into Lahaina to scope out parking for our sail on Wednesday. Found an all day lot across from Lahaina Shores. Not sure about the lot that Rick told us to park in. Not sure I would park there even if I lived there. We then drove back to the other end of town and parked at Lahaina Center. Went to Whalers General Store looking for a photo album but didn’t like any that they had. Ended up with a Remove Slippahs plaque. Then it was on to Crazy Shirts to replace the old Maui shirt. Matt got one too. Next stop Kimo’s. Sat in the lounge which is actually the deck and bar area. We decided to have appetizers so that we would have room for Hula Pie this time. Matt got the fish sandwich and I had the ribs. Not only is the Hula Pie huge, it is EVIL!! Stopped by the ABC store(what would a day be without at least one stop here) for our parking validation but they didn’t have anything we wanted to buy. So we walked across the parking lot to Hilo Hattie’s and bought postcards since the photo albums there were ugly too. Am I ever going to find one that I like? Back to the hotel to beat the crowd to the parking lot plus the new term of the day was ‘oppressively hot’. We watched the sunset from the Beach Bar and had drinks. The sunset today was probably the prettiest we have ever seen here and of course we left the camera in the room. Matt had a good point though about trying to get the perfect shot and not enjoying the show. Back to the room to get some sleep since we have to be at Lahaina Harbor by 8:15am.

Maui Travel Journal-Monday

June 12, 2006

Rainforest Hike Day. We were up early again. Tried to take a picture of the moonset but apparently the info that I got off the internet about what time the moon sets was wrong. It was setting much later in the day. Had a quick breakfast of bagels and coffee. We were picked up right in front of the hotel promptly at 8:15 am by Maui Eco-Adventures. Dave was our very funny guide. There were only 3 others on our hike. Jennifer, who lived local and another couple from Michigan. Arrived at Waihe’e Valley at about 9am and Dave gave us muffins, coffee & island fruit. He then gave us our waist packs that had towels in them and 2 bottles of water each. Plus, Matt and I had our backpack with extra water in it. We then headed up into the valley. We had to first walk thru a residential area. We then stopped at Waihe’e Plantation to sign in. You can do this hike on you our but Maui Eco-Adventures is the only guide company that has permission to hike there. This hike is also known as Swinging Bridges. Thankfully there are porta-potties there and best of all they were clean. Off to the trail. Dave was very good about pointing out the different plants and whether they were native or not. He also talked a lot about Hawaiian history. There was only one really steep part of the trail near the beginning. Glad I took my inhaler. We came to an irrigation canal that was built by Chinese laborers that were brought in to work in the sugar cane industry. In places the canals went into tunnels that looked almost like naturally formed caves. After a few minutes we came to the first bridge which is approximately 150 feet long. We bolder hopped across the stream to avoid putting any more strain on the bridge since it has been heavily used in the past. After the trailed climbed a little higher we came to the second bridge, this bridge is 50 feet long. We were able to cross this one. It was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. After going thru a part of the trail that Dave called the “Kukui & Ginger Forest” we continued to walk along the stream. We finally made it to our destination, which is an old dam. It makes a pleasant man made water fall and there is a deep pool to swim in. Dave got lunch set out for us while we swam in the pool. It was like Oregon cold! Very refreshing after the hike. Not long after we got there a group of local kids arrived with their dogs. They took turns jumping off the dam into the pool. They also tried to get the dogs to jump but they weren’t having it. Smart dogs. The dogs did get in the water to swim though. Next thing we know Dave is jumping off the dam. After the swim it was time for lunch. As we were putting our hiking clothes back on we noticed that Matt’s new Maui Dive Shop shirt had a big smudge of dirt on the back. We couldn’t figure out where it came from until one of the dogs ran across the rocks and right over the shirt again. Lunch was sandwiches, veggies, chips, spinach rolls and cans of juice. Whoever discovered Guava juice, thank you. Props to Dave for hiking all that stuff in for us. After lunch we cleaned you our picnic site and headed back down the trail. We made pretty good time coming back. We passed a few people heading up the trail. When we were almost back to the trailhead we had a great view of the coast. Back at the van Dave gave us ice cold water and cookies which really hit the spot. It was then time to drive back to the resort. The towns of Wailuku and Happy Valley are very poor looking, almost 3rd world. The ocean at Ma’alaea was really calm, no whitecaps at all. We have never seen it so calm. The surf was up pretty good and there were a lot of locals out since it was King Kamehameha Day. This is the only holiday that is celebrated in the United States that honors a monarch. After getting cleaned up we checked in with Jim at the concierge desk since he was curious about using Maui Eco-Adventures. We also signed up for the timeshare presentation the next day since the extra $100 would come in handy. Plus, once we attended the presentation we would get a voucher for 50% off a 5 night stay at any other Starwood property outside of Hawaii. Had a couple of drinks at the Ono Bar then dinner there as well after picking up a book for Matt at Borders. Sat at the Beach Bar to watch the sunset. They also had a hula dancer performing modern hula (not the grass skirt kind). Wiped out after another long day so off to bed fairly early.

Maui Travel Journal-Sunday

June 11, 2006

Up EARLY! Watched the sunrise from the balcony. Had the breakfast buffet at Ono. Grabbed our snorkel gear and headed over to Black Rock for the first snorkeling of the trip. Just as we rounded the point we saw our first turtle. We hadn’t even been in the water 5 minutes! Stayed at Black Rock until around 10am. Went back to get ourselves cleaned up then to the concierge desk to talk to Jim, who was our personal concierge. He gave us some good ideas of things to hit but I had already planned most of them. I don’t think he knew what to make of me. He asked if we wanted another $100 credit to attend a timeshare presentation but we turned him down. He wasn’t pushy about it at all. Next we went to Long’s to drop off the snorkeling pictures. Since it was going to be a couple of hours we decided to try Aloha Mixed Plate (AMP) since it was right there. I had the Hawaiian Plate; it had Kalua Pork with cabbage, 2 scoops of rice, one of mac salad, lomi lomi salmon and poi. I had the Sassy Wahine to drink. It is basically at mango margarita with a strawberry swirl and a li hui ming powder on the rim. Matt had the Kalua Pork sandwich and a Kona Brewing Co. Longboard Lager. We decided that we can never eat at Ohana Grill again without missing AMP. Picked up the pictures and went back to the Westin. It was getting quite warm. We thought we would go hit the pool. The grown up pool. No rugrats there. There were no chairs in the shade. I jumped in to cool off then we went and sat in the shade by the Beach Bar, which is funny since it is next to the pool. Still too hot so we went back to the room to cool off. Watched a little Visitors Channel then we went into Lahaina to have dinner at Kimo’s. We didn’t have to wait long for a table. Erika was our server and she was great. I had the opakapaka and Matt had the opah. Both were done Kimo’s Style. We were stuffed so no Hula Pie. Darn, have to come back.

Maui Travel Journal-Saturday

June 10, 2006

Uneventful flight from Orange County to Kahului. Got in before noon. Speedy service at Avis. Ended up with a Chevy Cobalt. Not the best car in the world but it was free. Took us about 40 minutes to drive to the Westin. I jumped out of the car to see where we could park while checking in and they just went ahead and got us ready. They didn’t have a room yet since it was so early, so they took down my cell number. On the way back to the car I ran into Matt. The valets had taken our luggage to store and let him into the parking lot. While passing from the valet drop off back into the lobby we passed the leis, I took the orchid lei and Matt got the ti leaf kind. Next up was a table of chilled flavored ‘elixirs’. They had ginger/lemongrass, pineapple/vanilla and berry. I liked the pineapple/vanilla the best. They also had wet towels, nice touch after the hot drive from the airport. Headed to the Ono bar to wait for our room. We had a couple of Kona Brewing Co. beers. Also got some onion rings as an appetizer. It had some sort of ranch dipping sauce that had pineapple and possibly a dried Thai chili in it. After that we went to the desk just to see what our chances were that our room was ready. We got our room and they said that someone would be up with our luggage. About 5 minutes after we got to the room the bellhop showed up. Service so far was great. Nice view of the mountains even though you had to look over the parking lot. The room was clean and very nice. Got cleaned up and took a walk over to Barefoot Bar. This will be our last time eating here since once again, service was mediocre at best. Since we were already at Whaler’s Village we went to Maui Dive Shop to rent our gear. Jim was very helpful. We then went into a map shop and the lady showed us some original land titles from the 1800’s. After that we walked over to the Sheraton. We watched the sunset from the beach, then it was early bed since we were wiped out after a long day.

Maui Travel Journal June 10-20, 2006

This will be a blog about our recent trip to Maui. Each post will cover a different day of our journey.