Lahaina

Lahaina is a really nice town. As we walk through the quaint shopping area our eye catches Maui to Go Arts and Crafts. We stop in and check out some amazing photographs that a local couple, Monica and Michale Sweet, take.


We talk with the owner Monique. She is a super sweet lady who moved here from France 20 years ago. After Dan tells her of our plans to move here she tells us how dismal it has been for her and her husband, also named Dan. He is a video photographer and after many years of bountiful work on all the islands, he has had none this year. He comes casually strolling in, in his lose t-shirt and shorts and talks with Dan. After buying one of the pictures, she gives us a cupon for half off lunch and her business card. They tell us to look them up once we move here. We leave thinking maybe this isn't the right time, maybe in the spring. Lahaina is active; a lot of boats, beach goers, surfers. Our cupon is for a place called Pacific 'O. Nice! We sit out on the lanai overlooking the beach.



Our waiter moved here 3 months ago and is totally happy to live in paradise, he says yes, times are tough, people are leaving, rents are going down because of that, but he is comitted to make it work. As he gives Dan his fish and chips, he gives us tips and tricks the locals use to save money. Show them your ID, tell the you are a kama'aina (local) and you get a 15 to 25% discount. I get an organic salad whose produce was grown on their farm, oofarm (oofarm.com)! The tomatoes are golden and the best I've had in Hawaii. There are strips of carrot type things white, yellow and red and white swirled, I guess jimica, carrot and radish. Wrong, they're all beets! I get some grilled mahimahi to go with it, again, the best mahimahi I've had on the islands (a little salty) moist, decicate, tastey. The waiter tells me they don't go through a company, two local guys go out and fish every morning and bring them what they caught! How cool, this is everything I embody about food, I want to work here! I go to the bathroom and glance at a newspaper article about their award winning farm to table practices. On the back of the stall door is a laminated flyer describing the farm/tour lunch activity that you can do. It's over, I'm going to work here. The farm is in Kula, maybe Kula is very Kula!
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Return from Hana

We finally get into Hana and stop for an overpriced lunch.





Dan gets a kulua pulled pork sandwich and I get a mahimahi sandwich with mango mojitos all around. We decide to make the loop instead of heading back the way we came and we are rewarded. The road is cut into the rocky cliffs and there is a sheer drop off to the ocean.





The smooth, paved highway turns into a rutted highway and the terrain is rolling green hills against the cliff like mountains.



We check out the other mountain town Kula, but decide we wouldn't want to live there because the drive is out of the way to get to the beach. Dan says it's not so Kula! Sunset greets us when we get back home and Dan is itching to get his feet wet. As we walk along the beach, the sun setting, we see turtles in the ocean coming up for air. After a shower, we decide to have sushi up the street. It is a great meal for a decent price (it's more expensive in Maui than Kauai) and I'm stoaked because it's my first meal using chopsticks! Dan has the spicey pork and I the spicey squid.

Day 3, The Road to Hana

Stella Blues Eggs Benidect




Another breakfast at Stella Blues. Dan decides on the breakfast burrito while I have the banana pancakes with toasted macadamia nuts and coconut syrup, yum! Since we might meet with the doctor tomorrow, we decide to do the 8 hour loop on the road to Hana. Dan has read that it is one of the top 5 most beautiful drives in the US. We leave Stella Blues at around 8:30. On our way we drive "upcountry" through Makawao. It so beautiful and cool, about 15 degrees cooler. As our waiter said it can get Africa hot in Kehei where we are staying. If you were to combine the lush vegetation of the south with the cool air and mountain charm of Breckenridge you'd have Makawao. From there we get on the Hana highway and it does not dissapoint. Hugging the rocky coast line, the lush, tropical rainforest creates a canopy of sun dappled highway, every now and then, around the bend, is a view of the vast, clear, deep blue Pacific ocean. Black lava cliffs contrasting against the blue of the ocean and the white of the waves crashing against them.



Horses or cattle grazing in a green meadow in the foreground. Giant trees and tangles of roots clinging to the rocky road side a sheer 20 feet up, leaves and branches whipping into my open window while Dan makes frequent stops at the narrow 1 way bridges that congest the 2 lane highway.


We see an inviting sign for a botanical garden called The Garden of Eden. We've been in the car for about 3 hours so we pay $19.00 to get in. It's costs 20 but that's all we have and the guy who says he's working in paradise let's us in anyway.



It's about a 2 mile loop filled with beautiful views and unique flowers. We see a 100 year old mango tree






Bamboo trees, and a waterfall. Back on the road to Hana we see a turn off for a lava tube. We can't resist! Luckly, they take credit cards, we pay the $22.00 and we're in. There is a stand where a young lady passionately explains that the lava tube was formed 960 years ago when mount Haleakala was formed. Behind her is the "owners" house. This tube runs through his property. We walk about 20 feet and descend into the tube.



There is plenty of room to walk, averaging a 20 foot tube. The tube is pitch black but we are supplied with flashlights. As we walk on 960 year old, unchanged lava, water drips down on us. It is one of the coolest things I've ever done. About an 1/8th of a mile in there is a vent hole


The tube runs down the mountain and when the lava was flowing a boulder trapped the flow, the pressure shot it straight up and blew a hole from the tube. Some parts of the tube look like chocolate ran through it instead of lava.



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Maui Ocean Center

After checking out the aquiarium we had dinner at Beach Bums. Our favorite meal yet. Dan had a beef brisket sammie and a marg and I had fish tacos and the house drink. Over looking the pier we talked about living on a boat. It would be cheaper than buying a house and we could check out all the islands! We came home exhuasted, after some ice cream we took a "nap", laying down at 6:30, it is now midnight. Here are some pics of the aquiarium.



Hawaii's state fish the Humuhumunukunukiapua'a














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Day 2, snorkle trip

What a fantastic experience! They loaded everyone up, about 80 folks in all, at 7ish. Dan and I felt all special because we were members (the only 2), so we got to board first.




The Pacific Whale Foundation is dedicated to preserving the marine life in the Pacific and educating folks. It felt really good knowing our tour was Eco-friendly, they even provided us with reef friendly sun screen. The staff is really knowledgeable, there were 4 naturalists on board along with the captian and 2 voulenteers. Tiffany, one of the naturalists, is my new she-ro. I'm guessing she's about 25, majored in biology in California, and is now explaining to the tourists what types a fish we saw, in a kayack making sure everyone is safe, diving 50 feet down to secure the boat, and helping dock the boat. On her days off, she teaches scuba. She is so happy and it shows. As we left I told her she was my new she-ro and she said to look her up when we move here. On the way out we had breakfast served to us while the crew explained what to expect. First, we went to Molokini Crater, a crater that was formed by a volcanic explosion. It's crecent shaped and provides a shelter from preadators for the fish. It is a bird sanctuary for the Frigate bird, they can go out to sea and stay in the air for 2 or 3 weeks, not landing once. Underneath was a beautiful coral reel teeming with tropical fish, imcluding a white mouth moray eel. We got to snorkle for an hour. One the way to our next destination, I learned that the Parrot fish poops sand. One Parrot fish will poop one ton of sand in a year and 25% of the beach sand is Parrot fish poop! Then we headed over to Turtle Town. There are 2 long fingers of lava flow with the most amazing coral reef. We saw a lot if turtles, just floating, watching and hanging out with them. There was a white tipped shark (they are docile), but we didn't get to see it. On the way back Dan had 2 hotdogs and 2 maitais and I had a veggie burger and 2 blue Hawaiians. After a shower to wash all the salt water off (my lips still feel like I've been eating sunflower seeds all day) we are heading back over to Maalaea to check out the auqarium.

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Day 1 is over

I think we will both sleep well tonight! After breakfast, really yummy eggs bennedict with potatoes at Stella Blues - owned by dead heads - we just drove. We found where we are to meet for snorkeling tomorrow, at the Pacific Whale Foundation and became members. Talked to a nice lady who moved here 10 years ago, we'll be voulenteering there once we move here! Then we headed up towards Wailuku where the doctor's office is. We checked out some dream houses, found a .29 acre plot for $400,000. Ha! Drove down the Iao (sounds like e o) Valley and met the doctor at noon. He had Dan put on a pair of his prototype shoes and took us for a hike in the lush Iao Valley. His idea is fantastic but definately will take a lot of R and D before he's ready to hire us. On the way back, we snacked at Buzz's Wharf on some coconut, panko calamari and shrimp washing it down with an island drink called plumera red. Headed back to the hotel and rested for an hour or so. Dan trying to nap, me looking at all the Maui magazines I've picked up. After snacking on some Maui chips - my favorite - we drove west towards Lahaina to catch the sunset and sat on a pier and watched the sun go down, then headed to Maalaea to The Waterfront for dinner. Because of the movie Bottle Shock, we got a California red, Dan had MahiMahi and I Mahnchong, caught today, sitting out on the lanai overlooking the ocean. Dan got me a tuber rose lei, that smelled lovely all through dinner and even now as I write this post. Now it's time to read a little before lights out. I'm reading Sacajawea and Dan is reading The Power of One. We have to be at the pier at 6:15 tomorrow morning for our snorkle trip.

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I like coconuts

Cruzin around Maui, top down on the jeep, Widespread Panic on the iPod singing about coconuts, sun shining all round, ocean breezes, lush vegetation on the rolling mountains...life is good!

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