Maui Sunday

As I developed a line across the lens of my camera, I decided to just sit back and enjoy the view as no photograph will really capture the essence of what my eyes really see.  A thought came over me….  Sunrises over Haleakala are kind of like safaris.  At first you just click away on your camera to get all those marvelous pictures.  After awhile, you realize you need to sit back and enjoy the view and take it all in at the moment.  That is what I did today. 

On the coffee table, I discovered a marvelous book entitled, “Hawai’ Looking Back: an illustrated history of the islands,” by Glen Grant, Bennett Hymer and Bishop Museum Archives.  It contains old photographs and illustrations dating back to the 1850s.  This is definitely not a book one would want to buy here and take back in your suitcase as it is quite heavy.  Amazon has it used for $26.99. 

Lucky for us, we have nothing scheduled today.  At 8:30am (been up since 5), I am lounging in my nightie on the sofa, looking out over the lanai seeing a catamaran and another boat on the bay….. 

I have found the Hawaiian people to be very personable.  They ask you where you are from and make a familiar comment about your state.  One young man at the luau mentioned that he knew North Carolina to be famous for our football and basketball.  When I said I had brought my Tar Heel hat, he asked why I hadn’t worn it.  Two hours later leaving the luau, the same young man told me to be sure to where my NC hat when I returned.  A few days later at the Waterfront restaurant, one of our wait staff again asked where we were from.  When I said, North Carolina he asked if I was from near Myrtle Beach.  He had heard that it was a beautiful beach.  Both young men were trying to make a connection.  Crystal says this is common among the Hawaiian people.  I find it quite nice.

Haleakala Saturday

Up early before my “rooster” and alarm getting ready for our all day trip with Polynesian Day Tours.  I had booked our excursion online through viator.  After another magnificent sunrise with red clouds, we waited out front by the road for our van. 

Van of 24 after going by airport and picking up 9.  Back seat in a packed van.

Switchbacks up to the top of 10,000 ft with a brisk breeze.  Glad I wore my long pants and wind bracket.  Four people hadn’t read the voucher that noted long pants and warm clothing would be helpful.  Cloud cover all the way up and the observatory continued to appear and disappear.  Heard load squeals and figured it had to be the bicyclists going down the mountain.

Was wearing my Tar Heel cap and two people asked me if I was from NC.  One young woman who worked at the visitor’s center and was going to visit NC next spring.  The other was a guy named Dan who had lived on the Outer Banks and now in Asheville.  Nice guy,

Lunch at an Italian restaurant named Cassanova’s in Wachoma then on the Io (pronounced E-o) Valley and the Io Needle.  Rain forest area where we actually had rain.  Everything was lush and green.  Then a drive to drop people off back at their hotels.  Our driver/guide, Cheryl, who was very knowledgeable, skipped right past Maalaela and on toward Lahaina, with long stretches of slow and bumper to bumper traffic.  Finally reaching Lanaina, we were told to get off and enjoy the town for an hour.  This was not listed in my itinerary.  Talked with a nice NZ couple who had flown in from Honolulu.  They were travelling with another couple and had kept busy traveling to different islands and had had a bad experience on a dinner cruise the night before. 

Dinner on our lanai was a tomato cucumber salad with Maui onion dressing, chips and guacamole, fresh papaya, passion fruit and guava with a bottle of Beaujolais. 

Tomorrow… not one thing scheduled!

Aaaaahhhhh Friday….. on Maui

One of our resident roosters awakened me at 5:45am, late for me here on Maui.  Luckily I didn’t miss the sunrise.  It was another fabulous vision with the clouds dancing over Haleakala.  After coffee, we noticed red in the clouds that looked like dirt or dust, but at times more flames in the sky.  Hope one of my pictures got a good view of what we actually saw.

Today we visited the Maui Ocean Center and found it to be a great aquarium.  Thank goodness Crystal likes aquariums as much as I do.  Lots of great fish to see along with coral, sharks, turtles and rays.  I think the most weird fish we saw was the frog fish.  It was re and camoflagued in with the coral and took awhile to even see.  Since we arrived right as it opened, we missed most of the shows, but they were probably more geared for the children.  My headphone died half way through the shark building, oh well.

Lunch was at the Seascape Restaurant.  We both got the fish tacos and they were great, but the view of Maalaea Harbor was the best.  Crystal made the comment that we had now eaten at 3 of the 4 restaurants and by tonight all 4.  We really do love this place and hopes it continues to be Maui’s best kept secret….. as I tell all of you!! (post script:  just saw on the map that there is a restaurant called the Maalaea Grill that we may need to add to our list of restaurants.)

Right next door to the aquarium is the mall where Beach Bums is.  We ate there our first night here.  Upstairs is an Farmer’s Market & Crafts Fair, so we walked in.  Seaglass earrings, mink seed bracelet and Mango Mandarin lotion, and could have purchased more….  Many vendors only take cash so make a note. 

My bartending lessons of many years ago paid off today, I made an island concoction I named Mango Madness:

-          A heaping spoon of frozen guava juice

-          2 shots mango juice

-          1 shot vodka (but It might taste good with rum…. We’ll let you know)

-          Ice

Blend well and serve in glass.  Garnish with fresh island fruit slice.

Tonight dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant in Maalaea.

Dinner on the protected lanai was delightful.  Being protected means we didn’t have as much wind as those in the other section.  We had the lanai to ourselves for most of our dinner.  Michael was our waiter and told us he had been working at the Waterfront for over 20 years.  For dinner, I had the Lobster Bisque.  We asked if they were local lobster and Michael told us that the blue spiny Hawaiian lobster were very hard to catch and most fishermen kept them if caught.  The fresh fish menu was very interesting.  Four or five different fresh fish are offered a night, then you have four or five different ways they can be prepared.  I had the Monchong fish prepared A La Menguine style served in a lemon sauce with either macadamia nuts or capers.  I opted for both which ended up macadamia on one side and capers on the other.  I like capers but sometimes, too many can overpower a dish.  This was just right.  We sipped on a bottle of Honeig Saviaugn Blanc and split the award winning White Chocolate blueberry cheese cake which we brought home some for later.  All of this with a lovely view of Maalaea Harbor!

Way Late Finishing Up Maui

I felt like I wanted to complete my Hawaii trip before I started another.

My second sunrise over Haleakala was even more spectacular than my first.  This morning the colors on the clouds began as a light salmon color turning to a deeper peach.  As the clouds were darker and lower over the volcano, the experience was totally different than yesterday.  Also the colors all over the sky were wonderful (hard to come by just the right adjective): behind us toward to windmills or in front of us toward Molokini.  I told Crystal this morning that the sunrises are so special they almost inspired me to write poetry…..

One of today’s adventures includes a snorkeling trip to the afford mentioned Molkini.  This is a crescent shaped remains of a volcano or as Captain Dan told us a steam spout from Haleakala.  We were on the Four Winds II booked through Maui Classic Charters.  It was a full boat with lots of families with various ages of children.  Everyone I saw was well behaved and congenial, children and adults. 

After an hour ride to the dive spot, we backed into our spot and began snorkeling.  I’ve been to better coral reefs, this one has been harmed seriously.  There were many varieties of fish, but few in number.  With all the people on our boat, as times it seemed congested.  When my mask began to fog, I swam back to the boat to get it defogged.  The swells kept throwing me back to the boat, so I just gave up and got back on the boat.  After that I went down hill will a bit of mal de mer.  I tried the special Sprite and Ginger Puree, but after 2 it wasn’t much help.  The odors coming from the food made it even worse, so I ate potato chips for lunch.  I  did try a bite of a hot dog, but it wasn’t so good either.  The ride back had a stop at Turtle Town, an area that had a few Hawaiian green turtles.  They were good sized, we saw maybe 4-5.  When we got back to our condo, it was down time until our luau.

Old Lahania Luau  ….. more to come