Libby and Joan in Maui

 Monday, June 14, 2010

Flying to Maui

The big day was finally here!  After weeks of planning and waiting, Libby and I were off to Maui to celebrate Libby's 30th birthday (six months late).

I drove down to pick her up in the morning.  With our boarding passes already printed out, it was a fairly easy trip through the (very long) security line in LAX and onto our gate where we waited excitedly for our flight.

The time "flew by" quickly and we arrived at the Kahalui airport at 5:30, Hawaii time.  We took the shuttle to the car rental headquarters and were soon on our way across the narrow valley of the Valley Isle to our final destination, the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. 

There was a little mix-up getting into our room, as they had mistakenly booked us into a room with just one double bed, but they quickly repaired the mistake and we settled into our nice little home away from home.

Our unit had a little kitchen which was great for snacks and breakfasts but as soon as we settled in, we headed into Lahaina Town for Thai dinner at the Saigon Pho Restaurant.  Coconut Shrimp, Green Papaya salad, summer rolls, and a ginger-teriyaki fish (complete with head -yummy!   










Tuesday, June 15
Exploring West Maui

I woke quite early to a gorgeous glow in the sky over the island of Lana'i and Libby soon joined me on our own lanai. 

Today was our one really free day to just explore, so we decided to try out some of the recommended snorkeling beaches.  First stop was one of the resort hotels along Kaanapali Beach for a great breakfast,

then we walked down to Black Rock, which is supposed to be one of the best snorkeling spots on the island.  Unfortunately, it didn't live up to its reputation this morning.  The waves were a bit choppy, and the water was quite murky from the churned up sand.  Libby did, however, see her first humuhumunukunukuapua'a and a few other fish. 

So we quickly gave up on Black Rock and headed for Honolua Bay, another celebrated snorkel spot. 

The walk to the beach was beautiful, through a green, quiet forest of climbing philodendron and grasses that were so tall, we felt as if we had walked into "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

 

Libby came across this sign, and sure enough, the surfers were out, so once again, our snorkel quest was thwarted. 

We knew we had some snorkeling adventures lined up for later in the week, so we gave up for today and headed into Lahaina to explore this funky little town, former home of Hawaiian royalty and notorious whaling port.

Chuch of the Holy Innocents

and the famous Lahaina Banyan Tree...this huge tree fills the entire park...all those "trunks" are really hanging roots that support the tree's massive branches.

The old Pioneer Inn, built in 1901, is still doing a booming business.  It is now a Best Western Hotel but retains the old flavor of earlier days.

The day was pretty warm, so naturally we had to try a Shave Ice in the shade of the banyan tree, then we visited the Baldwin House, home of one of the early missionaries to Hawaii (who, like so many of those missionaries, went on to become a prominent family in the Islands).  Some local ladies were making beautiful leis as a fundraiser for the local high school.

We finished the day in real Hawaiian style by going to the Old Lahaina Luau, which is supposed to be the most authentic luau on all the islands.  It certainly was a beautiful setting, right on the beach, and we were greeted warmly by the friendly staff.  I had chosen the traditional mat seating, rather than the tables, which meant that we were right up front next to the stage, but I have to admit, by the end of the evening, my legs were pretty cramped.  I'd better get back to yoga!

(It didn't seem to bother Libby at all!)

The early part of the evening was spent walking around the grounds, looking at the traditional crafts, and watching the young men digging the kalua pig out of the imu oven in the sand.

Then it was time to feast while we enjoyed the music and dance.

As soon as the sun went down, the dancers returned with torches lit and continued the show.  (There were no dances with fire batons, however, as those are not traditional Hawaiian dances.

Wednesday, June 16
Trilogy Cruise to Lana'i

We had breakfast in the condo and headed down to the Lahaina docks for our cruise to the neighboring island of Lana'i on Trilogy.  Naturally, I had us there too early, but once we were underway, it was a great day!

"I'm on a boat!"

It was a great morning out on the water.  The Trilogy crew is the best...they call you by name immediately - and remember it the rest of the day!...and come around frequently with cinnamon rolls, fruit, and juice.  We sailed past this shipwreck when leaving Lahaina docks.

The air was so clear that we could actually see the Big Island (very faintly) in the distance. 

And the trip got even more exciting when we found ourselves in the middle of a large pod of spinner dolphins, leaping and gliding all around our ship!  Cynthia, the marine biologist on board said there were at least 200 of them.

 Our arrival to Lanai was announced by trumpets on the big conch shell.

We found our spot on the Hupuole Bay beach just below the Manele Bay Hotel (where Bill Gates was married after having rented every hotel room on the island and keeping them empty to protect his privacy). 

The water was a bit choppy in the wind, but we swam out past the breakers and had a fun time snorkeling.  The water in the bay is fairly deep, so we were not right up close to the coral, but still saw a good number of fish.

Then we joined our guide for a tour of Lanai.  She had grown up on the island and was full of interesting information about the history of the big hotel in Lanai city...

and the fact that Lanai, which used to be "The Pineapple Island" and owned by Dole had been sold...and now these are some of the few pineapples left! 

After the tour, it was time for lunch.

 

Then it was time to return (under sail) to the West Maui Mountains and some great views of our hotel, Lahaina town...and the best sunset of our entire trip!

We walked home in that gorgeous glow and then watched it fade to black from the lanai our our room.

Thursday, June 17

Zipline!

We headed out early for our drive to the far side of the island and up the slopes of Haleakala Crater for our zipline adventure with Skyline Eco Adventures. 

We were in a group of about 12 people and first got all suited up in our equipment and had a short training lecture...

then our guides led us through the eucalyptus forest to the first of our five ziplines.  They started off short and sweet...

then got progressively longer over gorges that got deeper and deeper.

     The grand finale!  We crossed a fun suspension bridge to the fifth zipline, a rip-roarding ride across a very wide, deep canyon all the way to the big white pole on the other side, sliding more than half-way back, then gently returning to the center where our guide caught our legs and steered us to the top of the waiting ladder where we climbed on down.

I have to admit, while waiting my turn at the top of the ramp (which was steep enough that they actually attached us to a safety line behind us until it was our turn to take the flying leap off of the ramp), my legs were actually shaking, but once I'd had my turn, I wanted to turn right around and do it again!!!

We had a good lunch in little hippie town of Paia and had planned to visit the Iao Needle, but we were pretty worn out from our zipline aventure, so we had a quiet afternoon, then got cleaned up and went in Lahaina for dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We had a seat right by the window over the water for a good view of another nice sunset.

Friday, June 18
The Road to Hana

The rock in the middle was pictured in Jurassic Park.

Today started with a little mini-disaster when Libby's computer crashed, so we got off to a little later start than we had planned.  But things improved rapidly as we headed down the Hana Highway which winds its way along the wet, tropical north shore of Maui.  West Maui sits in the rain shadow of Haleakala, and is very dry...nice for tourists and beaches, but Hana is my image of Hawaii.  Lush, green vegetation, dozens of waterfalls, black lava shelfs against a deep blue sea.  The tour books actually give warnings about the Hana Road...it is narrow and curvy, with many single lane bridges...but I didn't see what the fuss was about.  It is a perfectly good road, and we were remarkably lucky with traffic, running into very few other cars.  I had downloaded a nice Hana Highway guide which led us easily to the highlights. 

Our longest stop was at the Garden of Eden Botanical Garden, which was filled with walking paths past tropical fruit trees and flowers.

Water lilies

Bird of Paradise

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Hanging Heliconia

I didn't get the name of this flower.

Red Giner

Torch Ginger

Antherium

An ancient (and huge) mango tree

and the Banana grove. 
(I was surprised when I first learned that banana bunches grow UP instead of down.)

After the Gardens, we headed on toward Hana, stopping here and there for the gorgeous views...

Libby at the Three Bears Falls

One of the many one-lane bridges of the Hana Highway

Hotel Hana

Because of our late start, we only went as far as Hana Town where we stopped for a great lunch on the outdoor deck of Hotel Hana and then explored Hana Bay for awhile before heading back.

Hana Bay

Our final stop was at Waianapanapa State Park with its famous black sand beach.  We had worn our bathing suits under our clothes so we enjoyed a swim in the ocean, then walked along the hiking trails for views of the lava arches and more gorgeous views.

Saturday, June 19
Snorkel Cruise to Molokini Crater

Up very early today for another Trilogy Cruise...this time out to Molokini Crater, an ancient volanic crater that sits a few miles off the southern coast of Maui and which forms a lovely protected cove.  The snorkeling and diving there are world-famous due to the clarity and calm of the water.

The great Trilogy crew fixed us another great breakfast and we enjoyed a beautiful cruise out to the crater, which was already dotted with other boats there to take in the good early morning snorkeling.

Libby and I signed up for the snuba (a cross between scuba and snorkeling...you are underwater, but attached by a line to a raft of air above you).  It was fun, but I am way too bouyant.  Our guide had to add more weights to my belt...time to diet!!!  After our snuba trip, I went back to snorkel closer to the reef along the edge of the crater.  The water was amazingly clear and there were plenty of fish.

We had lunch on the boat, then sailed around the back side of Molokini, which is a breeding site for the frigate birds the soared over us...

then we headed to Turtle Town for more snorkeling near the shore.

Libby had brought her scuba certification with her and was excited to learn that they had room for her on the scuba excursion so she got all outfitted.

Unfortunately, she had just come down with a little cold and just couldn't get her ears to regulate, so she returned to the boat very shortly and joined me for more snorkeling instead.  The water was not as clear as at Molokini, but we did see several turtles floating beneath us.

Once we got back to Maui, we were pretty wiped out, but since we were so close, we stopped by the very good aquarium at the Maui Ocean Center for an up-close look at more fish, sharks, and turtles,

 
then we returned to Lahaina for dinner.  Libby finally got to try the Spam sushi...
 

and we were joined by this cute little gecko who hung around for quite awile watching us eat.

 

Sunday, June 20

Home Again

No interesting adventures...just a long day coming home.  But what happy memories!  I love you, Libby. 

Happy Birthday, my own baby girl!