Flying home

Sadly, we fly home today, leaving this beautiful island behind, wishing we had more time to explore it and enjoy the water. I would love to go horseback riding here, drive the rest of the road to Hana, go out in a big canoe in the early morning, and do more snorkeling.
Thank-you for following along dear readers; until next time! Happy trails!

Photo of Maui from the air by Alan Yeh, via Flickr

Big Beach, big waves

Sun replaced the clouds and rain of yesterday, so we thought we might be able to snorkel on our last full day here. At Ahihi Bay we walked along the lava rock path and found the tiny black sand beach; it would have been a great place to snorkel over a low reef, but the surf was too high, with a strong north wind. We watched the whitecaps, we could see the back of Molokini in the distance, and with the binoculars saw Humpback whales breaching.
On the way back we stopped to have a look at Secret Cove: in the guidebook they say it used to be secret, is very beautiful, and a lot of wedding ceremonies are held there. We found a spot to park, spied the tiny opening in the rock wall that's the only access to the beach, walked down and stopped short: a wedding was taking place at the water's edge! Beachgoers were in their folding chairs reading their novels, and the couple were saying their vows and exchanging rings - the bride in a traditional white dress, the groom in a shirt and shorts, both wearing leis, and the ten guests in shorts or sundresses! We couldn't believe our eyes! It certainly IS a picture perfect spot, especially today with the waves crashing on the rocks and sending up spray, the blue sky, and the beautiful sand.
Next stop was Big Beach, a mile long strip of gorgeous sand. Despite the red warning flags and signs reading Caution: dangerous shore break, people were swimming, bodysurfing and boogieboarding in the big waves. We watched an older gentleman walk into the surf wearing glasses and a straw hat; he was barely up to his waist in water when a wave toppled him and he lost both his glasses and hat - miraculously he found both, put them back on, but then walked out again, only to have the same thing happen! That time he didn't find his glasses...

Photo of the lifeguard tower by The_Smiths via Flickr

aquarium day

As the weather had turned stormy, with wind and rain, we decided it was a great day to check out the aquarium, or Maui Ocean Center as it's called. When we arrived mid-morning, we realized a whole lot of other people had the same idea, as there was a long line to get in!
We started in the Living Reef building, and had just made it about half way through, when it was time to meet back near the entrance for the Fins and Flippers Tour. We were a group of about 16, with 2 from Germany, and the rest of us Canadians! First we were taken behind the scenes to see week-old seahorses barely 5 mm long, and then we fed brine shrimp to 6 month old jellyfish. We did this by reaching an arm into the tank, gently and carefully turning one over, and pouring the brine shrimp mixture into their "mouth" or underside, then turning them back over and letting them go! Back in the public area, we fed pieces of mackerel to young Hammerhead sharks in an outdoor pool (on the count of three, we all threw our mackeral in at the same time to reduce fighting), and lettuce to Green Sea Turtles in another pool.

After lunch we went back and finished seeing the Living Reef exhibits; they were just excellent and we enjoyed seeing all the various colourful fish, especially the Moorish Idols and Unicorn fish. In the Open Ocean building we were astounded by the column of large jellyfish, quite mesmerizing, and then the enormous shark tank, with large fish and rays too. Around the corner of that tank you walk through a 54 foot acrylic tunnel, and could watch rays or sharks swim overhead; it's like being right inside the tank.

First photo by peter313; second by rustytanton both via flickr

Molokini

The full moon was sinking, a wild rooster in a tree was crowing, and it was still very dark when we walked down to the dock in Kihei this morning at 5:40. The dive boat crew were waiting, as well as a few of the other passengers.  Soon everyone was on board, waivers were signed, but before we could leave, the Captain had a question: "are there any bananas on board?" Huh? It seems bananas are very bad luck on a boat here - they were very serious about it - so we had to confess to having two bananas in our bag - we handed them over, and they were left behind on the dock. "Trust me," the Captain said, "they'll be there when you get back."  And they were!
The good part about leaving so early was that we were the first boat to arrive, and as the sun lit up and coloured the clouds to the east, the scuba divers got suited up, checked their gear and jumped in the water. Molokini sits three miles off Maui's south coast, and is the partial rim of an old volcanic crater.

The divers came back raving about the 150' visibility, colourful reef fish, moray eel, the manta ray, barracuda and the reef shark in the distance.
Back near the coast, we stopped at Red Hill for a drift dive. This time I got in the water and snorkeled, following the divers below at times, as it was shallow (30 - 40'); I saw lots of fish, and a green turtle swam right in front of me!
Photo by blau17 on flickr

Iao Valley

The first stop this morning was the Saturday Swap meet - it's part farmers market, part craft fair, and we bought a Maui grown pineapple and an avacado.

Then it was on to Iao Valley State Park, where we walked up the path to take photos of the "needle," a remnant of an old volcano. It rises 2250' up, and takes its' name from 'Iao, the daughter of Maui. According to legend, beautiful 'Iao was raised in the hidden valley to shelter her; but one night a "merman" swam upstream, and was smitten by the lovely 'Iao. When her father discovered this affair, he threatened to cast the merman out to sea. The distraught 'Iao pleaded that she couldn't possibly live without her love, so Maui turned the merman into a needle of stone.
Photo by jongela19 via Flickr

Tedeschi Vineyards

Highway 37 in central Maui got progressively narrower as we went along this morning; it climbed and turned into a country road, with goats, cattle and horses in fields, jacaranda trees, lava rock walls and sweeping views of the water way below. In the tiny village of Keokea, we stopped at Grandma's Coffee House for coffee on the deck, beside coffee trees. Soon we were at Maui's only winery, in time for the tour and tasting.

Tedeschi Vineyards is on an old 20,000 acre ranch. The tasting room is in what was once a guest cottage, and the tasting bar has a beautiful 18' mango wood top. We tasted four wines: 2 were pineapple, and the last was a raspberry dessert wine.

On the way back we stopped in the tiny town of Makawao - a ranching town in the 1800's and now converted gas stations and old western style buildings hold art galleries, clothing stores and gift shops. A store called Aloha Cowboy caught my eye... 
First photo by j elden bailey; second by Joel Abroad; both on flickr

Whales

We were having lunch in Fred's Mexican Cafe, at a table with a view of the water, when there was a collective intake of breath beside us - a whale sighting! Humpback whales are here calving in these warm waters, and we saw them breaching, spyhopping and surfacing to breathe. It was quite a show - hard to eat as you didn't want to take your eyes off the water and miss something!

Then in the evening we went to a free talk and powerpoint presentation by the Pacific Whale Foundation - and learned that 60% of humpback whales migrate here from Alaska in the winter; the rest go to the waters off Mexico/Central America, or Indonesia. It takes them 4 - 6 weeks to get here. A 45' humpback weighs 45 tons; the females are bigger than the males; the pectoral fins are 15' long.
Photo by gumption via flickr

Paia and beyond...

The early morning line at tiny Anthony's Coffee Company in the town of Paia was almost to the door when we arrived, but we amused ourselves reading the signs and mugs with sayings like "visitors must be approved by the cat" and "if a man is alone on a desert island, and no woman hears him speak, is he still wrong?" Java in hand, we headed out, and didn't get far along the road when we had to stop to watch the surfers.  We were on the windward side of the island, the tropical and windy side, good for surfing, kiteboarding and windsurfing.
We were headed for the famous road to Hana, the narrow, winding road that hugs the coast; it has 19 single lane stone bridges, where you have to stop to see if you can cross, or if you need to wait for someone else. There are no shoulders on that road, and in some places you have a rock wall on one side and a dropoff on the other... but the views are astounding.

We stopped to walk on a narrow trail in a bamboo forest (tall and impenetrable), to climb up to a viewpoint at the top of the Waikamoi Nature Trail (like a jungle with vines climbing up the tall trees), and found the little dirt road down to Honomanu Bay, a black sand beach where we ate our lunch. Then it was time to head back; we'll save the rest of the drive to Hana for another day or even for another trip, maybe one where we stay in Hana and explore the area. 
On our way back through Paia we stopped at Ono Gelato for a delicious treat before looking around some of the interesting stores. In a shop where I found cute flip flops on sale and local handmade soap (Kula Herbs - plumeria scented) they were selling bags made from old windsurfing sails! How clever is that?
Photo by Navin75 on Flickr