Maui Vacation 2011

Tonight we tossed and turned about what to do, go out, dine in, skip it all and go to bed.  We finally decided to cook a meal at home and then head to the movies later in the night.

Tonight’s Menu:

• Wagu Top Serloin Steak w/ Maui Steak Seasoning
• Butter Braised Green Beans (Finished with leftover steak drippings)
• Sweet Corn on the Cobb w/ Coarse Black Pepper
• Kraken Rum & Coke

Yeah, it goes without saying, it was Da Bomb.

Well we woke up this morning early so we could head out to “some amazing snorkeling” at La Perouse Bay which is at the very end of Makena road on an old lava flow (1790).  As we were getting ready we were greeted by a visitor…

After we were done being grossed out about that we got our gear together and hit the road.  It’s a nice drive, a bit sketchy in places but totally do-able.  When we arrived in the “parking area” We walked onto the lava flow towards a nice little bay area, ignoring the beach closed signs (we were told by a local it was fine) and entered the water.    While I can absolutely see the potential for this spot to be great snorkeling it had recently rained and thus the water was very cloudy and had limited visibility.  Too bad as I hear there are often dolphins and turtles in the morning times.  At any rate, we floated around for a little while, seeing what we could and then got out of the water.

The sand in this area (what little of it there is) is quite nice.  It’s a chunkier sand with all kinds of interesting bits in it.

There are a lot of birds in the trees around here, and there are also 5 lovebirds in a large cage out just past the porch.  They can be amazingly LOUD sometimes, and boy do they get up early.

Also, Marla the kitty cat lives here.  She is a funny little cat; she doesn’t meow so much as to be making noise or to announce something, it seems more of a statement that also contains annoyance that she’s having to tell you something in the first place.  As I was trying to get a picture of her, she jumped up on top of the birds’ cage and stretched and rolled around.  The birds were happy to have a completely different side of the cage to fly to.

We got up very early this morning, and drove to the end of the road.

I’d read that the snorkeling at La Perouse Bay, down on the southern tip of Maui, was great, and if you got there early enough in the morning you very well might run into some spinner dolphins and lots of sea turtles.  So we got up at 5am and headed out.

To get there you drive south past Kihei, Wailea, and Makena, eventually driving through the Cape Kina’u lava flow.  The lava flow is an amazing and very….other-worldly…place.  I’ve been there once before, years ago, and I got the same visual then as I did this time.  The lava looks to me like huge piles of the biggest Oreo cookies in the galaxy all crumbled up, as if giants or maybe the gods were making my grandma’s Oreo-cookie-crusted mud pie and got overzealous making the crust.

I’d only gone as far as the lava flow on my previous visit to Maui so wasn’t sure what to expect continuing further down the road that is obviously not meant for tourists.  I could imagine that this area is included in the Maui car rental agreements along with Hana as a place car renters promise not to take their rental cars.  But going slow, our friend’s borrowed car did just fine, and eventually we found ourselves at the end of the road in a very rough parking lot.  It was a little confusing trying to figure out where we should or could enter the water as its still lava flow at that location, but some words with a local and we chose our path and managed to find a safe entry point among all the somewhat stabby lava rocks all around.  Now, it had rained the previous night, but we’d thought it only rained up north, hoping that the dryer Kihei hadn’t gotten any the previous night.  We were wrong, and the water was extremely murky; almost no visibility.  We did take some pictures, but they are so sad I’m not going to bother posting them.  So we swam back in, traversed the stabby rocks, and headed back to town for breakfast.

So, failed turtle-dolphin-snorkeling mission, but totally worth the early morning swim, the crazy driving adventure, and lava flow experience.

Just had breakfast at LuLu’s.  We opted for the Loco Moco which is kind of an island version of country fried streak… Fried rice topped with a beef patty, then eggs and topped with brown gravy.  It was heavy and more than we could finish but it sure was tasty!

Saturday morning we got up and decided to head in to Kihei.  The drive to Kihei is kind of weird for  any type of tourist attractions like shopping and eating as most of the places along the road are little strip malls.  We weren’t seeing much for food along the way so Susanne busted out some of the awesome banana bread we got the day before.

As we continued south, however, we did find a really cool area which I believe is actually Kihei proper.  There are three big public beaches in a row surrounded by all kinds of island vendors, bars and restaurants.  We parked and got out to explore.  First we found awesome new underwear at The Love Shack

Afterwards we headed right next door to a place called The South Shore Tiki Lounge which served up tasty concoctions at reasonable prices. We also tried their happy hour special; a bean and bacon tostada, which was quite good.

We tooled around the little shops and things that were there, checked out a tattoo shop and had a stroll down S Kihei Rd before returning to where we parked.  The tostada hadn’t filled us up so we decided to share some lunch from Fat Daddy’s BBQ which is apparently “Maui’s Only True BBQ.”  I can’t tell you if their claims are true but I can tell you the food was good.  Delicious pulled pork, creamy slaw and rich mac-n-cheese.

We also spotted an interesting little vehicle in the parking lot.  I might just have to check this out because it looks too fun to be true.

We had made plans to meet our friend Darren Elske to meet some of his crew, watch the Seahawks game and chat about activities but by the time we had finished lunch we were still a ways out from our arranged meeting time so we continued heading South to checkout The Shops at Waileah.  This was a strange experience.  The shops are actually set in among what seemed like several golf courses and fancy housing developments.  Not really our style of shopping but we went in anyhow.  We took a stroll through the various courtyards and stopped in at places such as Tiffany & Co.  and Rolex, you know, just to see what the rich folks were up to…

By this time it was time to go meetup with Darren & Co.  We had arranged to meet at Oceans Bar but when we got there Darren was nowhere to be found.  We texted him and it turns out that there was a UFC fight about to go start and Oceans was charging a cover so they chanced venues to Life’s A Beach.  We arrived and got to catch up with Darren and meet his friends Dianne, Becky and ???.  It seemed the girls were quickly bored with Life’s A Beach so we changed venues once again to LuLu’s just down the street.  This place was great.  They had $3 happy hour Mai-Tai and Margarita, food, the football game and a killer atmosphere.  The bar is a nice open-air setting, shady and lots of ceiling fans.  It’s also right across the street from a crazy ever-breaking wave pool thing which was fun to watch.  The kids that play there are masters of surfing in-place.  I found out later this is called a wave machine (http://youtu.be/sGDg0yDkMCI).

We eventually got tired of watching the Seahawks loose so we made plans for dinner.  Susanne and I wanted to get in a swim so we left Darren and the crew to go have a dip and meet up with them later on for dinner.  I’m pretty sure the beach we swam at was Kamaole Beach Park II.  It’s a cool little beach, wasn’t too crowded.  There is also bathroom/changing room and outdoor shower here which is great.  We bobbed around for an hour or so then got ourselves ready for dinner.  The outdoor shower proved very handy for getting sand off our feet.  We put on new outfits we had bought earlier in the morning and headed back towards dinner.

Dinner was at a little spot called the 808 Bistro.  This place is now officially on our Maui recommended list.  The food was amazing and the restaurant itself is quaint and offers a great open-air dining experience.  Susanne had a lovely take on Pork and Beans while I opted for the Maui Cordon Bleu.  Both were delicious and it was nice to share the meal in the company of friends new and old.  This is also where we learned about one of Maui’s best rules ever.  Basically, if a food establishment does not have a liquor license, you can BYOB!  We had several lovely bottles of wine with dinner, all of which we got at the grocery store for a fraction of the price and there is no corkage fee!!!

All in all it was another lovely day on Maui where we set out with no particular plans but ended up having an action-packed day full of fun and friends.  We’re doin’ it right.

…They apparently make your snorkel mask leak.  So, this morning I made my upper lip remove his protective warm armor.

You can also spy the new earrings I got in Paia, HI.  They dangle a bit more than I’m used to but I really like ’em.

… A phrase I’ve heard many times from my dear friend Holly Hinman.   Yet somehow when we left on our trip to stay at Kitty’s place I thought to myself “of course she has a coffee maker” and of course, I was wrong.  I suffered through the first day but this morning I was bound and determined so I hacked together a coffee maker.

Yes, you are seeing that correctly.
Parts List:

• (1) Colander
• (1) Bleached Commercial Paper Towel
• (1) 1-Quart Pyrex Measuring Cup

I laid the paper towel (filter) into the colander and placed the colander on top of the measuring cup.  Then, just pour water into the top and you get drip coffee out the other side.

Although my initial expectations were quite low, this method produced a remarkably good Cup-O-Joe!  I used some Ethiopian coffee we bought on our trip to Mana Foods.  It’s organic and fair-trade and a delicious dark roast that isn’t too bitter.  Very yummy but also very HOT.

Today we left early with no specific plan other than to head to Lahaina and eventually end up in the water somewhere.  We tossed the snorkeling gear in the back (and unfortunately two cameras ill-prepared to take photos all day) and took off towards Lahaina, stopping on the way at Ho’okipa to appreciate the view and watch the surfers.

In Lahaina we checked out the Cannery Mall, and then went down to Front Street, Lahaina’s old town. We did some shopping (aloha shirt and hawaiian patterned sundress acquired!) and checked out the huge banyan tree.  We had lunch at the Mai Tai Lounge, which has a fantastic dining room that hangs out over the ocean, serves pretty decent drinks, but has only mediocre food.   We also visited the Hard Rock Cafe, skillfully dodged an aggressive tourist package salesman, and had some ice cream at a local shop.   And we bought tickets to see Ulalena on Monday, a show about the story of the Hawaiian people; we’re told its very inspired by Cirque du Soleil, and very good.

After strolling around in town it was time to find swimming and cool off.  We drove up to Kaanipali and after driving around for quite a while looking for a place it was ok to park (not being a guest of any of the hotels there) we ended up on a little piece of beautiful beach.  We hung our towels and clothes on tree branches above where little crabs kept cleaning out their little holes/homes in the sand when the tide would push a wave up past their home.  It was SO NICE to swim in a warm Pacific Ocean, we just bobbed around for an hour or two, just letting the waves pull us out from the shore and push us back again.

After that we figured we’d just continue driving north to get back home, knowing that the road did go all the way around the island…more on that later.

At one point we saw a woman with a truck of goodies parked in a pull-out so we stopped, hoping for cold beverages.  After purchasing drinks from her we almost got in the car and drove off, but at the last moment I decided to go look down over the side of the cliff there only to find the most beautiful blue bay below, very sheltered from the rough waters further out, and with some small pods of snorkelers.  Turns out we’d stumbled upon Honolua Bay; you have to walk through private land to get to the shore but the owners are very nice (as long as you are respectful too) and allow people to walk down to the beach there and snorkel.   The snorkeling was great, we saw all kinds of fish, but the special guest stars were an octopus and the biggest puffer fish I’ve ever seen – he looked about 3 feet long.  There was also, hugging the shore on one side, a massive school of small silver fish we’ve as of yet been unable to identify (6-8″, silver).  As we were leaving we spoke with the owners who said come back first thing in the morning and there are lots of octopus and turtles!  We will go back, and this time the underwater camera’s batteries (unlike today) will be charged!

Back on the road we continued clockwise around the northern tip of Maui, eventually passing a sign that said “End of State Hwy”.  Hm, I wondered if that meant anything important?  As it turns out, the road became a crazy narrow winding path of asphalt that reminded me a little too much of an episode of “worlds deadliest roads”.  It really wasn’t THAT bad, but most of the road was pretty sketchy when we met another car going the other way; occasionally they or we had to back up to a wide spot, or would wait in one if the driver saw us coming ahead of time.  And 20mph was definitely the max speed.

Along the way we passed several signs declaring that the World’s Best Banana Bread was up ahead, and then one proclaiming that the green shack was the authentic place we wanted to go and the pink shack was not.  So, when we found ourselves passing a very brightly painted pink shack (with accompanying pink covered seating area and pink decorative boulders across the street) we kept driving, until we found the very bright green shack on the side of the road.  We bought two loaves of banana bread and some cans of juice, and if we’d had the necessary $15 more we’d have purchased some of the coconut candy nuggets (the sample I ate was deeeeelicious).  We also got her card because she said, “We ship pretty much everywhere.”  And guess what? YOU can have some too!

Oh, and did you know chickens and roosters abound on Maui?  They do.  There is practically one around every corner.

After miles of very slow crazy narrow windy road driving we finally hit the state highway again.  We made a few stops on the way home for supplies, including when we managed to find the small Haiku grocery store all on our own (ice and coke for the rum!), and then home.

TW cooked garlic gorgonzola ravioli made with spinach pasta + turkey meat balls with 4 cheese pasta sauce and corn on the cob, and we ate it while watching The Muppet Movie.

Now he is snoring in bed, and I’m ->this<- close to falling in beside him.

Wonderful first full day here.  Here’s hoping tomorrow is as perfect an adventure as today was.

So at the advice of practically everyone we talked to we stopped in at Mana Foods in Paia, HI to get some groceries. Now our little home is stocked with all kinds of yummy organic foods.

http://www.manafoodsmaui.com/

Not sure what’s next for us tonight, probably just a cool rinse off and lounging around.

Here is our landing in Maui.  Coincidentally, also my first ever YouTube upload.

So we got on the plane this morning

Took off and waved goodbye to Seattle

5.5 hours later we were arriving in Maui.  At first glance it doesn’t look that much different from home, except all those volcanic mountains…

Getting off the plane, we had to use the rest rooms.  Even the signage wears Hawaiian shirts!

Yep, we opted for the Lei Greeting.

After telling the cab driver he went too far and him assuring us he didn’t then finally conceding and turning around, we arrived at our home for the trip!  It’s PERFECT.

And there are many interesting looking spiders… Susanne is THRILLED about that.

We made it.  Our plane just hit the ground and we are moving toward the terminal.  Aloha Maui!