The Final Hours - Leaving Maui

That's about what it's come down to, sitting here in the airport gate waiting for our flight to board. To add insult to injury, the plane that we will be leaving on just landed and everyone aboard just stepped foot on Maui soil for the beginning of their trip. They just probably put up a screen so people like us that are leaving can suffer in peace. :)

If it sounds like I'm being over dramatic, I probably am. You'd think after 3 trips to the Valley Isle, leaving would get at least a little easier. You'd think, or maybe it's just us.

Anyway, I have a few post-vacation tasks that I'm hoping to finish up this weekend once we're back home, including putting together a post with our Top 10 favorite moments of this trip and collating everything from our Maui Twitter into the Our Trips section. I'm hoping (at some point) to add various photos and links to the Twitter log archive do add more of a moment-to-moment feel to things. That's the plan, anyway.

This being our third trip, it's tempting to try and compare this one to the others and rate them as which was the best. That's really hard to do, though, since there are good memories from each and there hasn't been any (heaven forbid) catastrophic mishaps with any of them to isolate them as being awful. I think along with the Top 10 list from this trip, I might also work on a Top 10 all time, too.

If I haven't mentioned it yet, this trip was absolutely wonderful and we're leaving with so many more memories and experiences under our belts. By this point, we've set the bar pretty high for our next trip in February, but I don't think it will be very hard.

Aloha Maui, and Mahalo to those of you that have been following along with us on our trip.

Almost time to say Aloha

Where does the time go?

It Friday morning and our last day here on the wonderful island of Maui. Even though this was our third trip to the Valley Isle, we still had so many new experiences and memories this time that were so special. I will be working on a top 10 list from this trip during our travel back home and post it over the weekend.

We have a red-eye flight tonight, so technically we still have all day, so it's not that bad.

Yesterday was pretty nice, although going home started to sink in for a few of us. We tried to do a little shopping in Lahaina, but like I posted yesterday, the cruise ship was in port and things were a little crowded. When we came back to the resort, Cindy and I walked over to Whalers and came back with these lovely white and yellow gold rings from Na Hoku, matching bands actually. I'll post a photo over the weekend of the rings as well.

With the vog and the lack of trade winds the last day or two, it's been hazing around the area. Last night's sunset wasn't very much of anything because of all the clouds, and while I was sitting out on the lanai late last night, you could barely see the boats out in the water or the lights from Molokai or Lanai. In fact, it looks like there were giant yellow fog lights out on the beach in front of the Westin that I hadn't seen before. Probably not a bad idea to have, though.

We pack pretty much everything last night, so we're just making our way down to breakfast and then checking out at noon. We don't have much else planned for today, just slowly making our way towards Kahului and stopping at a few last shops and maybe a bite to eat. Not a very spectacular way to end just a wonderful vacation, but then again, we don't really like to give going home too much attention.

Mahalo and Aloha Maui!!!

Wednesday Night's Luau

The luau last night here at the Sheraton was our last planned activity for this trip, and it was just as entertaining as it was last year. The MC was different this year, as was some of the dances, too. We were expecting to see Cindy's favorite, the "mosquito" dance, but it wasn't part of the show this time. The fire knife dancer had a different part, too, although it seemed a lot sorter of a performance this year.



Still, all told, it was a lovely evening. We had gotten down to check-in a little earlier this year and ended up with a much closer table. The sunset, as always, was absolutely stunning as you would expect, and I believe I got a few good shots that are post worthy (when I get to it). A good time was had by all.



As for today, Thursday, it is our last full day here on Maui. We started out with lunch by going to the Aloha Mixed Plate beachside grill just behind the cannery. They were a little shorthanded staff-wise, but the food was excellent and it was a nice atmosphere. That was, of course, on our way back towards Lahaina and Front Street. We were going to play a little shopping game, but that didn't pan out. The cruise ship was in the harbor so things were a little more crowded than usual. I'm not sure where, but I thought I read somewhere that whenever the cruise ship is in port, some merchants tend to raise their prices a little bit (or a lot), so we didn't stay too long.

Also, the thought of leaving these islands yet again started to hit Cindy a little bit, but a stop at Ha'agan Dazs did the trick.

Right now, we're just sitting out on the lanai, watching the sea turtles avoid the snorkelers and watching the sun come out behind the clouds for really the first time today. We're just taking it easy and thinking about what to do for dinner, either something familiar or brand new. Then we get to do our dry run on packing everything and trying to fit in everything we bought this trip. Always the saddest part of our trips here.

Mahalo for now.

Hot One on Maui

Boy, what a difference a day makes. For much of our day yesterday, beach hopping in South Maui, we had a decent amount a cloud cover. Today, however, staying nearby in Ka'anapali, the sun is bearing down full blast and making it a hot one in paradise.

Cindy's down by the pool as I type, pretending like it's only our second day here (we wish). Our plans of taking it easy and relaxing are pretty much in play right now. The only main activity we have planned for our last few days is our luau tonight here at the Sheraton. Unfortunately, our Tours of the Stars at the Hyatt last night was canceled yet again. We don't have much time left, so we didn't reschedule it for this trip and we'll try again in February. From what it looks like, we'll probably opt for a later viewing next year, perhaps the 9pm session instead of the 8 o'clock.

Cindy and I did head down to the beach briefly last night (around 10pm) and the skies were pretty much clear. We didn't spend too much time, however, because as we were headed down there, we saw a few folks feeding three baby kittens that were just born here at the Sheraton and looked like they were starving. We had seen cats here on our previous trips, just wondering around various parts of the resort, and saw them last week, too. We didn't see the black one for the last few days, and now we know why. It was a cute little scene and not something you'd expect to find here.

That's about it for now. We still have two days left, and I don't want to start sounding like the trip is over, but it's been an exciting and fun time this year and has us totally stoked (excuse the surfer speak) about coming back here in February. It is a little too early to start that countdown, though.

Mahalo.

Beach Hopping in South Maui

Boy, today was quite a long day, so forgive me for not going in way too much detail right now. Bear in mind, though, that I will be adding each of these to our Beaches section in the coming weeks.

The day started off about 11am heading down to South Maui for the first time this trip. First on our list today was Kama'ole Beach Park I.



Kama'ole is actually made up of 3 different beach parks in Kihei, and we started off with the first one. Of the three beaches we visited today, the sun and clouds cooperated the most. It was a pretty nice beach, and there was plenty of room for us to spread out. The facilities were pretty nice, too, as there was showers, restrooms and a lifeguard. Parking was a little tight, though, luckily we pulled in just as someone was leaving.

After spending almost two hours here, we went on a little "adventure" (as we like to call it) and tracked down a little beach called Malu'aka Beach near Makena.



It was the smallest we stopped at on Tuesday, but it was still nice. I was able to walk around for a while, and just like Kapalua, there was a little walking trail at one end of the beach where I could go through a few rocks and take photos like the one above. The guidebook said there were are normally a lot of turtles in the area, and there seemed to be a small family with their snorkel gear trying to track them down.

Aside from the beach itself, Cindy and mom spotted a whale out in the distance with the help of a few folks nearby. They said they whale was active for a little bit and then breached, coming out of the water and making an audible splash when it hit the water. Unfortunately, I missed it and didn't even to think to bring the binoculars to get a better look.

The last stop on our beach tour of South Maui this year was Makena State Park, also known as Big Beach.



This is a very known beach in South Maui as was evident by the two parking lots full of cars and the largest crowd that we saw all day. Also, as the name implies, this was the biggest beach we stopped at all day. Big Beach is almost 2/3 mile long, and walking all the way to the end and back taking photos took quite a bit out of me. At this point, the sky was mostly overcast, so the heat didn't get to me as much and Cindy was a little disappointed from a tanning perspective. It was still quite a sight, though, and with so much room and big waves, it's no wonder that it's a popular spot for people doing everything from boogie boarding, playing frisbee and hitting around the volleyball. Aside from the drive all the way from Ka'anapali, it was a great spot.

Three beaches in one day, so much for R&R. :)

Time Lapse - Maui Sunset

About a week before our trip started, I posted a list of photography projects that I was hoping to accomplish while we were here. Well, here's one of them.



Since this was a serious of about 80 photos, I decided to post it to Flickr instead of YouTube. I thought it turned out a somewhat nice, although I have aspirations of doing better next year. Be sure to check out the full-sized version on Flickr. Let me know what you think.

Mahalo.

Whales on Parade

Aloha Maui Fans.

So okay, the quality of this video I uploaded to YouTube isn't the greatest. It doesn't look as bad on my PC, so I just need to consult a few folks when I get home on what I'm doing wrong.

Anyway, this was shot from the lanai of our room at the Sheraton. It was shot on Saturday, April 19th, which is technically 4 days after the official end of whale watching season (according to the Pacific Whale Foundation). Apparently, no one told this group of whales.



To set the scene a little bit, there were about 3 or 4 sail boats out on the water, including the Teralani 3, Kapulua Kai and the Trilogy VI. They were sailing around in the area, chasing individual whales here and there. All of a sudden, a group of four whales (possibly three adults and one calf) emerged and starting heading north from Black Rock (left to right from our view on the lanai). They all starting swimming in one direction as a pack, taking turns rising up to the surface of the water and blowing water from their spouts.

About 2:30 minutes into the video, two of them simultaneously raise up with their flukes (aka tales) and dive into the water. It was truly amazing.

I took a boat load of photos, too, which I'll go through later in the week or next, as well as one or two other videos. For all the activity we've seen here in mid-April, we can't wait for what we'll see on our next trip in February.

Monday, Week 2

Aloha,

It's our second Monday on Maui this trip, and Cindy is getting ready for her spa day at the Westin. Normally, she likes to jump right to the spa in the first couple of days, but this year, her silly husband booked almost all of our activities the first week, so it was delayed just a little. She still enjoys it, though (and she certainly deserves it).

As for me, I'm just working on some of my homework for my digital photography class and trying to come up with a few more good poster-quality photos while we're here this year.

Yesterday was a little slow, which most of this last week will be. The focus now is really on unwinding and relaxing before we have to head home to our stressful jobs. Speaking of stress, I must have spent 3 hours yesterday trying to save my whale watching videos in a file format that YouTube wouldn't absolutely destroy the quality of. At this point, I haven't had any success, but will keep trying.

We went to the new Outback Steakhouse last night across from the Lahaina Cannery Mall, which was somewhat of a taste we're used to back home. They've only been open for 7 days, so the service still needs a little bit of work. It was quite a bit of food, though, so no one went home hungry.

Last night, the clouds did stay away long enough for Cindy and I to lug all my gear down to the beach. I tried taking a few photos of the the stars, but it wasn't long before than giant full moon came in and had plans of it's own. We were down their pretty early, too, relatively speaking. It was about 8pm, so the torches on Black Rock were still lit, and many of the rooms at the Sheraton still had their lights on, so it wasn't the ideal conditions we had last September.

Either way, we just put the camera away and took out the binoculars instead. Using my handy little PDA and a very cool little piece of software called Pocket Stars, I spent the next hour playing tour guide and astronomy teacher with Cindy. It was a pretty entertaining and productive night for the most part as the clouds stayed over the mountains where they belong. We ended up finding both Saturn and Mars, saw Orion, Gemini, Leo and parts of Taurus, just to name a few. Gaging her interest and her willingness to listen to me ramble on and on, I think tomorrow's Tour of the Stars at the Hyatt is going to be just as much fun for her as it will be for me. That is, if it doesn't get canceled again.

Really not much else to report at the moment. Not as exciting to blog about, but still worth it's wait in gold being out here and not having a care in the world.

Mahalo.

Putting the Sun in Sunday

Well, this is officially week two of our vacation, and of all things, that means its time to do the laundry. Probably the only downside to a two week vacation that we've come across so far.

Its absolutely perfect out here today. We had a late breakfast at the buffet, and while I'm sitting out in front of the laundry room, Cindy is out by the pool soaking up the sun. There isn't a cloud in the sky (aside from the mauka clouds near the mountains). She probably couldn't had hoped for a nicer day.

We didn't have any real plans for today, other than watching the hockey game this morning (unfortunately Detroit beat Nashville). We found this rib and rotisserie place north of here for dinner. If it turns out to be good, we'll post about it.

That about does it for now. I'm working with some of the whale video I shot yesterday from our lanai, and hope to get that uploaded today.

Aloha and Mahalo.

Magic Isle, Magic Mele, HAPA at the MACC

Magic, that's really the best way I can describe the HAPA show at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center last night. True magic.

We've been Hapa fans for a little over two years now, ever since our first trip to Maui. We have just about all of their CDs and as soon as we discovered that they were going to be on Maui during our trip, we knew it was going to be the highlight of our vacation, and indeed it was.

The combination of Barry Flanagan and Nathan Kawai Aweau (braddah Nate on stage) making up HAPA is such a delightful live show. Their light banter and jokes between the two of them, as well as their reminiscing about stories from previous shows along their tours displayed a lot of the chemistry they have together. Throw in Charles Ka'upu as the chanter and narrator of the show and explaining some of the meanings behind the songs, and you have a complete package. Keeping with Hawaiian tradition and adding the visual poetry to their music (as Barry put it), former Miss Aloha Malia Petersen added her beauty and talent by performing hula dances for most of the songs in the two sets they did. Not sure if that's their standard MO or something special for being back on the islands, but it was a wonderful addition. They played two sets, each about an hour long, with an intermission in between.

It was our first time at the MACC, so we didn't really know what to expect. They had about 3 dozen tables setup in the courtyard and various booths of people and grills selling food and drinks before the show. There was also live entertainment and hula for about 90 minutes prior to the doors opening. The show itself was in the Castle Theater at the MACC, which was a very nice, small and intimate setting for such a popular group on the islands. Everyone there had a truly great time.

Afterwards, Barry, Nathan and Charles were right out front signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. We had a long drive home ahead of us, so we took a pass on that, but it was still great to see them so open and accessible to everyone.

It was such a memorable night, we won't soon forget it. If you ever have a chance to see HAPA live, whether in Hawaii or on one of their world tours, don't miss it.

Slow Saturday? Not Any More

Sorry to sound like a broken record here, but no sooner did I power up my Dell laptop to post about how quiet and peaceful today has been did a group of three whales start leading a parade of boats straight across the entire view from our lanai. I'm starting to feel like a whale paparazzi.




Wow, sorry, I had to stop yet again. Between my camera with the telephoto lens, my video camera and my binoculars, I might as well grow two more pairs of arms. Really, we thought this was the end of whale watching season. I'll have to go back to the wifi spot and upload this latest video I just shot to YouTube. Amazing.

Back to the plans that we didn't have for today. I woke up around 6am just because I couldn't sleep any more, and started going over some of the photos and video so far. Cindy woke up around 9am, at which point we turned on the TV and watched a little playoff hockey on NBC. It was only the last half of the third period, and Philadelphia couldn't overcome a Washington lead, so they're going to a game six in Philly. Tomorrow morning is Nashville and Detroit I believe, 3pm ET start, 9am HST. I love watching hockey in Hawaii.

Cindy and I walked down to the Westin this morning so she could book her spa day for Monday. She's getting a full 50 minute massage this year, so I think I'll have to carry her back after that one. Next it was on to lunch, where we just drove a little north of Ka'anapali and grabbed sandwiches from Subway. There were no tables left to eat, so we kept driving north looking for a beach park with picnic tables. We found Pohaku Park just near Kahana and had a windy bite there. After holding on to our napkins, we stayed and watch one lonely whale swim on by and about 4 turtles in the area.

Coming back to our room to figure out dinner before tonight's Hapa concert at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. Cindy went out down by the pool to read and missed the view I had of the whales (described at the top of the post). She said she had a nice view from the beach, but she's looking at the video now and I'm sure she'll see my view was better.

We'll, getting ready to head out to Kahului in a little bit to go see the Hapa concert. What a day!!!

Aloha Friday from Maui

Alooooooooooooooooooooooha.

For a Friday in which we didn't plan anything, it's sure been a good day. We blew off breakfast (again) and slept in a little bit. Today was going to be about sitting out by the pool and catching some rays, and that's what we did. We enjoyed some cool pineapple wedges followed by some not-the-healthiest nachos for a lunchtime snack. We spent a good two hours down by the pool while I was catching up on some reading for my photography class.

Back at the room to cool off, what else did we see from our lanai? None other then more whales swimming out near the surface. Grabbing the binoculars again, we saw what looked like a mother whale with her calf, both slapping their fins in the water, and in some cases, at the same time. Maybe it was a swimming lesson of sorts. Either way, it was still a sight and is definitely not getting old.

Everyone's finishing getting ready now, and Cindy is writing up postcards for our family and friends, most of which don't follow this blog anyway (they don't know what they're missing). We have to make a stop to Whalers today so Cindy and mom can bring their rings in for inspection and then can start wearing them for the rest of the trip. Then it's off to Lahaina for dinner. We're thinking of going to BJ's for pizza, but nothing is really final yet.

As you can probably tell from the posts so far on this trip, everything is absolutely wonderful and just what we remember from our past trips. Steve (my boss) if you happen to be reading this, we definitely need to start talking about a telecommuting plan. Maybe one month intervals to start. :)

Our weekend plans look wide open at this point, and Saturday night is HAPA!!!! That, without a doubt, is going to be the ultimate highlight of this trip. Seeing that everything is been so perfect thus far, it says a lot.

Aloha and Mahalo.

Dinner at Leilani's

Well, dinner at Leilani's last night was a little more than we expected it to be. The food was just as great and the drinks were ono of course. I had their Hawaiian Punch again, and it actually tastes like the Hawaiian Punch you used to drink as a kid, only with a real "punch".

No, but though the sunset was mainly hidden by the clouds, the best part of last night's dinner was the entertainment, provided free of charge by a pair of whales out in the ocean. At first, we just saw a few spouts in the distance, had a few awe moments, and kept talking. And then, **splash**, a big wave a water shot up above the surface and practically everyone facing that direction in the restaurant noticed it. We saw the first whale making all the waves and slapping his fin into the water, all without our binoculars or our cameras.

The second whale stole the show a little later further south with much of the same fin splashing. He seemed a little closer, and from our table, we had a less obstructed view of him. From what the regulars around here tell us is that during the height of whale watching season (Dec-Feb), you see stuff like that all the time. Seeing that we're planning to comeback next February, that has us very excited.

Now, as for that Hula Pie I keep writing about, no surprise that when it comes to tackling a slice of one of those, three mouths are better than two. Here's a quick before and after view of what a little teamwork can get you.

Before




After




After dinner, we did a little bit more shopping in Whalers Village and then walked back to our room. I had been hoping to go out on the beach and do a little stargazing, though, the clouds had a different agenda than I did. Cindy and I did go down to the beach later with the binoculars and the clouds started to break just a little, but with the clouds breaking, the full moon took over and everything was a lot brighter out than I remember from last year. Needless to say, it was a bust.

Something I just need to keep in mind when booking our trip next year, check the lunar calendar as well.

Maui Ocean Center Visit

Today was our return to the Maui Ocean Center, which we first visited last year. Cindy and I each have our favorites at the MOC, hers being the green sea turtles at the Turtle Lagoon and mine being the sharks in the Open Ocean exhibit. We actually got a pretty good discount on admission because of our family membership with the Pacific Whale Foundation, so if you're planning a trip out here or come back every year like we do, it's not a bad thing to have. You actually get 20% tours with the PWF, too, so the $55 membership fee pretty much pays for itself.

Last year, the Turtle Lagoon was closed for maintenance and we only saw Ku'uipo the sea turtle swimming alone in a little tank. This year, she was back with her friends in the Turtle Lagoon exhibit, swimming happily and entertaining all the little keiki that stopped by to say hello. In total, there were 5 sea turtles swimming in the lagoon habitat that the MOC created for them. The turtles are actually lent to the ocean center by Sea Life Park on the island of Oahu. The exhibit featured a few from above where the turtles would swim up to the surface for air and a window on the side where you could seem them dive and swim with their fins. There was also a small patch of sand where they could come out and soak up the sun, but they chose not to while we were there.

Onto the "shark tank" for me. After trying hard last year but coming up empty, I finally got to take some photos of the more active tiger shark. He and all the other sharks seemed to be more energetic this time, and it was probably because it was a little later in the afternoon and they were getting ready for their second feeding. I'll be looking through the photos later this week and hopefully posting a few here as my proud moment.

As for the rest of the evening, we'll be getting ready to head back to Whalers Village for my belated birthday dinner over as Leilani's. Afterwards, I'll probably make my first trip down to the beach after sunset to do some stargazing. I did a little stargazing earlier in the week from our lanai, but it's been a busy last couple of days and I haven't been staying up late enough.

Tomorrow, of course, is Aloha Friday and we have nothing planned, and that's a great feeling. We'll probably just hang out by the beach or the pool and just relax a little bit. Cindy wants to book her massage and facial at the Westin for next week, so we'll probably walk out that way tomorrow, too.

That's all for now. Aloha and Malaho for reading.

Whale of a Birthday

Aloha Kakahiaka,




Looking back at what I had written would be my perfect Maui birthday, things didn't work out exactly as we had planned. Not to worry, though, it was still a wonderful day and any birthday here on the islands beats a birthday back home.

We were all excited about the whale watch tour during the morning, as we had seen a few sightings from our lanai as I posted earlier. Going out on the water to get even closer was going to be even more exciting. And it was. The narrator on the tour said that Tuesday was the last official day of whale watching season in Hawaii, yet we still found quite a bit of activity. Much like us and other annual guests, they try to stay as long as they can, too.

The first sighting that we saw on the boat was probably the most thrilling. Not more than 10 minutes in, we found a mother whale swimming with her calf. As the boat engine stopped and we watched for a little bit, the naturist on the boat also spotted a male escort whale nearby as well, which we were told doesn't happen a lot either. I tried snapping a few good photos and will be looking through them and post the best ones.

We moved on with the tour, finding a few more whales here and there, closer to Molokai. It was about a 2 hour tour, though, about 90 minutes in we all started to get a little uneasy with the motion of the boat and had to retreat into the cabin. Cindy and I have taken boat tours in Maui before and only had mild discomfort near the ends of them. But this time it was much worse. Unfortunately, we decided to cancel our other two cruises while we're here, which does free up time to do other things, though.

Even though the end of the whale watch wasn't great for us, it was still an amazing sight to see and a great memory for our trip. We'd absolutely love to do it again, but we just need to figure out a way to beat the motion sickness piece. Since we're planning to come back in February for just that purpose, we've got sometime to research and maybe practice back out on Lake Michigan.

After the whale watch, we stayed in Lahaina a little bit, hit Quizno's and Starbucks for lunch. After sandwiches, we walked over to Hilo Hattie for some serious gift shopping. Cindy and mom pretty much crossed off everyone on their list, and I picked up a kukui nut necklace to go with my aloha shirt for the luau next week. We killed about an hour there before heading back to our room for a little bit.

Cindy crashed for about an hour before we headed out to Whalers for the rest of our evening. The original plan was to eat at Leilani's for my birthday and celebrate it with a giant piece of hula pie. However, the timing didn't work out so well since we ate in Lahaina, so we moved that back to Thursday. I did get to eat my favorite Hawaiian pizza for dinner, though, which was still a nice treat. Cindy and mom also got to stop by the Pearl Factory to pick out their pearls and make their rings. We have to bring them back on Friday to be inspected and then they can start wearing them. Now they have something else to remember this trip by.

Around 6:30pm, we started towards the Hyatt for our Tour of the Stars activity there. When we checked in with the concierge, he mentioned that two of the viewings the night before were canceled because of the clouds, and it started to look like ours was going to be, too. Turns out it did end up being canceled, and we're going to try again next Tuesday.

All in all it was still a magical day, and funny as it sounds, it didn't really feel like my birthday at all. Being here on Maui to celebrate was more than I could have asked for anyway, so if things didn't turn out as planned, it still was perfect.

Our Return to Hana

After two years, we decided to go back on the Road to Hana, this time bringing my mom along as part of your introduction to the island. Call it a right of passage for a newcomer to Maui.



We decided to go with a different tour company this time than in the past. We choose to go with Discover Hawaii Tours, and we were more than pleased. Our shuttle picked us up at the hotel just before 7am and took us back out to Kahului. It was still a little early for us, but it wasn't that bad. Once in Kahului, we stopped at the small meet-up center where the shuttles from the other parts of the islands all gathered before heading out. They had a small gift shop and a little breakfast spread with fruit, breakfast burritos and all different types of juice. Knowing that the Road to Hana was going to be a little twisty and turny, we opted to just snack.

Our driver was Jonathon "The Professor" and was absolutely amazing. Not only did he know all about the road and sights themselves, he had all sorts of facts and historical references that really added to the experience. He also seemed to know everyone along the tour, from the girl at the fruit stand to the hostess at the Hana Hotel where we had lunch. You could tell he really enjoys his work.

The last tour we did to Hana was before the earthquake in 2006. Back then, you could go all around the island, going past Hana to the Seven Sacred Pools to the Tedeschi Winery and back to Kahului in one direction. Well, with one of the bridges between the pools and the winery damaged and about 9 months left of repairs, we ended up doing the Road to Hana twice, once there and once back. It might make it seem longer, but it made for an even better tour.

Our driver was used to driving both ways to and from Hana, and he had an interesting plan for how to avoid the crowds. What we did on the way to Hana was stop at a few of the lesser known spots, yet ones that still were worth seeing. We hit the Halfway to Hana stand and scoped out a few others along the way. He gave us advice about stands that were flying the Hawaiian flag upside down and how some of the stands only open up when they feel like it.

We made a few stops along the way, and I'll have more details when I get to work on putting my photo tour together. I haven't checked my GPS logs yet from my travel recorder, so I'm hoping I gathered enough data to work with. The first major highlight of the trip was when we stopped at Wailua falls. We were there last time, too, however, this time the tour guide took us down to the rocks and the pool right at the bottom of the falls. It was incredible. I did my best to take some good photos and hopefully enough to piece together a nice panorama shot.

That was our turning around spot. After that, we stopped out at a red sand beach in the area, which was another first for us. I remember driving past it last year and the guide pointing it out on the fly, but now we can add the color red to our collection of beach photographs. After the red sand beach, it was time for lunch, which was a stop at the Hana Hotel. For a driving tour, having a sit down lunch in the Hana Hotel restaurant with a good sized menu and drinks was a welcomed change. Lunch was included with the price of the tour, but cocktails and soda was extra. I think it was a nice touch and a lot better than a cold sandwich and a cookie from our last tour.

The last major thrill on the trip was the stop back at the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park. Since we saved it for the way back, there was about half the people that were there last time we saw it, which was earlier in the day. Not only were there less people, we stayed there for an entire hour, which was awesome. I took a few more photos of the black sand itself, to add to the ones I took last time. This time, however I also brought down the video camera and shot footage going through the lava tube, which I didn't do before. That was really neat, and while it probably didn't do the actual lava tube justice, it's a nice reminder of what I actually saw.

After the lava tube at Waianapanapa, I hiked on over to the blow hole to take some photos and video. While it was an amazing sight to witness, it wasn't as friendly to my digital camera and my video camera. I think I got the hang of it after about 15 minutes and might have something worth sharing, so we'll see.

We stopped a few times on the way back, getting photos of Honomanu Bay and the rainbow trees before heading out to Kahului. All in all, I think we were on the bus for about 8 of the 10 hours of the tour, so it was pretty exhausting. I still recommend it for anyone interested in learning about the magic of Hawaii and the beauty of Maui by seeing the untouched and unchanged portions of it via the Road to Hana. For anyone coming to Maui for their first time and staying for a decent amount of time (5+ days), it would be worth it. Especially if you don't think you're going to be returning to Maui in the future.

As I've stated before, the Road to Hana is not really about driving all day just to see a small fishing village, it's about seeing the beauty of the island as the Hawaiians did centuries ago. It's about going back in time and about seeing the true magic of Maui that doesn't play to commercial tourism and giant resort towns. And if you're fortunate enough to find a tour guide like Jonathon from Discover Hawaii Tours, it's about learning the history of Hawaii to some degree. Probably more than a $20 guide book or a drive along CD could teach you.

If you think it's just a silly road and a boring drive, please take a pass and let everyone else enjoy it.

Let us know what you think, or if you've had better or worse experiences with other tour companies or making the drive yourself. In the end, there's no right or wrong choice for everyone (drive vs. tour), so it's good to ask around, get some input from others and do a little research before making your own choice.

Mahalo.

Monday in Paradise

Aloha,

Well, we've had a long day on Tuesday and I'll post more details about that in the morning.

Monday was our traditional first day activities. Breakfast at the buffet was how things started, which like last year was included with our room package. Afterwards, we stopped off a the room and something caught our eye. Moments later, after staring through our binoculars, we had spotted our first whale from the lanai at our room. It wasn't a major up close and in your face sighting, but it will still a thrill. Unfortunately, he was too far our to get a good shot with my telephoto lens.

We swung over to Safeway to grab some groceries (which we normally do the first night, but eh). After we returned, Cindy and mom went down to the beach and rented a few of those umbrellas and chairs while I finished my homework for a digital photography class I'm taking back home. While out on the lanai procrastinating with that, I spotted more activity out on the water, and this time, it was even more exciting. Looking through the binos, I was able to see full whale tail above the water as it came crashing down into the water. Amazing.

This time, I grabbed my video camera and was able to get some fairly decent views of the other whale (at least I think there were two) slapping it's tail in the water for almost an entire minute. I haven't had time to transfer it to my laptop yet nor upload it, but it will go up eventually. Upload speeds haven't been that great here with my Sprint mobile card, so I'll have to find a wi-fi spot nearby.

The day continued with our first stop in Lahaina Town, with a little shopping and dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. On the shopping end, Cindy and I found very nice matching Aloha Wear to add to our collection, and we'll likely be wearing it to the dinner cruise on Sunday. Mom also started her souvenir shopping, which was actually easier that she had thought.

The night ended with taking in the Cliff Dive Ceremony at Black Rock and then calling it a night. We're still adjusting to the time difference and jet lag a little, and having to get up at 5am to get ready for the Road to Hana tour on Tuesday didn't help the matter.

More updates on Tuesday's trip to Hana and our plans for Wednesday (my birthday) in the morning.

Aloha and Mahalo.

Our First Whale Sighting

Today wasn't even supposed to be that eventful, than just after breakfast, we went out on the lanai to watch for turtles and then, faintly out in the distance, something caught our eye. Just barely sticking out of the water north of Black Rock and a good ways out from the beach, we saw what we thought was our first whale.

I ran inside and grabbed my binoculars, and sure enough, it was a whale. It totally caught us by surprise because we thought we'd only see a handful on our whale cruise Wednesday and that would be far out of the harbor. It wasn't a giant breach or a 12 foot spout of water like you see in photographs, but it was still a thrill.

We went took another look after we went shopping at Safeway, and we saw a little spout activity. In fact, we think we saw one adult whale and one calf swimming together, which was awesome. The sad part was that while we could see them perfectly with our binoculars, they were too far out to get any good shots with my telephoto lens. Hopefully that will change on Wednesday's cruise.

Best Monday ever. :)

At last, back to Maui

Aloha Kakahiaka,

Its still early here on Monday morning, our first full day on Maui. Aside from being just as long of a flight from Chicago as ever, it went off pretty much without a hitch this year. The airline kept to the direct flight that we booked (unlike last year), there were no plane delays (unlike last year), rental car was okay, well, you get the idea.

We're pretty happy with our room this year. The room number is actually just two numbers off, on the same floor and everything. On this side of the hotel, there are three buildings that are connected. For the first two trips, we were in the middle building, but this year, the new room we're staying in is the one closet to Black Rock. Here's a quick comparison from one of the photos we took on the sunset cruise last year.


If you click on the photo, it will take you to the Flickr page where it's hosted and there you can see mouseover notes of where the two rooms are located. I will make it one of my tasks to have a post or a page somewhere in the Our Trips section that shows the dramatic difference in views from our lanai in each room.

Since everything on travel day went off without a hitch yesterday, we found ourselves checked in an ready to eat about 2 hours earlier than we were used to. We still ate dinner at the Lagoon Bar at the Sheraton even though it was too early for the cliff dive ceremony. We decided to make our first stop over to Whalers to pick up a few bottles of water and Cindy wanted to grab ice scream to Haagan Dazs. When we came back, we decided to leave the cliff dive for another night and enjoyed the sunset from our lanai. It was a little cloudier than you would have liked to have seen, but still magical none-the-less.

We didn't make it out to Safeway last night as we normally do, rather, we just unpacked and hung out in our room. The clouds started to clear up last night just enough to do a little stargazing and photography from the lanai, but I was too tired to lug everything down to the beach. I shot the stars for a little over an hour, and haven't gone through all of the photos yet this morning. I figure this being my first night back, it was mostly practice.

While I was shooting, however, during those longer exposures, I broke out the binoculars for the first time they made a world of difference. That's going to be fun.

Nothing too exciting planned for today. Cindy and mom are getting ready to go down for breakfast while I finish up some homework for my photography class. We'll be heading to Safeway to stock up on food for the week and then out to Lahaina and Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner (mmmmmmm). I'll try to post some early photos, too.

Sunday Photo: We're Back

We're Back
Originally uploaded by webnelly

Here's a quick peak from our latest view at the Sheraton Maui Resort on our Maui '08 Trip. While we're actually just two room numbers from where we were last September, the room is around a corner in the buildings on this side of the resort and we have a completely different, yet equally spectacular view.

It's been a long travel day and we're just about finished getting settled in. Haven't had a chance to take a lot of photos, but wanted to post at least one that says "We're Back".

Journal blogging begins tomorrow morning with details on our travel day here.

Mahalo.