Sharing the Magic of Maui,
one post at a time...
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 series 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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
