Thursday meant jumping back into the car and driving down to the Maui Ocean Center. We weren’t in too big of a hurry to see giant fish tanks last year, but we decided to add it to our itinerary this year and we had a good time.

It’s down the road back Lahaina near Ma’alaea Harbor in Wailuku, which was a nice drive and a test run for where we had to go next week for our cruises with the Pacific Whale Foundation. It is actually a combination of outdoor displays and indoor aquariums, which made for a good mix because it was a little more cloudier than it was earlier in the week.

The main attraction that Cindy wanted to see was the sea turtle exhibit, which was unfortunately under rehabilitation and not fully accessible. They did, however, have their sea turtle “Ku’uipo”, in a small tub close by. The tub looked very small compared to the large habitat that was being worked on, but he still seemed to swim around and entertain his visitors.

I got a big kick out of the shark tank in the Open Ocean exhibit. It wasn’t just sharks, but sting rays and all sorts of other fish. But back to the sharks, there was one pretty decent sized tiger shark, as well as a few other great white and hammerhead sharks. The were just swimming around and coming right up to the glass. Unfortunately, the lighting was pretty low and not the easiest to take pictures in, but it was cool none-the-less.

After the ocean center, we checked out the shops over near Ma’alaea in the same general area, picked up a few goodies and headed back to Ka’anapali. We stopped over at the Cannery for a few shops and some lunch. Cindy did indeed find a dress she liked, and that part of our trip now has a happy ending. She has yet to decide where or when she’ll wear it (knowing very well there won’t be too many days left in Chicago to wear it this year), but as soon as she does, I’ll have a few pictures to post of her in it.

After that quick stop, we headed back to our hotel to cool off a little bit. Cindy had another craving for the Mocha Espresso drink over at Haagen-Dazs, so we went off to Whalers to get her fix. While we were there, we spent almost an hour at Na Hoku looking at jewelery. Cindy found a new anklet (another one of her missions for our vacation) and it’s white gold with a honu (sea turtle) on it. That took all of about 20 minutes, and the rest of the time we spent looking for a ring for me. I have had my eyes out for something either silver or white gold with a streak of black (onyx or something) in it, but had no luck. No biggie.

With it almost time for dinner, we made the walk back to our hotel and grabbed a bite (literally a bite) to eat over at the Lagoon Bar at the Sheraton. I say just a bite because the waiter misunderstood our order, so instead of us each getting a cheeseburger, we both got half of one. Oh well.

Dinner ended with the Black Rock cliff dive again, this time Cindy was taking her shoot at the video camera. I had the wrong lens on my Canon, so I didn’t have much luck either, but it was still a nice night. We spent time on the beach afterwards and watch some of the stars and the first sliver of moon come out in the sky before calling it a day.

Aloha from Maui,

Wednesday was our first official “sun” day, heading out poolside after breakfast. There were a few clouds here and there, but nothing too devastating to a sun worshiper like Cindy. We were out by the pool for about two hours or so, and trekked back up to our room to cool of and clean up.

Lunch was a walk away down at Whalers. I had a craving for some good ol’ Hawaiian Style pizza at Nikki’s, which of course consisted of pineapple and Canadian bacon. Even though I’ve been eating pineapple for 10+ years now, it still tastes better in Hawaii.

We also did a little more shopping while were we at Whalers yesterday, picking up a few new things at Del Sol. We resisted buying another Sol Bear (seeing that we already have two), but did receive yet another tote bag with our purchase. Cindy also peeked her head into a few other stores in search of a new dress, but didn’t find anything at Whalers. Another trip to ABC and we were back on our way to the hotel.

The main event for Wednesday was the Ka’anapali Sunset Luau right on the ocean lawn of the Sheraton Maui Resort. Compared to the luau last year, I personally preferred this year’s luau much better. It was a great show, but even before that, there were a few activities and games to participate in, and with a much smaller number of attendees, it was less cramped and more friendly. The food was pretty good, too.

As for the show, it was just as good as last year. It didn’t seem to be as grand scale as the one last year, but it was still a great way to spend the evening. It was definitely something to do again next year (as long as I’m not picked to go on stage).

Just like the previous nights, we just had to finish off the night on the beach. So after the luau, we ran up to our room, grabbed the camera and tripod and shot back down to Black Rock. It took a few more tries to get everything right with the lights of the hotels on the shoreline and the torches on Black Rock, but it was worth it. The torches themselves were a little trickier to shoot than I had imagined, and I think I might be able to do better next time. I’ll post the photos soon and you can judge for yourself.

After the torches went out, there was still a few good shots left. It was very beautiful, watching the stars over Black Rock and the ocean, scenes that we can’t see from the lanai in our room. With the extended exposures, you can actually see a lot more of the details at Black Rock than you can with your own eyes at that time of night, and the stars above the trees at the top of the cliff made for a great shot to end the night.

Monday was our first full day in Maui this year, and it was great.

We didn’t quite hit the beach first thing Monday morning, however, it was a rather productive day. We had breakfast down at the hotel restaurant, Keka’a Terrace, which was a buffet style that was included in our vacation package.

After breakfast, we headed out towards Whalers Village, mainly to hit the ABC Store and get a few things we didn’t get at Safeway the night before. We didn’t spend too much time shopping, knowing that we’ll be back there more than a dozen times over the next two weeks. I also had to stop at Ritz and pick up a new polarizer for my Canon SLR since I left mine at home (d’oh). All these beautiful colors, the blues and greens, the flowers, the clounds, all get lost in my pictures without a polarizer, so it’d definitely worth it.

After Whalers, we headed out further south to the Westin, where Cindy made reservations for a massage and a facial. Actually, she’s there right now. It looks like a beautiful hotel with a large pond area and waterfalls near their pools. I took a few pictures while we were over there and will post those soon. If it wasn’t for the fact that the hotel was stuck in between two other resorts, it might be worth a visit some day. That’s one of the things we love about the Sheraton is that it’s the last one north on the beach, only sharing the land on one side.

After the Westin, we headed back to the room and cooled off on our fourth floor balcony, watching the clouds float gently over Moloka’i. For the most part, we have pretty much the same view from our room as we did last year. But even though we’re only six rooms down this year, being closer to the reefs near Black Rock offered up a view of something we didn’t see last year … sea turtles.

We had overheard someone at breakfast talking to one of the wait staff about them, and we just had to scope them out for ourselves. Sure enough, we walked out to our balcony and there they were, swimming with the snorkelers and bobbing their head up above water every now and then. This morning I got to use my telephoto lens and got some great closeups. Zooming in with Photoshop, you can even see one of the turtle’s entire head above water, eyes mouth and everything. Those will be posted soon as well.

Back to yesterday, we drove down to Lahaina and walked around Front St. looking for another dress like the one Cindy bought last year. We didn’t find anything yet, but we still have plenty of places and time to find something. While in Lahaina, we stopped back at Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner like we did last year. Burgers and views of the ocean out at Lahaina Harbor, what more could you ask for?

We finished the night off back at Ka’anapali Beach, taking in the sunset and the Black Rock Cliff Dive Ceremony. This year, we brought our new video camera and I can’t wait to get some of that footage online. Seeing that it’s a nightly event, though, I’m planning on getting more shots from different views and angles.

After the ceremony, we hung out on the beach until the stars began to fill the sky, still one of my favorite things about being here. We walked around the beach a little bit and let the ocean waves bring the water up to our feet before heading back to our room for the night.

Even from our balcony the stars were incredible, and I realized the main different this year from our balcony was that there is not a full moon like our trip last year. I tried set up my camera to get some of those night shots of the stars, but had no luck thus far. I was able to get a few good shots last year, so I think I’m just rusty.

That pretty much wraps up Monday, and once I can get some of those photos and videos up on the site, I’ll add a few links.

Aloha.

Well, it wasn’t exactly the most streamlined travel day for us, but we’re back on Maui and loving it like we never left.

The Flight

It sort of started two months ago, when we found out that our direct flight to the islands had been changed to add a connection. Bummer. It became a factor yesterday when we our flight out of Chicago was delayed for about 45 minutes because of a mechanical issue with the cargo storage area that had to be repaired. We were told initially that we’d be missing our connection in Los Angeles.

Fortunately, we got some good news closer to landing that they were holding open our connection (along with 40 others going to Maui from Chicago), so we didn’t miss it after all. It would have been nice to actually have stopped and stretched for a little bit, grab something to eat and not have to run from gate to gate like we had to, but it’s over and done with.

The Rental Car

Picking up the rental car seemed to be a little more straightforward and not have too much room for error, right? First, we opted to upgrade from our mid-size car to a full-size car, which at $15/day didn’t seem to be that big of a difference (forgetting temporarily that were staying for 2 weeks).

That aside, we lugged our bags out to the spot on the rental care lot that were told and instead of a Grand Prix as we expected, we found a Miata (whoops). So we went back in and they apologized, got us the right car and brought it back to us. We throw in our bags and getting situated. Cindy, while trying to get comfortable for the 45 minute drive to Lahaina from Kahului. The problem was, however, that her seat wouldn’t move back … at all.

Rather than spending two weeks driving our Maui with her knees in her chest (or getting charged for it later), we brought it to their attention once again. I guess the third times a charge because the car the manager brought us next was a Cadillac STS at no extra charge, which blew our minds. It is a little overwhelming to be driving a car like that (which we know we’ll never own), but it’s fun none the less.

The Hotel

We’re back at the Sheraton Maui Resort again this year. Why would we switch, we love it here? It was fun being able to drive out from the airport to the hotel without needing directions or maps, and traffic wasn’t even that bad for 5:30pm on a Sunday.

The first room they gave us had a few “issues” that I wouldn’t bother to go into. To cut to the chase, we were able to switch rooms to one that’s on the fourth floor in the Hale O Ka Moana building again. Actually, we’re on the same floor and only six rooms down the hall from the room we had last year.

We ended up having dinner down at the Lagoon Bar around 7pm last night, and we missed the Cliff Dive ceremony (not to worry, though). We wrapped up our travel day with a stop over at Safeway ($70 later), and turned in for the night without really unpacking everything.

We’re getting ready to head out today for our first breakfast at the hotel this trip, and then heading out to Whalers Village. Cindy is also looking to schedule a spa session for tomorrow, so we’re going to look into that (she deserves it). We’re planning on heading out to Lahaina town down at Front St. this afternoon as well, so that should be fun to see again.

Aloha for now.