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Hockey on Maui?!?

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

How about a little tanget, eh?

After sharing some of my recent outdoor skating adventures here in Chicago on Twitter, Liza from A Maui Blog shared this link with me. www.mauihockey.com
The site’s tagline really says it all, “Hockey in Paradise.” While it is of the inline variety, it is hockey none-the-less, and from the looks of the league stats on their site, relatively popular at that. I remember seeing a mention of this league online a few years ago, and I believe it was in reference to this league being a USA Hockey sanctioned inline league (which it is).
It’s really nice to see one of my lifelong passions, hockey, getting a dose of the Aloha Spirit.
Trip 4 Plans?
Not sure if we’ll be working any skating time into our plans for February, but seeing that the rink is located at Kalama Park, the same area in Kihei as the Whale Day Celebration, we will likely pay it a visit.
The do offer public skating 3 nights a week, but it is not likely that I will be packing my rollerblades this trip. They’re pretty heavy relative to everything else we need to pack, and they take up too much room in the suitcase. We are planning to visit for an entire month in August next year, and for that, it will be very hard to resist leaving my skates at home.
If we do end up renting skates while we’re there next month, you can expect to see a few pics and maybe some video of it here.
Talk Story
Anyone here seen the rink or watched any of the games? You can find schedules on their website, and it looks like the next season starts Jan. 22nd. It really is a great sport, and if you’ve never seen a game in person, check out the keiki play. Those kids playing hockey when they’re so little is absolutely adorable.
Mahalo.

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Trip 4 Official – Week 1 Updates

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Although it seems like we’ve been talking about our 4th trip to Maui forever now, our final payment for this trip has cleared and now it’s official! It’s always one of those bittersweet moments when you’re trip is officially paid for. You know there’s nothing stopping you now, but that last 4 figure number showing up on your bank statement isn’t always that fun. :)

Could we have travelled cheaper? Most definitely, especially with all the great deals out there right now. Will there be any buyer’s remorse? Maybe a little between now and when we takeoff. But one thing is for sure, once we land and settle in back on Maui, it will be the farthest from our minds.
Trip Planning Update
With less than six weeks to go, I thought I’d share another update with how our trip is shaping up. This is just a tentative schedule and is off of the working agenda we posted earlier. Our plans are always fluid, though, and we like having the ability to just go with the flow and decide as we go.
Sunday, February 15th
Our arrival day, which will pretty much stay the same as before. The only difference is that we might make an effort to get to bed a little earlier than usual.
Monday, February 16th
It will probably be decided Sunday night (if not early Monday morning), but right now we’re pencilling in a drive out to the summit at Haleakala to see the sunrise. Regardless of whether we make it up there or opt to sleep in, our day one habits are sure to continue.
Tuesday, February 17th
Our first beach day for the trip. Seeing that we’ve had a brutal winter so far here in Chicago, a day of sun and sand couldn’t be more welcome. One of a few beach days planned, but no decisions yet as to which ones we’ll visit on each day.
Wednesday, February 18th
Thar She Blows! We’re planning our first whale watch of the trip for this day in week 1. Depending on how successful (or unsuccessful) this one is, we may add a second tour. Dinner at Leilani’s is likely, along with some Hula Pie.
Thursday, February 19th
This is Cindy’s day, which she will undoubtedly spend at the spa. The question is, which one? We’re not sure right now whether the new spa at the Sheraton will be open in time, or if she’s going to stick with the Westin that she has enjoyed in the past.
Friday, February 20th
Who’s up for some hiking? Although we’ve been staying in West Maui these past few years, we have yet to make it out to the Iao Valley State Park. We hope to change that on Friday of week one. Also, all signs right now are gearing towards scheduling a night with Star Gazers Maui, if for anything their down jackets. :)
Saturday, February 21st
Saturday is our day in Kihei, attending the Whale Day Celebration and meeting up with Liza (from A Maui Blog) and her family. It looks to be a fun day.
Week 2
There’s still quite a bit left for week 2 as well, but I’ll save that for an upcoming post.
Until then, have a happy Monday!
Mahalo.

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Trip ’09 Plans – A Haleakala Decision

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

For almost the last year now, I (alone) have been gearing up to make the trek up Haleakala bright and early to see the sunrise. And as our next trip gets even closer, we have a tough decision to make…

Haleakala Sunrise vs. Haleakala Sunset/Star Gazing?
There was a similar question posted on Go Visit Hawaii back in October, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it at the time because I had my goals set on a sunrise. Yet, looking at a few guided sunrise tours (which as it turns out, there are only a few) that 2am-3am departure time from Ka’anapali still seems a little underwhelming. We were planning to do go up to Haleakala that first morning we were there, which is recommended because of the time difference and the jet lag coming in from Chicago, but we still aren’t that sure about it.
Seeing the limited selection, and pricing, of the guided Haleakala Sunrise tours, I started weighing the option of driving ourselves, and not knowing the road very well. As a comparison, we’ve taken two guided tours on the Road to Hana on our past trips, and it’s only now do I think I’m ready to brave the drive myself.
Then I started rationalizing against the sunrise on Haleakala this trip because we’re planning to spend a night in Hana, and could see a spectacular sunrise off the East Maui coast. Added to that, I began comtemplating a replacement for the Haleakala sunrise by doing a star gazing tour with Star Gazers Maui. That would include both the sunset and star gazing on top of Haleakala, and includes dinner, down jackets, and hot chocolate to keep us warm. There is no transporation provided, however, so we’d still have to drive to and from the summit ourselves.
There wasn’t a lot of information on the Star Gazers’ website, so I emailed them a few questions yesterday and am waiting to hear back. I did find a few reviews on Trip Advisor that seemed very encouraging. Cindy’s aunt and uncle also did this tour a few years ago and had nothing but good things to say about it.
A Tough Decision
While this is turning out to be a tough decision to make, I guess by most standards, this is a relatively nice problem to have. At this point, I’m starting to lean towards the side of caution and just saying we’ll do both. Driving up to do the sunrise ourselves would still mean leaving too early and not knowing where we’re going, but doing a trial run down from the summit in daylight will certainly help for when we’d have to do it in the dark for the Star Gazers.
There’s a lot of information on the Haleakala sunrise in guidebooks and in the blogosphere, but not too much about stargazing up there. I know you can see the stars from Haleakala before sunrise, too, but I think a night tour would give me more time to add to my Maui Stars collection. We’ll probably make up our minds sometime next week depending on what we hear back from the folks at Star Gazers Maui. In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions, experiences, or other guidance that you’d like to share about either of these options (or doing both), we welcome your input.
Mahalo.

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Trip '09 Plans – Whale Day Celebration

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

Whale PartyWell, with a good part of the busy holiday season behind us, and getting a chance to rest up this coming week, we’ve starting picking dates for the various activities we’re looking to do on our ’09 Trip in February. It’s always fun when we get to take our working agenda of things we want to do and spread it out over the course of two weeks. Just last weekend Cindy and I were going through the spiral notebook that I scribble all these details in, and thumbed through the same exercise we’ve done for our last two trips.

Saturday, February 21st
One of the first things we’re putting down for sure is the Whale Day Celebration, which is being held by the Pacific Whale Foundation. This is the same event that we mentioned back in October when we entered our little whales into the Whale Regatta Race. The entire Whale Day Celebration will be taking place from 9am to 4pm in Kalama Beach Park in Kihei. At the moment, we’re planning to make the entire day of it and stay in Kihei or Wailea for dinner. Believe it or not, after three previous trips, we have yet to see the sunset from South Maui.

If you haven’t yet entered the Whale Regatta Race, there is still plenty of time to do so. You can find more details about how to enter at the PWF website as well as the page with the official rules. It’s for a good cause and it should be a great time. If you do enter, be sure to let us know and we’ll cheer on your whales, too, while we’re there. :)

Mahalo.

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Trip 4 – Working Agenda

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Even though Cindy and I already have a lot going on right now, I still thought it’d be good to post the working agenda of things we’re hoping to do on our upcoming trip in February.  With Thursday being Thanksgiving and all, February seems so far away by comparison, but never-the-less, here it is.

Watch the sunrise atop Haleakala – This one has been on my list for ages now, and I think we’re actually going to make it happen this time.  Since we arrive on Sunday, we’re thinking either Monday or Tuesday morning will work the best.  Crossing my fingers.
Another Whale Watch Cruise - As we did this past April, we’re itching to get back out on the water and get up close and personal with some happy 40 ton mammals. We’re going to need to hit the seasickness remedies pretty hard after last time, but I think it will be worth it.  Besides, the whole point of going in February is to see the whales and maybe stop by the Pacific Whale Foundation Regatta Race.
More Astrophotography - Ever since my first round of shooting the night skies in Maui, I’ve been borderline obsessed with repeating my beginner’s luck.  In fact, I picked these two weeks in February specifically because the second week (Feb. 24th) is going to be a new moon.  We’re also hoping that we can schedule the Tour of the Stars with the Hyatt again this year and not have it cancelled because of clouds.
Driving the Road to Hana - After two years of guided tours along the Road to Hana, I think I’m ready to make the drive myself. To give us some extra time, we’re also considering an overnight trip with a stay at the Hana-Maui Hotel. That would give us one day to drive down, and one day to drive back.  Plus, since we’ve already seen many of the major stops like the Black Sand Beach, we can pass those up and get to the more hidden treasures.  The more photo ops, the better.
New Beaches - We have a tradition of visiting at least 3 new beaches each trip, which we happened to do all in one day this year.  Ideally, I’d like to break it up across a few different days, and besides checking out beaches along the East Coast, I’m thinking of going back up to Kapalua and visiting Napili Bay, getting shots of the other two Ka’amaole Beach Parks for my collection, and maybe one or two others.  Wailea Beach is calling as well.
HAPA, in Concert - As if seeing them already this year at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center wasn’t a dream come true, HAPA is coming back Friday, February 27th!  Needless to say, we already have our tickets.  It was just this past Sunday that I was talking about our final night tradition of taking a sunset cruise and watching the sunset one last time before the end of our trip.  Well, it looks like we’re taking a year off with that tradition.
The Iao Needle - One of the gaps in our trips in the past has been visiting the Iao Valley State Park and seeing the Iao Needle. I’ve seen a lot of great photos on Flickr and elsewhere, and am looking forward to adding some of my own to that list. Also, with a renewed appreciation for the outdoors this past summer, I’m up for a little hiking.
Two Luaus - Since we stay at the Sheraton Maui Resort every year, we enjoy the convienence of taking part in their luau while we’re there.  Being right there on the resort is a big plus, not to mention getting to enjoy a fantastic sunset and the Black Rock Cliff Dive ceremony all in one evening.  It’s very special. And since we have two weeks to spend on the Valley Isle, we’re also thinking of making our first trip to the very popular Old Lahaina Luau, and from what I’ve read, we should have a very nice time.
New Black Rock Spa - Cindy always enjoys the spas while we’re in Maui, and this year, she’s going to have yet another option to pick from. The Sheraton is going to be opening up their renovated Black Rock Spa literally any day now, and come February, she’ll have something to compare against the Heavenly Spa at the Westin Maui.  She says the Westin is going to be hard to beat, so we’ll have to wait and see.
I’m probably forgetting a few things, but I think this list is a good start, don’t you? For all our friends and family that think we’re silly for going to the same place every year, they obviously don’t realize just how much there is to do on Maui, let alone the rest of the Hawaiian islands. And with a two week trip, we’re able to do most of what I’ve mentioned here, and still have a few days in between to just relax, unwind and enjoy being on Hawaii time for awhile.
Could you really ask for anything more?  We don’t think so.

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