It's been a week since we've returned from our annual warm weather trip. It's been a busy week full of cleaning, laundry, my usual running around and writing a talk for church. It was nice to go through my pictures and be reminded of the wonderful week we had with our friends. This was our first time to Maui and it was great. Not sure if it's my favorite island...I'm still partial to Kuai, but I did really love it. We stayed in Kehei which is the south part of Maui. We found great beaches, found great food that we ate a lot of and already had great company. I read 4 books in 4 days and even got a bit of color! Here are some pics of our adventures in Maui.
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| After dinner at Sarento's...our first yummy meal of the week! |
On Sunday after going to church we drove up the Northeast side of the Mountain. One of the first stops was to see some ancient petroglyphs perserved in the lava rock.
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| We stopped in Lahaina for a bit to walk around and eat lunch. This is at Banyan Tree Park....yep that tree encompasses an entire park! |
Here is a short video of the Nakalele Blowhole
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| A Maze on sacred Hawaiin land |
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| Exploring the cool lava rock "dragon's teeth" |
Part of our drive around the Northwest side of Maui included about 4 miles of driving on a one-lane road. We read in our tourbook that if two cars meet where there is no turnout, etiquette dictates that the uphill driver needs to back up.). It was sort of fun, but 4 miles seemed to drag on when you could only go about 15-20 mph.
On Monday we had signed up for a zipline adventure with
Flyin' Hawaiin Ziplines, which has the longest fastest lines...yeah we went for the best! It was really so much fun and definitely something I'd recommend doing if you visit Maui.
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| Teaching us how to slow down by using "the starfish" position |
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| Donna |
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| Jim |
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| Me! |
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| Part of their tour included planting a native endangered Hibiscus plant. |
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| Donna, Michelle and I |
We did head to the beach that afternoon. Christopher, Ryan and Donna got brave on the boogie boards.
Part of the fun of visiting Hawaii during February is that it's peak whale season, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I took a bunch of pictures of whales but here are just a few. A few "fun" facts about Humpbacks that I learned from a fun book I got the kids:
- Nearly 75% of the humpbacks that come to Hawaii in the winter can be found in Maui County waters
- A humpback whale's primary means of protection from predators is its powerful tail, which an angry male may pound on the ocean's surface or slash about like a giant karate chop (saw this one afternoon sitting on the beach)
- Pectoral fin displays may be signals of invitation. By waving and slapping their fins on the surface, mothers appear to keep their calves from wandering away, and courting males and females encourage each other's efforts.
Tuesday morning we got up early and got ready for our adventure to snorkel at Molokini Crater. Unfortunately the swell was too big at Molokini and we couldn't go. We did go to another spot and had a great day out in the ocean looking for whales, snorkeling and spotting sea turtles.
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| Christopher and Ryan tried SNUBA |
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| We had a baby whale, her mother and male escort come really close to our boat |
Thursday after beaching most of the day we drove to Lahaina and looked around their fun shops and ate dinner. We then went to Warren & Annabelle's, a magic show put on by Warren. He really is AMAZING! Again, a must see if you are ever there.
On Thursday after a beautiful sunny morning at the beach, it got a bit cloudy and rainy for our drive to the Haleakala Summit. It's too bad because the pics in our tourbook look amazing! The summit's elevation is 10,023 feet. Next trip to Maui, I'd like to hike the Sliding Sands Trail that goes to the crater floor.
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| Silverswords...a plant, unique to Hawaii |
Friday Christopher woke up with a migraine, so instead of heading to the beach with our friends, I spent most of the day at our hotel's pool, which was actually really nice as well. Christopher felt better late morning and was able to join me by the pool. That night we drove up North and enjoyed a wonderful meal at Mamma's Fish House.
It was hard to leave the sun and the relaxing pace of Hawaii. It's a great place to get away in the winter. It was a great getaway with our good friends!
