Maui to the Big Island!

The day after Christmas was our last day in Maui. I don't recall much of this day probably because we didn't do much, but shop. :)

I think Eric and I slept in, ate breakfast, and then just walked around. I know I tried to go to the Maui Jim headquarters, but sadly they were closed.

Eric smiling with the coconut syrup.

Our fresh pineapple! YUM!!!

The picture of our hotel.

This boat capsized. Apparently there was a New Years party that some one threw that forgot to throw the anchor. It's too expensive to clean it up so Maui leaves it there.


Eric and I went to the Flatbread Company for lunch. This places uses organic and foods from local farmers. We had Surfing Cow Goat Cheese on our salad and loved it. We ordered a lot so that we could have leftovers for our plane ride from Maui to the Big Island. Below are some pictures.

Sign in the bathroom.

Mission statement

Their handmade oven!

Guri Guri is a cross between ice cream and sherbet. This was also recommended by my student.

Goodbye Maui! We had a great time! Eric and I hope to go back soon!

Christmas Day

So from the Park we now to go Lahaina, Maui which is more northwest city in Maui. Eric choose this next spot for good reasons: close to the port and shopping!!! Also, we learned that there is a small park with a Banyan tree that is connected to all the other trees within that park. It's truly amazing. Sadly though, we weren't able to get pictures to really capture how cool it was.

While in Hawaii, Eric had a very hard time understanding that Christmas Day is very different in Hawaii from St. Louis. First, there is no cold weather. Second, you find it odd to see waitresses with shorts on with garland around their neck. Plus, the town is fully open to your pleasing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Eric and I got up and ate breakfast located in our hotel. Then we prepared for our whale watching experience. That was also amazing! Here are some pictures!

Whales!

Banyan Tree(s)

Eric and I went to the beach to play in the water and watch the sunset! The waves were pretty big at times!

Somebody made this amazing sea turtle.

Being silly on the beach.

Watching the sunset.

Eric and I also went to Sensei for Christmas dinner. This was also recommended by my student to eat. Hmm..sushi.

Eric demonstrating how to eat Seaweed Salad.

Eric ate that. Not me.

Picture of the bathroom in the hotel lobby. Weird, yeah?

A morning in Hana

The next morning, Eric and I got up EARLY to go to Haleakala National Park to see the Seven Sacred Pools or originally known as O'hea Gulch. Seven Sacred Pools sounds so much cooler right? Well, that's what one guy made up to attract tourists to come to Hana. This park is about 30 minutes past Hana (so for easy sake we say it's in Hana but it's not). We thought Hana Highway was bad, well this stretch was bad because two lane roads really looked line one so we had to break around EVERY turn! After going past this stretch of road, Hana Highway from Hana to our next hotel was nothing.

Eric and I also went to the only general store in Hana to buy some sandwiches, soda, and water for our trip. Since the Park doesn't have food either. We were lucky to grab some freshly made sandwiches since we were there early. Through reading Maui Revealed we quickly learned that the Seven Sacred Pools gets popular by 2:00 p.m. so we got there around 10.

When we arrived there weren't many cars in the parking lot. However, by the time we left the parking lot was full. Below are some pictures from the park

Warning us that visiting is fun but also dangerous!

One of the pools.

Behind a waterfall!

Hiking to get to the Infinity Pool

The Infinity Pool

Where you can buy one of the best banana breads on Hana Highway!

Road to Hana (part 2)

Here's a video showing some of the beauty, curves and one lane bridges to be found on the Hana Highway. Take note of the size of the dump trucks seen in the video. The only part of the drive that truly scared us was when we happened across one on a one lane bridge. We were half way across when one came roaring onto the bridge. The 'yield to things bigger than you' paradigm kicked in and Eric threw it into reverse to get out of it's way. We're fairly sure he never even slowed down, and probably was laughing the whole time at the terrified tourists in front of him.

Thankfully the road wasn't as bad as some people made it seem. Most, but not all, of the one lane bridges were easy since you could see the other side of it pretty well. Most of the road was plenty wide also (unlike past Hana, but that's another story) so all in all it was a pleasantly curvy drive.

Road to Hana (Super Long Post)

So after a nice dinner at Mama's Fish House, Eric and I went back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our trip to Hana. Hana Highway is dangerous. It's made up of 52 miles of 617 curves and 56 one lane bridges. Yes, 56 one lane bridges. If you drive it without stopping anywhere you can finish it in about 2-3 hours. However, Eric did some research and found that the best way to do Hana Highway is to stay a night in Hana.

Eric and I left early that morning and stopped in Paia to grab some sandwiches. I had bought a small cooler the day before and packed some ice in it along with sodas, water, and snacks. We added our sandwiches in there because Eric learned there is barely any food on Hana Highway. Heck, there's not much food choices in Hana itself.

Maui Revealed, is a book that was recommended by a couple we know, Josh and Sarah. Along the way we met some people who also carried the book, In fact, all over Maui people had those books either in the car, backpack, or in their hand. I went through the book as Eric drove to find some spots that interested us. Anything that costs money and we had back here in St. Louis (like a botanical garden) we skipped.

One hot spot was something called "Ching's Pond" This place will give Eric and I the best memories because of the people there. Eric and I went in the water, but it was too cold for me so Eric went in by the waterfall. As Eric went in for his camera to take some pictures his waterproof container that had his driver's license, credit card, and cash fell out. We had enough of the pond and hiked back up to our car. As we began to dry off, Eric took extra time for some reason before getting back in the car. I think it was because he was so wet from swimming he wanted to dry himself off a little more. All of a sudden we think that we hear someone yell his name but we ignored it. A few minutes later a couple came by and asked if Eric was Eric from Missouri! His waterproof container had floated to the people in the rocks! Eric hiked back down to retrieve his container with nothing missing. We were so grateful for those wonderful honest people. Imagine the pain it would be to lose your license. How would Eric get back home without a driver's license to get on the plane? We were lucky.

Ching's Pond

My face when I touched the water in Ching's Pond

Eric and I with the nice scenery!

I don't remember the name of this waterfall, but notice there's three!

Me and some chickens on the side of the road!

Wainapanapa State Park
It's a Black Sand Beach!

I'm having trouble with uploading a video of Hana Highway that shows bicyclists, huge trucks and the curvy roads! Hopefully we'll get it up on the next post!

Mama's Fish House

Located in a small town of Paia, Mama's Fish House was recommended by a student of mine that lives in Maui. This restaurant was great! We were lucky to get a reservation the day we called in and we enjoyed it! It was romantic, the fish was great, and the service was excellent. We were given honest opinions on the dishes we choose. Before we went over to eat, Eric allowed me to shop around there. I loved the little shops that sold souvenirs, clothes, foods, and swimsuits.

What I liked about Mama's Fish House was that it was a family owned restaurant. They credit the fishermen that caught the fish that was eaten. The fish couldn't be fresher.

Here are some pictures!

I don't recommend their non-alcoholic drink. Although it sounds good, it's sour!

Our beautiful centerpiece

A romantic dinner shared by two.

My favorite dessert is creme brulee. I'm not exactly sure why. However, when I found out that this had Lilikoi (Passion fruit) I had to give it a try!

First Full Day in Maui!

In my previous post I mentioned that I was up at 6:00 a.m. which meant I had about five hours of sleep that night. I was so awake that I went to the lobby of the Maui Coast Hotel to check the internet. On my way to the lobby I was just amazed by how beautiful the sky and the palm trees looked. I loved the weather and it was still a little cool.

Finally, in a couple of hours I was able to wake Eric up and we had breakfast at Spices which was located on the same premises as our hotel. Eric got an omelet and I got the banana macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. It was divine and I never knew that there was a such thing as coconut syrup!

Next, Eric and I went back to our hotel to change into our swimming gear. I brought five swimming suits and I am sure glad I did. We walked a couple blocks and the beach was right there! Actually three beaches separated by land or rocks. We checked all three out! Here are pictures from the beach!

The best looking picture of me of that day. I regret not getting my body into the shape I wanted to.

Eric loves the water!

Our feet before the craziness of our adventures!

STL-LAX-OGG

We left Monday afternoon to Los Angeles to Kahului Airport in Maui. Our flight from STL to LAX was fine but when we arrived we had a few minutes to bolt to the next gate. Our flight was scheduled to leave ten minutes after we landed. Luckily, we made it fine, however, without having time to stop for a bathroom break or even to get dinner we were forced to pay $10 for a sandwich and chips in which Eric and I shared.

When we arrived in Kihei, wow, it was so nice. The temperature was cool and we had to wait forever to get our car. We didn't get checked in to our hotel until around 4:00 a.m. St. Louis time. Hawaii is four hours later than central time so we had to deal with some jet lag issues.

Eric and I feel asleep quickly from exhaustion and the next morning I was awake at 6:00 a.m. ready to explore Maui!