On my fifth full day in Hawaii I finally got to go see Maui!! Don’t get me wrong, I loved being in the workshop but my lifelong dream was to go to Maui so being there without being able to SEE it was killing me. I added on a couple days to our trip and during the week while I was in class, my husband scoured the island finding places he would want to take me back to on Friday and Saturday. We decided to do the road around West Maui Mountain rather than the Road to Hana mostly because of time restraints and the fact that my husband doesn’t have much patience when it comes to driving. We also had a luau booked so we knew we had to be back to the hotel pretty early so we didn’t have a full day to devote to driving. All week they were calling for the storm to come in Thursday and not leave until after we’d left but we got a break in the clouds on Friday and got some really gorgeous weather.
Before we left for the day I had to stop and take a few shots of my favorite bird at the resort. The Hyatt Regency is an amazing resort (have I said this enough yet?!) and they have a zillion animals around the resort that you almost feel like you are staying at a zoo. I LOVED it. However my favorite were the East African Crowned Cranes. One in particular had SUCH personality. He was such a hoot! He liked the sound of my camera and would come running up to me when I was there. The day of the storm he actually managed to get inside the hotel and was running around!
Isn’t he a cutie?
There are also penguins to look at and watch (and they are very entertaining at dinner time!).
Not all their animals here are birds, they also have some fish as well! These guys hang out by the Starbucks in the hotel where hubby had to stop for a fix.
We started out our morning at CJ’s Deli & Diner which my husband found during his travels near our hotel. The food was delicious and decently priced! We came here a few times during our trip.
Finally we set off for our drive and stopped here about 10 minutes down the road. The crazy thing about Maui is that literally EVERY turn and EVERY view is breathtaking. This is a view of Molokai Island seen from Maui just east of Makuleia Bay. To the left are lava rocks with tidal pools which I made my husband hike down to and check out! Not that I’d ever swim in them (some people do!) but they are neat to see.
Another scenic view pullover, just a bit down the road. It’s a view of Makuleia Bay from the east side. So pretty!!!
Just when you think you’ve seen it all… you see pig/boar (?) skins drying on a rock at the scenic overlook. Seriously? Weird.
The Two-Tiered Pools near the Nakalele Blowhole… and people DO swim in these!?!!!
A labyrinth at the Nakalele Lookout near the tidal pools which is essentially a maze. I guess if you walk the maze you are supposed to get good luck!
The Nakalele Blowhole was really going when we got there!! I was pretty excited to see it because I have had a few friends tell me it wasn’t doing squat when they were there. Sadly though for someone in this pic their day would soon come to a crashing ending when they found out their car had been broken into. I guess it’s a really bad problem in Maui and especially here since most people go down all the way to the blowhole and it’s easy to see when people are coming up. I just got a few shots and decided not to chance our car getting broken in to. This was a quick check into reality for us and we didn’t leave anything in the car after this nor did we leave it alone in any tourist spots. There were 4 cars they broke into in a matter of minutes here… don’t let this be you if you go to Maui! Don’t leave anything in your car!
It may not be the Road to Hana but it’s still a crazy drive! We didn’t go all the way around the mountain but just went to the blow hole and back. I got this shot out the window on the way back towards Lahaina of the road we were just on.
A view of the rocky coastline towards Molokai.
A shot of my hubby. Chris, whom is now forever spoiled by SLR cameras after being my second shooter in Jamaica. He took our point and shoot out one day during the trip and was so frustrated with the pictures and how slow the camera is to react that he took the D200 out and never looked back. Too bad he works every other weekend otherwise you’d be seeing him at your wedding!
We swung by the area where the Billabong Surfing Tournament was being held and people were practicing and catching waves. I think that due to the storm there was no competition this day but there was no lack of surfers in the water. I was pretty much in awe of all these people. I never could figure out how the heck they even get down INTO the bay where they were surfing… much less surf it!
The Aussie Girls representing and sporting what appears to be a Canon. I am kind of in love with this van. How… MAUI!
We finally left the coastline and headed down into Downtown Lahaina for some much needed retail therapy. I snapped this shot of some palm trees while we were driving along Front Street. I have an obsession with these trees – probably since they don’t grow in the snow!
Yes, I do this everywhere I go… even if I have a capable husband near to take the picture of me. LOL. After this it was off to some serious shopping (I ordered pineapples for home, they were delicious!) and to try some shaved ice before heading back to get ready for our luau… coming up next on the blog!
