Back to the island : photos of Maui, November 2016

Aloha and Happy December 2016!

For this post, I thought I’d share some of my favorite photos from our trip back to Maui last month. Of course, we could have stayed forever but we know we will return as the islands always seem to pull us back . . .

These will be scenery photos with a food photo blog to follow!

For this trip, my parents decided to treat us for a week’s stay at their timeshare in Kihei. They’ve had this timeshare for over 3 decades and were able to give us some time they had stored up. Maui Hill is a fairly good sized resort with some native creatures on the property like this beautiful gecko, whom we named, Mr. G:

Here’s a photo of the sunset from the resort:

One of the things I love to do in the mornings is take a walk from Kihei to Wailea and enjoy my morning cappuccino at the Honolulu Coffee Company at the Shops at Wailea. The walk is just under 2 miles each way so we get our exercise and our breakfast all at once!

And what better company to share coffee with than Louis, Tiffany and Prada?

During our last night there, the Shops at Wailea hosted a very special musical guest, the super talented Keali’i Reichel and his hula halau, Halau Ke’alaokamaile. The last time we saw Keali’i live was about 10 years ago at the Hollywood Bowl. This was definitely a more intimate setting with many of his fans in attendance. Hubby said I looked like Beatles came to perform, the way I was fluttering about 🙂 Well, it was that special . . .

Hubby and I decided that we would try something new on this trip and since he’s never done the famous “Road to Hana” we added it to the list. I’ve done it before with my family but that was many years ago. So, I do get carsick and the Road to Hana has about 600 turns (yes, that is SIX HUNDRED turns) so I was really anxious to say the least. Armed with Dramamine, ginger ale, ginger gum, pretzels and ahem, plastic bags, we set off early Sunday morning and headed to Hana. I ate nothing for breakfast, had the windows rolled down and hubby drove slow and steady. I had no problems whatsoever.

Here are some of the fantastic views and waterfalls we saw during the journey to Hana:

Once we arrived at the town, we decided to keep going! All the way to Haleakala National Park where we spent some time at the Oheo Gulch. Here you can see waterfalls and lagoons cascading down until they reach the ocean.

Here’s the reverse shot of the water heading into the sea:

On our way back, we decided to visit the Hana Lava Tube! Hubby and I love this kind of stuff so we were in heaven. This truly is an old lava tube that the owner discovered over 20 years ago and has since made it into an attraction. We had some super powerful flashlights that illuminated such a majestic space.

Even though it was early in the season, we decided to go Whale Watching with Pacific Whale Foundation. We have gone snorkeling at Molokini Crater with them before so we knew the great service and education we would get from the company.

What a beautiful day to be out at sea. We did see one small humpback but wasn’t able to get too close to him. Ah, well, next time then . . .

Since we launched off of Ma’alaea Harbor, I HAVE to take this opportunity to share my most favorite sticker/sign I’ve seen. I actually took this photo years ago and it still gives me a giggle each time I see it:

Lastly, I’ll end this blog with a Hawaiian sunset. Hubby took me to Makena Beach, near the place we were married years ago.

Here is a panorama he took:

The lone boat offshore . . .

And of course, I had to get some knitting in before dark.

Hope you enjoyed this little journey through Maui, my most favorite place on earth!

Stay tuned for the food blog . . . and more yarn stuff.

Aloha Nui Loa!

Christina & Jake

 

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Images of Hawaii 2013 – Part 3

Aloha all – here is Part 3 of my Hawaiian photo blog. These photos were all taken on the beautiful island of Maui.

My family has been staying in Kihei in South Maui for decades. Though it has changed dramatically in that time, it still is pretty laid back and the views are wonderful. This photo was taken while on a morning walk on South Kihei Road.

This photo of the last itty bitty bit of sunset was taken in the car – yup, I’m one of those people hanging out a car window with a camera . . . or two. I love that the lens focused on the horizon and everything else is nicely blurred. I also love that the orange just about matches the color of the rental car we had (mix-up at the rental agency awarded us an upgrade to a sports car with a rather loud bright orange paint scheme. We affectionately called it “The Monarch” after the Monarch butterflies found on Hawaii). Sigh, I miss that car.

We hopped over to Lahaina one day since I had to do some last minute shopping for Christmas. Doesn’t everyone need a box of cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company? We strolled Front Street and I snapped this photo of the sailboats on the water.

Taking a drive along the northern part of the island, we ended up at Honalua Bay. There was a single sailboat in the bay and you can even hike down to the beach for some lounging and swimming. I took several photos of the bay and the single rainbow. A few minutes later the second rainbow on the left started to appear.

We often wondered if these fields with the flowered tops were sugar cane and during our ziplining expedition, our guides did confirm they were sugar cane fields. The flowered tops meant the fields were already past the harvesting time. I took this photo from my vantage point in the Monarch and loved the lighting at sunset.

We visited the Maui Ocean Center which is a fabulous aquarium on Ma’alaea Harbor. They have a wonderful collection of sea life and beautiful views from the outside exhibits.

This glass tunnel through the shark tank is AWESOME! There is even a glass panel on the floor so you can see sharks above and below you. I did get rattled once when I failed to see a Hammerhead coming around me. Despite the heart-racing drive-by, I would still venture to dive this shark tank 🙂

OH – I also updated my storefront, so some of these photos are now available at Society6. Enjoy!