Maui Encore

In our quest to beat the heat and get some moisture in the bargain, we headed once again the island of Maui. This time we were joined by my brother and his family. We stayed in the same condominium as last year, but this time had a single bedroom unit with a lesser view. Tastefully decorated and ----- with wireless internet connection, it was a very comfortable place to stay.

We ended up doing most of the things that we did last summer with a couple of notable exceptions. This time, we actually made all the way to Hana, the northernmost point of the island. The road there is the real attraction however; the actual "town" of Hana is quite small and not that memorable. The road winds for about 40 miles or so. Every few miles there are waterfalls. Being as this is the dry season, the waterfalls were not that spectacular. The entire day was moody- it rained on and off, and the beaches looked stormy for the most part. We ended the day with a stop at the fish shop in Paia, where I had perhaps the best fish burger in the world- the bun was soft, the slaw was juicy, and the fish (Opah) was succulent.


We also went up the eastern side of the volcano to the winery. While quite a small winery in terms of available product ( I think that there is even a pineapple wine-urg), it is located on well manicured and expansive area. The actual buildings are historical, and owe much to the cattle ranching history of that part of the island. The climate and vegetation changed quickly every few miles; we went from range land, to tropical lushness, to dry and covered in lava rock. That and the view from the mountainside were perhaps the two most spectacular parts of the day trip.

We also spent the better part of the day walking/hiking on a lava road that made up the King's highway. We took it to a secluded beach were we had hoped to swim and hang out. When we arrived, we discovered that it was already occupied by a person (and that he was not too attached to his clothing), and that the beach was not swimmable due to excessive waves. It was a great place just to hang out however, and we did see some archeological remains of houses made of lava rock.




The rest of the trip was spent hanging out at beaches, body surfing (and spending the next few hours trying to divest ourselve from the sand in our bathing suits), sand castle building, body burying, kite flying, goldfish cracker eating, sushi scarfing, wine drinking and firework watching.


For another perspective on the trip, click here.