Saturday, October 25, 2014

BEACHES

 We went to Iao Valley state park (middle of the little section of the island)
 Iao Needle served as a lookout point when Kamehameha defeated Maui's forces in a ferocious battle the ultimately changed the course of Hawaiian history and uniting the islands.
 We climbed up 133 steps from the parking lot to get to this lookout spot. We were lucky that the clouds hadn't covered it yet.
 We took a drive to the top of the big section of Maui to Pala Bay and watched the kite surfing at Hooipa Beach Park.
 This section of water was for the surf boarders.
 Look closely and you will see some crosses on the rocks in memory of surfers who have died.
 In Paia we ate lunch at the Fish Market. I had mahi and Larry had fish and chips, fresh and delicious.
 A little way north of where we were staying on route 30 is this park. It actually had a life guard.
 Sitting on the beach and the next thing you knew a wave came roaring up the sand and we had to move farther back. I enjoyed walking in the water but you had to watch for those waves, every once in awhile one would hit with force.
 After a while of enjoying the sun and surf we drove farther north (top down on the car) to Nakalele Point and the Blow hole,as the waves came in the force formed this geyser
 We turned around and drove back down route 30 for the road became too narrow and you were to drive it at your own risk. this part of the road was curvy and narrow enough!
 Glad there were some spots to pull off and look at the beautiful coastline and water.
 The last two days of our stay they were calling for Hurricane Ana to come ashore, but lucky for us it went further south and all we had was a little wind and rain. These surfers were enjoying the higher waves in Lahaina.
 We enjoyed watching them as we ate at the Lahaina Pizza Co. and enjoyed another beer from the Maui Brewing Co.
 A beautiful rainbow to end our stay in Maui. It has been a great vacation.

Friday, October 24, 2014

SHOWS AND FESTIVALS

 Ulalena was a beautiful theatrical show telling Maui's creation and history mostly through dance.
 We went to the Royal Lahaina luau.
 We upgraded and were given a royal treatment, beautiful leis, upfront seating, and souvenir glasses from our drinks.
 It was a cloudy evening, even with a light rain, but still it made a unique sunset.
 Getting the pig out of the pit.
 Blowing of the conch.
 Lots  of beautiful dancing.
 Different cultures were represented in their native dancing. This group had lots of tattoos even on their faces (including the girls) and they made faces with bulging eyes and sticking out their tongue.
 There was always lots of hip movement!
 Those streaks are made from fire being twirled.
 Our last show was Kupanaha. It was a magic dinner theater. The meal was one of the best we had and the show was very interesting and amazing.
 Jodi shared about all the famous magicians who visited Maui in the early years of tourism,
 His wife was his assistant.
 He always left you saying "How did he do that ?" It was a very good show.
 When we went to church on Sunday they mentioned that here was a free Ukulele festival at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in the afternoon. Some of there members were at a workshop the day before and would be playing with Willie K. We arrived there in time to hear them.
 Willie K is really great and we enjoyed listening to him sing and play.

There were many different performers and we enjoyed them all.

 Roy Sakuma on the left had put on this festival since 1971.  He is an esteemed ukulele teacher.
 There was an art and craft show under the banyan tree in Lahaina on Saturday.
 It is one of the largest banyan tree in the US, It sure gives a lot of  much needed shade.
 I bought a print of this painting, the original was a little too pricey.
This artist was carving a tiki statue. Larry bought a small one with smiling eyes, so we brought a little Maui home with us.

BY SEA

 Friday morning we went on this boat to go to Lanai to snorkel.
 We had won this trip at our orientation meeting on Monday. Bob and Veronica sat at our table during orientation. We enjoyed talking to them so we arranged to go on this trip together.
 Looking back at Maui and the resorts along the shore line.
 A cruise ship was in port.

 The water was a little choppy, but after about 45 minutes we were anchored near Lanai and in the water snorkeling.
We enjoyed an hour of snorkeling. We had only snorkeled off a beach on our Caribbean cruise years ago, and Larry couldn't do it then. He bravely tried it again but had trouble with his mask. We did see some pretty fish.  

We went back to Maui and anchored about mile 13 on Route 30, and snorkeled some more. Some people saw turtles, but I wasn't lucky enough to, for I was a little afraid to go too far from the boat.

 Larry and Bob enjoyed going down the slide into the beautiful water, not me!
 We had a nice barbecue lunch and then if we were finished snorkeling we could have complimentary mai tais. This is the only day I got sunburn. I had lotion on everywhere but the lower part of my back, and that area turned a little pink, ouch!
 We had a very enjoyable day snorkeling and cruising around the island. We would even try snorkeling again, but Larry would like to get a better mask.
 On Saturday night we went on the Maui Princess for a dinner cruise.
 A beautiful sunset.
This entertainer sang and played for us during the trip, We would have danced if we hadn't had to hold on to something when you were up and moving around. We had a good meal and again a couple of mai tais.

 Since we didn't see too much while we were snorkeling we went to the Maui Ocean Center.
 All the fish here are found around the reefs in Hawaii.
 Here is a sea turtle.
 I enjoyed watching this little octopus, but I'm not sure I would want to meet him in the ocean.
 We watched a diver in the shark tank.
This was a nice way to view the fish.