Our early Thursday morning flight to Maui gave us plenty of time to enjoy the day. The morning was filled with delicious breakfasts, buying fresh fruit from street-side farmers market (there is NOTHING better then fresh mangos!), and driving around seeing the sights and scoping out the shoreline for a perfect snorkeling spot. We arrived at our beach front home earlier than check in, but took the time to enjoy our mostly private and perfect beach. We used some boogie boards and played in the ocean, Chris caught a crab, and then we took naps on the nice lounge chairs. After checking into our room and cooking dinner, we enjoyed taking a long walk along the beach and a late night swim (which we never repeated once we learned that dusk is prime time for shark activity!).
We woke up early on Friday morning so we could truly seize the day! It was jam packed and included...
- Lots of snorkeling. In true Andrew fashion we hit the beaches well before the crowds in an attempt to see the most fish. Our first beach was a bit of a bust in terms of seeing the cool underwater world, but we were still able to take advantage of our favorites - sandy toes and salty kisses. The next beach we went to, Honolua Park, was our favorite snorkeling place on both islands. We saw another sea turtle, large schools of fish, more variety of species then anywhere else, and the most colorful coral yet. We spent hours here and loved every second of it.
- More fresh mangos (yes, I'm obsessed) :-)
- Some oceanside hiking on Maui's North Shore to a lighthouse, Nakalele blowhole, and the famous lovers' "heart-shaped rock". We didn't find the lighthouse to be that thrilling, but Chris could not get enough of the giant blowhole. It was like a tropical Yellowstone!
- In the afternoon we ventured out to find one of the well kept secrets of Maui - the Olivine Pools, also known as the mermaid pools. There's no clear trail to the pools and after much wandering we finally figured out how we could scramble down to them. We were the only people at the pools and it was one of the most beautiful things either of us have seen in our lives. The crystal blues stood out against the dark rock, and you could see and hear the massive ocean waves crashing in the background. It was a lot of fun to be a mermaid.
- We then spent some time tracking down the best shaved ice on the island, and spent some time pretending to be rich people at a fancy resort as we sat in their big-comfy-lounge-chair-shaded-bed-things overlooking the ocean.
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| Olivine Pools |
Saturday began with an even earlier morning as we had big plans to drive the Road to Hana and fill it with as many stops as possible. The Road to Hana is a 64 mile curvy road through the wet rainforest on the east side of the island. With many beautiful stops along the road it is a must-do in Hawaii and the stunning views make every stomach-turning curve on the narrow road worth it. Some of our favorite stops along the road were:
- The countless waterfalls - Some waterfalls were right on the edge of the road, and others involved some short hikes (a great way to stretch road-trippin' legs).
- Black Sand Beach - The black sand and the blue water were surely a sight to behold! Also at this stop we got in a really nice hike across black rock that overlooks the ocean. The hike lead us through an ancient burial ground, and had unbeatable ocean views. We also enjoyed the large lava tube that went from the beach straight into the ocean.
- Red Sand Beach - We still don't know which beach we liked better, black sand or red sand. But wow! The colors here couldn't be more spectacular. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sand and cooled off in the ocean.
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| Exploring the lava tubes at Black Sand Beach |
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| Overlooking Red Sand Beach |
Within Haleakala National Park -
- Bamboo Forest - Hiking through a bamboo forest was incredible. The slightest breeze would cause the bamboo to softly sway, creating a beautiful melody as each bamboo plant kissed another. If the forest itself wasn't impressive enough we arrived in a clearing at the end with an incredible waterefall over 400 feet tall.
- Banyan Trees - These ginormous trees branch out and grow to incredible size. Chris sure had fun climbing on the large limbs!
- Seven Sacred Pools - This was the one thing we were looking forward to the most on the road to Hana but were super bummed that a flash flood made it illegal to swim in the pools the one day we were there. It was still fun to look at the Seven Sacred Pools, known to locals as Ohe'o Gulch.
On Sunday Chris wasn't feeling too good so we took it a little easier. We started our morning off right by attending a local church for our sabbath meetings. After church we drove up to Haleakala National Park. This National Park is home to the dormant Haleakala Volcano as well as a few species of endangered birds and plants. It was wild to enter yet another unique climate and terrain on the same island. The top of the volcano is the island's highest peak and from it you could look over the ocean and see the Big Island. We had fun exploring small trails and the visitor centers over the course of the day.
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| The desert-like crater at Haleakala Nat'l Park |
Monday morning we relaxed on the beach at our rental (we really couldn't have stayed in a better location!). We waited until the last possible moment to run in and shower before we needed to check out. We then headed to small hippy town of Paia where we frolicked the town, checked out a lot of neat shops, and had a great seafood lunch before heading to the airport in the late afternoon.
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| Playing on our beach at Kihei |
We had a sleepy flight home after saying goodbye to our perfect tropical vacation, and we still miss our Hawaiian sun.
Remember to pray and remember to play,
Mr. & Mrs. Suntanned Andrew
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