We’ll miss you, Maui!

Day 7: 

Today we’d be embracing yet another difficult hike…much less than Haleakalā, but a challenging, steep, 2-mile uphill incline. Hehe. But, before we do much, we stop by Maui Coffee Roasters for some coffee and some breakfast. We’ll need our energy for the Waihe’e Ridge hike. This hike boasts magical views of the ’Īao Valley, and the north shore coastline, and of course, the lovely volcano.

This trail has two parking lots, a higher and a lower overflow lot. We rolled the dice and went up to the top, only to see that it was to capacity. BUT! We noticed some people walking down, and we asked them if they were headed out, and they were! Wooohooo! So we waited a minute or two and quickly took over their parking spot. This saved us close to an extra mile of uphill walking! Thank you, gods! Haha.

The first part of the trail was not very cute, hehe. A super inclined cement walkway. Absolutely trash for already sore and tired legs, haha. But it was short, and once we got to the top of that mess, it was a natural trail for the rest of the hike. We started through a little pine forest that reminded us of any woody area in New England. And not for nothing, the shade was life-giving, hehe. 

We climb our way to the top of the 2-mile trail, taking many much needed breaks, often with a beautiful scenic overlook. 360 degree views from up here…we could see Haleakalā looming in the distance, with the low laying lands near the airport, we could see the cliffs and the ocean of the West Maui Mountains, and the absolutely magical ‘Īao Valley….looking like it was straight out of Jurassic Park. I think I had a silly grin on my face for the entirety of the hike, taking in all the amazing sights I was experiencing.

Once on top of the ridge, we had the picnic area to ourselves for a minute, and we rested our exhausted legs and took in the beauty. We were soon joined by a group of older women from Canada. They looked like they were having the time of their lives! Hehe. We exchanged pictures and got some insider tips from them, as one of them has a house on the island. They quickly headed back down the trail, mentioning how good an ice-cold Corona sounded, and Tony and I couldn’t help but agree, hehe. We would come across these women again, but they were hoofing it down the trail, much faster and nimbler than we were. I hope that I am able to do all those things at the age!

We finally make it to the end and back to our steaming hot car, lol. We decide we’re going to visit the ‘Īao Valley again and sit in the icy cool, healing waters of the river. Something like an ice-bath for our tired legs. Before we get there, we notice a cute roadside cafe on the edge of a coconut tree farm. We stopped in for some refreshments. 

Soon, we were in the river, holding our breath just to dip our feet and legs in….Brrrrrr that water was cold! Hehe. But it felt so good! The clouds were thick and rolling in, and without the heat of the sun, it was quite chilly all around. We didn’t stay too long. 

We went back to our little oasis to shower and relax for a bit before going out to karaoke with Christian and Paige. 

The karaoke spot was a fun little bar in Kihei called “Life’s A Beach.” Little did we know this would be a momentous night for Tony, as he was finally introduced to a Bloody Maria (Bloody Mary, but with tequila), and a Michelada (beer with something like a Bloody Mary mix in it). We had fun singing and cheering other people on, and soon, it was time to call it a night. 

Day 8:

Today was a lazy morning start…sleeping in felt amazing after our big hikes and a night out, hehe. We woke up, and our wonderful host had prepared us fresh squeezed orange juice, lattes, and a little toast breakfast: a hole in the wall. The middle of the toast was carved out and a fried egg in the middle, and the cutout was the shape of a dolphin, which was placed on top! What a cute idea! Hehe. We are so lucky 🙂

The first stop is always a coffee stop, hehe. I asked my friend, Jaimee, what her favorite coffee spot on the island was, and she recommended Akamai Coffee. I’d like to try as many different coffee places I can, and I hadn’t tried this one yet, so that was the plan. We found a cute little trailer cafe with no line, so we drove up, and I indulged in a honey lavender latte that was so tasty! Very different, but worth the try. Felt just right for a cloudy, slightly rainy day. 

Today we decided to go back to the Kihei area, since we really hadn’t explored that part of the island yet. We started off on Glass Beach, where it seemed like there would be tons of sea glass laying on the beach, but we didn’t find as much as we’d hoped. We did see a huge seal sunning herself…it was quite overcast, but I’m sure she felt warmer than in the water, hehe. 

After Glass Beach, we worked our way to the aquarium. Tony was really interested in going, and we were told that the whale 360 movie experience was worth it. Upon entering the aquarium, we realize it’s all outdoors! How cool is that? The larger exhibits with the biggest tanks were inside, but to get to one place to the next, we had to walk around outside, and I have to say, that was quite nifty. 

We make it to the whale show and are given 3D glasses, and it’s EPIC. The sound is loud enough to shake the seats we were sitting in. I had been wanting to do a whale cruise, but it didn’t work out, so this was a pretty cool alternative. I probably wouldn’t see the whales this close on the whale watch anyway. Hehe.

After the aquarium, we plugged in the address for the Maui Brewery….so excited! We have already sampled some of the beers at local restaurants, but there’s nothing like checking it out straight from the source, hehe. 

The brewery was large and open, a beautiful breeze blowing in, and we arrived just in time for happy hour! Wooohoo! Tony and I each ordered a flight and some snacks :). The food was delicious and the beer was tasty! Between the two of us, we almost sampled all the beers they had on tap, haha. Flights are the way to go! Tony finished up with a rootbeer float that looked yummy, well, if you like root beer (not me!), hehe.

After our yummy dinner, we decided to check out the sunset on a beach recommended to us by our server. The waves here were pretty big, but not as chaotic as Secret Beach. We took the boogie board out and had so much fun riding the waves back to shore. I’ve never done this, besides the more standard and less efficient body surfing, lol. It was quite the thrill, speeding along with the wave. I had a couple of really good runs and plenty of not so great ones, haha. As the sun was setting, I was constantly on the lookout for a whale sighting. I was in the water, trying to catch my last good wave, and just along the horizon, I spotted a whale breach! It was picture-perfect with the golden light of the sunset reflecting on the water. How lucky am I?

What a beautiful end to another lovely day in Maui. Before driving back to our little oasis, we decided to have a drink at the Mexican restaurant across the street to wait out the traffic. The bartender here made one mean and spicy michelada! So yummy!

Day 9:

Today we would be tackling the infamous Road to Hana. The whole road is about 64 miles long, has 59 bridges, the majority are single lane, and over 600 curves! It’s quite the adventure just to drive it, but the beauty of the road is found in all the places to stop along the way to checkout waterfalls and beaches! There are some sites that require an entry fee, but I’m proud to say that we managed to avoid those and still saw everything we wanted! Hehe.

We passed so many waterfalls along the road, but many were dry! Or, at least, it looked like it would’ve been a rushing river or waterfall, had there been any water, hehe. We didn’t get out of the car, but did the best we could with drive-by photos. Many of the waterfalls that did have water required parking along the narrow road, and honestly, after our bamboo hike, none of these waterfalls compared, hehe. So we were just as happy seeing them and continuing on our way. 

One really cool spot we found had several lava tubes along the side of the road. There is one big one right before you enter Hana, but you have to pay to go in. I did some research and found a GPS coordinate for a free lava tube! Hooorah! We stopped, and the first one we identified, we were able to walk into, but there wasn’t much there; just a little cave. Then, as we were headed back to the car, Tony spotted another opening that looked like a lava tube entrance. We check that one out too, and before I know it, Tony is out of sight in the back of this amazing tunnel. He continues to explore and sees light! I follow behind him as quickly as I can without tripping over the coarse lava rock, ducking to avoid hitting my head. I was successful for a little bit, but then *bump.* Ouch! Haha, I knocked the top of my head on the same spot Tony did, just seconds earlier, lol. Thanks for the warning, babe! 🤪

Inside a freaking lava tube! 😍🤩🌋

Minor injury was worth it, as we saw a huge opening in the tube with long tree roots covering the entry. It was magical and otherworldly and every bit free! Hehe. I highly recommend the stops off the beaten path to see something a bit more unique, and for staying more budget friendly. 

We stopped by Aunt Sandy’s Banana Bread, almost at the halfway point. Banana bread is quite popular, and quite the delicious snack on Maui. The little peninsula where this place is located is quite beautiful and worth stopping for some pictures.

Our favorite stop of the day was easily the Red Sand Beach, in Hana. We had some trouble finding the right trail, or at least, I did 😅, haha. But once we found it, it was a quick walk through a fairly treacherous path along a cliff of crumbling lava rock. But soon enough, the mystical red sand beach lay before our eyes. It was stunning, to say the very least. If you come for nothing else, this beach is worth the long drive…I’ve never seen anything like it! We explored the secluded beach and marveled at the color of the sand, the natural wall protecting the little inlet, and some wonderfully turquoise water off to the side. The best part was there were only 3 or 4 groups of people here! Nice! 🙂

Once we reached Hana, we realized there really wasn’t much to do; I thought there’d be a little downtown shopping area, or some restaurants, but there was hardly anything! Hehe. One little market and several food truck options for food, but no big restaurants that I could see. I was interested in going a bit further past Hana to see a few more points of interest, but honestly, after the Red Sand Beach, I felt so fulfilled and convinced we wouldn’t see anything better, so we began driving back.

On the way back to the busier area of the island, we stopped at a free black sand beach. The popular one to visit along the road is in the Wai’ānapanapa State Park, which requires an entry and parking fee, and it’s a timed slot. By the looks of the pictures online, I’m sure its worth it, but it seems to be a top spot, and easily busy and crowded. We found another black sand beach that we could drive down to, in the Honomanu Bay Area. We started by walking down the road, thinking the quality of the road may be less than we were willing to risk in the car we were borrowing, hehe. But, not even 3 minutes into the walk down, a couple of locals stopped us and advised us to drive, since it was quite the walk down. They assured us the car would make it just fine, and we trusted them, said our Mahalos, and walked back up to our car.

A short drive down, and the beach was right in front of us. It wasn’t as black as we were hoping, but it was certainly dark sand, especially where the water was reaching. It did remind me of the black sand beaches in El Salvador, and my memory doesn’t do me justice, as I can’t recall if the sands were darker or not there. Hehe, guess I’ll have to plan a trip back there ASAP. After a few minutes enjoying the sand and skipping some rocks, we jumped back in the car and continued our return journey.

As we got closer to familiar territory, we passed by the entrance to the bamboo waterfall hike we did earlier in the week, and it was all closed off, and there were people sitting under a big tent to send people away who may have planned on going. Weird! We slowed down, and Tony asked why it was closed, and the response we got was simply because it was on private land and there were too many incidents. Huh! Later on we asked his friends their thoughts on the situation, and they filled us in on a little tradition some locals take upon themselves to thwart tourists from visiting certain places. Whether or not this was what was taking place (the set up looked pretty professional and legit, and was spotted twice along the road), it was still a bummer to see such a beautiful trail blocked off. Glad we did it when we did! 

We passed through Paia and Tony committed to purchasing a beautiful Maui hook he had his eyes on since we first walked by it at the beginning of the week. So beautiful! I picked up a lovely ring I saw and couldn’t resist…I’ll think of Maui every time I wear it! We snagged some gelato for a quick afternoon pick-me-up, and headed back to the car.  

We ventured to Secret Beach, where Tony once again tried to boogie board….except this time, he wasn’t as successful as the first, hehe. These waves were more wild and breaking closer to shore, making it much more difficult to secure a good ride. Womp Womp. A for effort, though!

After tiring out from the beach, we snagged some late lunch/early dinner at Tobi’s Poke….one of our best decisions yet! It was so tasty! After dinner we popped over for a couple of drinks at one of our favorite spots to finish out a most glorious day. 

Day 10:

Good morning, Maui! Today we’re set to hang with Christian and Paige again, doing one of Tony’s favorite things: disc golfing! Woohoo! Annnnnnd, the course is on the side of the volcano! How cool is that? Makes me wonder how many disc golf courses exist on the slopes of dormant or otherwise volcanoes. 

First stop was a cute little farmers market, where we’d be meeting up with Tony’s friends. We beat them there, and I got a coffee… are we surprised? Lol. I also ventured around the different vendors and bought myself a coconut to sip on, and later snack on :D. I LOVE some fresh coconut water! We did another lap around the market when Christian and Paige got there, and soon we were caravanning towards the disc golf course. Apparently there aren’t really directions on google maps, and its a tricky spot to find, nestled among the trees and trails. Fun!

We arrive and it’s COLD! Hehe. I knew I’d get hot from disc golfing, and being in the sun, but starting off was quite frigid. I risked not taking a jacket, and I was happy with that decision just a few moments later when we emerged from the shaded practice basket and into the blazing sun. Aaron, a friend of Christian and Paige had a bag full of discs, and let us choose our weapons for the afternoon. He misheard my name, and called me “Yellow,” so naturally, I chose a yellow disk, lol. It was meant to be! 

Right off the bat, the course is difficult, with us hurdling our discs across the road, and up an open field with the basket out of site. Okkkay, guess we’ll just send it as far as we can and hope for the best! Haha. We all threw and took multiple attempts and eventually found the basket. Almost lost a disc or two in the trees…hehe. That’s how you know its gonna be a great run. 

We meander through the course, easily the most difficult course I’ve ever been to, and tons of fun! We took a snack break with a view to die for: We could see the West Maui Mountains straight ahead of us, and both the North and the South Shores. So neat! Soon enough we were ready for more and continued on. The course was a ful 18 holes, but we opted to cut it short as the hunger pains kept growing in our empty stomachs. 

We head to a little resturant called the Kula Bistro, and the food was AMAZING! And they had some killer deserts all lined up and tempting us from the display cases. One for frozen options, and the other for your standard refrigerated ones. We eagerly await our meals and as soon as the sustenance hits our lips, we are satisfied happy campers. After our lunch, we said goodbye to our new friend Aaron, and thanked him for letting us use his discs. Thankfully, none were lost! Woohoo! And we all parted ways. 

Tony and I had grand plans of going back to the Maui Brewery, so we also said goodbye to Paige and Christian for the night, as they had some things to take care of at home. We decided to go to our little home first, to freshen up before going out again, and we got a little too comfy resting on the bed. We pushed ourselves to get up and out, but opted for trying someplace closer than the 40 minute drive to the brewery. I was on the hunt for a more local, unique bar we could grab a celebratory drink for the end of our trip. 

I found one, and when we arrived, we noticed a sign on the door announcing it was closed to the public for a private event. Bummer! Right next door was a place called BB’s. We tried our luck there and went in. Looked pretty shady from the outside, and inside was equally, if not more so, hehe. We take a seat at the bar, the place was empty with the exception of one table of people. We asked for cocktails, and the bartender said he doens’t do that….with a bar full of alochol behind him. Hmmm…okay….I guess we’ll leave, then! Lol. The bartender suggested another place next door, Ray’s Deli. Deli? Ummm…okay, I mean we’re here, so lets give it a go, haha. The door says its karaoke, and we walk in, and are again greeted with a divey bar, but this place at least had a few more people around. We sit at the bar and this time we don’t chance a cocktail and instead opt for a beer. Meanwhile, Tony is looking up other places, since, clearly, my research has not led us anywhere intersting. Or maybe more intersting that we were hoping for? Haha. 

Tony finds a Mexican place along the way back to where we were staying. You can never go wrong with Mexican, right? On our way, we see some sirens and some traffic forming ahead of us. What’s going on? We begin staring ahead, and we notice fire! From where we were, I thought it was a flame thrower, lol. Big streaks of fire shooting up towards the sky. Tony thought maybe a car had run off the road and caught on fire. As we get closer, we realize its a brush fire! Oh no! After the devastation of Lahaina, we were concerned and sad to see that. Thankfully, though, we could see the fire trucks already on their way.

We make it to Fernando’s, the Mexican resturant, and walk in, and again. Dead as can be. Lol. What the heck?! Haha, destined to have a rather lame last night, but thats okay, we had quite an amazing trip overall. We had some fun drinks, a margarita and a Bloody Mary and feeling just slightly defeated for the evening, headed back to our little room.

Day 11:

Our last day on the island! Wahhhh! Haha. We woke up to tangerine juice and lattes. One last morning pampering before leaving the island. How perfect! Hehe. Today would be a pretty relaxed day; we were headed to the Ka’anapali Coast to watch Paige climb a coconut tree. She was doing this as a part of a small demonstration day for the children living on the resort who were displaced by the Lahaina fires. I didn’t catch his name or what he does, but some guy pays to have ponies brought once a month, and tries to get another “act” to give the kids something to do, take their minds off everything they’ve been through, and hopefully to inspire them in ways they can make a living in the future. I was really impressed, and thought it was a really cool idea.

So, we make the hour drive over there, and we do pass by Lahaina. They’ve blocked off the entry roads to drive through the town, but even along the bypass road, you could see the scorched land and melted elevator shafts remaining. We found it odd that in some places, there was clear and utter devastation, but there would be one apparently perfectly fine house. Seems like the fire jumped around a bit. 

We learned that the fire was likely started because of power lines, and based on what Tony had seen, they are quite dated, and it makes sense. Then of course, the hurricane force winds blew that fire all over the place, destroying homes and taking lives in an instant. Now Lahaina is in the process of a long and tense clean up. I saw a news article just recently saying they’ve found a permanent site for debris removal, but while we were in Maui, it seemed like a heated debate among the island. Everything is shipped in and out, and the same could be the case for the debris, but then, who will pay for it? So many questions and logistics…it’ll be a years long process before anything rebuilds again. Lahaina Strong!

Onto a lighter topic, back on the resort, the scenery and views reminded me of my layovers to the island. What I was seeing now were the images I had in my head of Maui. A mixture of turquoise and deeper blue waters, a fairly large beach area, and beautifully landscaped trees dotting the resort boundaries. It was beautiful, for sure. While we were hanging out, Paige told us to keep our eye out towards the water, as there had been some whale sightings! Yay! Hehe. 

After hearing that, my eyes were glued to the water, in the hopes of catching a whale breaching, or even a tail coming down into the water. At first, my chances seemed bleak, but then I began noticing splashes that couldn’t possible be the waves breaking, and I knew it was from the whales! Hehe. Now if only they were closer. Oh wait! My camera has a mega zoom, maybe I can use that like binoculars! Bingo! Haha. 

With my zoom turned up, we could easily make out the whale tails and see through the splashes. And we ended up seeing so many! We saw the spray from their blowholes as well! It was amazing! By the end of the day morning, we had seen 2 or 3 breaches as well! We weren’t lucky enough to snag those on camera, but it was remarkable to see with our own eyes. 

Soon we headed to a restaurant called Castaway Cafe for lunch. Tony and I ordered drinks and food right away as we were quite hungry, lol. Paige and Christian would be joining us, but they had some things to take care of before. We had a nice view of the water again, and were sneaking peaks to catch some whales, hehe. We had completely finished our meals by the time Paige and Christian came, and they brought a friend! The more the merrier! We enjoyed the company, the food, the drinks, and soon it was time to part ways. 

But not before Tony caught a fabulous breach as he was walking back from the bathroom. I turned and caught a bit of it, but everyone in the restuarant was ooohing and aahhhing, hehe. So cool! And what a way to wrap up our trip in Maui. 

Tony and took the car and did a car wash and a quick wipe down, and met up with Paige and Christian at their house. We had talked about going into the ‘Īao Valley for a dip in the river, but it was quite clouded over, and we opted not to go. We hung out at their house for a while, and we were serenaded by Christian, who can play the harp! No way! That was pretty neat! I learned a bit about how the harp works, and my nerdy self was super interested in that. 

As our departure time came closer and closer, we decided to go out for one last drink. We found a place on the way to the airport, and Christian came with us, to drive the car back. So we had our final mai-tais and some snacks, and took the dreaded ride to the airport. We said our goodbyes and see you soons, and we headed towards check-in and security. Byyeee Maui! Until next time! Many Mahalos!