Thinking Out Loud

After a busy day in the volcanic mountains we were away to the Old Lahaina Luau.  Lots of good food and a beautiful sunset for desert.

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Sherry and Herb wanted to go shopping today.  Of course, that didn’t interest me very much, but I tagged along with them because I told them I knew how to get to Lahaina.  I thought a couple of hours of souvenir shopping, and then we could do something else.  But the conversation on the way soon led to the impression this was going to be an all day event.

Uh oh.  Time to move into alternate plan persuasion mode.

I convinced them to take a drive towards the western end of the island, and maybe head up to Haleakala National Park.  We bought a road map and turned around with just a little griping from Sherry.

Our first stop was the Kula Botanical Gardens. Read the rest of this entry »

Just some miscellaneous photos I liked.

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The reason everyone came to Maui was for Chelsea and Jonathan’s wedding.  And the day was finally here.  Not without some glitches, but that what makes a wedding special.

A beautiful location for exchanging wedding vows.  I think it was called “Secret Cove.”  And indeed it was secret.  Somehow, the car leading the parade to Secret Cove got lost, and we ended up at a golf course.

Secret Cove has a tiny little beach, and at one point in time there was three wedding ceremonies happening at the same time.  I didn’t get too many photos, because I didn’t want to get in the way of the professional photographer, or distract from the ceremony.  But you can see some photos on the next page.

We were on our way at about 5:30 am to snorkel our way around the Island of Lanai.  I was looking forward to this.  I had been scuba diving a couple of times – but only in dirty old Saskatchewan water and this sounded fun.

We arrived at the docks at Lahania around 6:30 and once everyone was fitted with fins and snorkel gear – all given special names by the Captain of the boat and her crew – we headed out to sea.  My mask and snorkel was called Mahi-Mahi.  Mahi-mahi is Hawaiian for dolphin fish.

I had bought a small digital camera that was waterproof the day before just for the trip.  Yeah – I know – I really needed another camera.  But I didn’t think saltwater would be good for my SLR, considering how my cell phone reacted to dampness.

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The Iao Valley State park was the last stop on my day trip. By now it was around 4:00 pm, and the sun sets at around 6:30 pm. I had no idea what to expect. There was a little star on the map the car rental place gave me that said “Iao Needle.”

The park is in the valley formed from a collapsed volcano (a caldera) Iao means “cloud supreme” from the bank of clouds that are usually hanging over the valley. Throughout the park, there are signs saying that flash floods occur regularly because of the frequent and heavy rains.

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I decided another day of shopping or hanging around the hotel was not in the books. The truth is, it was a tough decision because I enjoyed being with the family. But I needed to see stuff, so I rented a car – well, almost a car – it was a four door Ford Fiesta. No destination in mind – just needed to pick a direction to drive.

North was the lucky spot on the compass. The Kahekili Highway goes all around the coast on the north end of the island. I had heard it was very scenic. Me and the Pentax headed out.

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After my big day at Costco (I still can’t believe I did that – I’ll likely be bungee cord jumping or skydiving next) I was looking forward to a more relaxing day. Audie called me from the lobby first thing in the morning, ready to go, but I hadn’t had my shower yet. I asked for ten minutes. He told me he had one other thing to do, and would be back in about a half hour.

Hawaii time is always twice as long as anywhere else. This morning, that was a good thing.

My shower was broken. It tried to squirt water. But it just couldn’t. Two little drops would leak out and then it would hiss at me and another bit of water would trickle out. And then it quit trying altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s another sunny, hot day in Wialea today.

As expected, my few hours in the sun erupted into a sunburn. It’ s not painful, except for the top of my feet, but I know I’m gonna lose some skin in a few days.  But I ain’t gonna let that bother me.

According to Google Earth, it’s only a couple of kilometres (or about 160000 inches) to the Palms at Wailea from my hotel.  I checked the map so I knew where I was going and off I went for a walk.  Chelsea and Jonathan were supposed to be here already, and if they were at home I was hoping for a short visit.  Audie and Lois and family were going to arrive sometime today too.

I got to the Palms a lot sooner than I expected.  I arrived at an intersection I wasn’t really expecting, and my first thought was “Now where the hell am I?”  I looked for a street sign (as if that was going to help) and there it was!  The Palms at Wailea.  Just across the street.

I called Jonathan’s cell, and demanded a beer.  More importantly, I wanted to know how to find them.  A few minutes later I was sitting on their deck.

Audie and Lois were already in town.  They had gone to the airport to pick up more people, and would be back later.  I finished my beer, and as nice as the grounds at the Palms were, I wanted to move on.  I’m not much for hanging around hotels or wasting time at a pool when there’s an ocean a few blocks away.

I got directions to the beach (I could see I needed a car soon) and headed out.

Maui is a little island, and I knew it couldn’t be too far to the ocean.  I could smell the sea from the Hotel Wailea’s lobby, and when I was on the upper deck of the lobby I could see the water over the top of the trees.

I asked the guy at the front how far to a beach, and he said he would give me ride in the shuttle.  I asked if I could walk there, and he told me it was about a fifteen minute walk.  Read the rest of this entry »