Maui - Part 3

Wednesday

We had booked the Short Waterfalls Walk with Hike Maui for the morning. At 9 o’clock Jenny, Gretchen, Reid, Charlie, Ron and I all piled into the van and drove to the Park and Ride spot in Kahului, where we were met by our tour guide Kate and the rest of the group, a family of five. We would be doing a 1-mile hike at Twin Falls, near the beginning of the Road to Hana. As Kate drove, she told us about the history of sugarcane in Maui and how it had impacted the island, from bringing in new cultures to changing the landscape. When we got near Twin Falls, the air started to have a wonderful scent. It was so fresh and sweet, I couldn’t stop sniffing. It must have been the smell of the rainforest.

Twin Falls is privately owned by four families, but Hike Maui has a contract to allow tours so we were able to go into areas of the property that aren’t normally open to the public. The hiking part of the tour was pretty tame because we stopped a lot as Kate pointed out various edible plants. We sampled the “ice cream pods”, ate the flowers off of the Indian Head Ginger (they tasted like green apples) and sipped nectar out of the yellow ginger. If you get lost in Maui, you don’t have to worry about starving because there is food everywhere! Kate cracked us up by telling us that she likes to eat off of the flower displays in hotel lobbies. She said everyone stares at the crazy lady eating the decorations. :-)

yellow ginger

Kate

Of course, the highlight of the tour was the waterfalls. We stopped at two different waterfalls, where we had the option to swim or jump off the rocks into the water. I just walked around and took pictures at the first waterfall but got into the water at the second one. There were different heights of rock to jump from so you could jump from a high spot or a lower one. I was a weenie and picked a low spot. Kate showed the boys where to jump from the highest rocks.

No one wanted to leave the falls so our tour ended up going a little long and by the time we got back to the Park and Ride, it was 1:30. Mama and Daddy’s plane was coming in at 2 and Jeremy had planned to pick them up. But since we were already near the airport, we decided we’d have a quick lunch at Da Kitchen and then pick them up ourselves. Assuming we could fit all of us and the luggage into the van. It was a tight squeeze but we managed. :-)

We spent the afternoon relaxing by the condo pool. Mama and Daddy were pretty tired from their long flight so we ate in that night. Jenny and Ron put together a nice dinner of pork fried rice and salad, which we ate out on the lanai. The trade winds were back so it was a little cooler and breezier. It was great just being together, watching another beautiful sunset.

Thursday

The week was almost over and I hadn’t been in the ocean yet! How did that happen? Well, I wasn’t leaving Hawaii without seeing a turtle so Thursday was our beach day. Jenny set us up with lounge chairs in front of the Kea Lani and then we swam out to the reef. The water was kind of stirred up and silty but there was plenty to see – all kinds of angel and butterfly fish and even a few humuhumunukunukuapua’as (you gotta love that word). Jenny had told me not to spend a lot of money on a snorkel tour because you could always find turtles right off the beach. She was right! We ended up seeing five turtles. I found that as long as I just floated and didn’t swim towards them, they weren’t bothered by me and continued doing their turtle things. But there was one little guy who seemed curious and swam right up to me. That was so cool! When we got back to the beach, Gretchen joined us for some stand-up paddle boarding. Some of us were more successful at it than others, not to mention any names. :-)

Another walk on the Wailea beach path

That night (or afternoon, I should say, since we had reservations at 4:30) was our dinner at Mama’s Fish House in Paia. Mama’s Fish House was voted one of the top 25 fine dining restaurants in the United States by Trip Advisor in 2014 so this was a big treat. We went early so we could enjoy the location and take some family pictures while it was still light.

Although Mama’s was a fine dining restaurant (it definitely had fine dining prices!), it was actually a laid-back kind of place. It was open-air and eclectic, with bright blue table cloths, bamboo walls and Polynesian artwork. Unfortunately, the trade winds had died again and without air conditioning or any breeze, it was REALLY hot. I was wearing a light, sleeveless sundress and I was still seriously uncomfortable. I couldn’t even put my napkin on my lap because I couldn’t stand to have one more thing on me. The food was excellent, though. We ordered three appetizers to share and I had the grilled ahi entrée, which was delicious. We all liked the way the menu listed the names of the fishermen who had caught the fish that day. My favorite part of the meal was the Polynesian Black Pearl for dessert, a chocolate and lilikoi mousse nestled inside a shell-shaped pastry. Jenny had ordered it for the table but I think I ate most of it. :-)  Another item off the checklist.

continued on Part 4