Hawaii 1-0 continued

Okay, so those "teaser" pics from the previous post, in order, are of Honolua Bay (great for snorkeling, although I did not do it for fear of fish swimming in my face and touching my skin), Olivine Pools (I also did not swim here because, hello, the bottom is invisible and the fish were BIG - plus there were jumping fish that would jump from one little pool to another. No thank you!), and the Nakalele Blowhole (where some complete morons were not only standing OVER the blowhole, but were allowing their kids to play around it as well, even though there were clearly marked signs detailing warnings to NOT go near the blowhole for risk of injury or even death. There must be something wrong with me because I was definitely disappointed when I didn't get to witness a drowning.)

So, in addition to visiting those three places on a tour of West Maui, which consisted of driving extremely slowly around hairpin turns on the edges of cliffs with no guardrails (not kidding), we did some other stuff, too. One day we took a helicopter tour of West Maui and a neighboring island, Molokai. Our pilot's name was Glenda (seriously!) and she even kind of looked like the Good Witch. More ironically, one of the characters in the book I began reading that very evening was named Glenda. Don't tell me the universe didn't set that up.

On the same day of the helicopter tour, which was amazing and allowed us to see the 3,ooo foot cliffs of Molokai caused by landslides many years ago and the 180 foot waterfalls, we drove the Road to Hana. Again. And probably never again. Remember the hairpin turns from West Maui? Well, these are worse, and there are more of them. It's an all-day event, in fact. Fortunately there are gorgeous waterfalls, pools, overlooks, and dense rain forest sights to see on this drive, which makes it all worthwhile. We also went to Black Beach and ventured through the naturally formed lava tube. Some guy with a snorkel mask and bathing suit (no flippers or flotation device) swam out pretty far past the dangerous shore break to explore the black lava rocks jutting out of the water off shore. He swam like a fish, very fluid and never struggling, even through the strong currents. Needless to say, we were impressed!

My favorite day, however, was probably the day we rented boogie boards and took them down to Wailea Beach (South Maui) to test them out. Note to everyone: bikinis are no good for boogie boarding. Not only did my sorry New York butt get tossed, tumbled, and dragged through the Hawaiian sand, but my stomach had sand burn for almost the entire two weeks we were there! I'm actually convinced that there are real sand particles embedded in my skin. No joke. As an after thought, I'm not really sure one-piece bathing suits are suitable attire, either. My mother-in-law had some difficulty with sand getting into her bathing suit, particularly between the liner and actual suit. We called her Linden for the rest of the day ;)

Since we stayed in a condo we had a full kitchen and made most of our meals. However, we did venture down to Lahaina for some grub on a few occasions, and we found ourselves quite smitten with Cheeseburger in Paradise. I fell in love with the guacamole burger and accompanied it with a mojito. Yum, yum, and numb ;) It was here that we got to gaze at the ocean and watch the sun set, paying particular attention to the reefed sailboat in the distance. Apparently the story is that a man sank all of his money into a sailboat and then didn't moor it properly. The ocean waves pushed it toward shore, banking it on a reef. The Hawaiians are very protective of their reefs (some places don't even allow you to use sunblock before going in the water), so they refused to rescue the sailboat from the reef, insisting it would do more harm to the reef than good. Better luck next time, buddy?

Jay and his dad went surfing; I did not. Instead, I took some pretty captivating photos and lived vicariously through him. I love being at the ocean, love the sound of the waves, and even enjoy swimming and boogie boarding when I can touch and feel in control of my body. But the surfing area was filled with rocks and supposed sea urchins and I wasn't having any of that!

We had a fantastic vacation and are very grateful to have had the opportunity to visit Maui again. I hope we are able to go back one day!

Some things I learned in Maui that might help you if you ever get the itch to go there:

1. Wear 60+ sunscreen at all times. You will still get a tan. (I disregarded this little bit of information on the last day visited Maui four years ago and I ended up sitting up straight as a board for the entire 8 hour flight home because of a really bad burn. Not fun.)

2. Don't even attempt to go in the ocean at Big Beach if the waves are mild to moderately rough - it will toss you out and laugh in your face as it drags you through the sand trying to kill you. If you make it out without drowning you're a lucky S.O.B.

3. Wear a shirt over your bikini when boogie boarding and tie the bottoms SUPER tight! If they make suspenders for bikinis, even better!

4. If your child needs a flotation device (life jacket, swimmies/armies/water wings, tube, etc.) in the hot tub, THEY DON'T BELONG IN THERE!!!! Especially if they still wear a diaper. Ew.


Aloha and Mahalo!