Kahului, Maui

My mom and I didn't get a good impression of Maui and it was entirely our fault. I think we needed to rent a car and drive the road to Hana (a sometimes dirt road that takes you to waterfalls and hidden grottos). But we didn't. We didn't have any shore excursions lined up for the first day and that was a major mistake. What we did see looked just like Southern California.

After a false start jumping on a 'shopping' shuttle that took us to Wal-mart of all places, my mom got in a weird mood and decided she wanted to go back to the ship. Considering we'd been in Maui all of thirty minutes, I wasn't happy, so I set off on my own.

I caught a free shuttle to a mall, where there was a small food market. I had my first malasadas (Portuguese dough balls rolled in sugar, yum!!!) and some smoked marlin and salmon. I also bought the best fish and chips I've ever had in my life. They were made with mahi mahi and were dipped in a batter that fried up to a lemon yellow color and was dotted with herbs. Heavenly.

From there I hopped on a local bus to Lahaina, which is the northwest coast of the island. Good move. I did some shopping and was finally able to swim in the ocean. Yay! I swam here:

It was another one of those places good for boogie boarding and bodysurfing. The undertow would pull you out and then spit you back forcefully onto the shore. The pull was so strong that you really had trouble resisting it. It was like being caught in a washing machine. A really fast one! I wish my mom had come out because it was a nice beach although the sand was hotter than hell. I also wish I'd brought my new underwater camera along so I could have taken pictures while I was in the water. Big catamarans would pull up to shore right next to where I was swimming and it would have been a neat shot.

I hung out there for as long as I could, but the bus schedules demanded I leave somewhat early. I rode the bus to another shopping district, and there I wandered into a gallery with some amazing fantasy-surreal art. I couldn't afford anything since the cheapest one was $1000, but I bought an art book for $100, which suits me fine.

Vladimir Kush is the artist.

The next day we went on an excursion to the Mau Ocean Center and the Iao Valley.

The Ocean Center was okay. I personally think the one at Mandalay Bay in Vegas is better because they stock more fish and jellyfish (the wonders of having a casino-fed budget, I suppose) but Mom thought this was better.

Next we went to the Iao Valley, which is where King Kamehameha and some other guy (Kalakaua?)duked it out a long time ago. Guys were fleeing into these mountains and the opposition would grab them and throw them off the sides. Cool.

Here's the Iao Needle, which is the focus point of this trip. Yay, a big rock.

 

Lots and lots of green. It was pretty.

Remembering the good experience I'd had on the city bus to Lahaina, I asked my mom to try the bus to Wailea and Kuhio Beach, both south of us. She agreed. Unfortunately, this bus route wasn't very scenic and we were so short on time that we couldn't get off at any stops and ended up riding it round trip back to the mall. We fast-walked back to the ship and made it with two minutes to spare. Not a great ending to the day.

Kona, Big Island

We had a nice excursion planned for Kona. Kona, on the opposite side as Hilo, is night and day compared to that other town. Kona is what I picture Hawaii to be. It's gorgeous. Black sand beaches, lava rocks jutting out into the sea, flowers everywhere, and beautiful vegetation. Even their downtown area is great: lots of shops and a farmers market. I wouldn't mind living in Kona. I wouldn't mind at all.

Our excursion in Kona was my Mom's compromise since we had signed up predominantly for trips that she wanted to do. This was something I wanted to do. Ocean kayaking and snorkeling! Now, keep in mind this is a big compromise for my mom because she doesn't know how to swim. But she's a trooper.

The coloring on the next set of photos is a little off because I was using my new underwater digital camera on the 'sea' setting, which is meant for under the surface.

Hehe, she looks like a little kid. I'm taking this from the water. What you don't see is that after I took this pic, I tried to climb back into the kayak and ended up flipping us both over. A scary moment for my mom, but she was okay.

My mom is like 100 lbs. She has the upper body strength of a 10 year-old. So guess who did the majority of the work? And it's not like I'm in super shape, either. But she did her best and I did my best and together we lagged behind the others only by about a quarter mile, lol. We were so slow.

We both got really burned here, too. My mom ended up with spots on her legs that were 2nd degree burns. I burned, too, as dark as I'd been in Belize. I was surprised that the sun was so strong here.

This is how the coast looked in Kona. Black rocks everywhere and with the ocean splashing against them it was breathtaking. This is actually a cave that we went into. The water would come crashing in and spurt up like a geyser inside. It reminded me a little of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Unfortunately I had a water droplet on the lens, right where the mouth of the cave is, but you still get the idea. Some of the kayakers climbed up to jump off the top of the cave. It was about a thirty foot drop and all the guys screamed like little girls. It was funny.

 

We tied up in a cove and went snorkeling. Probably the worst snorkeling site I've ever seen, barring that little area where I taught the girls to snorkel in Ambergris Caye. But I enjoy being face-down in the water so it was still enjoyable for me.

 

The one interesting fish I saw. It was slim pickings, let me tell ya. It also didn't help that the stony coral was pretty deep and we weren't given any fins. But hey, look how well my new underwater digital camera worked!

 

We survived, albeit with deep marks on our foreheads where our masks sat. See that tattoo on my right arm? It's a temporary tattoo I got on board the ship. I really like how it looked on me, so I'm going to get a real one. I'd never wanted an arm band before, but now I know it's the way to go.

We walked through downtown Kona. This is at the farmer's market where the smell of fresh fruit made you salivate. My mom wanted this picture because she couldn't get over seeing the strawberry guavas, which she says she hasn't seen in 37 years. The fruit in Hawaii is wonderfully sweet. The pineapples in particular are soft and golden. Our kayak leader cut an entire pineapple one-handed in the palm of her hand using a regular steak knife. It tasted like heaven.

While shopping I bought a wooden sculpture. I'd been searching for an art piece and was happy to find this. It's one-of-a-kind, hand-carved out of green wood. Really pretty. Although I'm having trouble finding the appropriate place for it in my condo.

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