Boogie Boarding and Beach Buddies

Up Country Botanical gardens and Lavender Farm

Up country is referred to as the cluster of towns located 2,000-4,000 feet up the slope of Haleakala, a dormant volcano. This part of the island has green rolling hills, switchback roads, cool mountain air. It is definatley cooler up here as we found out that it drops 3 degrees with every thousand feet. On the day we 

went it was 20 degrees cooler. We enjoyed the morning exploring the Botanical gardens, some trails and the lavender farm. Then drove back to the coast for a warm relaxing afternoon by the pool. After all we were here for some heat!!!

 

West Maui

Our day trip to West Maui started with following the coastal road, past many beautiful beaches and towns. West Maui was a play ground for the rich and famous. A hundred years ago, Hawaiin royalty spent considerable time frolicking in West Maui's calm waters and great beaches. There are some very luxurious hotel resorts up this way, however you can still access the beaches and notice all the hotel residents with their "hotel coordinated towels"

The beach that we played at was Napili Beach, the sand is steep, so waves slap the shoreline then recede quickly, creating an impressive undertow during high surf. Which made large strong waves. The weather for our first few day had been reported to have high surf and cool temeratures for that time of year!!! It felt utterly heavenly to us. I must admit that it did make me chuckle when listening to the News weather report on an evening when they warned people " So bundle up tonight!" Here we are just lying under a sheet. Okay!!! I suppose it depend on your perspective and coming from a Canadian winter it didn't really impact us!!

So we walked along the beach with the wave coming up as high as they could and placed our towels as far up the beach as possible into the bushes, and the wave still were washing up to the towels, so we moved to this spot and although it looks calm, the waves actually came up and soaked the towel as I grabbed the beach bag to rescue the camera and dry clothes.

"Dragons teeth."

The lava here is different from most Hawaiin lavas. It is light-coloured, dense and fine grained, bleached white in some areas, it flowed during the dying days of the West Maui volcano. Salt spray on the upwind side has etched the lave into thrusting shapes , hence the name 'Dragon's Teeth".

High Surf.

We also found a strange maze on the peninsula and warned not to remove any of the rocks as they are sacred to the Hawaiian people.
The ancient Hawaiian's believed that their spirits or souls would jump from this peninsula, leaving this world. each Island has such a point. When Hawaiian's died, it was here that their souls would leave this life and join there ancestors forever. If there were no family spirits to receive them, they would wander around the area, attaching themselves to rocks and generally causing mischief. That is why it is considered unwise to take any rocks from this area.

Nakalele Blowhole.

The ocean here has undercut the shoreline. The ocean pounds under the lava shelf , where it spits through a man sized hole in the lava. The blowhole varies tremendously in size depending on the surf. When we were there  the water was shooting more than 70 feet into the air every few seconds. We had to use wise judgement round this area and stayed on the dry rocks, unlike some other crazy people. Wouldn't like to slip and fall down that man-sized hole.....and it has happened before, as we saw two memorials on the hike down.

We ventured further round the West coast of Maui , less populated and less visited, we came across the Olivine pools. They are numerous natural lava pools ensconced in an ancient lava shelf, offering a safe place to swim with the ocean pounding at you from three sides. Natural lava steps lead down to these pools. However as we were there during high surf it gave a completely different appearance and quite dangerous. we observed again from a distance and spoke to one family where the mother had just been scraped up in the pools when large waves came crashing in and pulled her off the inshore side. Quite a dangerous place to be with an unpredictable tide and it demonstrated to Heather and finlay for a second time that day to have respect for the ocean.

Maui 2013

Well here we are again, and Spring Break is upon us....and guess where we went?
Yes, back in August after a quick discussion about holidays and our options, we decided to bite the budget again and head to Maui....after all we had six months to prepare and save. However it never really works out that way!!

However it was a welcomed break for the family to recharge, reheat, spend quality time together without the ties and commitments of work, school and activities and allowed James and I some time to spend together, he actually stayed awake beyond 9pm!!....and you know what, I think we actually still get on!!!

We booked direct a direct flight and arrived at Kahului Airport at 10.30am with big plans of making the first stop at the beach. It is so wonderful to arrive with the palm trees swaying and the warm humid breeze gently blowing through the open sides of the airport and the fresh smell of flowers. You can feel your skin immediately absorbing the moisture to rejuvenate the pores.
Standing at the luggage carousel, I collected my bag and then waited, the crowd gradually dwindled and the carousel was empty with no sign of the boys cases, with the sunglasses, camera and video camera...the case that James had mentioned that he had forgot to lock as we were sat in the departure lounge in Calgary. Since he had mentioned that, I had interestedly viewed others cases and it seems that nobody else locks their cases!!!
We spoke to one of the assistants who reassured us that this is common and that it may arrive on the next flight. So we continued ahead to pick up our car and grab a drink, were thinking about buying shorts for James and Finlay, when they called to say the luggage had arrived as suspected on the next flight.
We finally checked in to our accommodation and jumped into the pool.
That evening I had an altercation with a dodgy grater  and took a chunk out of the knuckle on my thumb, which was still bleeding the next day when I unwrapped our dressing. So as the kids played on the beach I saute out a pharmacy to get more supplies, the pharmacist wanted to see the damage and spent the next hour trying to stop the bleeding....Now did you know apart from ice, compression, and elevation, that putting a chopped raw potato on a bleeding wound or a wet or dry tea bag on it actually helps to stop the bleeding. However I must warn you that the potato hurts like hell and almost brought tears to my eyes. So off I went with my treatment bag of earl grey tea bags, raw potato and some silver nitrate sticks in case it continued, which thankfully it didn't. One day of keeping it relatively dry and then I was willing to risk the sand and the sea. After all, now that I don't have to worry about loosing contact lenses!!! I was eager to dive right in !!!

Maui the Island of Rainbows, whales and turtles.

One of my favorite beaches this year was Pa'ako Beach also known as Secret cove. It is literally accessed through a hole in the wall. walk through this and we fell upon a beautiful little pocket of sand. When we were there there was a couple getting married, the photographer and his family and then a mother and son. The little beach is charming and has rocks to climb, rock pools to explore and great safe waves to play in. Finlay had fun playing with two hermit crabs.

 

 

Hermit crabs to collect

 Sea monsters to be ware off.

Mermaids washed on shore.

We usually made it to the beaches by 9 am and stayed until we felt the sand burning our feet as we run to the water, that signals the time to head back for some lunch on the patio, shaved ice and either a treed park to play in or to play in the cold pool at our accommodation.

Shaved ice is always a favorite with the kids.

Enjoying the shade of a tree.

One of the most unusual trees I have ever seen is the Banyan tree in Lahiana, which encompasses an entire park Banyan tree, though at first glance many think it’s a small forest. It is, in fact, one tree that stands 50 feet tall, is nearly a quarter of a mile around and has over than 10 trunks that anchor it into the ground.

The very nature of the Banyan tree is what makes it so magnificent. The tree grows by the roots that hang from its branches. These roots are like soil-seeking missiles, and when enough of them reach the soil, they thicken and provide another trunk to support the tree’s mass. Essentially, it grows upwards and outwards. Of course, the tree is now such a beloved part of the community that it receives a bit of man-made help with posts to keep the old tree standing.