Hawaii 1999

In a year where working at EA on NHL 2000 cost me another summer in Vancouver, we made the decision to go enjoy another countries summer after it was finished. Well Hawaii is summer all the time, and unlike the Caribbean in the fall, there is no hurricanes. The Hawaiians have a familiar saying - "Maui No-Ka Oi", or Maui is the best! Our first ever trip to Hawaii would be there.

We stayed in Kihei at the Maui Sunset condos. We found a deal on the interweb, and rented a condo from a little old lady in Pasadena. Not too much lace and plastic cushion covers, and it had a kitchen, was clean, and very central to everything we wanted to do. The beach was ok, and it had a nice pool to hang out and lay in the sun and read this new book by some unknown author named Kathy Reichs. It would later become the TV show Bones, and we would want to see her in person at a speaking engagement... but I digress.

 

After settling in and relaxing the first day, the next morning we get up early and drive the Road to Hana. The 52 miles is a 3 hour drive that winds around 600 hairpin curves and over 54 one-lane bridges. Luckily neither of us get car sick, but a lot of people do... we see them pulled over to the side of the road with their doors open.

 

Aside from the drive itself, our destination is the Seven Sacred Pools, aka Oheo Gulch. A refreshing series of natural pools leading down to the ocean.

We also find a hiking trail that leads through a Bamboo Forest to a series of Waterfalls. It is very eery in the bamboo forest as the wind blows the tall trees around and they play an eerily acoustic drum solo as they clack together. The hike is worth it as we pass Waimea falls, and eventually arrive at the massive Waimoku falls. Non 4-wheel drive Rental cars are not allowed to continue the loop road around the island, so we wind our way back along the road to Hana to the town of Paia.

 

Paia is a north shore surf town, home to Mama's Fish House, a restaurant that was highly recommended to us. We have gone on to recommend this great restaurant to many other people that got to Maui, and they always thank us. Before dinner we watch the North Shore surfers and windsurfers at Ho'okipa Beach Park, known as the "windsurfing capital of the world,". It definitely has a members only feel. After an hour or so of watching, we have an amazing dinner at Mama's Fish House in a beautiful restaurant on the shore.

 

We head to bed early for a very early morning adventure. A trip above the clouds to watch the sunrise on the Haleakala crater. We meet at the Haleakala Bike Company around 5am, and they take us up to the 10,1023 ft. summit. It is very cold, but an amazing view to watch the sun come up through the clouds. Mark Twain described sunrise at the summit of Haleakala, "...the sublimest spectacle I ever witnessed".

 

The Haleakala crater is an impressive landscape once it is light enough to see. This is where the outdoor mars scenes from Total Recall were shot, and numerous other movies of space, you can see why. At the summit, the 3,000 foot deep crater you peer down into is 7 miles long, 2 miles wide and 21 miles in circumference. Big enough to contain Manhattan!

 

Our arrangement with the Haleakala Bike Co. is much better than the other Bike tours. They give us our mountain bikes, and we are on our own, no big line of bikers in a row, and no stupid bubble helmets. The guys jokingly refer to the astronaut lines as part of their orientation, and advise a loud "on your left" shout as we pass them, because we will pass them. After passing a few long lines of astronaut bikers, Norine and I are on our own as we quietly descend the slopes of the mountain/volcano. We have one stop to make, another recommendation, Kula lodge, a quaint restaurant with amazing views and the world's best french toast.

 

Of course no trip is complete without some oddity, and as we find ourselves at the bottom of the mountain after a scrumptious breakfast, we realize we are not where we should be. Somewhere we missed the turnoff back to the Haleakala Bike Co. and end up at a cute little town called Haiku. A phone call later they show up with their van to pick us up. What a great day, I recommend everyone do this. Even though we didn't have to peddle the whole way down, we are exhausted at the end of the day, maybe it was the 4am wake up?

Following up on an energetic day of cycling we decide to have an energetic day of kayaking. We meet up with our guide and join another couple for a kayaking and snorkeling tour off of Maluaka Beach in an area known as Turtle Town.

We kayak around the very calm bay, then tether our kayaks together and don our snorkeling gear and dive into blue waters full of sea turtles. Floating around these amazing creatures is a treat, they keep an eye on us and move about the water, eating from the bottom and coming to the surface for air. Long before I started having my knack for travel injuries, the other guy that is kayaking with us ends up against the rocks and has several black spines from a sea urchin embedded in his hand. Story is that the only thing to relieve the pain from this is to pee on it... neither Norine or I offer to help. Poor guy.

 

After kayaking, snorkeling and spending the rest of the afternoon by the pool, we head into the tourist town of Lahaina. Our favourite stop is Wyland's Art gallery, an amazing artist that focuses on sealife, you may have seen his whale paintings on the side of buildings in Vancouver and Victoria. It's very expensive, but we nearly came home with a painting. For dinner we went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company, a restaurant based on the movie Forest Gump. We had a hard time deciding on what to have for dinner; chilled shrimp, steamed shrimp, cajun shrimp, shrimp po' boy, fried shrimp, Sautéed shrimp, Shrimp New Orleans, stuffed shrimp... Needless to say we were stuffed when we left there.

After a break day where we lazed about on the beach and at the pool, we decided to get back into an activity and head to the island of Molokini to go snorkeling. Molokini is a partially sunken volcano crater a couple miles off the shore of Maui at Ma‘alaea Bay.

We take our catamaran out to the center of the volcano, riding the netted area a few feet above the ocean waters. As you get closer you see all the other boats and snorkelers, we would not be alone here. There was snorkelers, Scuba divers, even Snuba (a combo of snorkeling and scuba with an air hose leading to tanks floating on the surface). It is an ideal location teeming with colourful fish, we even see a long eel go winding along the sandy bottom, if not for all the people, it would be perfect. At least the crowded conditions were worthwhile.

 

Probably one of the most memorable moments of all my travels came on this trip. As we are snorkeling around, we notice a huge silver seal has come into the area, and is circling around all the people, checking them out, and looking for handouts I suppose. As we are watching, the seal comes over to me, not only sniffing this time, he wraps his large fins around me, and I have to push him off before I am violated, not an easy task for an animal of this size. After we surface and I tell our guide, he says, "oh yeah, that's Humpy... Humpy the seal". I would never forget my special moment with Humpy!

 

After my exciting adventures with Humpy, we got back on the catamaran and watched the sun set on the island of Molokini as we head back to Kihei.

Our last day on Maui would be away from the sand and sea, and into the lush center of the island. Considered to be the second wettest spot in the state (Mount Waialeale on Kauai is first), I'ao Valley State Park is a beautiful and lush green mix of forest hills and streams. The landmark for the park is the 1200 foot high I'ao Needle, a mountainous thumb that stands out amongst the trees and hills. We spend the afternoon wandering the trails of this beautiful park before heading back to the Maui Sunset condo for some more sun and a couple cold drinks by the pool.

 

The Hawaiians have a familiar saying - "Maui No-Ka Oi", or Maui is the best! Based on our experiences and adventures there I would have to agree... now we just have to get to the other Hawaiian islands to make sure.