Maui.. again.. 2017
We got another irresistible offer from Maui Westin for a 5 nights package and we are off to Maui again!
We did have to upgrade the room to get a decent lanai and view, but it's all worth it!
As this is our 2nd trip to Maui, we don't feel the need to do everything every day or plan everything down to details. Decide to take it easy and do what we want when we want.
First day was just lazing at the pool and went to Lahaina for shaved ice and shopping.
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| Hawaiian essential to combat the heat: Shaved ice |
2nd day we decide to hike around the west mountain region.
Before we head off, first is nourishment =) Our essential Hawaii homemade spam sandwich!
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| Homemade spam sandwich with bellinis for breakfast |
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| Village walking tours |
One of the hike is Village walking trails where you are hiking around a golf course. But it's interesting that the mountains and trees is such that we are not even aware we are in the golf course.
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| Turning around, we saw Molokei! |
Saw this "lake" on the top of the hills.
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| Man made "lake" ? |
After this trail, we decide to go to the coast and hike around the coastal trail.
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| Views of the wind mills on the top |
4th day we decide to do the road to Hana tour so that Bill can enjoy the views as well.
We went with the Valley Isle excursions company whose boss specialized in the Road to Hana tours. Chatting with the driver, the boss had a hand in designing this specialized van to bring tourists into the forests. It has high viewing window, narrow base and maximum seating of 12.
It is still unclear to me why the road to Hana was built so i googled it. It is because they are routing the water to sugar plantations on top of ensuring there's a good way to transport goods out.
https://www.hanaheadquarters.com/the-road-to-hana-history-and-historical-sites-of-the-hana-highway/
We went with this tour group and they are great. Tour guide talked the whole way and he's so knowledgeable about the island as he grew up in Hawaii.
I learned some interesting history from him :
West mountain is the mountain that holds water
Haleakala is the mountain of the sun
2 conflicting elements that complement each other to give Maui life and the 2 mountains with the valley is Maui.
He also give us an introduction of sugar industry and plantations in Maui and it has phased out in Jan 2017 due to cost competitveness. However, throughout the entire tour, he keep referring to how the sugar plantation cause this area to be developed, that area to be occupied etc, especially in the road to Hana.
Another interesting titbit is that Maui pineapple is no longer licensed to only grow in Maui and in fact grows in Africa now as the company in Maui has stopped production.
He also pointed out multiple fruit trees etc and it's interesting how similar these fruits are to what we can get in south east asia.
Anyway, so the first thing we did was to stop at a golf course for breakfast, with a view of the Iao mountain. It's currently closed due to land slides and i'm so glad we got to see it in our last trip.
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| Golf course view with Iao valley in the background, for breakfast |
The guide also explained how they build the roads and dams alongside the road to guide the water in order to prevent damage to the road when it rains. And this water to the ocean is key for coral growth as it's nourished by the mountain soil. So when they started to direct the water to sugar plantations etc, they realize there's less healthy corals.
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| Views along the way |
One of the stops along the way is this peninsula with some nice ocean views and lava rocks.
https://www.to-hawaii.com/maui/attractions/keanaepeninsula.php
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| Craggy shorelines that signified Maui coast line |
There's an interesting titbit that everything is destroyed by tsunami except this church
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| Church from the 1856, build from stone |
We did multiple stops and it's almost impossible to remember all the different mile markers.
We did stop at a black beach which has lava rocks etc.
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| View of the Black sand beach |
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| Check out the black sand |
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| View of the world from a lava tube |
One of the main sights in Road to Hana is the 7 pools. Unfortunately they are closed due to landslides and liability concerns. But it actually make the sight better!
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| The waterfall for one of the pools |
What's Hana? a bank, a post office, one restaurant and one hotel =) Apparently some guy decide to start a hotel in Hana and was figuring out how to get people to visit the hotel. He decide to host a US baseball game in Hana to promote tourism and it created a wave of awareness in East coast for Hawaii tourism, especially Hana.
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| Rainbow Eucalyptus tree in the forest |
What is interesting too is we encountered a construction zone. Apparently there's frequent land slides and tree falling that traffic has to be stopped for road works. The only way to do this is to stop traffic in both directions for up to 30 minutes to do the work before allowing all these tourism to continue (as this is a one lane and only way to Hana) =)
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| Everyone stopping to clear the construction area |
We also pick out an interesting information that Charles Lindbergh (where San Diego airport is named after) has chose to be buried in Maui. In fact, he choose to get out from the hospital to visit his friends and die in Maui.
http://www.charleslindbergh.com/ny/101.asp
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| Church where Charles Lindbergh grave is |
What was really interesting is we went from a tropical rain forest climate to a dessert climate towards the end of the tour, due to the micro climates in Hawaiian island
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| View at the end of the road to Hana. This is the dry side of Maui |
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| Dessert-like view, with volcanic eruption waves |
On the last day, we make our way to the airport and Bill fulfilled one of my wish to have a custard cream pie from Komoda Bakery.
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| Driving in between the sugar cane fields to go to Komoda Bakery |
We carried the box to the airport with us and at least 3 airport agents recognized the box and try to take it from us as a joke =)
But it certainly is yummy!
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| Historic town where Komoda Bakery is |
