Leavin'

[FeelingTheBlues]

Amazing looking meals Mike!

Originally Posted by Cru Jones

depuis quand suis-je canadien ?? no comment.

mike, the ahi & foie gras appetizer and dungeness crab salad look AMAZING. just a little jealous over here.

That's it! You've just lost your right of coming with us you Un-Canadian French!

[kcmo]

Wow, you're doing it in style! Enjoy!

[azguy]

great pics, enjoy

[MrJ320]

Looks like you're having a great time. Enjoy your trip.

Cheers,
James

[texex91]

Have fun Mike. Keep photos coming. Great choice to travel with!

[jim251]

Great thread and pics. Excellent on-the-road technique that I'll have to study later...

[kilyung]

Day 2 was mostly a water activity day so not many pictures as I didn't bring a waterproof camera - Doh! After a quick breakfast, we grabbed our snorkeling gear which we rented from Boss Frogs (much cheaper than resort rentals). Snorkeling is a must do in Maui. The waters are very clear and sea life is plentiful.

Here are my favorite snorkeling spots in Maui.


We did Black Rock today.


I swapped the gold Rolex for a Panerai which is much more comfortable for snorkeling with the rubber strap.


Here are some of the fish you can see at Black Rock: butterfly fish, parrot fish, damsel fish, surgeon fish, moorish idol, tang, wrasse, box fish, cardinal fish, perch, chub, trigger fish, Humuhumunukunukuapuaa, goat fish, snapper, porcupine fish, hawk fish, cornet fish, needle fish. However the coolest thing was hitching a ride on the back of several HUGE sea turtles.

The kids loved the turtles but had even more fun in the surf. Bring inner tubes for little kids! And yes, I jumped from the Rock to wild applause for my cannonball splash.


After an afternoon of sea water, we jumped in the resort's many pools to desalinate.

The hotel scale model is really cool!

After so much fun in the sun it was time for dinner and we headed over to Moose McGillicuddy's in Lahaina Town.


A very quiet day but better things yet to come!

[mws222]

Looks like a great time, this is helping my wife's case for wanting to go to Hawaii soon.

[z32turbo]

I love this thread. The pics keep getting better and better. Enjoy Maui!!!!

[kilyung]

Day 3

It was a beautiful morning! Light sprinkle, blue skies, and even a rainbow.


We decided to hang out at Whaler's Village for the day.


We were planning to head right to the beach but...


My wife got distracted by the LV store.


Well being the kind guy that I am, I took the kids to Yogurtland to gorge on frozen yogurt (very good!).

Eventually the missing wife rejoined us and we opted for a beach lunch at Leilani's. 


Afterwards the family decided to hit the beach for some swimming, tubing, boogie boarding, etc... By the way, the island in the background is Lanai - Larry Ellison's recent $500M+ acquisition.


The perfect time to get away for some reconnaissance! Where else but Baron & Leeds?!


Spencer was kind enough to show me a few pieces that I've been thinking about. 

LVc


TT YM2


YG YM2


But the piece that REALLY caught my eye...



Whaler's Village is a great spot but I'm much poorer for it. Now back at our resort chilling by the pool with a beer while the wife is at the spa and kids go nuts ordering munchies from the bar. What a relaxing Independence day!

[kilyung]

So after the pool, we went back down to Lahaina Town for the fireworks. It was PACKED!


We bought some huli huli BBQ chicken from a local street vendor and sat on the sea wall in front of the Hard Rock Cafe.


The food was great and we had a great time watching the sunset.


At 8PM Hawaiian Standard Time, the show was scheduled to start.


We were fortunate that the barge carrying the fireworks was anchored directly in front of us! What a spectacular show!



After the show, I treated the family to some famous Hawaiian shaved ice at Ululani's.


It was very good! I really enjoyed my mango and sour apple "micro" shaved ice.


It was one of the best 4th of July's we've ever had! Hope everyone stayed safe! Now I'm off to bed early for tomorrow.

[Monte Cristo]

Fantastic pics Mike. Is that Longhi's I see in the background? Had the best linguine with clams there.

[Cru Jones]

awesome posts!!! thanks for the pictures and commentary. great tagging along!

Originally Posted by kilyung

Whaler's Village is a great spot but I'm much poorer for it.

do tell......is this the beginning of a teaser thread??

[Bangel]

I kind of feel like I'm on holiday as well when I read through your thread. It's a very enjoyable pictorial tour you're taking us on!

Did the kids get a repeat visit to Yogurtland with Mrs Kilyung while you checked out the Rolex pieces?

[Joey_V]

Awesome!! Thanks mike! Wife and I are headed to Maui in 3 months!

[kilyung]

Day 4

Maui is a natural and rugged land. There's no better way to see it than driving and hiking. We decided to do the Road to Hana in a single day but to really do it justice you should really try to allocate two days. The Road to Hana can take a lifetime to explore and every time is a unique adventure. There are plenty of tours that do RtH but I prefer to be on my own timetable.

~7:30 am – we left our place in Lahaina and made it to Paia in about an hour. Paia Town (most shops are closed in the am – come back to explore North Shore shops, restaurants & beaches another day. Especially Mama's!). If you don’t have at least 3/4 tank of gas, first gas station on the right, fill up your tank. Just after the gas station (also on the right) is Anthony’s Coffee Company (opens at 5:30 am) – go here for breakfast. Guaranteed delicious breakfast. You can also get a picnic lunch here (I did not - more later) – order it before you order breakfast, that way it will be put together while you eat!

~9:30 am – Mana Foods (Right at traffic light, Baldwin Ave, just up the road from Hana Hwy in Paia). Stock up on all the other food/beverage needs for the trip here. This is the best grocery store on Maui for price, quality and selection!

~9:30 to ~1:00 – Paia to Waianapanapa
You won’t have enough time on a one-day trip to stop at the longer adventures in this area, and will be bound more to the roadside attractions and the view from the road – there is roughly an hour outside the car allotted in this schedule, though you could easily spend more than the whole day at just a few of these sites. That said, there are quite a number of roadside sights – so you will have a full day and be satisfied observing many of the sights on this part of the trip in a drive-through fashion.

You will see many roadside waterfalls and sights not listed below. Trust your intuition, stop and explore on a whim!

Some worthy considerations, in geographic order:
*note, mile markers reset after marker 16, which is ~8 miles after Paia.

[2.1 mm] – Twin Falls (Well maintained, easy hike to many waterfalls and pools. Port-a-pot. Parking. Great fruit stand. Continue past the small Twin Falls for a overhanging fall.)


This was as close as I dared get with my phone for pics. Morning rain had swelled the river and we had to swim to the fall... VERY worthwhile. I'd bring a dry bag next time. Also, I recommend waterproof sandals vs running shoes or flip flops.

[6.7 mm] – Na’ili’ili-Haele Stream & Waterfalls. Moderately difficult/slippery hike through bamboo, pools & waterfalls. Wind through bamboos makes an eerie but cool sound! Flash floods kept us from doing much swimming here but very nice hike.

[10.5 mm] – Garden of Eden. Very well maintained arboretum. Trails & drive-though options. Parking. Snack stand. Kids love feeding the ducks. Picnic tables. $15/person. A fun place for kids but we skipped it.

[14.1 mm] – Honomanu Bay. You can see from the road, make the call to stop when you drive-by.

[16.7 mm] – Ke’anae. Some spectacular views! Restroom. Stop by Aunt Sandy's for some banana bread!


[16.8 mm] – Wailua & Wailua Valley State Wayside. Great views of Wailua Valley from road, if you want to stop, best place is to pull into the very tiny wayside where you will have great views both mauka and makai.

[19.6 mm] – Upper Waikani Falls. Great view from road. You can decide to stop and swim here if it looks tempting!


[~28 mm] – Nahiku Marketplace. Several good snack stands and a few little shops. We stopped here for lunch. Had one of the best chicken fried rice dishes ever!

[32 mm] Waianapanapa Park. Don’t miss this one. Definitely have your kids do the swim in the caves (it is cold, but go with them!) You'll need a flashlight and had better be good at treading water. Check out the coastline and ocean-side cliff views, visit the black sand beach and the kids will love going in the cave down there, too.






Some other POI:
Red Sand Beach. You will need the map & directions to find it. Be careful! It's not an easy trek.

[50.1mm] – Koki Beach & Hamoa Beach
[44.8mm] – Wailua Falls. May be crowded. Stop anyway, the falls are pretty.

Return:
You can return on the backside or the way you came. It is roughly the same drive time either way; all things being equal, I suggest the backside as you will have a nice sunset view and the road opens up as it gets dark. It also presents a non-commercial perspective of Maui rarely seen by tourists. Just FYI, it is a BUMPY road and very narrow in some places but nothing scary about it.


Got back to our hotel late and tired but what a spectacular day!

[HL65]

Great shots Mike!! Thanks for sharing!

[texex91]

Looks like u r having a great time!

[liuk3]

Wonderful pics so I can live vicariously at work. Well, at least it's slow in the office this week. One complaint are your dinner pics when I haven't had lunch yet and it's past 5pm here.

Looks like an absolutely amazing vacation with the family.

[FeelingTheBlues]

Impressive pictures Mike! I love the watches you've tried and especially the pictures of the forests and blow holes!

[hdrazor251]

Great shots!! How did you like Red Sand Beach?

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by hdrazor251

Great shots!! How did you like Red Sand Beach?

We skipped it because the rocks were slick from rain and part of the trail is now blocked by a landslide so quite a treacherous hike to the beach. Not really suitable for little kids... especially with the nudists that frequent the place. However it's an amazing place.

[kilyung]

Day 5 was a relaxing day... the Road to Hana was rough. We decided to do some more snorkeling at Honolua Bay, a marine wildlife conservation area. It's right up near the tip of the northwest.

It started as a cloudy day but cleared up on the drive there - not very far.


Parking is on the streets and it's a short walk through the jungle to a rock beach.






Beware falling coconuts!


The shore isn't a beach - more like rocks. Very slippery!


It's very scenic and many tour boats drop off snorkelers here.


I dove and swam with schools of fish. It was relaxing.

[kcmo]

Wow, more fantastic photos!

[DiamondJack]

Amazing shots Mike ......of what looks like an absolutely fantastic holiday.....

Thanks for sharing...... love these threads

[kilyung]

Day 6

If you ever go to Maui, check out Mt Haleakala. I believe it's Hawaii's 3rd highest peak at 10,023ft. There's an observatory and some military installations up there. You have to get up rather early to catch the sunrise.





It's like another world at the top.




We rented mountain bikes and rode down 23 miles of twisty roads, passing through the clouds.


Even a light rain didn't deter us.


We rode through some very scenic farmland and even stopped at a local rodeo festival.


The truly FIT (or insane) will bike up and down the mountain. One local guy was doing it on a beach cruiser.

[FeelingTheBlues]

I love moutains pictures! I need to thank you kindly for that!

[gazp]

Awesome pics Mike

[psv]

Classic!

[kilyung]

Day 6

Almost forgot our evening! What Hawaiian trip would be complete without a Luau?! We decided to try the Feast at Lele rather than the traditional Old Lahaina Luau. Both are excellent but Lele is served vs buffet style and covers food and dance from the Pacific Island nations of Hawai'i, Aotearoa, Tahiti, and Samoa.


Ok my real reason for going was the extensive open bar!


I tried to sample everything on the list. Let's just say I didn't drive back home.


Being on the beach at sunset, the ambience was very nice and relaxed.


They danced and served courses between performances.






Normally I don't much care for luau food but this was pretty good! It's served family style but I put plates together for pictures.

Hawai'i -
Parole fern, asparagus, heart of palm salad
Seared Opie with mango sauce
Kälu'a pork
Poi

I was too busy ordering drinks and forgot to take iPhone pics of this plate so I snapped the viewer on my digital camera.

Aotearoa -
Country green duck salad with Poha berry dressing
Harore Kumara
Kuku patties


Tahiti -
E'iota
Scallops
Fafa


Samoa -
Shrimp and avocado with passion fruit
Palusami
Supasui


Dessert was a bunch of tarts, chocolates, and fruits but I just had the port wine. It was a great evening.