Maui in April: part VI

Our last full day together in Maui started off right with a coincidental and delicious meeting up at Kihei Caffe for breakfast. Jeremy had gone surfing for the first time on the trip early in the morning, so I put Finn in the backpack and took him to breakfast. Who showed up in line behind me? Ryan, Stephanie and kids! It was banana-mac nut french toast and whale pancakes all around. Oh, and Finn got his beloved sausage. This is a great breakfast spot for Maui travelers.



I guess by the last day we realized that we still hadn't eaten at the places we had wanted to, so lunch was out at Pa'ia Fish Market. This place was our "splurge" back during our first anniversary trip. But if you recall, it was a splurge from PB&J and other camping-esque food. The prices are completely reasonable. Their fish is so fresh--it comes in twice daily.

Mmm....blackened Mahi salad.

It was a hot day, which demanded a beach stop after lunch. We went to Baldwin Beach, in Pa'ia. It was a beautiful spot, with soft, warm, white sand and crystalline water.




Still had to comfort Finn after his anxiety attacks when mama and papa went swimming in the ocean.

Our last afternoon all together demanded a gathering at the pool. We all met up there and had a great time.




Finn learned how to blow bubbles.

Jeremy and I made a quick run to try some of the gelato nearby. The tropical flavors were awesome.

We hung out together in the condos while the families who were leaving packed up. Lucy gave the boys matching t-shirts she had picked up from the local swap meet.


Sweet goodbyes.

Jeremy and I still had another night and 1/2 of the next day. Jeremy went surfing early morning and then we packed up the car and went to a beach. We chose the Wailea beach and it was a good choice for Finn, having a calm break.

When it came time for his nap we went on a drive. I found what had been a favorite little spot of mine the first time we came. It is a tiny little beach, but nobody was there either time we happened upon it.

This time there were surfers.

We drove past the lava field and view of the volcano.

On the way to the airport we made one last effort to get some Ululani shave ice. The line wasn't incredibly long, but this Kahului location was SO slow. We waited for 20 minutes and then just had to leave to catch our flight. Very sad indeed.
We didn't head straight back to SF, but took the return interisland flight to Honolulu and spent a couple days on Oahu. I'm going to limit these posts to just talking about Maui, but not because Oahu isn't an absolute treasure of a place (we prefer North Shore).
Again, here's a link to a slideshow of selected photos from our trip.

Feel free to contact me with questions if you are considering travel here or planning a trip!

Maui in April: part V

Apologies for the break...just returning home from adventures which will certainly take up several future posts. For now, here's more on Maui.

We returned to Kihei cove, where Todd and I caught some more waves. Todd's beginner's luck proved to be more than beginner's luck! For some reason, this go around I had my timing all messed up, so Jeremy had to come out to coach me. Wah. It was still fun. I guess I just need to get out more.



We put Finn on the board again, but he was a little irritated by it and just wanted to play and throw rocks in the water.


This day we had planned to be gone all day, on the drive to Hana and then enjoying Hana itself. We needed Finn to nap in the car. We were thrilled when he zonked out almost immediately after leaving Kihei Cove.

Then he woke up 25 min later because it took us longer to get on the highway than expected, or just because he's a stinker. Well, then at that point grandma and grandpa were in our car with us and there was no way he was passing up time to play with them to go back to sleep!
We made a few stops along the drive to Hana, the first being Ho'okipa lookout. We watched the throngs of surfers out there and Jeremy made plans to switch the board out and try that spot the next day. He had remembered it to be a favorite from our last trip to Maui.

Our next stop was a very unassuming and hidden trail out to this amazing waterfall.



We went on a mini caving adventure through a lava tube, which emerged into a mess of mangrove roots. It was a pretty cool little adventure. Glenn used his camera flash as a flashlight. It cracked us up when later we were looking through his photos and found a plethora of photos of blurry rock and root.



By the time we got to Hana, Finn had the inevitable desperate-for-sleep meltdown I was expecting. We pulled over eventually he calmed and fell asleep, even allowing transfer back into the carseat so we could head to the black sand beach. We took turns waiting in the car with him so we could both enjoy it.


I think the red sand beach in Hana is just about the prettiest place in Maui. Love the views during the hike there. The sun wasn't shining by the time we made it there, so the colors weren't quite as brilliant, but it still did me good.






Finn likes a natural bidet.

If you have a propensity for motion sickness, I strongly advise you to make the drive to Hana in the daylight, both ways. Our drive back in the dark on the curviest road of all time really did me in. I may have traumatized our nephew as he witnessed my road/carside spewing.

Maui in April, part IV

Kihei cove is an excellent spot for beginner surfing, and that's where we headed one morning, with our nephews Ben and Todd in tow.
I have to say, my husband was a champ this trip. For a surfer, he was very unfocused on finding his own surf (and he loves surfing in Hawaii). He drove up to Kahului one day and rather than choosing his preferred type of board, he rented one that would be good for his family to use--those of us who are rusty, and those of us who had never tried before. He then spent the entire morning teaching his nephew, Todd, to surf. After a quick tutorial on the sand about how to stand up after catching the wave, they were out in the water. Jeremy helped him time the waves just right and get the speed to catch them, but this boy stood up and rode a wave the very first try! He rode tons of waves! We were thrilled for him.


And then Jeremy watched me surf for the first time since Finn's birth. It was pretty fun even though the waves could have been mistaken for ripples. It was a perfect reintroduction, and I honestly don't think I could have caught bigger or faster waves at this point.

And then he took Finn out to see what he thought.


I think he had more fun getting his legs buried in the sand by his cousin Ben, and later having a naked romp in the sand and water.



A little later that morning Todd went out again to wow his parents with his new mastery (they had been on aforementioned snorkel trip earlier in the morning). Again, he caught wave after wave.
After Finn's nap we caravaned over to Lahaina where we had seriously the best shave ice ever.
We waited in a fairly reasonable line, you know, throwing gang signs like you do...

Oh boy.

We walked over to the water's edge to dig in. Perfection. Again, I got the mochi and sweet cream with mine. This time my flavors were mango and passion fruit. A. mazing.


Our next stop was the Ka'anapali area where our destination was Black Rock for cliff jumping. Finn had a bit of a meltdown back at the beach since we had gone off to sea without him.
Jeremy mid-air, as Liz prepares
Air-borne Liz
Such a fun day.