Maui: Trip 2 – Day 3

Posted on July 19, 2013 by sandersnm

Laura and Jim’s Wedding Day!!!

On Monday, we woke up and headed down to have breakfast at the resort. After that, Josh and I drove to La Perouse Bay to hike around and see what it was all about. It was beautiful, but very windy. Snorkeling is supposed to be great in the bay, but the ocean was pretty rough. On our walk, we saw several goats just hanging out on the beach and in the wooded area. It was kind of hilarious to see goats hanging out on the beach. I feel like that would happen only in Hawaii.

The bay.

Looking towards Haleakalā.

A little sea arch.

Tiny beach. I loved this little beach. It looked so small compared to all of the black lava rock around it.

Goats!

Goats like the beach too.

One day he will learn to like having his picture taken.

Looking at the storm clouds coming in.

After we got done with La Perouse Bay, we went back to the hotel to grab lunch at the pool bar and then got ready for the wedding! We went to the wedding around 4:00. It was in such a gorgeous location! Everyone looked so beautiful and it could not have been more perfect! I am so incredibly happy for both of them :). Towards the end of the night, Laura and I even got to dance to our song (Wouldn’t It Be Nice by the Beach Boys). The night could not have been more perfect for the two of them!

The backdrop for their wedding.

They did it!

Colleen and I.

Josh and I.

After the ceremony.

Rainbow!

First dance.

The food was amazing!

Me, Laura and Colleen. Boiler up!

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 2

Posted on July 18, 2013 by sandersnm

On Sunday, we woke up and had some time to kill before I hung out with Laura. We drove down to where the road ends at La Perouse Bay to see if it was something we wanted to check out on Monday during the day when we had more time. After that, we headed to Kihei to have lunch and to meet Laura. Since I didn’t get to go to her shower or to her bachelorette party, I wanted to treat her to a pedicure and spend some quality time with her before the wedding. Josh and I had a quick lunch at Cafe Olei and then I met Laura.

Lettuce Wraps

Maui Onion Soup

After getting our nails done, we headed back to the hotel and had a drink at the pool bar before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. It was so good to sit and catch up with Laura. After that, we changed and headed to the Wailea Beach Villas where her parents were staying for the rehearsal dinner. Her uncle had made AMAZING food and we all got to enjoy it in the beautiful surroundings of the villas. After dinner, a few of us wandered to the beach area to see the views. We got to see the sun setting behind Lanai. We then went to catch the shuttle back to the hotel, but missed it…so we ended up walking three miles in the dark, many times without a sidewalk. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you don’t exactly have the right shoes and are carrying leftovers from the dinner, it was a loooonggg walk. We had all had a lava flow upon our return and then headed to bed :).

The sun setting on the beach.

The view of the pool and the beach at Wailea Beach Villas.

We walked all the way back to the hotel with some leftover pasta salad. It was quite comical at this point.

My delicious drink with Laura at the pool bar.

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 1

Posted on July 17, 2013 by sandersnm

On Saturday, Josh and I arrived bright and early on Maui to celebrate my friend Laura’s wedding. Our plan was to meet them around 9:30 to do the Four Waterfalls hike on the Road to Hana. Since we landed a few hours before that, we decided to stop in Paia for breakfast and to kill some time. However, before we even made it out of the airport Josh’s bag decided to quit on him. In a matter of 30 seconds he had all three straps break. First, the carry strap, then he picked it up by the handles and one of them broke and then finally we started walking again and the last one broke. He had to carry it the rest of the way without any handles. This early in the morning, we found it absolutely hilarious as it just disintegrated in front of us.

Josh and his disintegrated bag in the Maui airport.

We headed to Charley’s in Paia because we were starving and it had great reviews for breakfast. I ordered the breakfast burrito and Josh had an omelet. We had planned on sharing (thank goodness) because mine was HUGE. I ate about 1/4 of it and made Josh eat the rest. All of it was delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone. To top it all off, it is Willie Nelson’s favorite place for breakfast and we are 98% sure he walked in as we were finishing and hung out at the bar.

Delicious Orange Juice.

My giant breakfast burrito.

Josh’s Omelet

After breakfast, we changed and headed towards Hana to where we would start our hike. The hike would take us to four waterfalls. Two of which you could see staying dry. If you wanted to see the third and fourth waterfalls, you had to swim. We came prepared with our dry bag so we could take our camera to take pictures. We met up with everyone (SO HAPPY to see some of my best friends) and then started the hike. There were about 20 people total of friends and family that had come for the wedding. We hiked to the first and stopped for a bit to take pictures, then continued to the second to take more pictures. After that, we hiked up a ladder (with the help from a few ropes) then boulder hopped to the stream where we had to jump in to swim to the third waterfall. It was a BLAST!!! We all jumped in and swam up to the third waterfall. After that, we had to climb the falls and boulder hop again upstream to get to the final and biggest of the falls. It was beautiful! But I will say, the journey is what made it so fun. It was a great hike to do with a big group of people. See the pictures below!

The first waterfall with everyone hiking over boulders.

The view downstream from the first waterfall.

The second waterfall.

Brent and Colleen at the second waterfall.

Laura, Colleen and I at the second waterfall.

The beginning of the boulder hopping.

People starting to boulder hop after climbing up the ladder.

The fourth waterfall.

Swimming at the fourth waterfall.

We were a large group!

Fourth waterfall.

The beginning of the hike was almost all bamboo forrest. It was beautiful.

Loved this picture looking at the sky.

A little bridge we had to cross over to get to the first falls.

After returning from the hike, we changed and drove back through Paia for lunch. We stopped and ate at the Paia Fish Market. It was delicious! Josh had a sandwich and I had blackened cajun fish. We then wandered around the town and headed to our hotel in Makena to check in and take much needed showers.

My blackened cajun chicken. Delicious!

Josh’s fish sandwich.

We checked in and then headed over to Big Beach to hang out with everyone for the rest of the day. It was beautiful and the sun was setting. After that, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We all met at the bar in the hotel to just hangout and eat. I had one of the best cocktails ever (Dancing Koi). I don’t even know what was in it but it was fantastic. After hanging out and dinner, we all called it a night and headed to bed. It was a long day!

Big Beach

Laura and Jim hanging out on Big Beach.

Last Day On Maui

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Congratulations Laura!

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Sun Setting Behind Lanai

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Big Beach

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Maui: Trip 1 – Day 4

Posted on May 31, 2013 by sandersnm

On our last day in Maui, we finally got to sleep past 6:00 a.m. It was glorious. We got up and had breakfast on our balcony (which was gorgeous) and then headed down to enjoy the resort pool and Kāʻanapali Beach. We swam for a bit, walked on the beach and played some ping pong. The resort had different games set up on the lawn outside our hotel room (ping pong and a few others). It was so fun. We then checked out and headed to downtown Lahaina to wander around and grab lunch before we headed to the airport. Lahaina is an old whaling town and has a lot of character. This was our last stop before heading to the airport. We had SUCH an amazing time and I cannot wait to go back for Laura and Jim’s wedding in July!

Breakfast on the balcony.

Kāʻanapali Beach

The lawn games viewed from our balcony.

Lahaina

Downtown Lahaina.

Maui: Trip 1 – Day 3

Posted on May 30, 2013 by sandersnm

For our third day on Maui, Josh and I woke up at 2:15 a.m. to catch the sunrise at Haleakalā National Park. We viewed the sunrise at 10,023 feet above sea-level at the summit of Haleakalā well above the clouds. It was absolutely FREEZING at the top, but so worth it for the amazing view we received. The pictures below are in the order they were taken. The amazing thing is the clouds kept moving, so it constantly changed how much of the sun we saw. By the time the sun was in the sky, too many clouds had moved in to see it. It was a surreal view.

After the sunrise, we took a nap in the car at the visitor center. Our next activity was a horseback ride to the Haleakalā crater floor, but we had a few hours. We met the guide at the visitor center at the summit around 9:15 a.m. He handed out some rain suits for us to wear. He only had sizes L and XL, so needless to say I looked absolutely ridiculous. Our group had eight people in it and Josh and I somehow ended up on the two horses that liked to hang out in the back. At times, it was like we were on our own tour by ourselves…it was pretty comical. After awhile, it was just Josh by himself wayyyyy in the back as I had caught up to the person in front of me. Our view going down to the crater floor was incredible. Pictures cannot do the views justice. We rode down and had lunch on the crater floor and looked around a bit. Then we headed back up to the top. On the way up, the clouds started to come in and it got pretty chilly and misted a bit. By the time we got to the top, I was ready to be in a warm car again! The horseback ride was definitely worth it. Josh and I both decided that hiking it would have been too boring.

The horses arrived in a truck…very interesting.

My giant rain suit.

Josh and Rocky

Me and Trace

The beginning when we were close to the group.

Gorgeous views.

The clouds were amazing!

These plants are called silver swords. They are very unique looking.

Josh’s horse decided to stop moving. He didn’t seem to like going down the steep rock areas.

The view from the crater floor.

Lunch: turkey sandwich, pineapple and chips.

The change in elevation made the chip bag balloon up.

After our amazing day at Haleakalā, we went back to the hotel and showered and changed and headed to Mama’s Fish House. We were both really excited about dinner as this restaurant was supposed to be one of the best on Maui. We were absolutely blown away. I think it is the best meal I have ever had in my life. The atmosphere was so unique, the service was great and the food was amazing. We had so much fun and it was a great way to end a tiring day!

The drink menu.

The flowers in the restaurant was beautiful.

Delicious drinks. Almost like a piña colada but with a hint of chocolate.

Pre-appetizer: Asparagus bisque.

Appetizer: Wasabi calamari.

My dinner: Snapper with mushrooms, capers and lemon butter sauce with grilled veggies and rice.

Josh’s Dinner: Mahimahi stuffed with crab and asparagus.

After dinner towels and a mini coconut dessert.

Maui: Trip 1 – Day 2

Posted on May 29, 2013 by sandersnm

On Saturday, Josh and I decided to do the road to Hana, which is an entire day trip (we left around 7:00 a.m.). Our first few stops were Upper Puohokamoa Falls, Haipua`ena Falls and Lower Puohokamoa Falls. We missed Lower Puohokamoa Falls at first, but it was definitely the most impressive waterfall we saw all day at 200 feet. We backtracked about a mile and found the short trail to an incredible view of the impressive falls. The other two falls were beautiful as well, but much shorter.

Beautiful view early in the morning on the start of our trip to Hana.

View of the valley at our first stop.

Old bridge.

Josh on the trail to Upper Puohokamoa Falls.

Upper Puohokamoa Falls.

Stream that Upper Puohokamoa Falls flows in to.

Hana Highway

Gorgeous flowers growing everywhere.

Haipua`ena Falls

Old bridge. Love this picture.

Heliconia..they were growing everywhere along the way to Hana.

Cool shot of fallen petals on the rocks.

More heliconias.

Just breathtaking.

Trail to Lower Puohokamoa Falls.

Lower Puohokamoa Falls.

Incredible! Lower Puohokamoa Falls.

Flowers and trees along the road at our stop to see Lower Puohokamoa Falls.

We continued along the coast and made a variety of stops that included capturing some amazing shots of the Ke`anae Coast, the ribbon of the highway cut into the cliffs and Ching’s Pond. Ching’s Pond was filled with people jumping into it from the bridge along the highway. After watching a few people jump, we continued on and stopped at an adorable stand a few miles down the road called Halfway to Hana for a midmorning snack.

Ke`anae Coast

Hana Highway

Hana Highway

Hana Highway..amazing turn in the road.

Hana Highway cutting along the cliffs.

Ching’s Pond.

Halfway to Hana!

Our treat! I picked this out…Josh had egg salad sandwiches :).

After our snacks, we continued on and stopped near the town of Wailua to check out the views from there. We climbed up some stairs at the Wailua Valley State Wayside and had a beautiful view of the Ko`olau Gap on one side an a great view of the tiny settlement of Wailua on the other side. After that, we drove about a mile and stopped at Upper Waikani Falls (sometimes called Three Bears Falls).

More heliconias

Ko`olau Gap

Coast off of Wailua

Hana Highway

Tiny town of Wailua.

Rocks seeping water at Upper Waikani Falls.

Upper Waikani Falls

Our two stops were Hanawi Falls and Makapipi Falls (seriously so many falls). Makapipi Falls was unique because we stood on the bridge directly over it and could see how it fell into a large pool below. Different than the other waterfalls we had seen that day. Next to Makapipi Falls is Nahiku Road which lead to the community of Nahiku. Everything was so incredibly green and there were tons of beautiful flowers. After driving through the beautiful plants, we came to the end and had a beautiful view of the shoreline all the way to Ke`anae. We took a little path to a small waterfall and a pool that eventually lead to the ocean. After taking in the gorgeous views around us, we headed back up to Hana Highway to continue on.

Hanawi Falls

Standing above Makapipi Falls.

At the end of Nahiku Road. Gorgeous!

Close up of a heliconia.

Small waterfall and pool.

So beautiful!

Love this photo.

It looked like there used to be a bridge over the river here.

Nahiku Road leading away from the shoreline.

Nahiku Road and Hana Highway intersection.

Our next stop was at Coconut Glen’s for some dairy-free ice cream (made from coconut milk). It was sooooo good. We split the coconut ice cream and picked up some of their famous coconut candy. It was an interesting stop…Glen loves Willy Wonka and had decorated in that way…fairly odd but charming. After that, we stopped at Wai`anapanapa Park and explored Pa`iloa Black Sand Beach and found a really cool cave. There was also a sea arch and other lava tube caves to explore, but we didn’t have a flashlight or the time to stop.

Coconut Glen’s sign

More of Coconut Glen’s signs.

Coconut Glen’s ice cream bar/shack.

Coconut Ice Cream. Unbelievably fantastic.

Coconut Candy.

Pa`iloa Black Sand Beach

Cool cave..the ocean is coming in behind us.

Sea Arch

We left Wai`anapanapa Park and finally made it to Hana! Our first stop in Hana was Hana Bay where tons of locals were swimming. The Pier was closed, but we knew there was a trail to a hidden red sand beach near there. This was probably my favorite part of our Hana trip. The trail leads about 200 yards along Ka`uiki Head that had a plaque at the end of the trail marking the spot near a cave where Ka`ahumanu (King Kamehameha the Great’s favorite wife) was born. It was so unreal to see this plaque in the middle of no where. There was also a small light beacon near the end of the trail and tons of amazing rocks to climb on.

Hana Bay

This log was actually pretty high up…I was practicing my balancing.

Amazing red sand beach.

Along the trail near the red sand beach.

Ka`ahumanu’s plaque.

Cove

Josh on the rock at the end of the trail.

Josh taking a picture of the light beacon.

Light Beacon.

Me on the rock enjoying the magnificent view.

The plaque and it’s surroundings.

Hana Pier

After we hiked back to the car at Hana Bay, we headed to Red Sand Beach (Kaihalulu). The trail to the beach was on the side of a hill and was a bit rough in a few places, but nothing too difficult (much easier than the trail to the other red sand beach). This beach was much larger and there were people laying out, relaxing and enjoying the views. At the beginning of the trail to the beach, there is an ancient Japanese cemetery that was pretty interesting to see.

Trail to the red sand beach.

Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach.

Treacherous rocks near the beach.

Japanese Cemetery.

After the read sand beach, we headed out of Hana into Southeast Maui and stopped at (no surprise here!) Wailua Falls…yet another beautiful waterfall. Then we continued on to ‘Ohe’o Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools) where you can sometimes swim and enjoy the multiple waterfalls right by the ocean. They were closed to the public that day because it was raining, but they were still beautiful from up above!

Wailua Falls

‘Ohe’o Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools)

The road becomes a bit more narrow and less paved….

Waterfall flowing into the ocean from afar.

After this, the landscape changed drastically from rainforest and incredibly lush to dry and desolate. Very different, but still very pretty. We drove all the way around Southeast Maui and continued into upcountry and back through Kahului. We stopped and had a MUCH anticipated dinner (our first real meal for the day) at Buzz’s Wharf. We were both starving and VERY ready to be out of the car! The Road to Hana definitely lived up to it’s amazing reputation. I’m sure we missed so many things along the way, but what we did get to stop at and enjoy was phenomenal.