 2/23/2017 - Maui, Hawaii - The next few days of our Maui trip had us all over the island doing some of our favorite things and some unexpected things. We started the days with delicious breakfasts by Deb at our condo at Kaanapali Shores out on the lanai. We decided to hit some of our favorite spots on the west side first stopping at Snorkel Bobs for some boogie boards and snorkel gear. We were then off to the best sea turtle snorkel spot on the island the gorgeous Kapalua Bay. We snuck a parking spot on the golf course parking lot. We hit the beach taking in the nice views of the island of Molakai and some humpback whales not far off shore. Dom got some good underwater Gopro footage of the sea turtles in the bay. We then headed down the road and stopped at McDonalds for some hot fudge sundaes. Then back down the road to the best boogie board beach on the island, DT Fleming Beach. The surf was excellent here and we managed to catch a couple nice waves to boogie board into the beach on. After the beaches we were back to Kaanapali Shores for drinks by the pool and a nice sunset. For dinner this night we headed to Lahaina and had a fantastic steak and lobster tail dinner at the ocean front restaurant Koa's Seaside Grill. The next day we were up early to drive the lovely Road To Hana. We used the Iphone app and Bob guided us to the best spots on the long journey. The first stop we walked the nice Waikamoi Nature Trail. The next stop on the tour was Keanae Arboretum with the highlight here being the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. We then stopped at the old church on Keanae Peninsula and got some nice drone shots and almost got into it with some locals who pretended to be Homeland Security. We moved on and stopped at Halfway To Hana for some banana bread and something that was supposed to be a cheeseburger. We stopped at several nice waterfalls along the twisting turning drive along the way. We made it to Hana and went right to Waianapanapa State Park to checkout the Black Sand Beach, taking some nice pictures and drone footage there. We moved on as it was getting late in the day and we headed to the Seven Sacred Pools but could not explore there due to falling rock hazards. We jumped on the Pipiwai Trail and hiked a couple miles thru the bamboo forest to the beautiful Waimoku Falls, definitely worth the hike. It was really late in the day and we decided to drive all the way around Haleakala. The drive was rough, a single lane dirt / sometimes semi-paved road along high cliffs with rocks all over in total darkness. We almost made it the whole way when one of our tires was punctured by something probably a rock. So we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, with no cell service in a rental car where we were not supposed to be! We drove until the tire was totally shot and from out of nowhere two cars stopped and helped us change the tire and get us out of trouble, I only wish I had the names of the two guys who helped, just awesome! We made it back to Kahalui and went right to Budget with our Nissan with 40k miles on it and exchanged it for another Nissan, this time a brand new one that would last us the remainder of the trip. Tired and hungry we stopped at McDonalds for something to eat and then back to the condo to pass out. What a day....... Slideshow |
