Maui! Maui! Maui!

 

A view of Haleakala from our plane as we descended to Maui

For those of you who watched "Growing Pains" in the 1980s, you might recognize my exclamation of "Maui! Maui! Maui!" as it was chanted by a young Ben Seaver. Unlike Ben, Connie and I did not need to be persuaded to go to Maui. We were excited at the mention of it. I had been there twice, including a 3 month assignment as a travel nurse. However, I hadn't been there since that assignment in 2006. I was beyond excited to explore the island that I fell in love with so many years ago. Plus, I had no interest in birds back then, so it would be extra fun to appreciate the birds of Maui like the Honeycreeper, Red Crested Cardinal, Red Footed Booby, and more. 

In all my years of travels, I have only had two medical emergencies called overhead during flights. BOTH of those times were on flights to Maui! Can you believe that? Both times it was someone who fainted, but easily aroused and was doing well. Both times we were asked if we needed to divert to LA. Both times the answer was an emphatic NO! Both people were doing well and just had a "normal" bodily reaction to being dehydrated and flying. We continued on to Maui without incident. We even greeted the young lady at baggage claim as her and her husband collected their bags and continued on with their vacation. 

Upon arrival to our condo, we were greeted by a rainbow

We arrived at our condo in Ma'alaea Harbor in the early evening. From our lanai we were treated to a rainbow across the harbor towards Haleakala. I knew at that moment we were going to have an incredible vacation, and we did. We chose Ma'alaea Harbor for 2 reasons, location and quiet. It is centrally located on the island coast which allowed easy access to the highlights we wanted to visit. And it had an ocean view. It is also a small harbor that hasn't been built up like some of the other parts of the island. We enjoyed our first evening eating a yummy meal, prepared by Connie, on our lanai overlooking the water. We listened to the ocean waves roll in and our stress seemed to dissipate with each one. 

Black-necked Stilt (Ae'o in Hawaiian) enjoying the water at Kealia Pond

Our first morning we headed over to Kealia Pond for some bird watching. It was a nice relaxing activity to start our trip with. We walked along a boardwalk area on the ocean side of the pond. We watched Black-necked stilts, Pacific Golden Plovers, and Hawaiian Coots from a safe distance. We skipped over to the beach and walked along the ocean's edge as warm water covered our feet with each rolling wave. After exploring for a while, we headed over to the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge Center. We gathered some interesting info from the 2 young ladies working there. We explored the pollen garden as we watched butterflies and bees fly around. We took the short hike out to the ponds and continued our bird watching. We once again saw the Black-necked Stilts, Pacific Golden Plover and Hawaiian Coots. We were also treated to a sighting of the Scaly-breasted Munia. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of that beautiful bird. Just a reason to go back I guess. After walking around the area for a bit, we headed back to our place for a swim. The condo complex had a heated pool, which was heavenly. After swimming and resting we were trying to decide what to do for the evening. We tried not to plan too many things as we wanted to go with the flow a bit. I recommended a drive towards Lahaina and maybe see the infamous Banyan Tree. After a little research we discovered the Banyan Tree was closed to the public due to the damage it endured during the fires. We still decided to go on a drive that way. Seeing the devastation of the fires still lingering 2 years later broke my heart. They are slowly rebuilding, but it is not easy on an island. Along the way we stopped at a lookout point over the ocean to do some whale watching. Humpback whales migrate to the area for breeding and raising young from early December to April. It was the start of the season and the whales were very active. We saw them every day from various spots. We saw them from this lookout multiple times, from our lanai, from a boat, and from where we ate dinner one night. It never got old seeing the mist of water from a blowhole or a whale splashing in the distance. After watching a few whales we continued our drive through Lahaina. On a whim, I recommended driving to the Nakalele Blowhole if the road was OK. The road was curvy and narrow, but easily passable by car. We stopped at the lookout for the blowhole and watched for a while. It is an interesting phenomena. There is a hole in the rock formations near the shore. As water rushes in with the changing tide, the force blows water up and through the hole making it look like a whale's blowhole. The sun was starting to hit the horizon and we didn't really want to drive the curvy coastal road after dark, so we headed back. We did find the perfect spot to watch the sun set over a hillside. We made it back to our place safely, cleaned up and went to bed for some much needed rest. 

Maui Sunset over the hillside near Nakalele Blowhole

Nakalele Blowhole

Our second day we decided to do the Road to Hana. This is an iconic drive that is a must do in my opinion. The drive from our condo to O'heo Gulch is about 67 miles, but takes 3 hours due to the winding narrow road. Don't worry though, there are a few places along the way to stretch and enjoy some local scenery. Our first stop was Ho'okipa Bay at the beginning of the Road to Hana. It is where surfers come to ride the waves and sea turtles come to rest on the beach. It also offers a scenic view of the glorious Pacific Ocean. 

A resting Sea Turtle

Surfers enjoy the waves created by the windy side of the island

After a brief stop and stretch, we continued along our way. We stopped at couple of different spots to see birds, waterfalls, etc. At the halfway point we entered into Ke'anae Peninsula for a break. This just so happens to be where you can enjoy some deliciously famous banana bread at Aunty Sandy's. I stopped here 20 years ago and was so excited to stop again. It did not disappoint. The bread is yummy and the area is beautiful. We parked along the ocean and watch the waves crash over rocks as we ate our full loaf of banana bread. Don't judge, you will too if you ever get there. Everyone should be so lucky to do this at least once in their lifetime. I have done it a few times. I am a lucky man indeed.

It truly is a must stop on the road to Hana

The waves come crashing in over lava rocks

We continued on our way towards Ohe'o Gulch. First we stopped at Hana Bay Beach for lunch. This is when we realized we forgot to bring our cooler! We packed it with yummy food, and left it at our doorstep back at the rental. We still got out and stretched our legs and I am so glad we did. We were treated to a sighting of a beautiful bird that was not on our radar to look for. Two Saffron Finches flew around a tree right on the beach where we stopped. I was able to capture a couple of decent photos before we continued our journey.

Saffron Finch looks down at me as I take his photo

We finally reached our end destination for the day. Ohe'o Gulch in the Kipahulu area of the Haleakala National Park. I hadn't realized this was also part of Haleakala National Park. Our park pass was good for 3 days, which was great since we were planning on a trip to the summit of Haleakala soon. Anyway, this area has a trail that leads up to a 400 foot waterfall. It is a 4 mile round trip hike, but so worth it. Along the way you hike past a Banyan Tree deep in the forest. It is such a fascinating tree to see in person. You also have to hike through a Bamboo Forest to get to the best vantage point of the waterfall. I highly recommend doing the full hike if you are up for it. We did it without eating lunch, and it was so worth it. We had a small snack and plenty of water, which was enough to fuel our hike. When we hiked down the trail we were both fairly exhausted, but happy. We decided to skip the short half mile hike to the Ohe'o Gulch. This was OK since I think I insulted one of the local rangers by calling it "The 7 sacred pools". This is how I knew it from a movie I had seen. He was sure to tell me that is now known as the formal name which is Ohe'o Gulch. I had seen it already and would love to see it again someday, but the main reason for coming here in my eyes was to hike through the Bamboo Forest, which we did. The bamboo grows high into the sky. With the wind blowing, the trees bounce off each other making the sound of a large windchime. It is such a cool sound to hear in nature and we loved it. 

Banyan Tree in the middle of the forest

The Bamboo Forest is fascinating with every turn

Waimoku Waterfall

On our way home we stopped at Ho'okipa Bay for one more look at the turtles. There were 2 turtles on the beach in the morning before we hit the road to Hana. Now, at dusk, there were 30 turtles. Yes, I counted them all. We made it home and had another great night of rest. The next day we had a sunset dinner cruise planned. So we decided to be lazy in the morning as we enjoyed the ocean from our quiet lanai. We took a swim in the pool and walked to the nearby Harbor where we would hop on a boat for our tour. The boat left the harbor at 430pm. It cruised out towards Molokini Crater. Within a few minutes of being out of the harbor we were treated to a group of whales being active. Mamas and babies alike were splashing and showing us their fins. It looked like they were waving to us. We enjoyed a 4 course meal, with soft Hawaiian music in the background. We were out on the water for almost 3 hours and were treated to a glorious sunset over the water as we headed back to the harbor. All and all it was a perfect evening. Our tour was with Pac Whale Eco Adventures. It is a company that does whale research. We were happy to support such a cause, all the while getting a fabulous boat ride out of it.

Mama Breach

What a splash!

And she waves goodbye

Sunset from our boat

The following day we decided to drive up to the summit of Haleakala. Our park pass would expire soon, so no time like the present. We decided to leave fairly early so we could stop for some bird watching at Hosmer's Grove. We figured the birds would be more active at 8am than noonish. We were not wrong. Hosmer's Grove is known for "housing" I'iwi and Apapane, which are 2 of the 6 types of honeycreepers on the island. The I'iwi is the bird most people think of when they see the word honeycreeper. I know I did. I didn't even realize there were 6 different kinds on the island. We were treated to 3 of them. The I'iwi, Apapane and the Amakihi are all beautiful in their own ways. I really enjoyed watching the I'iwi and got way too many photos of them. I didn't get any great photos of the other 2. The trail around Hosmer's Grove is only 0.6 miles round trip, but we gladly spent 4 hours strolling around it. We did a couple of loops and walked the road a little in those 4 hours. Along with the honeycreepers, we also saw a couple of Nenes, The Hawaiian Goose. Plus, the grove itself is full of fascinating trees. It has 3 different kinds of eucalyptus trees. We remembered to bring our cooler on this trip, so we ate lunch at a picnic table near the grove. A nene casually waddled its way up to us as we ate. We did not feed it of course. Feeding the local birds can be detrimental to the birds themselves. We just enjoyed the closeness and calmness of it around us as we ate. She didn't seem bothered either way. We eventually made our way up to the summit. Even at 1pm, it was windy and cold at the top. We were bundled up, but still. We walked around and enjoyed the summit for a bit. The crater is something to behold. Plus, there are silverswords to enjoy as well. This is an interesting native plant. It is so beautiful, and much like all of Hawaii it has a fascinating story. It can live up to 90 years. But that is not the fascinating part. The most incredible part of its story is it only blooms ONCE, and then it dies soon after. It is on the vulnerable list, so please respect it if you go to Haleakala. 

Beautiful Eucalyptus Trees at Hosmer's Grove

An I'iwi (honeycreeper) enjoys some nectar from a flower

A silversword in full bloom. It will die soon after

Young silversword waiting to bloom

At the top of Haleakala we were also treated to a bird that wasn't on our radar. The chukar is a beautiful and peaceful looking bird. After some views of this wonderful bird we drove back to our condo for a relaxing evening. We swam and ate more yummy food prepared by Connie. Our days were so full, we were ready for bed fairly early every night. This was great, because it means we were up somewhat early. We would hang out in the still of the night/early morning on our lanai and watch meteorites descend from the heavens over Haleakala. It was such a great way to start our days. Today we decided to drive to Hoapili Trailhead for a hike. This is a lava rock hike at the end of Makena Road. It is at La Perouse Bay. It is a 5.5 mile round trip hike if you decide to do the whole trail. We hiked as long as we wanted and then turned around. It is an incredible thing to walk over lava rocks that were spewed out of Haleakala. We had ocean waves crashing to the right, lush greenery to the left, and lava rocks ahead. It is mostly an open hike with the sun beating down. However, there are some nice shady areas and access points to the water along the way. We mostly stayed along the trail that was in the shade and near water. We saw a few birds including the Red Crested Cardinal and the Japanese White-eye. It was a great way to spend half a day on the island. You could make a full day of it, but we wanted to balance rest and relaxation with being active. I feel we did a great job of that. We came back to our rental and enjoyed more yummy food, swimming, and the quietness of our lanai. 

Connie looking for whales

The lush green against the lava rocks is stunning in person

The Chukar

The following day we had a snorkel trip planned for the afternoon. So we were having another lazy morning when Connie got notice the trip was cancelled due to high winds. No problem, we rescheduled for the following day and headed out to explore. We had seen a trailhead on a previous day that we wanted to explore. So we drove there instead. It was the Lahaina Pali trail that went up the mountainside towards Lahaina. It was actually built as an old road that was used to cross the island back in the early 1800s. It is now a difficult hike if you do the full 5 plus miles across the West Mountains. We didn't do the full hike as this was not a planned thing. We did hike a mile or so up the mountainside and that offered extraordinary views of the ocean and Molokini Crater. We were also able to do a little whale watching from up there. It is always good to bring binoculars on a hike. They are not just useful for birds you know. We spent a good portion of the late morning/early afternoon enjoying this hike. Afterwards we drove towards Lahaina. We had heard about the infamous Hula Pie at Kimo's and we felt like we just had to have it. Sadly, Kimo's was still closed due to the fires in 2023. It was due to reopen at the end of December, but not in time for us. The good news is, there are a group of restaurants in the area that collaborated together during the fires. They hired a bunch of the staff from Kimo's to keep them employed. The community really did seem to help itself as much as possible. Anyway, we were happy to support the other restaurants that helped the Kimo staff. The first place we tried to get to was deep in a resort and not what we were looking for, so we continued on. We found Duke's Beach House on the map and decided to head there. It wasn't exactly easy to get to or find and we almost gave up. But with perseverance we trudged on and found it. We are so happy we did. It was such a cute little restaurant along the beach. It was connected to a resort, but easily accessible from a sidewalk path along the ocean. This is how we entered. Our waiter and our view were fabulous! So much so, that we were treated to some whales jumping in the ocean nearby. We didn't even have to leave our seats to see them. We split a nacho plate and the infamous Hula Pie. It lived up to the hype in our opinion and I hope we make it back someday. After dinner we headed back to our condo for a swim and bedtime. 

The view from Lahaina Pali Trail

Hula Pie (it is actually ice cream :0) )

Connie had been scoping out the Java Sparrow and we both really wanted to see one. On our E-bird app we found out they had been spotted at a park near us in North Kihei. So we drove down to see for ourselves. We walked along the beach to some green areas. We saw a few birds, but no java sparrows. We made our way back to the car. As we were washing our feet of sand we saw a Red Crested Cardinal and Zebra Doves. Then an African Silverbill caught our attention. This was another bird that was not on our radar, but fun to see. Then, what seemed like out of nowhere, a couple of Java Sparrows showed up. They are such an interesting bird. On one hand they are a "plain old" sparrow. But on the other hand they are beautiful with big pink beaks! Turns out they are fairly common on the island and we saw several more the next day. Ha. 

The Red Crested Cardinal (turns out it is actually a tanager and not a cardinal)

The ever elusive (not elusive) Java Sparrow. Look at that beak!

After our morning excursion to see the Java Sparrow we came back home and got ready for our snorkeling trip. We were taking a boat trip out to Molokini Crater to snorkel the protected reef there. The reef and waters around Molokini Crater are protected and you have to go on a tour boat to access the area legally. I am so glad we did. The water and reef was pristine! At depths of 50 feet even, it looked like you were looking through a glass window instead of water. It was that clear. We saw many colorful fish and enjoyed swimming around in such a sacred place. Plus, on the crater itself there were several birds you see everyday. We saw the Great Frigatebird, the Brown Booby, and the most interesting bird of the day to me... the Red-footed Booby. We actually saw a nesting pair of Red-footed boobies, which I thought was fascinating. Nobody else on the boat seemed to really care about them, so I enjoyed them for myself. I didn't get great photos, but good enough I felt. 

Angel fish I believe

Great Frigatebird

A pair of nesting Red-footed Boobies

I didn't get a clean shot at their red feet, but if you look closely you can see their pale blue beak, which I thought was equally fascinating. After our snorkel trip we went back to our condo for a relaxing evening. The next day would be our last day on the island :0(. Luckily our flight the next day was at 7pm, so we got to explore quite a bit on the last day. We decided to do some driving around to view different parts of the island. We didn't want to go on any big hikes and get sweaty. So, we headed over to the northwest side of the island. We hadn't seen this part yet. We drove along the coastal road there and stopped at a lookout for one more big view of the ocean. Then we drove down to a small beach park near a golf course in Waihee. Here we saw 30 or more Java Sparrows, Ha. We also saw a mongoose strolling around the area. Connie thought the mongoose were creepy, but I thought they were cute and interesting. Go figure. We drove up to the iconic geographic spot of Iao Needle Park. You needed to make a reservation to actually park and hike up to see the Needle. We didn't do that, but it was still interesting to drive through that part of the island. After that we headed over to Ho'okipa Bay for one last look at the sea turtles, and hoping to see a monk seal. Sadly, we did not. It was not unusual to not see a monk seal, but we were really hoping to see one. We did see a spinner dolphin jump out of the water for a brief second, so that was pretty cool. After saying goodbye to the sea turtles one more time, we drove to a small historic town called Makawao in the Up Country. We found a delicious Mexican Restaurant here called Polli's and we enjoyed some fajitas with chips and guac. It seemed like a perfect fit to end our time on the island. We made our way to the airport and flew home. Our flight home was uneventful with no medical emergencies. We landed in cold and snowy Madison and made our way home. We were happy to be home to see our dogs, but we sure miss Maui. If I ever get a chance to go again, my reaction will be Maui! Maui! Maui!

Beautiful quiet beach park in Waihee

I think this sea turtle is crying because we are leaving :0)

Now Go Out and Hug Someone Today!!!