Saturday in Maui

Today was jam packed. It started at 5:45 when we woke up to go on a catamaran - the Kai Kanani- out to Molokini Crater to snorkel. Amazing! We stopped at Turtle town and saw some Sea Turtles and more fish... Ooh!
there's our hotel on the beach

Molokini at Dawn

Here's our hotels lobby

Ho'okipa Beach on the North side of Maui

Next we headed up to Haleakala, stopping at Ho'okipa Beach to check the waves. As we wound up the volcano we went through a lot of different environments and ascended 10,000 feet in about an hour- into the clouds. We couldn't see very far when we got to the summit but it was neat and very lunar looking. On our way up we realized we didn't have much gas, so we were a bit alarmed when the gas light came on when we started the car to leave. Like a pro, Chris coasted us down the volcano- 50ish miles to the nearest gas station.

Silver Sword plant

Haleakala

Next stop - Ulupakalua Ranch General Store for some burgers from a local meat company. Delicious! Chris got elk, which wasn't as good as my beef burger. Across the street was Mauis only winery where we tasted and bought some wine- pineapply!

Weird mailbox on the way to Goat Farm

We were pretty tired at this point but decided to stop anyway at the Surfing Goat Dairy- the best thing ever- we toured the dairy, got to milk a goat, feed baby goats, and taste the best goat cheese I've ever had! I love goats!
Chris is such a goat milker!

the "business end"

rectangular eyes

My birthdays comin up - I want a baby goat!

there was also this pig thing walking around...

When we got back Chris was really tired, so while he rested I went to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset and whales and go for a swim.

Humpback whale fins and blowholes through my binoculars.

Oohhh

Aahhhh

Glorg!

We had quite a spread that evening - 2 kinds of goat cheese - Ole (jalapeno, cilantro and lime) and Maui's Secret (sicilian spices), maui potato chips, salami, crackers, and delicious red wine. What a day!

Maui Sunday

After a busy Saturday, we used our last full day for some R&R. We spent the whole day lazing around on our beach and snorkeling and whale watching. Aaaahhhh...

This is the view from the front door of our hotel room, so pretty!

For dinner, we splurged at Nicks Fish Market at the Fairmont Orchid - an exquisite hotel. We watched the sunset, then had a delicious meal with a bottle of Rombauer Chardonnay.Kabocha Squash Soup

Their signature dish

A perfect night.

Maui Monday

A rainbow greeted us on our last day

Bye Maui, we love you!

Back to life, back to reality

After the perfect honeymoon in Maui, we're back in California...



It may be colder, but it's home.

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Farewell Maui

Molokai from the plane window



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Another tough day in Maui...

Today's Agenda:
1. Snorkel
2. Sit on beach
3. Kayak- maybe, maybe not


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Maui

First things first- a Mai Tai at Mamas!




We've only been here about 24 hours and already seen tons of birds, deer (?), lotsa colorful fish, humpback whales, cows, stray cats, egrets, and wierd mongoose thing. Maui is beautiful.
Today we drove about an hour to Honolua Bay. After a 10 min walk through tropical forest (are we on the set of Lost?) we got to a rocky bay and swam out to snorkel around the reefs. We saw a giant tuna and a long and skinny cigarry fish- I think an A'ha Needlefish. So many colorful fish... A lot of them reminded me of fish we had in our tank growing up.
After snorkeling- as I'm typing this we just drove past a huge goat thing-





... Anyways we went to sample the Hawaiian fare at Aloha Mixed Plate- yum. Except poi. Ooh and we saw a few whales playing in the water. Then we drove through Lahaina- coulda been Huntington Beach or Sausalito and headed to another snorkeling spot- miles of reef along the shore- Olowalu. Now we're headed back to our hotel to go to the beach and snorkel some more!
Makena Beach Resort






View from our balcony- partial ocean view :)











The beach right in front of our hotel












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