Wednesday, November 14, 2007

More Maui

Okay, so I'm still trying to get the hang of this so I'll go ahead and apologize for the pictures being sideways, in random order and before the actual posting of our Maui vaca. Other than that, enjoy :)


Looking out over the Mountain tops we Ziplined across, yes little suzy has a flower on her helmet:
Sevy and his mom:

The tree we came across mid hike on our way up to the waterfall past the town of Hana:
One of the waterfalls we saw on our hike:
The awesome little path carved out between the bamboo: (the entire hike was not a neat little wooden path, it was more roots, rocks and mud...but the path was very nice!!)
The waterfall at the end of the hike:
Sev giving that gorgeous smile at the bottom of the waterfall (he took his shirt off b/c it started raining a bit on the hike and he got soaked...unlike me who had a water resistant jacket :) ):


The birdies in Hana sevy shared his lunch with (they actually landed and ate out of his hand!!):
The town of Hana...and yes, thats all there is to it!!:
A Mongoose!!:
One of the pools at the seven pools national park:
Sevy and another waterfall on our hike:


Sevy and his mom chillin in a tree branch in Lahiana:

God is Good:
Love and Laughter, all we need:
Black sand beach:
Sevy standing on black sand beach:




One of the more gentle curves on the road to hana:
One of the stops we made we stopped and hiked to an old hawaiian canal, they used this to transfer water to the bottom of the mountain (sev and I actually tubed down one of these in Kauai):
Sev and his dad on the hike we took at the bottom of the national park for Haleakala crater:
I took this picture because I never did figure out what was to the right, LOL:
The road we hiked to get 10,000ft above sea level:






Okay, so I have a few minutes...so I thought I would write a bit more about our Maui trip :) Just to share a bit and get it recorded for my own memory.


So we caught a ride to the airport with Jd monday morning around 11:30. We landed in Maui a little after 12pm. Picked up our small SUV rental and headed to Lahaina, the oldest town on Maui. It was sooo adorable...probably my favorite town I've been to on any of the islands. We ate at a local restaurant, BJ's. We then made our way to the condo we would be staying at. It was located on the number one spot to snorkel in Maui, the cove was just amazing...sea turtles by the dozens. We unpacked our bags and settled in with a game of hearts. The next morning we woke up and headed to Mt. Haleakala (I already posted pics for that hike). It was chilly so we actually got to put on a jacket!! yipee!!




It was a neat hike to the top and we were excited when the clouds began to lift and we were able to see the entire island for our position...along with neighboring islands. We ate at a little restaurant on the way up...it was kind of off the beaten path and we were not expecting much...just a quick bite to eat...boy were we surprised when the food was not only awesome but the views from the lani were amazing!!!


On our drive down the mountain we stopped at a state park and took another small hike...saw some neat trees and flowers and I think I even caught a glimpse of a nene bird(one of Hawaii's endangered birds,looks like a goose to me!!).

On the way back we stopped in kihei, a small town on the southern part of Maui. We stopped in at a local bar, Lu Lu's and ate oysters and shrimp for before dinner snacks :) yummy!!

We came back to the condo and I fell asleep reading.


The next morning we decided to make the long awaited drive on the road to Hana.....honestly I was soooo not looking forward to that!!! I loaded up on some motion sickness medicine and we headed out. We stopped in Pa'ia (the last town before the road to hana begins) we grabbed some sandwiches at the local deli and took off down the road.

I managed to snap some shots between bites of one AWESOME smoked salmon sub!! We stopped at a few waterfalls and a few hiking trials...so of course I had to take a few more pictures there!! Even snapped a shot of a local rooster :)



We were 15 min from the town of Hana when the meds hit me and I passed out!! Yep...thats right...I fell asleep on the road to Hana...hehehe(dont worry though, I saw most of the road and the 15min i missed i saw on the way back down). I woke up when we stopped at a black sand beach...pretty neat!! We messed around there for a bit and then headed on in to Hana.


Now...this road to Hana...it takes no less, mostly a bit more than 2hrs to make it from the bottom to the top WITHOUT stopping...we stopped...so by the time we got to Hana we were hungry again...we grabbed a Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken plate from a lunch wagon and sat down to feast with the ocean for company. Some local birds decided to join us and sev had no problem sharing his meal.


We drove around Hana for a bit (if youre familiar with Hana you know that didnt take up much time!!) and then headed on past Hana to a national state park to view the "seven pools"...basically just seven little pools of water collected between rocks at the bottom of a waterfall...beautiful all the same!! People were swimming and jumping from the rocks but it was getting late and sevs parents had decided against seeing the pools for themselves and started ahead of us on a 4 mile hike up to another waterfall....so sev and I took off after them (about 30min behind). I can honestly say that it was one of the most beautiful hikes I have EVER been on...and thanks to my Padre I've been on alot. Sev and I were astounded by all the different trees and floral. We grabbed some guava from one of the trees and munched on it while hiking. We started the hike around 4:30pm and around 5:30, on their way back down, we met up with sevs parents. We were 2 tenths of a mile away from the top so sev and I told them to go on down the Mt and we would continue the hike up and then meet them at the car. Now...I was also taught by my father to never enter a trail head if you werent going to make it out before sundown UNLESS you had proper equipment, he would be proud to know that I remembered his wise words and had sevy pack a head light!!....Which he left in the car at the bottom of the trail....sorry dad!!



I can not even begin to describe how awesome this trail was!! we walked through about a mile of nothing but bamboo, it had to be 20 feet tall and sooo thick!!We could not see but a glimpse of sky and it was dark before we knew it!! I silently cursed sev while climbing over tree roots I couldn't even see!! I also swore not to let my dad know how dingy I was for 1)marrying an amateur hiker and 2) continuing with the hike even though it was past dark thirty.



I will admit...it was well worth the hike!!! The waterfall at the end was also probably one of the most gorgeous waterfalls I've seen!!! Lucky for us the bamboo opened up right before the trail ended and there was just enough light left for a great view!!...Then it was back into the dark and back down the trail. Sevs dad met us in a clearing when we were almost to the bottom of the trail...he met us under the neatest tree...I also snapped some pictures of it...sorry, they turned out a bit dark.



We met Sue at the bottom of the trail and we all four began the walk back to the car...I happened to glance to the right of us as we were walking and noticed a nice little field with cows grazing...pretty, kind of reminded me of 1025 days (House in Landrum). I thought nothing of it...b/c like I said, It reminded me of the cow pastures I grew up beside and the cows I grew up looking at every day...but these were no landrum cows...oh no....these were HAWAIIAN cows...and like there human locals, they apparently dont like white man on their land, lol....I looked up again just in time to see a cow running STRAIGHT FOR US!!! I screamed and grabbed sue (we were a few strides behind the boys) and we both took of running for the men. Sorry, I didnt capture a picture of this...I didnt really think about it at the time. I'm not sure what stopped the cow but we ran across the paved road and it stopped short of crossing (although there was no fence...I guess it didnt want to put its manicured hooves on the rough pavement). Lucky for us.



So it was dark...and we were at the top of the road to Hana....now...this road, it has about 107893237u3283728 binds in the road...not nice little curvy turns...no no, straight hairpin turns!! (right moo??) So I forgot to mention that we had reservations for Mama's Fish House (a Highly recommended restaurant) at 8pm down at the bottom of the road...Dave's driving makes me sick on a straight road...soooooo.....my solution....I went back to sleep, hehe. The trip up I kept saying how I wanted a shirt that said "I survived the road to hana"....when the trip was complete...dave said i deserved a shirt that said "I slept the road to hana"...whatever, I road the road, I saw the road, I slept the road...I deserve something!!

Mama's Fish House was super yummy!! It's one of those restaurants famous people eat at once or twice, sign a copy of their head shot, its hung on the wall and the menu prices go up 20 bucks....but it was yummy, I must admit.


The following morning we had reservations to partake in my FAVORITE island activity....ZIP LINING, oh yes...I LOVE this sport!! I've also decided it would the IDEAL place for my brother to work!! The guides are so laid back and funny...we had a blast. We even saw some wild boar on the last line down. We were in a group of 8 and one of the other ladies was a maui local who worked at a restaurant near our condo, we decided to try it out afterwords and we're glad we did, it was great too!!


The next day was our last day and we decided to end it where we started it...in Lahaina.


So that pretty much sums up our Maui trip...lovely, relaxing and adventurous :)



Okay...I'm done.

5 comments:

Autumn said...

It sounds like you guys had a great trip, and I would expect nothing less! I really miss you...and I'm like Mere, I would jump on a plane right now if I could! Hurry home...I know it's not as exciting, but Alexa wants to see her godparents! We miss you and love you, be careful.

Meredith said...

Ahhhh, I love the road to Hana. We went past it and went all the way around the island (you know, what the car rental places tell you not to do). I'm so glad y'all went and saw all the gorgeous views around each bend in the road. And that last hike sounded awesome! We didn't know about that.
Isn't Mama's THE BEST?!?! Oh my goodness.
And I like Lahaina too. That tree you're sitting on is the biggest, oldest banyan tree in the world.
I'm so glad you all had such a great trip!!! :-)

Mrs. Mullen said...

mer-
not long after you guys visited maui they had an earthquake...I dont know if you remember me telling you about that or not, one happened while I was still on island and then another one happened a week after I left...anyways, it messed the south end of the road up so badly there is now only one way in and out of hana!! Sad huh...they say they dont know when the south side will reopen, but not for a few years!!
We did have fun though :)

Meredith said...

I didn't remember that. How very sad!

Autumn said...

Ok Mullen...you're slipping! We would like to hear from you!