Kahekili Beach and Hana Highway

That's quite a mouthful! But that's how we spent days 6 and 7 here in Maui. On Wednesday we got up and out of the condo a little earlier than usual and were rewarded with a great beach day. We headed to the west side of the island to Kahekili Beach and spent the day lounging in the sand and snorkeling. There was some beautiful coral and bright colored fish and we had fun chasing them through the water!

On our way back to the condo, we drove through the cute little town of Lahaina and Jamie Fox with his entourage of women walked across the street right in front of our car! I didn't even notice him, so I didn't believe it when Jordan told me who it was. But after following him around for a few minutes, and getting a good look, I was convinced! Too bad we didn't get a pic!

Thursday we were treated to what's been described to me as the "Garden of Eden" drive! We did the day long drive to Hana, and saw so many beautiful waterfalls and vista's that they started to become "old news" to us when the map showed another waterfall "just around the next turn!"

The Hana coast is beautiful! It's on the leeward side of the island, and as a result get's nearly 400 inches of rainfall a year! You can imagine how green it gets over there! We stopped at a black sand and red sand beach and went for a climb in a Banyan tree! We hoped to be able to swim in the famous "7 Sacred Pools" and hike to the "Infinity Pool" but were disappointed when we were told that "There's no swimming today...the water flow is too high." Oh well, we were still able to walk around the coast and view its beauty, without having to worry about being swept over one of the falls (of the 7 Sacred Pools) and into the ocean (as happened recently to a couple people...who died)!

August 12 = 2 Years!

August 12 was our 2nd anniversary, and my excuse for planning this whole trip to begin with! At times it seems like we've been together forever, and other times, we can't believe we've been married two years already! We've laughed, cried (mostly, well, only me!), and learned from each other. All in all, it's been a great two years!

To celebrate our big day, we planned to attend a luau that night. We had alot of fun meeting new people, and Jordan was nearly hypnotized by all the hip shaking that was going on! It was a really good luau, and a great way to celebrate!

Before the luau we spent the day at 5 Graves beach and, what ended up being one of our favorites, Palauea Beach.

The seas were ANGRY today!

So, this will be a bit out of order, but I have to start by describing today's events while they're fresh on my mind!


The day started out slowly with us sleeping in and not leaving the condo until 11:30 AM. To start things off right, Jordan found out that he's still not admitted to WSU (eventhough schools starts in a week) because BYU never sent WSU his transcript! Oh, how we love BYU! NOT! Anyways, this whole disaster should've been a sign of what was to come!

We decided to go to Po'olenalena Beach based upon its close proximity to our condo, and its rave reviews in our Maui guide book. By the time we got to the beach, the wind and waves were in full swing! Today was BY FAR the windiest day on the island since we've been here. But, we were not afraid...we donned our snorkel gear and headed out into the water. After maybe 5 minutes in the water, all hell broke loose! We were snorkeling around a bed of lava rock, and to make a long story short, ended up getting slammed over and over again into the lava rock. Jordan fared a bit better than I did; he only lost his snorkel mask and got out with a couple cuts on his feet. I, on the other hand, had European tourist coming to my rescue! I not only lost one of my fins, my mask, and my snorkel, but NEARLY DROWNED (hence the European rescuer)! I kept getting pounded over and over again by waves that we should have taken note of before getting into the water, and ended up getting some pretty good gashes on my back, knees, elbow and feet! Needless to say, we left that beach as quickly as possible!

We tried to rescue the day by testing another beach (Wailea) but, the wind and waves proved too much for us. So on a whim, we decided to try and make it up to Haleakala Summit for sunset. Boy was this the best idea we had all day!

Jordan described this event as the greatest of all the things we've done since being on Maui! Haleakala is an extinct volcano that helped form Maui, and peaks at over 10,000 feet.

The weather up there gets pretty chilly, and we were bundled up in our jeans and hoodies, and were still FREEZING as the sunset and temperature fell to the high 30's! We were above the clouds, and were able to see Lanai and the two volcanos on the Big Island in the distance! It was definately an awe inspiring evening! In Jordan's words, "This really saved the day!"

Just another day in paradise!

Aloha!
Another two days have passed, and with them we've created some great memories! Day 3 started out like all the rest...sleeping in! Once we finally got out the door, we headed to the West side of the island for the first time. We stopped for a short hike to some petroglyphs, which Jordan's convinced are planted there by anthropologist! Then we headed toward Kaanapali. After searching in vain for a parking spot near Kaanapali Beach, we decided to get a picnic lunch and head further along the coast to a different beach.

At some point in our drive down the coast, we decided to pull over and take a picture. It was at this point that we realized our camera was no where to be found! We searched our car, I don't know how many times, with no luck! So, we have no pictures from our stop at Honolua Bay (the gorgeous beach made not so appealing by the locals who've set up shop there in a make-shift trailer and bathroom (aka: pond)). Despite the stench coming from the aforementioned "pond," we snorkeled around Honolua Bay for a bit before we decided to leave the stink behind and go find another beach.


It was at this point that we stumbled upon Slaughterhouse Beach (great name, eh?)! This is our favorite beach thus far! The sand is the perfect color and texture, and the water is just calm enough to play in without getting beat up. Plus, there was some GREAT snorkeling in just 3' of water! In addition to the abundance of brightly colored tropical fish, we came upon a beautiful turtle that was content to just swim around us, and continue eating while we watched for about 15 minutes! That was COOL!!


After leaving Slaughterhouse Beach, we headed to the only Wal-Mart on the island to buy a replacement camera. After getting over the disappointment of having to buy a new camera when we have another digital camera just sitting at our house, we started to get excited about the great features on our new purchase!

The next morning, as we were packing up the car to head out for the day, MAGICALLY our long lost camera appeared in the glove box that we'd searched countless times! What the heck?!? Well, there it was! Amazing!!

So, with the return of our camera, we were able to take some great pictures of the days adventures! We headed around the top of the island to a sight called "Dragons Teeth" which is a lava formation that owes its existence to the wind and sea. Pretty cool, but nothing compared to the GIANT turtle we saw in the water...it had to be 4' across its shell, and Jordan sat and waited for 30 minutes to try and get a picture of it, but it never surfaced again! Too bad.

Next we stopped at the Nakalele Blowhole...that was AWESOME! Jordan was like a kid in a candy store watching it explode! It was so amazing to watch the power of the ocean like that.

Our next stop of the day was at a place called the Olivine Pools. These are natural lava swimming pools ensconced in an ancient lava shelf, they offered an outrageous place to swim with the ocan pounding at us on three sides! WOW!

After swimming for a bit, we took off on a road that doesn't deserve to be called a highway...this was a one lane, winding mountain road! There were so many blind corners, that Jordan ending up honking the horn almost nonstop for the entire drive, to let any other drivers coming the other way know that we were on the other side of the curve...and please don't run into us (we had one call that was a little too close)! It was a pretty drive, but one we wont be doing again!

Well, this post has gotten long enough, so I'll say Aloha for now!

Aloha from Maui!!!

Aloha from Maui! We've decided to try and do an update of our trip every couple days while we're here. It'll be an electronic journal for us!

We arrived after a 6.5 hour flight from SLC and immediately started the acclimation process to "Hawaii time!" We waited about 45 minutes to get our luggage! Seems things move on a much slower pace here!

After leaving the airport, we headed to Costco and the local grocery store to stock our kitchen at the condo we're staying at. I had to send Jordan out to the car while I paid for the groceries so he wouldn't freak out (paying $6 for a gallon of milk might've sent him over the edge)!

We finally made it to the condo (which is right on the beach) and decided to go test the waters! The sound of waves crashing on the shore is so soothing to me! We made dinner and ate at about midnight our time. We were so EXHAUSTED but couldn't force ourselves to go to sleep at 8:00 PM our first night in Maui, so we went down to the condo pool and played for a bit. We finally went to bed at about 2:00 AM Utah time, and both woke-up at 6:00 AM Maui time! Of course we had no problem falling back asleep and stying asleep 'til about 10:00 AM Maui time! This is part of the reason I LOVE VACATIONS SO MUCH!!

After milling around the condo for a bit, we got our suites on and decided to head to the Swap Meet in Kahului. We found some great deals, and laughed about the miniature banannas and giant avocados we found!

After getting all sweaty at the Swap Meet, we headed to Big Beach in Makena where the wind was blowing something fierce! The waves were HUGE and breaking right on the shore! It was fun to play in the waves for a while, but when we realized we had left the food in the car, we decided to pack everything up and go try another beach. So, we headed back up the road to Makena Beach. Both beaches were GORGEOUS, and both had CRAZY WAVES! We spent our time at Makena lounging and playing in the waves.

After a couple hours we decided to head out and go take a walk down the Wailea Beachside Path (a path that runs several miles down the coast in front of several very nice resorts and very nice beaches). It was at this time that I started to notice that Jordan's entire front half of his body was turning a BRIGHT shade of RED! Poor Jordan is burned from head to toe, and we've only been here one full day!

After our stroll, we headed back to the condo, made dinner, and took in the sunset from our lawn. Watching the sunset over the ocean never fails to impress! Well, I think that's all for now. Aloha from Maui!