We had a fairly painless, 7.30am bags 8.30am bus start today, for our direct flight to Maui. We just chilled in the room until it was time to leave. Our one checked bag (for two humans and a bear!) was already up to 47lbs (with a max 50lbs allowance) on Hawaiian Airlines so we hoped our scales were accurate!
Before we left our hotel room, we spotted some boats lining up out on the water for some kind of race. It was a short course so presumably was going to be a sprint race. It took them a while to get lined up but, once they did, a boat waved a flag and off they went.
After the big race excitement we headed for the bus. We were leaving from Kona Airport so it wasn't a long drive. Security was a bit of a wait though! There were only two lines snaking back and forth like at DisneyWorld. We still made it to the front in good time so it wasn't all bad.
It was a nice little airport. An open-air courtyard with a couple of shops and gates where you just walk out across the tarmac to board your plane. This was great as it meant you could get shots of the aeroplanes coming and going.
Onboard, Di and I got a window seat! (Just the one-hmph!) It was another short hop so a quick cup of orange and passionfruit drink before we were landing again, at Maui Airport.
In Maui, we met our next bus driver, Tony. He drove us - with narration about the history of Maui. The island of Maui is very green, probably because they get 350 to 360 inches of rain per year! You thought England was bad! Below right is a coffee plant - in case you were wondering.
Our first stop of the day was at Iao Valley State Park A thirty-minute stop to look at the Needle, some gardens and the very lush valley. It was a little cloudy over the hills. Pam warned us that walking up to the shack wasn't worth it, as there was just a great view of the parking lot. So, of course, we had to go up there and she was right - there was a fabulous view of the parking lot! There was a good view of the Needle too.
In 1790, Iao Valley was the site of the Battle of Kepaniwai. King Kamehameha I fought Maui's army to unite the islands, defeating Maui's forces in battle.
Time was short so we came back down the hill, across the bridge and down into the valley where there are some remains of old buildings.
There were a variety of plants here, including taro. I am standing in front of some sugar cane (below far right).
As we drove on through the valley we took a short detour through Kepaniwai Park Heritage Gardens. These houses and gardens were established in 1952 to represent the diverse ethnic heritage of Maui, with Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese, Caucasian and Filipino cultures. Volunteers revamped the gardens in 1994.
We stopped at Lahaina for two and a quarter hours for shopping, eating or whatever. They had an Atlantis Submarine office right on the high street, so we went inside to book for Tuesday morning. There is a boat to the submarine so we hoped Di could keep it together for the short while - underwater the sub is supposed to be okay! After that we wandered through the gift shops - Di and Paul actually bought Hawaiian shirts! With World War II aeroplanes on them, they were pretty cool actually - not too embarrassing for me to be seen with them!
Obviously there's a harbour, but also some historic buildings, like the Historic Baldwin Home Museum (below centre) and the Wo Hing Museum (below right). We didn't go inside though - we didn't have much time.
We'd also heard the Sugar Cane Train operated out of Lahaina so we sent Dave to get some lunch and we set off to find it. We found out it only runs Monday to Friday, but that was okay as we wanted to ride on Monday. It was closed on Saturday so there was no one there for information about Monday - Memorial Day - which was a holiday so maybe it wouldn't be running? That said, if it was running, it looked like we would be able to fit it in! Fabulous!
We hiked back to Hilo Hatties, the store where we were meeting the bus, but only had time for a quick dash around. We made a note to go back though, as we had an offer for a free mug! (You know I'm a pushover for a deal!)
We continued on to our hotel, the Sheraton Maui. It was a big rambling place with a lobby on the third floor so whether we'd be able to find our way out again remained to be seen. We were all given real flower leis on arrival - even me! - which was nice of them. Seems a bit of a waste really, but I'm probably not supposed to say that!
We went down to our room on the second floor. Our room had two beds, a balcony with double slider window, fridge and some nice toiletries. There was supposed to be free Wi-Fi but we couldn't immediately tell if it was free as the notes in the room said there was a daily $14 charge and we didn't want to get charged! We sent Paul back up to the lobby to check before I cost Di a fortune (she's funny about stuff like that!) He made them confirm twice that it really was free before we'd use it! (My assistants are cheapskates!)
We headed out at around 6pm to find somewhere for dinner. We had a bit of a nosey at the hotel gardens and pool and a look at the Cliff Dive Bar at the hotel but it was a bit basic for dinner
We headed down the beach walk to Whaler's Village, with it's shopping mall and restaurants.
There were three main restaurants - Leilani's On The Beach, Hula Grill and Maui Fish & Pasta. We chose Leilani's because there was only a ten minute wait and we'd done a Hula Grill in Waikiki. Colin and I started with Lava Flow Cocktails - a piña colada with strawberries, although the strawberry syrup was a little strong! (Colin was pretty determined to drink his!) Once it was mixed in a bit it was pretty good, but at $8.50 I think I prefer a regular piña colada.
There were a couple of veggie choices for Di and she chose a grilled cheese sandwich, which was a little greasy - it was gouda and brie and the brie was a bit weird, she said. Paul and I had Korean-style steak, which was very good, though a bit small. The fries were good too. A bottle of red wine was $28 and the cocktails were $28 yet the overall bill came in at just shy of $100, which I didn't think was bad - not that I was paying, of course.
It only dropped the one Ted as there was good service, a good location (not far from the sea front) and there wasn't too long to wait for a table, but it was very busy and noisy, the choices of food weren't great and the portions not huge. That said, it was definitely a good place for dinner.
After dinner, we had a bit of a wander through the shopping mall and found some guys giving a dancing demonstration.
There were mostly flouncy designer-y-type shops, but there was an ice cream shop and a coffee shop (and we didn't go in either!) There was also an ABC Store so we went in there - they've been all over Hawaii (and have a lot of our money!) as they sell snacks, drinks and a huge range of Hawaiian souvenirs.
After that, we just headed back to the hotel for the night.
