When my wife and I go on vacation, we rarely return to a place we've previously visited. One of those exceptions was a trip back to Maui for what was the first part of a two island-hop vacation. When we were on Maui six years ago (click here to read about that visit) we got caught up a couple three days in what we would call the tourist areas of the island. We realized after we left that we missed a good portion of other things on the island, mainly the Upcountry and the North Shore areas of Maui. We decided that we'd return to Maui at some point and spend more time there.
We tried to get back to Maui last year for our 20th wedding anniversary, but the timing didn't work out for us. This year, I was celebrating a significant birthday and we decided to look into going back to Maui. It almost didn't work for us. Planning on using mileage I've accrued on United Airlines to get us there, it turned out that we were short on points. We had to end up buying about $500 worth of points to get us there and back on United.
Once we got there, we were going to use Hilton Honors to have a place to stay. However, we found that the Grand Wailea - the luxurious hotel/resort we stayed at six years ago - had significantly raised the point values needed for a seven night stay. It cost me 80,000 points a night the last time we were there, but it was going to be 183,000 points for one night's stay. We would have been able to spend just three nights at the Grand Wailea and that would have pretty much milked all my Hilton points. We decided to go to the Air BnB route and Cindy found a one bedroom studio apartment not far from the Grand Wailea that we got for a palatable $139 a night.
We flew direct from Chicago to Maui on United, a little over an eight and a half hour flight one way. Our first hour in paradise consisted of us waiting for our baggage - flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco had come in after our flight and the bags from those flights showed up on the carousel before ours did. That wasn't a particularly pleasant welcome to Maui from United.
From there, we went over to get our rental car from Hertz. I had enough Hertz points to be able to basically get a free car rental (I'm telling you - if it weren't for the points, we wouldn't have been going to Hawaii). However, Hertz was packed - and many of the people standing in line were irritable. When we finally got to talk to an agent after standing in the Hertz Gold line for 25 minutes, she apologized for the delay. She cheerfully said, "For some reason it's just crazy here today!" Had I known that our bags wouldn't have shown up for an hour, I would have gone over to Hertz, gotten the rental car and then gone back to get our bags. It was a minor clusterfrig at the airport and at Hertz.
It took us another 20 minutes before they brought our car - a 2014 Nissan Altima with over 20,000 miles on it along with a series of dents and dings on the body with abrasions on the bumper. Plus, they had done a piss-poor job of cleaning the car. I know it was a free rental, but this was even bad for a budget car rental place. We were hungry and tired - it was 8 p.m body time by this point and we hadn't eaten anything in 12 hours - and I didn't want to take the time to tell them that I wasn't going to accept this car.
Our studio apartment was attached to a condo that was owned by Lorraine Francis, the owner of a company that offers affordable rentals and concierge services to travelers to Maui. Lorraine grew up in British Columbia and was working at a ski resort in Whisler, B.C. before she moved to Hawaii 30 years ago. She bought her condo in 2002 with the plan of turning part of it into a rental space for tourists or business people looking for a good deal on a place to stay - long before there were things such as Air BnB or Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO). In addition to this studio apartment (click here to see it on VRBO.com), she also manages four other properties in the Wailea Grand Champions complex where we stayed. (see map) (You can also check those properties out by clicking here, here, here, and here.)
The studio apartment featured a Tempur-pedic bed - the first time I remember sleeping on one. It was almost too comfortable for us as we seemed to wake up with some minor aches that we don't get from our increasingly uncomfortable bed at home. The space was "cozy", it featured a small couch and a small table in the one room space. The kitchenette had a fridge and some various small appliances where someone could make basic meals in the place. But with all the choices of good restaurants in the immediate area - many of them were within walking distance - I don't see why anyone would want to make food in the studio apartment. The space also featured a good sized bathroom, as well as a washer and dryer which came in handy to help take wrinkles out of clothes since no iron and ironing board were provided. (Update - Lorraine has since informed me that an iron was on the shelf above the washer and dryer with an ironing board folded up beside the two units. My wife confirmed that, yes, there was an iron and ironing board. As she points out all the time, I'm not very observant.)
The view walking out from the apartment gave us a glimpse of the ocean, not any more than a quarter mile away. Ulua Beach was a 7 minute walk away or a 2 minute drive to a parking area. The walkway along the beach connected downtown Kihei with the big resorts in Wailea. There were two pools near the studio apartment - one that was geared more for families, while the other was the adult pool. We hung out at the pool closest to the apartment for awhile one evening, but we were off doing and seeing most of the time. Lorraine was a great host, we talked with her a couple of times to pick her brain about some things that we should see. But most of the time she left us alone to allow us to relax and enjoy a quiet place to stay while we were on the island.
We spent a good deal of time in Paia along the north shore of Maui. We had only passed through Paia a couple times on our trip to and from Hana six years ago and we never stopped to see what was happening in this small former plantation town. It wasn't until we left Maui that we read up on Paia and how its charm and laid-back ways were the epitome of the Aloha spirit of the Hawaiian Islands. The shops, bars and restaurants of Paia were interesting with only a couple three "tourist trap" places to be found. We had looked at a couple places on line to possibly stay at along the north shore and after checking out where they were while we were there, we were happy with staying in Wailea and driving the 20 minutes up to Paia. (Photo courtesy Hawaii Magazine)
In Paia, there's a chance you'll see celebrities such as former NBA coach and player Don Nelson, actors Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson, and country singer Willie Nelson, all of whom have homes in or near Paia. Willie regularly sits in at Charley's Restaurant and Saloon, a place we visited briefly, but got out of there because it seemed a little too touristy for us. (Next door to Charley's is a Rock and Brews, a rock and roll/beer-themed restaurant chain owned in part by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss. It, too, was a little too touristy for our tastes.)
We also spent some time in the quaint little Upcountry village of Makawao, a small art community that is the original home to Hawaiian cowboys - also known as paniolos - who worked the ranches years ago. There were a number of shops and art studios including a couple glass-blowing establishments. A number of clothing stores lined Baldwin Ave. and Cindy found a couple of cute Hawaiian-style skirts in one of the shops. It was a great little town to walk around and feel the laid-back attitude that many people had in Makawao.
Not far from Makawao was a lavender farm that came very highly recommended by a friend who had been there before. The Ali'i Gardens Maui is the home to the Ali'i Kula Lavender farm and botanical gardens. Located near the small town of Kula in the Upcountry (see map), founder Ali'i Chang started the garden in 2001 after a friend gave him a single lavender plant. Chang owned plots of land on the eastern side of Maui where he grew exotic plants with a partner, and then bought a 13 acre plot of land on the west skirt of Haleakala mountain at 4000 feet in elevation.
Along with partner Lani Medina-Weigert, they planted other varieties of lavender eventually ending up with over 50,000 plants in 45 different types of lavender on the 13 acre plot. The cool, dry conditions at the farm helped the lavender grow in abundance. Chang - who was of Hawaiian and Chinese descent - grew up with a grandmother who taught him how to grow and nurture plants. He dedicated his life to her and went into the business of growing plants opening his first botanical garden in 1976. He passed away in 2011, but the Ali'i Gardens still thrive today in his memory.
In addition to the lavender fields, the Ali'i Gardens feature a number of exotic tropical plants and flowers giving it a colorful canvas for people to see. My wife is a huge fan of lavender and I like colorful flowers. With paths that meandered along the hillside, we spent well over an hour at the garden looking at all the varieties of plants and flowers on display.
It was cool on the mountainside that day and the cloud levels were low coming down from the peak of Haleakala. However, the views down to the southwest coast of Maui and up into the cloud-shrouded West Maui mountains were spectacular. You can click on the picture above right to try and capture the view we got looking down toward the leeward side of the island where they only get about 10 to 15 inches of rain annually, but 15 miles to the east on the windward side of the island on Haleakala's eastern skirt, Maui receives anywhere from 200 to 350 inches of rain annually.
Speaking of Haleakala, one of the things that we found out that we missed during our previous visit to Maui was a trip to the summit of the mountain/volcano to watch the sunrise. Haleakala literally means "House of the Sun" in Hawaiian and the mountain makes up about 75% of Maui. The summit is a a shade over 10,000 feet above sea level, but if you add the base of the mountain of which nearly 2/3rds of it is underwater, Haleakala measures over 29,703 feet - 675 feet higher higher than Mount Everest.
We knew that we would have to be getting up early to make it up to the top of the mountain to see the sunrise - we got out of bed at 4 a.m. and were on the road by 4:30 to make it to the top for the 6:00 a.m. sunrise. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the entrance of Haleakala National Park, then it took another 25 minutes to get up to a parking area that was actually the lowest of the three viewing areas - the two that were higher were already full. We were sort of surprised because we only saw one or two other cars on our trek up the mountain. It turns out that Haleakala National Park is open 24 hours a day and a number of people had made it to the park during the overnight period.
It was somewhat fortuitous that we were stopped by a Park Ranger and directed to park into a small lot. Had we been able to go all the way to the summit - another 5 to 7 minutes in the car - we would have missed the sunrise. We walked up a small set of steps and onto a windswept platform moments before the sun rose out of the layer of clouds that shrouded the east side of Haleakala. It was chilly, not as cold as I thought it would be, but the long pants and the sweatshirt that I was wearing was all I needed. Cindy, on the other hand - who gets cold when it's 72 degrees - was freezing in the cold wind.
As the sun rose, we were able to look into the crevice of the volcano along the eastern slope of the mountain. It was an interesting dichotomy of jagged black lava rock formations with small volcanic craters surrounding a lush field of green. The stark contrasts were somehow beautiful. Some scientists thought that that Haleakala last erupted in the late 18th century, but now most vulcanologists believe that the last eruption was sometime in the 1600's with fissures going east and southwest of the volcano.
As more people made their way down the mountainside after the sun rose, they opened the road to the summit. We had to wait for a moment for a parking spot to open when we got to the top, and we walked up to the sign at the summit showing that we were 10,023 feet above sea level. The view from the top was equally stunning. Looking to the south past the Haleakala Observatory, you could see the twin peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the big island of Hawaii. Mauna Kea, the dormant of the two volcanoes on Hawaii, is approximately 80 miles from Haleakala, while the active Mauna Loa is about 94 miles as the crow flies from the Maui volcano/mountain.
We were worried that the heavy cloud layer that enveloped the western and northern upward slope of the mountain the day before would hinder us getting up the mountain to the peak, but it turned out that most of the clouds that were there the day before were gone and it was a nearly clear day down the western slope of Haleakala. This is a view past the observatory to the Kihei/Wailea/Makena area of the south shore of Maui. It was the start of what turned out to be a beautiful day on the island.
Later that same day, Cindy and I made it down to the seashore to visit the black lava rock beach on the south shore. We had tried to get down there six years ago, but the road had been damaged and it was closed off. This time, the road was open past the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Reserve Area and we got out to walk around the jagged black rock shoreline. (see map)
We walked about a half mile down the shoreline along a pathway that went by some interesting rock formations. The constant battering of sea water against the rocks caused a series of "blow holes" in the black lava that made for some minor geysers shooting from the rocks. The black rock lava against an ocean blue background made for a beautiful scene.
We reached a cove surrounded by some trees and lingered there for a few moments before working our way back to the car. In the distance was the island of Kaho'olawhe, the smallest of the 8 main Hawaiian islands. The island had been used for years as a gunnery range for the United States military, but they quit bombing the place in 1990 and in 1994 it was turned over to the State of Hawaii to clean up the ordinances and to make it a nature preserve. The island is inhabitable due to the lack of rain fall - well, and that it was blasted to smithereens countless times since World War II. But there's snorkeling off shore and nature trails that are being developed, but other than that, it's just a big rock in the middle of the ocean.
We did a number of other things during our visit to Maui. One other place that we went to - on the insistence of Cindy who had noticed the sign for this place numerous times over the course of our visits to the island - was the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum in Pu'unene, just south of the airport at Kahului. The museum is housed in what was the home of the sugar plantation supervisor during the early to mid-1900's. It was an interesting walk through the place with displays talking about the immigrant workers from China, the Philippines, and Japan who came to work in the sugar fields in the late 1800's and into the early 1900's, as well as watching a video showing the process of how sugar cane is transformed into different types of sugars.
The Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar plant just across the road from the museum is the largest working sugar plant in Hawaii as they process sugar grown over 36,000 acres near the north shore of Maui. When you fly into Kahului Airport, the main airport on Maui, you'll see the sugar plant on your left as the plane makes its final approach. The plant processes over 800,000 tons of sugar annually, shipping most - if not all - of it to the California & Hawaii Sugar Company - also known as C&H - for final processing. Much of the byproducts of the sugar cane that isn't used in sugar processing is used as fuel for the plant. The company also schedules burns of sugar fields - sugar cane leaves contain very little sugar and will reduce the amount of sugar in a stalk if they are not extracted before processing. The leaves are about 25 percent of the total weight of a sugar cane stalk and by burning off the leaves it also cuts down on the weight of transporting the sugar cane to the factory. They've been burning sugar cane leaves since the beginning of the process and I understand that it's sort of a big deal to see the fields burn. The company's web site has a schedule of when they will burn specific cane fields. We were sort of crestfallen that we didn't have a chance to see them do a controlled burn of the fields. Next time...
(Turns out there won't be a next time to watch a controlled burn. I've been informed that HC&S will be closing their sugar plantation in December of this year after 145 years of operation and will turn the 36,000 acre sugar cane fields into diversified agricultural concepts. Approximately half of the 650 employees of the sugar plantation will be laid off as the company transitions into growing sustainable foods and ranch land for livestock. Much of the land that parent company Alexander & Baldwin owns is protected from development by state law, but 8,000 acres could be sold off for development at some point.)
We went up to Ho'okipa Beach on the north shore to watch the surfers and windsurfers. The waves weren't as high as when we first saw them six years ago, but it was the end of April and not the end of February when the winter swells make for some world class surfing at the beach. Still, the three to five foot waves rolling in the day we were there allowed for some surfers to get up and "hang ten" off their boards.
We also went back to Mama's Fish House (click here for the original Road Tips entry on Mama's Fish House) for an obscenely expensive lunch. This plate of seared tuna was $55 bucks. And that was just for me. Cindy also got an expensive seafood dish and when you add in an appetizer and 5 mai tai's, the lunch tab was close to $200 bucks BEFORE tip! But we did have some very good meals on Maui, many of which you'll read about in the coming weeks.
It was great to get back to Maui and during our three days there we reconnected with the Aloha spirit that the island exudes. We found some new places that we fell in love with and we were somewhat melancholy when we had to leave. But we were going to a new and exciting place for us - Kauai. Look for an upcoming post of our trip to Kauai, one of the more amazingly beautiful places on Earth.
Oh, my! I can't wait for the rest of the trip! A horticulturist's dream vacation!
Posted by: Buffy | May 14, 2016 at 01:32 PM
Just wanted to let you know that you'd better get back to Maui soon, if you want to see a cane burn. HC&S, the last sugar plantation in Hawaii, will not be growing or processing sugarcane by about mid December 2016. We are all hoping that the 36,000 acres will stay in agriculture but it will never be the same without those beautiful waving fields of green. It's really sad.
Posted by: Sasha | August 10, 2016 at 06:11 PM