Hana on Maui: A Day Spent Upcountry

Oh rejoice, one and all, the Green Monster (aka my putt-putt of a '95 Toyota Corolla) has been resurrected and has been running like a dream.  Thank goodness, because Hana and I took a chance and caught a lucky break when we decided to throw caution to the wind and spend the day driving all over the other side of the island and taking the Green Monster upcountry!

We began our morning with a stop at Leoda's (now serving breakfast!).

{Hana in line to order at the counter}

{the glowing display case filled with sweet treats and freshly baked bread}

{a veggie benedict on homemade veggie patties with poached eggs and breakfast potatoes}

{Hana's humungous egg and bacon sandwich}

After our breakfast of epic proportions, we waddled back into the car and took off down the highway towards Wailuku for our first tourist attraction: Iao Valley.

Driving towards the valley, Hana immediately noticed the knot of clouds we were headed towards.  It's best to visit Iao Valley early on during the day before the clouds overhead open up and unleash a storm.      However, it's the regular rain that keeps the valley emerald green and lush.

Iao Needle (pictured below) is one of the most recognizable Maui landmarks.  The rock outcropping is 1,200 feet and was once used as a lookout by Hawaiian warriors during the war with King Kamehameha.

{Hana at Iao Needle}

The park's paved path leads you up towards a lookout to the Iao Needle or you can follow the path down through a manicured loop of Hawaiian plants and down towards the river.

{heading up}

{sister selfie at the top}

{photo op along the rainforest trail along the water}

After seeing the sights and pointing some tourists toward the trailhead (there's a great hike past the lookout), Hana and I got back into the car and headed toward the slopes of Haleakala crater for our next stop: the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm.

{protea}

The drive up to the farm was a celebration: the Green Monster made it uphill without overheating!  Cool mountain air spilled in through the open windows, along with the scent of eucalyptus.  We drove further up the base of Haleakala, where it seemed as if we were driving up into the clouds.

When we rolled up to the entrance of the farm, we got our kama'aina discount (my beat up car plastered with stickers from local restaurants looks very, very local) along with a map and three sprigs of fresh lavender.

We parked our car on the upper slope of the farm, then headed downhill into the gardens.

{Hana resting at the Secret Garden}

This was a first visit to the Lavender Farm for me as well, and I loved the peace, quiet and coolness of this tranquil place.  The whole farm hummed with the business of bees and there were flowers and plants of every kind--not just lavender.

Well kept trails meandered through patches of lavender and landscaped pocket gardens.

{more protea plants}

{Hana with sunflowers in the vegetable garden}

Throughout the farm, there are lookout points punctuated with sculptures and gorgeous views of the Maui valley.

{praying with Buddha}

We began our walk of the farm by heading downhill, passing through the vegetable garden, then climbing up along the Peaceful Path above the farm office and crafting area towards the upper fields of the farm.

{the photo doesn't do it justice, but this is the view of the Maui valley from the Ali'i's Landing}

{panorama from Ali'i's Landing}

{yoga with Buddha}

{walking back down the farm}

{looking up towards the top of the lavender farm}

After our walk through the farm grounds, we went into the gift shop where we may or may not have bought some amazing gifts for some amazing people back in California (shh!).

We may have also gotten something for ourselves...Lavender Lemonade!

{refreshing!}

We left the farms just as a soft drizzle descended from further up the mountain.

We drove back down through Kula and headed for Makawao, the quaint cowboy town.  Hana and I walked up and down main street and took a rest at the Aloha Cowboy store.

We met up with Bryan and our friends (just finished playing the disc golf course up at Poli Poli) at Polli's Mexican Restaurant for chips, guac, tacos and burritos before heading back to Lahaina.

On our way home, we made a second stop to Leoda's so Hana could pick up a sweet treat for later (chocolate macadamia nut pie).  I can't wait to try it!

Now, offline for movie night!

Goodnight!

Read More

Makawao Forest Reserve Hike

Ashley and I had been craving some outdoor action, so when Ashley's friend, Alex, suggested hiking the Makawao Forest Reserve we jumped at the chance despite the icky weather.

The wind and rain picked up as we left Lahaina and drove Upcountry.  When we got to Makawao, it was pouring.  Once we crept into the parking lot at the Reserve, we decided to be adventurous since we all had packed a dry change of clothes for later.

We hopped out of the car, donned our rain gear and headed into the forest.

{single file}

{Alex and Ashley--yup, that's right.  Alex is hiking "Hobbit-style"--sans shoes}

The rain faded in and out.  If it wasn't a complete downpour, it was a constant mist.  

The loop that we hiked was 5.2 miles after hiking about a half mile from the parking lot.  At the very beginning of our hike, we ran into one of my old friends, Owen.  He was on his mountain bike, spattered with mud from head to toe.  Owen was on his way back to his truck after cruising the muddy and wet trails with his friends.

As we hiked through the trees, we came across lots of other trails and meandering paths.  The Makawao Forest Reserve is probably more well known for mountain biking rather than hiking, but pedestrians and equestrians are allowed on this multi-use trail system.  

Hiking through Makawao reminded me of the trails back in Portland.  I'm sure the rainy weather had a lot to do with that.  Just teasing, Portlanders!  The trees and trails reminded me of the running paths in Tryon, and it made me miss Portland a bit.

{following the red markers}

{crazy close-up of this mysterious foam that we spotted on several trees along our hike.  What is this?}

The rain was coming down so hard, that rainwater sloughed down the tree trunks like waterfalls.  Watching the rain course down the smooth trunks like the Eucalyptus shown above was especially beautiful.  We should have thought to have taken a video instead of just a still picture.  If you look closely you can see the tree is absolutely glistening.

{Muddy shoes, wet feet, soaked pants, rainy camera lens}

{Look up!}

{Hiking through ferns}

One of the informational signs along the hiking trail said that most of the trees in the park were planted by Makawao prisoners.  As we hiked, it was obvious to us all that the trees were planted since they were uniformly spaced all around us.

Our last mile of the hike really sunk into us as we all got cold and hungry and fatigued.  I have never been so happy to see a sign pointing the way to a parking lot before.  We were practically jogging back to the car over the last half mile.

By the time we got back to the car, it was pouring again.  I'm sure we looked like a well-practiced clown act as we tried to strip out of our rain gear and change into our dry clothes in and around the car before we wiped down T-Bone and threw him in the car.

Once we got back inside, we blasted the heat and careened down the hill back towards town to feast on well-deserved Mexican food at Polli's.  I sucked down hot tea, chips and salsa and a Pork Chile Verde Burrito Supreme.  No meal has ever tasted better.

And nothing has felt better than my blasting hot shower that I took the second I finished hanging up all my soaked rain gear to dry.

And now, I'm going to curl up with my book.  Good night.

Read More

The Perfect Sunday

As Bryan so eloquently put it, yesterday was a 10.

We drove from Lahaina to Kihei to meet up with Bryan's parents at their condo.  We loaded up their rental car with a cooler and four beach chairs.  After a brief stop at Safeway to grab some hummus and crackers, we made our way to Kula to check out the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm.  I had a serious hankering for their goat cheese, and I knew it would be the perfect snack for watching Polo in Makawao.

At the farm we had a mini tasting of their more popular cheeses before selecting our favorites: the Maui Secret (a more drained Chevre marinated in virgin olive oil), Ole! (creamy gourmet chevre flavored with jalapenos, artichokes, lime juice and cilantro) and then of course, the Udderly Delicious (salted, plain chevre).

After cheese shopping, we headed back into the car and headed towards Makawao to the Oskie Rice Field on Olinda Road.

{the road to the polo field}

We pulled off onto the rodeo grounds and drove through the pastures until we reached the polo field.  After paying our admission (5 bucks per person), we rolled through the field.  Skirting the red polo "wall," we made our way to the far end of the field.  The woman who was in charge of admission told us that that was the best place to watch the match--the sun wouldn't be in our eyes.

We parked our car, unloaded our chairs and our picnic and got started on snacking while we waited for the game to start.

My friend Shaina joined us along with her friend who owns and rides horses in Launipoko.

{the spectators}

{my favorite spectator}

{the polo field bordered by trees with a great view of the ocean--only on Maui}

{empty polo field}

{lucky ladybug found in the grass during the game}

{Flagger behind one of the goal posts--they raise their flags high in the air when a team scores a goal}

{polo ponies with their tails bundled up}

{polo players in action}

{our very enthusiastic "narrator"}

During the entire game, this ragged cowboy drank down beer after beer and provided colorful commentary of the goings on of the polo match.  You can get an idea of how amusing he was in the following clip:

Isn't he great?  

{look at those clouds}

{looking back across the field towards the mountain}

{riders switched horses between "chukkas" or 7 minute playing periods--the game we watched had 4 chukkas}

{ponies galloping across the field}

The first game we watched was the United States Polo Association Players Cup.  Afterwards, there was a second game played by the Maui Polo Club members.  It wasn't played with the same level of athleticism as the more professional teams, but it was still a blast to watch.  The last time I watched polo was back in Mexico City, and even though the games I watched in Mexico were far more exciting with players galloping full blast across the field at every moment--I don't think I can say that I watched at a more beautiful spot than yesterday's game in Upcountry Maui.

We left the polo field after the second game finished, and headed back into Kihei for an epic meal at Cafe O'Lei.  It was my first visit the restaurant, but I plan on making the trip out to Kihei to eat there again.  Delicious!

As Bryan said: Sunday was a perfect 10.

Read More