We arrived to Marriott’s Wailea Beach Resort on the island of Maui at 1:00 in the morning.  The entrance drive was lighted with perforated luminaries, giving a magical feel similar to that of Disneyland. 

And at the end of the drive was a large wooden sculpture welcoming one and all to the resort.

We noticed the snails on the island didn’t carry your typical run of the mill shells.  No, these were Hawaiian snails and they carried the Big Kahuna shells on their backs. 

During our stay at this resort we awoke to clear blue skies, only to have it rain on us in the afternoon.  

But we were blessed with a great sunset on the evening of our first full day.  The island of Lanai is pictured on the left, Moloka’i on the right.  In fact, we had many good sunsets during our stay on Maui.

I wanted to gather a few beach pebbles from Wai’anapanapa Black Sand Beach which is over half way on the Road to Hana (A two hour drive, three hours to Hana).  I’m not sure why they call it black sand, because it’s not sand.  The beach is covered in small lava rocks (basalt) which have taken a millennia or more to be eroded, ground down, and smoothed into a beach.  I’m going to throw the pebbles into the polisher and add a few thousand years to the process in just a couple of weeks. 

One of our favorite sights along the Road to Hana are the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees.  They may look like they’ve been painted on, but these colors are all natural. The multi-colored streaks on its trunk comes from patches of outer bark that are shed annually at different times, showing the bright-green inner bark. This then darkens and matures to give blue, purple, orange and then maroon tones.

The Eucalyptus tree was originally planted as a wood burning fuel source for sugarcane production and are now known as an invasive species especially on the slopes of Haleakala (local volcano).

Another favorite sight along the Road to Hana is Lanakila Ihiihi O Iehowa Ona Kava Church.  Built in the 1800's, this church is the last remaining building from the 1946 Tsunami that took out this side of the island.  The teachers in this church thought the Tsunami warnings were an April Fools joke, as it was April 1, and did not leave for higher ground.  All 4 teachers and 20 students died.  This building is all that is left from that tragic day. 

Despite its sad history, the building is amazingly beautiful.  The crashing waves against the stark black lava rock beach is just steps away from the church and easily in view.   Across the bay is the so-called Jurassic Rock that stands just off the coast line and has been featured in a few of the Jurassic Park movies.

Lisa is pictured on the site with Hahaha Bay in the background.  Say the name of this beach three times fast and it will give you a good laugh.

Three days later we checked into Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club in Ka’anapali which is on the west side of the island.  Here is a picture from our 8th floor room.  

Each day we would walk from the resort to the commercial district, called Whaler’s Village, making sure we got out 10K steps for the day.

The resort is a few miles north of Lahaina and the famous Lahaina Banyan Tree.  The tree was planted in 1873.  At sunset you can hear the cacophony of thousands of birds, mostly mynah, chattering as they get ready to roost in the tree for the night.

One of our favorite dining places in Lahaina is a small Italian restaurant.  And our favorite dish is the Caprese Salad, served to look like a pineapple.

Kaylene gave to Lisa a sunhat and pineapple sunglasses to take on our Hawaii trip.  While Lisa spent much of her time in the sun, I spent my time in the shade.  I’m sure glad Ian didn’t get me anything for the trip.

When we lounged under the palm trees, this was our view.

The following seven pictures are some of the trees, plants, and flowers we saw on the island.  I wonder how the top of the four trees in the first picture got to be so rounded, with the bottom so flat.  The trees are too big to manually trim this way. 

A couple of days found us on the Kapalua Coastal Trail walking to Oneloa Beach and then spending time on the beach looking out onto Oneloa Bay.

Near Oleloa Beach is the Honokahua Burial Site.  It is estimated that 2,000 Hawaiians have been laid to rest near the coast here, dated between AD 610 and 1800.  The remains of 900 native Hawaiians were unearthed when digging began for the Ritz-Carlton in the late 1980s, and when the importance of this discovery was realized, the luxury hotel was moved inland as to not disturb this sacred site.

Covered with well-maintained grass, flanked by a native hau hedge, and strictly off-limits to the general public, this "wahi pana" — sacred site — serves as a destination where native Hawaiians can gather to honor their ancestors and conduct ceremonial rituals.

Lisa and I saw this picture displayed at one of the clothing shops in Lahaina, meant to help the ladies determine what style swimsuit is right for them.  So, if the standard bikini offers too much coverage for your fabulous body, the swimsuit trend for this year on Maui is the bare coverage style (barely-there coverage) as shown on the far left.  The micro-bikini suit is not for the faint of heart, leaving little to one’s imagination.  We laughed while imagining our many grandson’s eyes popping out of their heads, gawking at so many bare bottoms at the beach.

We like to attend the Tongan ward on Sunday mornings in Lahaina.  The church members sing a cappella, unaccompanied by the organ or piano, and it sounds fabulous.  Many of the members also dress in traditional clothing.  Tongan clothing culture is conservative, to say the least.  Tongans on Sunday, dress in their best clothes (including traditional dress).  Tongan men wear a tupenu, a type of cloth skirt that goes around the waist and long enough to cover the knees.  They also wear a ta‘ovala, a traditional Tongan mat that is very short and is worn around the waist and is tied with a kafa, a Tongan traditional string made from coconut fibre.  This is accompanied with a collared shirt.  Women wear a dress and tunpenu with a ta‘ovala around the waist that goes down to the knees.

Here is a picture of one of the songs from their hymnbook.

We make it a priority to have breakfast at least once at the Gazebo Restaurant in Napili Shores.  It's kind of out of the way, and you'd probably never notice it unless you were told where to go.  The wait time is at least an hour, an hour in the hot sun.  But the wait is worth it.  We ordered the traditional macadamia nut pancakes, breakfast rice, and papaya.  We each gained two pounds from this breakfast.

Since the restaurant is “open air” sparrows fly about trying to grab a piece of food once you leave your table and before the table is bused.  We were on continual watch to make sure we didn’t get a surprise dropped from overhead onto our food below.

Even on vacation, Lisa takes her job with her.

Our last evening on the island.

Our departure from Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club.  Sad, sad.

Sunset on our flight home.