Maui No Ka Oi (part 1)

 Maui nō ka ʻoi means "Maui is the best" in Hawaiian and you see this saying everywhere and on everything. In the short time we were there, we fell in love with Maui as well. We can definitely see why people choose to return every year. It's so beautiful and relaxing and the people are so friendly. In the 10 days we were there, we drove around a lot. Even the way people drive is different. Courtesy on the roads is the "aloha way". Any time you had to merge to get into a lane, the driver behind you would slow to let you in. You definitely don't see that very often in and around the GTA. The one display of road rage we saw was a tourist we saw leaving our resort.

Here is an overview of our trip:

playing with the window shade kept
nathan entertained for at least an hour.

Day One: 
We headed out to the airport bright and early. As per usual, we were running behind schedule, so with traffic, we only arrived at the airport about 90 minutes before our flight was due to leave. Fortunately, Aeroplan bumped us up to Prestige status for this year, which meant we could go to the shorter Executive Class line to check in our luggage. We also had passes to the Maple Leaf Lounge, but since we were so late, we didn't really get to enjoy it. But I must say, it is really nice in there. Free breakfast food, free drinks, free magazines... I could get used to that kind of living! The flights were fairly uneventful. Nathan was able to get a seat between us on both segments. The only bad thing about the trip was that he wasn't really able to sleep on either flight and would've had three hours (our layover time) to sleep in LAX except for the fact that we had to change terminals and go through airport security again so we had to keep him up since you have to do the whole take off shoes, take them out of their stroller, etc. Once we finally arrived in Maui, it was early evening...and raining! It took us about an hour to get to our resort from there and of course, Nathan fell asleep during the car ride. It took a while to get checked in, but we finally got everything to the room and got a crib set up and put Nathan to bed. Ken drove out to find us some dinner and we had an uneventful (though yummy Zagat-rated Viet food from a food court, no less) dinner.

Splish! Splash!

Day Two:
The resort we were staying at has a "Go Green" program where you can exchange housekeeping days for breakfast buffet vouchers. So we exchanged four days to get two days of breakfast. Of course, with the six hour time difference, Nathan woke up bright and early...around 5 a.m., so we didn't have to wait in line when the restaurant opened at 7 a.m. The best part of the breakfast was all the fresh fruit. The pineapple was so sweet! Nathan probably enjoyed the fruit and yogurt part of the breakfast best. After breakfast, we took Nathan to one of the kiddie pools in the resort. He hasn't really been enjoying his swimming lessons at home, so we weren't sure how he'd react to the pools and the beach. He didn't move around in the water...just stood there in one place, but after a little while (and with some prompting from Ken), he started to splash around. We ended off the day with dinner at Aloha Mixed Plate at a table with a beautiful view of the ocean.

Lahaina oceanfront

Day Three:
Nathan slept in a bit longer today and woke up at 6 a.m. We made breakfast in our studio and then headed out to explore the main street in Lahaina. One of the shops we passed was an art gallery that had a painting of one of Ken's favourite European towns. He stopped and went in to take a look at it and the owner of the gallery told him that if he could name the town that was depicted, he could have the painting. Big mistake! Ken promptly said "Hallstatt", much to the guy's dismay. Anyway, we didn't end up getting the painting, but instead got a colour photocopy of it. The guy also got a bit of a lesson in the history of Hallstatt courtesy of Ken, since the info he had on it said the town was in Switzerland (it's in Austria). Nathan fell asleep in his stroller so we were able to enjoy a relaxing lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. After Nathan woke up, we went back to the resort for some beach fun.

On the beach in front of
Mama's Fish House

Day Four:
We drove out to Paia today, which is the start of the road to Hana. We didn't intend to do the road to Hana, but since Nathan fell asleep in the car, we decided we'd drive at least part of it. I had been warned about how windy the roads are, but even though I was the one driving, I still felt a bit queasy. The traffic wasn't bad, but I could see how it'd be an annoying drive during high season. We didn't get to see much since Nathan woke up when we were only about a 1/4 of the way in. We ended up turning around and going to lunch at Mama's Fish House. It was pricey, but the food was excellent. Lobster bisque sample to start, crab cakes for appetizers, fresh opah fish for me and mahi mahi sandwich for Ken, and banana macadamia nut crisp with homemade ice cream to finish. After that, we started on the long drive back to Ka'anapali. Nathan didn't eat very well on the trip (unlike his parents), so we opted to have pizza for dinner, which we knew he'd eat. So yes, we ate Hawaiian pizza in Hawaii!  :o)

Happily playing on the beach

Day Five:
Drove out to South Maui today to experience their beaches. We eventually found our way to Ulua Beach, which Ken read had great snorkeling and was good for kids. Nathan really enjoyed sitting in the tidal pools and having the water lap over his legs. He didn't like it so much when the water would rise up to his waist, but otherwise, he was content to just sit on the shore with his little pitcher in hand. While Ken snorkeled, Nathan and I played on the beach. I was warned that kids like to put sand in their mouths, and of course, Nathan was no exception. He'd pour some water on the sand, then stick his finger in it, then put that finger in his mouth. He did this several times despite my telling him not to. Don't really get why they like doing that. Maybe the gritty texture?

Nathan was pooped from the sun and ended up falling asleep in the car for a bit as we searched for a place to eat. We ended up driving down the coast to see Big and Little Beach and then drove around looking for a place for lunch. We ended up in Kihei at Alexander's Fish and Chips. Apparently this place has the best fish and chips in Hawaii. Not that we've eaten fish and chips elsewhere on the islands, but these were really good! They are tempura battered. We ended up eating at this place twice during our trip.

In the evening, we headed back to Lahaina for the Old Lahaina Luau. The food was okay; the show was not bad. Don't think I'd go to another luau, but it was something different to experience. Nathan was surprisingly good and sat still for the entire show. Not sure if it was more because he was tired.

This overview is getting longer than expected, so I will save the second half of the trip for a later post. :o)

At the Old Lahaina Luau