Doris and I took a vacation in Maui with our daughter Chloe and her husband Peter. We were to share a condo in Kihei which Peter had arranged. We arrived at the airport about an hour and a half before flight time and were told there were only seven more passengers to come and there were plenty of seats. We were given a row, with Doris and I on the three seats to the left and Peter and Chloe on the three seats to the right. It was a comfortable journey over.
At the airport, Peter went out to pick up the Word-of-Mouth car. He had to go to the parking lot, find the car with its key under the front seat. We had to go to their office at our convenience at a later date and settle up with a credit card. The system worked well and we were soon off to find our Kihei condo. It had been found through Craig's List on the Internet so we hoped it was a real place at a real address.
We arrived at about midnight and found the front door locked - we had been told the door was always open. Panic! Peter looked round the back with no luck so set off to call the owner in Chicago. No answer but he left an irate message. We then tried shouting up to the lighted windows and attracted an occupant who told us the entrance was at the back and was always up. Further investigation showed that the back started off with a short wall and then angled to a large parking lot and the back door of the building. We got in and up the elevator to the condo's front door. It remained to enter the appropriate code and to extract the key from its box. We were in! A short time later the phone rang and Peter said a few conciliatory words to the owner, explaining we were not told the door was at the back. It was not long before we were abed and asleep.
THURSDAY
We decided to explore the immediate neighbourhood before lunch and to head out to Iao Needle after lunch. We crossed to Kalama Park and followed a walk up streets and onto three Kamaole beaches before coming out further south on S. Kihei Road. Here we turned around and started back along the beach until we saw Fred's Mexican Centre across the road, where we stopped for coffee. Peter preferred not to stop so he carried on to the condo, returning in due course to pick us up in the car.
After lunch, we set off to Wailuku and found our way to the Iao Road. We stopped first at Kepaniwai County Park and its commemoration of the Japanese settlers. I wondered what the Americans did with their citizens of Japanese ancestry in the war.We carried on to Iao Valley State Park. We were still below the clouds so the peak was quite visible. After wandering around the other various exhibits, we went back into Wailuku to find somewhere for a coffee break. However, it turned out that nearly everything was either shut for midday or closed completely. We ended up going to McDonalds as the best solution.
We decided to explore the east side of West Maui while we were here and we headed off for the Kahakili Highway
This was a winding, often one-lane road, although paved through its length. We carried along, passing the trailhead to Waihee Ridge, eventually coming to a gallery where we stopped and looked around. Doris bought a picture of bourgainvilleas by a local artist. After this, we stopped at an interesting old church in Kahakalua and then carried on to a spot where we could take an scenic walk out to see a blowhole on the coast below.
When the road became two-lane with a centre line, we had reached the main road from the other side of West Maui. We could open up and head for Lahaina and supper.
We parked at a shopping centre where Peter decided to buy a T-shirt for $12 rather than pay the $2 fee that would otherwise have been needed. (It turned out that the shirt was too small but the principle of not paying for parking had been maintained.) We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe where the food was good although we preferred to sit outside against the wall where the music did not penetrate so much.
FRIDAY
Peter was not feeling well in the morning so the three of us went for a walk down to Wailea. We parked in the Stores at Wailea and made our way to the beach by going through the Sheraton and using the beach elevator to go down to the outside walkway. We followed Wailea Walk which led past the luxury hotels which line the coastline here. The Grand Wailea was at the top of the list. It had a wedding chapel and $30 to $40 million worth of statuary and artwork ornamenting the hotel and gardens. They offered $290 Kayak trips for honeymooning couples staying there.
We sat on a grass bank looking out to sea and had a sandwich lunch that we had brought with us. When we reached the end of the walk, Charles walked back along the road and picked up the car so we could continue to Makena. Here we stopped to look at the Makena Congregational Church where volunteers were setting up for a big luau to be held the following day.
