Photos: http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll23 ... 20Lahaina/
After the Twilight Zone of an evening in Hilo, I was looking to just getting out on my own, exploring a little, sitting on a beach and relaxing. I got up to one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen, Lahaina on the island of Maui. This was a tender port, but we'd be here for two days, so they were tendering from 7:30 or so AM to about 10:30 PM. I had made a reservation for a rental car and was looking forward to tooling around Maui...the only plans I had were to go to the Old Lahaina Luau that evening, about 1/2 mile from where the tenders let us off in town, and the luau didn't start until 6:00 PM, so I had the day to myself.
While waiting for the bus from the rental car company (they picked you up at the pier), I walked around this small grove of trees in the main square....or so I thought. Turns out it wasn't a grove...it was ONE TREE. One huge, intricate banyan.
The rental car van arrived, and immediately there was a problem. Not with my reservation (I knew I did it right), but with the reservation of this younger couple (early 30s, which on this ship was VERY young!
). Turns out their travel agent in Australia screwed up every single car reservation they made on this trip. The rental office in Lahaina is a small storefront about 5 miles northwest of town, in Kaanapali....but these two were given a reservation at the main airport in Kahului, about 45 minutes away. Being the nice guy I am (shut up, those of you who know me!), I offered to give them a lift to the airport, since it was basically on my way -- I was planning on driving as far down the Road to Hana as I could, and I'd be going right by the Kahului airport. The couple were David and Isabelle; she's a native Aussie, he's originally from Southern California, but moved to Sydney about 10 years ago, so he had a kind of bizarre Crocodile Dundee Meets Jeff Spicoli accent. Luckily, they were very friendly, talkative, funny folks, so the 45 minute drive seemed like it was over before it started. Turned out they were going to the same luau that evening, so we made plans to meet up later, and they could buy me a beer to repay me for the ride.After dropping them off, I headed down the Road to Hana in my rental Jeep Wrangler (yes, I put the top down!). I can't possibly do this trip justice in mere words. I wish I was a poet, and could paint a picture with words for you. Once you pass Paia, the road becomes an adventure ride, with one-lane bridges, switchbacks, waterfalls, rainforest, and small little pulloffs for you to take pictures (and there are plenty of reasons to take pictures). It's only about 40 miles from Paia to Hana, but it can easily take you 3 to 4 hours to get there. I didn't have that kind of time (I wanted to see Wailea and sit on a beach somewhere, too), so I only got about half or two-thirds of the way to Hana, to about Wailua. Next time I'm there, I'm going the whole way...this was a beautiful trip, and I really wish I could have taken more time doing it.
After several hours, I started back, and decided on the spot to stop in Haiku, just south of the Hana Highway. It's a cute little town, and once again, I wished I could have spent more time there. Then back to the highway, and back to Paia. At this point, I decided to stop for lunch, and I picked a little mexi-hawaiian place on the main drag in Paia, right across the street from Woody Harrelson's "Hemp House", a store that sells all sorts of stuff made from hemp. Lunch was fish tacos....luscious, meaty mahi tacos, actually.
I never got to Wailea, but I did spend some time on the beach in Kaanapali, before returning my rental car, and heading back to the ship to change for my luau.
I had booked this luau myself, rather than taking the one offered as a shore excursion, for two reasons: the one the ship offered was more expensive ($150, compared to the $90 that I paid), and my research indicated that this one was better. From what I heard from talking to people who went on the shore excursion one, I chose wisely. The Old Lahaina Luau was wonderful. The food was good, the drinks weren't watered down, and the show was very good. Add in an INCREDIBLE view of the setting sun over Molokai and very nice tablemates, not to mention the best seats in the house (right up front, in the traditional mat seating area), and you have a magical night. I met up with David and Isabelle again, and they did buy me a drink....which wasn't saying much, since drinks were included!
But they did offer to drive me back to the pier about 1/2 mile away; I turned them down, since it was a very nice, easy walk, and I wanted to take my time. Lahaina's a quaint little town; a tad tourist-y, but not bad at all. I should have stopped in to the Hard Rock to buy a shirt, but I was running a little late, and got back to the pier just in time to get one of the last tenders back to the ship. I had had a very long, satisfying day, so I turned in early, as I had another shore excursion planned for the next morning -- my last, as it was the last day we were in Hawaii. I didn't even get to have the drink of the day, but on the other hand, I didn't have to worry about Joanne the Loonie, either... Tomorrow: Lahaina Day 2: "That Looks Like a Big -- ", "Dick, get away from that giant -- ", "Peter, it resembles a...."
