Happy Holidays from Maui

-Mele Kalikimake-



Iao Valley State Park was our first stop, home to the 1,200- foot Iao Needle that overlooks Iao stream. It is a beautifully tropical valley that is historically significant for the battle where King Kamehameha defeated Maui’s forces and took advantage of the lookout point. We arrived before all the cram packed tourist busses showed up, so we were able to take advantage of the tropical scenery. It turned out that hiking barefoot was the best way to traverse the steep slippery slopes with the best traction so that’s the way I went. The full trail is 10 miles long and over 4,000 acres of breathtaking landscapes; we made it a couple of miles and decided to keep on trekking to our next destination, which was to acquire some famous Maui banana bread.

We continued on via Maui’s rugged North Shore by the Honoapi’ilani and Kehekili Highways where we stopped for what I believe to be the best banana bread on Maui. Still warm, fresh banana bread (Caution: coconuts fall from above, but make for a nice snack) life doesn’t get much better than that. At least not until you arrive at the famous Nakalele Blowhole, a place where the pounding surf has worn away a shoreline lava shelf. A hole causes a geyser-like effect that can reach over 100 feet high. On this day the surf was particularly large, one could say if you weren’t paying attention a bystander could get swept away. Taken back by the majestic mist rainbows and hermit crabs we were indeed almost taken out to sea by an unsuspecting wave, luckily we were all able to outrun the danger (no wonder they have these signs posted).

 

I’m still waiting for the pictures some tourist lady took of us running for our lives with a ginormous 30 foot wave crashing at our heels, ha, won’t do that again! The rest of the day was spent sunbathing and wave jumping at Honokahua Bay in Northwest Maui, where the surf gets larger than any other neighboring beach.

Christmas Eve was spent in search of the famous red sand beach in Hana Maui. We left before the sun came up over the horizon on a journey to Hana. After stopping at many self-serve fruit stands and finding a papaya bigger than my head we eventually traversed the Cliffside to be awe stuck by what we found. Kaihalulu Beach, also known as the red sand beach (AKA: red pebble beach) where nature has created a serene swimming hole barricaded off by coral. It was truly spectacular, surrounded by eroded cliffsides, hippy girls and even a banjo, harmonica playing traveler.                       

Christmas morning the alarm clock starting buzzing at 2:30AM and we were on our way to meet the “house of the sun” home to Maui’s highest peak, rising 10,023 feet above sea level. With the Christmas music blasting we made it through the never ending switch backs to gaze up at the shooting stars in the brisk morning air. Before long the sky began to change from pitch black hues of dark blue and transcend to break taking layers of orange and purples. Instead of rushing to open presents under a tree, we shared a beautiful gift of love by watching the sun rise another day over the Haleakala Crater.

What better way to bring in the New Year other than going on one of the best hikes Maui. 4 miles round trip, gaining 650-feet in elevation, through a bamboo forest to gaze upon the “Multnomah Falls” of Maui officially named Waimoku Falls. This gorgeous 400 foot waterfall that eventually fuels the Oheo pools (seven sacred pools) was well worth the hike. Happy New Year 2014 from the Fletchers!