Sunday, September 6, 2015
Another late night yesterday means a groggy start this
morning. For me anyway, Sandy and Tjitske have been up and at 'em for a while when I finally crawl out of bed.
Such a beautiful morning! Makes me wish I had gotten up earlier, but I'm already going to need a vacation to recover from this vacation as it is haha.
Such a beautiful morning! Makes me wish I had gotten up earlier, but I'm already going to need a vacation to recover from this vacation as it is haha.
Farmer's Market Maui is the bomb, so we don't even consider going elsewhere for breakfast at this point. We spot this sign on our way there, and although it probably isn't meant to be funny, it makes me giggle every time.
How did we not realize Farmer's
Market Maui sells acai and pitaya breakfast bowls made to order?
Sandy orders the original
acai bowl and I get the Green Go that is acai base mixed with pineapple, banana, kale and coconut water, topped with strawberry, kiwi, banana and bee pollen. I also add some fresh pineapple on top. They only have one lilikoi juice and I snatch that up too, before anyone else can. I really hope they will make more for tomorrow.
We were planning to take another
surfing lesson today, but Tjitkse decides to sit this one out since it took
her five days to recover from the last one. The inside of my knees is still pretty scraped up from the last time too, so I need to find a pair of leggings
to help protect the scabs. Luckily, surf leggings are kind of hip
these days so that should be easy. Right?
We drive over to the Whaler's Village shopping complex, where they have a bunch of different surf stores.
There's Roxy/Quicksilver,
Ripcurl, Hurley, Billabong, and Honolua Surf Co. A quick Tour-De-Surf-Shops reveals that only Honolua sells surf leggings, and their only option is an atrocious little number priced at $80.
I love the outside of the Billabong store though. Life is better in board shorts indeed!
I love the outside of the Billabong store though. Life is better in board shorts indeed!
Maui Surf and Dive is another bust. As is
Walgreens ... can you tell I was getting desperate? At this point I'm Googling every store I
can think of that might carry even a basic legging, but both Ross',
Marshalls, TJ Max, Sports Authority, Target and Walmart and showing
up only in Kahului. Surely we will pass something on our way to Kihei?
Wrong! Or maybe we missed it? Either
way, we decide to drive down Kihei Street in hopes of finding
something there, and we spot another Hurley. I love Hurley so this is perfect! Or would have been if they sold surf leggings ...
There's a tiny bikini store
across the parking lot, that doesn't look very promising, so naturally they have 5 different options to choose from and they are all super cute. Finally!
My legging quest has eaten up a lot of
valuable surfing time and I'm worried I'll miss the last lesson of
the day, but I needn't have worried; when we arrive at Maui
Waveriders I learn that county law prohibits lessons on Sunday anyway. Fortunately, they do offer rentals.
I ask for an 8', but they recommend I try one of their 9' Blacktip soft tops instead, because the waves were dying down and that ended up being a lot of fun.
It's always a good idea to check in with a local before you paddle out someplace new, but the only tip the guy at the shop has to offer is to, "Go where the waves are breaking,” which is about as helpful as telling me to enter the water before trying to paddle. That said, Kalama Beach Park is an easy break, even for beginners like me.
While I was having fun on the waves, Tjitske and Sandy sprawled out in the shade of a big tree and enjoyed some quiet reading time.
Unfortunately, the rental place closes at 2:30, so I only got to enjoy my board for a little over 2 hours,
but that was about all the paddling I could handle anyways. We will
see if I can still move my arms tomorrow ...
There was a little toddler charging the bigger waves out back and putting me to shame. Somehow I bet his little arms won't be hurting tomorrow.
I walk around a bit, taking some pictures and talking story with the locals, while trying to dry off. I have to laugh when, while talking to a homeless man called Charles, he says, "That bikini wears you well ... and I mean that in a totally non-sexist way."
A pretty little swallowtail in the grass.
Dark clouds are hovering over Makena,
dropping what looks to be a large amount of rain over the area. That
makes me a little concerned about tonight's sunset ceremony at Little
Beach, plus they are getting ever closer to where we are.
Quite a different view to the north.
Sandy & T are so busy reading their books, they don't notice the clouds sweeping in until they are directly overhead. The wind picks up and I know rain is likely to follow, so we pack and just barely make it back to the car before it starts to rain.
Tjitske has found a vegetarian-friendly, gluten-free Vietnamese restaurant by the imaginative name of ... 'Vietnamese Cuisine'. They do have a very large menu selection for
her to choose from, which isn't usually the case so that's really awesome.
She is quite happy with the tofu lemongrass curry she decides on and Sandy loves her shrimp fried rice. My crispy chicken & beef rice dish is okay too.
Random pretty beach scene somewhere in Kihei.
When we get to Makena it is indeed raining. We try to repack a bit and decide what to do. Even my camera bag gets pretty wet, which really worried me. Finally, we decide it's just not meant to be and we leave before even making it to the beach.
About five minutes into our drive, we emerge into perfectly clear skies and we decide to give it one last chance. This time it's barely drizzling when we reach the parking lot and it's not long after that the rain stops completely.
The trek from Big Beach to Little Beach involves a steep trail and I had been a little worried about the three of us making it across, but we make it to the other side without a problem.
There's a stunning view of Big Beach from on top of the rocks.
Little Beach is Maui's unofficial nudist hangout; not exactly legal, but not enforced either. On Sunday night the beach turns into a big hippie party, complete with a drum circle, alcohol and of course some nudity.
I'm disappointed to see that the crowd this year is a lot younger; more frat party, than a bunch of naked old hippies. Luckily, some things haven't changed and it still smells like weed, which always reminds me of growing up in Holland.
Something else that's different this time is the large number of people walking around with finger paint. I thought that was actually pretty cool!
Big waves are breaking close to
shore, so I don't bother sitting down before taking off with my boogie
board, while Tjitske and Sandy hang out on the beach and take in the scene.
Look at this crazy party wave! I don't want any part of that, so I make sure to go for the smaller waves closer to shore. It turns out to be some of the best boogie boarding I've ever done.
I love the mellow tones of sunset.
Compared to the last time we were here, these fire dancers were a bit of a letdown. I don't know if some of them didn't come because of the weather forecast, or if it's just luck of the draw with who happens to be there on a given week.
Of course, Tjitske had never been and she still thought it was really impressive.
Of course, Tjitske had never been and she still thought it was really impressive.
This little kid was so tiny and clearly at the start of his fire dancing career, but he did a great job considering how young he was. I think at his age I was terrified to even light a match.
Action footage of my favorite dancer of the night.
And a crazy fire breather to mix things up.
As we're leaving, we find out we need to
get out of the parking lot before 7:45 or we'll be locked in for the
night. We rush off the beach, but hit a bottleneck trying to cross back over to Big Beach as everyone slowly makes their way down the steep and narrow trail. Luckily it clears up once we hit the sand and we make
it out with 10 minutes to spare.
Back at the condo I waste no time doing my "chores:"
- nails √
- email √
- email √
- blog √
- laundry ... shit, locked in the laundry room! Guess we should've read the sign with
the hours on it before starting a load. Better luck tomorrow!
Good night!
Good night!
♥
Breakfast: Farmer's Market Maui
Dinner: Vietnamese Cuisine
Hotel: Ashton Maki Maui
Hotel: Ashton Maki Maui
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