Hawaii- Final Part Five: Whales!

I know it's sad, but it really is time for the Maui Finale, introducing my ALL-TIME favorite part of our April Hawaiian Vacation: WHALE STALKING WATCHING!

I've wanted to see Whales since I was in Junior-High going through my Eco-friendly, I love Wyland paintings, change my e-mail to 'oceangirl,' I only wear oversized Dolphin-Turtle-Whale-SavetheWildlife Foundation T-shirts, Burks and Rope Sandals phase. :)

That is why Whale-day was such a BIG DEAL for me.

 {See my face in the picture above? I was SO excited!}

We were able to see FOUR Humpback Whales on a beautifully-sunny-day: a momma and her baby, and two males that were chasing after the poor momma. We followed the whales for about 45 minutes and were lucky that they stayed near the surface the whole time! It was such a MOVING experience for me to see these beautiful, GIGANTIC, awe-some creatures.

Did you know that all Humpback whales are actually Hawaiian? Sounds funny but it really is true! Humpback whales migrate over to Hawaii during the winter months to give birth and to mate. After that, they move up to Alaska to feed. So... since almost every single Humpback is born in Hawaii, they are Hawaiian!

If you EVER get the chance to Whale watch, especially in Hawaii or Alaska, DO IT!
It was truly an UNFORGETTABLE experience.

Hawaii Part Four - The Road to Hana

On the Fourth Day on Maui, my true love gave to me.... A Road and Hiking Trip to Hana.

Driving to Hana really isn't all about the destination.
Don't get me wrong, Hana has a beautiful beach and well, ... duh, it's in Hawaii. I just have to say that The Road TO Hana is really the experience in and of itself.

Normally called the "forgotten part of Hawaii," this day-long road trip shows off Hawaii's unspoiled and beautiful Nature.

Along the Road, we saw these curious and lovely "Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees." The bark on these trees was INCREDIBLE; full of bright rainbow/neon colors!

We also hiked to a few waterfalls, the most memorable hike being to Waimoku Falls, past Hana near Kipahulu. On this hike, we were able to see the "Seven Sacred Pools" along Oheo Gulch, past an ENORMOUS and beautifully-old Banyan tree and a BREATHTAKINGLY silent Bamboo Forest, finally reaching the Waimoku Falls which climbed straight up a mile-long cliff face!

After the Hike, we decided to head the LONG way home and instead of turning around and going back through Hana, we continued Southwest through Kaupo and the Haleakala National Park.Though the road-quality took a nose-dive, Greg and I were SO glad we took this route! In the Kaupo Valley, we came across this AMAZING black lava rock beach with HUMONGOUS waves! We took so many pictures and videos in this one spot... it was UNREAL. Just absolutely Beautiful.

Overall, the Road TO Hana was my Second Favorite thing we did in Maui... You'll just have to read Part Five Tomorrow for my ULTIMATE Favorite part of Maui!

Hawaii Part Three- Misc Maui Loves!

Now you will know the reason I've been procrastinating my blog posts...

I'm still not done talking about our Maui Trip!!

We really didn't just hang out at the Hotel all day... well, not EVERY Day anyway. :)

We drove around alot, checking out different Restaurants, Towns, and Beach Parks.

Favorite Restaurants:

Lulu's Bar & Grill: in Lahaina, great little place to hang out with GOOD live music.

Japengo: Restaurant at our hotel in Ka'anapali (See Hawaii-Part One)

Mama's Fish House: outside of the cool little town of Paia, be prepared to be WOW'd... and to spend a lot of money. This was definitely our biggest SPLURGE, but SO worth every penny! The Restaurant has it's own Beach, beautiful Hawaiian-style buildings, open windows and AMAZING Desserts!!! {Supposedly we just missed seeing Owen Wilson and his new baby, who are apparently regulars... who knew? And, no, I did not just break a toe with that name drop} :)

Favorite Towns:

Lahaina : Great Restaurants, Chill downtown area, BANYAN TREE PARK, shopping!

Paia: Cool little Hippie Town with FABULOUS boutiques, fun shops, and the last food & gas shop until you reach Hana.

Kula: A Little Mountain town halfway up the Volcano, Lavendar farm, cool breezes, TERRIFIC views down the valley to the beaches of Wailea and Kihei.

Our Favorite Beach Parks:

Kahekili Airport Beach Park: Between Lahaina and Napili, it's a GREAT place to hang out all day, good snorkeling, grass, bbqs, BATHROOM FACILITIES, people and their dogs. :)

Ho'okipa Beach Park: outside of Paia, BEAUTIFUL Lookout point and Rock formations, Surfers, Windersurfers, BEST place in Maui to watch Sunsets. HANDS DOWN.

Hawaii Part Two - Hyatt Regency Ka'anapali

Wow, I've been a lot busier this week than I thought I would!
 Despite that, I still have Hawaii pics to share!

In West Maui, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Ka'anapali Resort area.

It really is a BEAUTIFUL hotel, with great shops, pools, beaches and AMAZING restaurants!

 

Our restaurant of choice was JAPENGO! Oh.My.Gosh. the food was INCREDIBLE! They have this mahi-mahi dish that they serve on a bed of forbidden rice with a lemongrass beaurre blanc sauce.

{yea, that's right, I said FORBIDDEN rice!}

I seriously think I would sell my house and dogs for this rice! It was soooooooooooooooo good!

 

 

Around the hotel, they have parrots that we got to know by name, a penguin exhibit, black and white swans, koi ponds and african cranes!  It was so much fun just walking around the hotel and checking everything out.

There was also plenty of gorgeous foliage, with one of my FAVORITES... bougainvillea. It is such a beautiful vine-tree-type of plant with mounds of BRIGHT pink, purple and orange varities of blooms.
I would love to grow one on our arbor in the back yard but I think it gets too cold here... :(

 

Also at the hotel is a Cirque de Soleil-type of show that is called Cirque Polynesia. The acts were classic cirque-performers: CRAZY-AWESOME with tight-rope walkers, hanging silk dancers, hula dancers, and the WHEEL OF DEATH!

If we were to go back to Maui, we would mostly likely rent a vacation home or condo and save the extra money, BUT we would DEFINITELY spend some of the saved money to have a great night at the Hyatt, seeing the CIRQUE POLYNESIA and eating at JAPENGO!

Hawaii Part One - Maui Wowi

Greg and I finally took our long-awaited Vacation to Hawai'i!

We spend a total of 8 days on the island of Maui in the Ka'anapali resort area near Lahaina.

8 days really didn't seem like enough time and we were only on ONE island!

We met some great people, ate some AMAZING food, saw some INCREDIBLE sights.

I HEART MAUI!

Here's a rundown of just some of the things we got to do:

• lay out in the sun by the pool/beach doing absolutely nothing. {most important}
• drink pina coladas on the beach with fresh pineapple slices and a purple orchid. {mandatory}
• eat at two 4-star restaurants. {definitely a plus}
• hang out in Lahaina. {cool town}
• drive the road to Hana. {gorgeous landscapes}
• hike to the seven sacred pools and see a bamboo forest and banyan trees. {awe-some}
• go whale-watching-searching and hang out with FOUR whales! {a life-long dream}
• snorkel at local Airport beach. {GREAT beach to just hang out all day!}
• alone-time, just the two of us, all day-every day. {perfect}

I have so many pictures to share that I'll have to break it all down into few posts instead of just one.

 {Besides the fact that I have to spend most of my time uploading and downloading the photos and Greg's our photos are all like gazillion megapixels.}

Thank you Honey, for an incredible vacation, to an Incredible place!