Maui 2011 (Part 5)

I haven't mentioned the food in Hawaii yet. While I wasn't bowled over by any special cuisine, I ate well. The fish tacos and hamburgers were terrific upscale bar food. The chicken and pork on the dinner cruise was outstanding. Some of the more memorable things seemed essentially Hawaiian.

Pineapple -- Sure it's in their tourist brochures, but I found out there's nothing like a Maui Gold. We cut that baby up and gobbled it for breakfast nearly every day. Even Henri had some:


Poke -- As I mentioned I was thrilled with our condo and the amenities including a full kitchen. While there's not much cooking on this plate except for the sausages, the ahi tuna poke is as Hawaiian as coconuts. I thought it would be prepared just one way, but at the local market I was spoiled for choice!


Starfruit -- Looks great, tastes great too, like a cousin of an orange or other citrus. The fruit vendor said to eat it like an apple and we did. Only later did we find out it's a sister of the grapefruit and shouldn't be eaten while on certain medication. Eeek!


POG -- As a non-drinker the fruit juice options seem endless on the Islands. Some bartenders can get fun and creative with their concoctions but the most common was my favorite, POG. What's POG? It's the button on every good bartender's fountain wand, stands for Pineapple-Orange-Guava.


Luau -- We had to attend at least one luau and I must say, the food at the Hyatt was terrific. Good selections, fresh choices, and of course, the ubiquitous luau staple, Poi (just a little dollop will do ya).


Haupialani sorbet -- I grabbed a container to feed my inner ice cream junky but it lingered in our freezer as I opted for other options. On our last night, it was time to clean the fridge and I polished this gem in one sitting (oink). The refreshing flavors of coconut was wonderful. It's such a clean, light taste that I couldn't stop. And now I want more!

Maui 2011 (Part 4)

The traditional way to see Haleakala National Park is at sunrise. To get up to the summit, you have to start driving at 4:00 or even 3:00 am, depending where you are on the island. Not so difficult if you have jetlag, but we didn't do this. We'd heard stories that even if you get up before dawn to see, um dawn, the weather might be crappy and you won't see dawn (3 times in one sentence? EEK!)

We left in the morning and arrived late morning. We missed the throngs of tourists and busloads of visitors and tootled around by ourselves. I may be biased but I don't think we missed a thing. Check out this snap:


I took this picture from the summit looking down at the visitor's center. You can see that you're actually above the cloud line. Fascinating to me.


I'd heard about oxygen deprivation at high altitudes but never experienced it until now. I felt pretty weird in my head, almost like a headache but more fuzzy, and it went away upon our descent. Yep, we were high up there and it was, literally, breath-taking!


An indigenous plant (Silversword, according to my guide book) and I thought it framed the shot beautifully.


I also became obsessed with the Nene bird, Hawaii's state bird. We weren't there during their nesting season so we didn't need to heed this sign's warnings. But we did manage to see a few in person. Cute little buggers. Ha, Puunene was my favorite street too!


After an exhausting excursion at the park, we stopped at Kula Lodge for lunch. It was recommended by both a friend back home and a park ranger. There was a lovely market next door where we picked up terrific local items. And during our lunch, we were treated to this view. A great place is an understatement.