Travelogue

Day 8 - Enjoying the Wailea Beach Resort

Our buffet breakfastAs I mentioned in my previous stop, we checked into the Wailea Beach Resort last night and watched a beautiful sunset from our balcony.

We are not usually the “resort” type, but we decided to dive in and enjoy all the amenities, the first of which was an unlimited breakfast buffet at the Humble Market Kitchin by Roy Yamaguchi, a short walk away.

We had no idea who Roy Yamaguchi was, but apparently he is a big deal in the culinary world. He’s a Japanese-American celebrity chef and restaurateur and one of the founding members of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement.

Scouting out the pool situationThe buffet had everything you could dream of: several types of scrambled eggs, Hawaiian French toast, applewood smoked bacon, various kinds of sausages, salmon gravlax (which I had never heard of before but instantly became a big fan), and of course the usual fruit, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt etc.

It was overwhelming and of course we overindulged on the first day. We would try to control ourselves better on the remaining 4 mornings.
Plus, the setting was phenomenal as we sat at a table overlooking the ocean.

Our infinity poolWhen we got back to our room, I looked down at the infinity pool from our balcony and saw that most of the lounge chairs already had towels on them.

I told Herb that we better get down there and claim two or we would be out of luck. He thought that it was rude to save chairs until you were already to use them, but he soon learned the ways of “resort life.” It’s a dog eat dog world out there, so we scurried down and claimed two of the few remaining chairs.

Me feeling pretty pompousThe pool was a 50-meter long infinity pool, also known as a zero-edge or rimless pool.

They are so cool because they give you the feeling that they go on and one forever - you know, infinity. They give the illusion of a missing edge where the water just keeps flowing on and on, in this case into the ocean.

It was a very hot day, so it was a welcome treat to dip in the pool, cool off while the water evaporated on my skin, dip again, and repeat.

Herb humoring me on a runIt was quite lovely. Still, I’m not know for my ability to just sit still for long periods of time, so I suggested to Herb that we go for a run on the Wailea Beach Path that goes for about 2 miles weaving its way between fancy hotels on one side and the ocean on the other.

We were located at about the halfway point, so we headed north first. After about a half mile or so, the pavement ended and we were spit out onto Ulea Beach, which is supposed to be the end of the trail. However, I was feeling feisty, so we continued running on the sand to Keawakapu Beach.

Another perfect sunsetFrom there we turned around and started heading south, once again regaining the asphalt surface. As we passed our hotel, Herb waved bye bye to me, but I continued on to the other end of the Beach Path on Polo Beach.

That was the end of the path, so I turned around and ran back to the hotel, where I found Herb eating a Mango popsicle. He said they were giving them out for free and he didn't want to ask for two. I think we both thought we made the right choice - me running the full 4.5 miles and him cutting it short for a Mango pop.

Lolo of the AlohaThat night we had dinner on the resort property at the Kapa Bar and Grill, located just one pool over from ours.
We both were in the mood for a Poke Bowl, so we ordered the local Ahi Bowl. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t notice that one of its ingredients was cilantro, and I am not a huge cilantro fan. User-error. The setting, however, was lovely.

After dinner we strolled around the resort grounds, this time on the side away from the ocean.

I felt compelled to pose for a photo inside the “O” of a huge lit up ALOHA display. I also took note of the Cornhole game, which I would definitely make Herb play with me another night.

Day 9 - Exploring Maui’s Northwest Nugget (Waihee Ridge Trail, Olivine Pools, Nakalele Blowhole, and Dragon’s Teeth)

Almost backWhen we vacation, we like to alternate relaxing days with days with more physical activity, which is usually hiking.

Before leaving for this trip, I had researched the best hikes in Maui, and one of them that consistently kept coming up was the Waihee Ridge Trail, located on the eastern side of the nugget-like peninsula that sticks out to the northwest of the rest of Maui.

Makamakaole FallsOn a map it looks like you could just snap it off from the main part of Maui.

It’s considered a challenging hike, climbing 1,700 feet over 5 miles (RT).

It was about a 50 minute drive from Wailea, with about 3 miles of really twisty roads at the end. It’s a very popular hike, so as we approached, we got concerned when we saw a couple walking up the steep road to the trailhead parking. Uh oh! Parking lot must be full.

Waihee CanyonSure enough it was, but we had come a long way to do this hike, so we decided to wait at the entrance to the parking lot for someone to return to their car. Sure enough, we only had to wait about 10 minutes.

This trail didn’t mess around. Right from the parking lot, it climbed 200 feet up a steep cement road.

Waihee ValleyFrom there we followed a lovely dirt path through a dense rainforest of guava, kukui, swamp mahogany and Cook Island palms.

One really weird group of trees had a series of raised circles on its bark every foot or so right up to the top. One was even doing the Samba. For the life of me, I couldn’t find out what kind of tree it was.

Waihee Ridge TrailBy a half mile into the hike, we had already gained 400 feet. Only 1,300 feet left to climb.

Shortly after that, at about the one mile point, we rounded a sharp switchback with a bench from which there is a panoramic view of Waihee Canyon, Makamakaole Gulch, and Makamakaole Falls, dropping 270 feet in several tiers.

Almost thereContinuing up the ridge, we got our first view of Waihee Valley. The valley is mostly wilderness interspersed with taro fields (a traditional Hawaiian staple food) and a couple of dozens of inhabitants.

From here the trail continues to climb by means of switchbacks and stairs until finally reaching Lanalili peak (2,563 feet) at the end of the hike.

Lanalili means “small heaven” and we could see why as we were rewarded with magnificent views in every direction.

Lanalili SummitThere were about a dozen people on top, three of which were speaking German. Herb, who spoke German as a child, loves to practice it, and he is surprisingly good.

Thankfully, the conversation switched back to English so I could get into the conversation.

Big coincidence, when we told them we live in Sonoma County in California, they said they are currently working at the Sonoma Racetrack, which is about a half hour from our home.

The way downThey work for Hyundai and travel around the world teaching amateurs enough about racing to let them loose on the racetrack in an Ionic 5.

The hike down was great and the views looked totally different from this perspective. Thankfully, it didn’t rain during our hike, because the trails can get extremely muddy and slippery.

Almost backWe were lucky, because there was a downpour about an hour later.

Maui has some really narrow, twisty roads. We had already driven two of them - road road up to Haleakala Crater and the Road to Hana. We had one more to go - the one around the edges of the West Peninsula, which I have affectionately been calling the “Nugget.”

Little did we know that this would be the worst of the three in that it had much more single lane situations where we had to back up great distances.

Olivine Pools warning signThere would be 23 miles of challenging roads before getting to Kapulua on the west side of the Nugget where the roads finally began to straighten out and widen.

Driving this section of road (officially Highway 340) is called going “Over the Top,” meaning the top of the West Maui peninsula. It was pretty wild and we often had to back up as much as a quarter of a mile to let an oncoming car squeeze by.

There are some interesting stops though along “the Top.”

The dangerous Olivine PoolsOur first one was the Olivine Pools, a dramatic set of tidepools, which used to be a popular spot for swimming, but has since been closed due to several drownings.

We pulled into the small parking lot at the side of the road and walked the short distance, past the warning sign about not swimming in the pools, and came to the top of a lava cliff from which we could look down on the waves crashing over the pools.

Maybe this was a pretty rough day in terms of waves, but we couldn’t imagine anyone trying to get into the pools. There were signs in memory of two people that had drowned here.

Nakalele BlowholeIt was a pretty amazingly beautiful spot though, and I can understand the draw to this place.

From there, we continued on to the Nakalele Blowhole, another example of the dangerous power of the sea.

Like the Olivine Pools, this one too had warning signs to stay back to avoid being sucked in or washed out to sea by an unexpectedly large wave. So, in other words, stay back and enjoy the show from a distance.

Dragon's TeethLike the Blowhole we saw at Waianapanapa State Park the other day, this one too was formed by a partially submerged sea cave. When waves move into the cave with enough force the seawater gets compressed and releases through a port at the top of the blowhole, gushing out like a geyser. How high the spray goes depends on the geometry of the sea cave and the strength of the wave entering it. This one as shooting jets of water as high as 50 feet in the air.

Our last stop on the “Over the Top” West Maui drive was the Dragon’s Teeth on Makalua-puna Point, an excellent example of what happens when two different forces of nature collide (lava, wind, and waves).

Dragon's TeethAbout half a million years ago, the dying West Maui Volcano erupted for one more time, pouring lava into the ocean, while fierce wind and waves drove it back onshore.

Meanwhile, the strong winds sweeping over the point caused the lava to cool and harden in an upward fashion. The jagged points of this formation look like dragon’s teeth.

This lava, known as trachyte lava, looked much different that the stark black lava we had seen so far, in that it is lighter in color, denser, and more finely grained.

Herb being reshaped by the windOn our visit here, we got to experience one of those forces of nature. As we got about 100 yards from the car, the skies opened up, the winds began to howl, and the rain came down in buckets.

I just had short sleeves on, so I ran back to the car to get my rain jacket. Herb already had his - boy scout that he is. I was drenched, but still determined to see the Dragon’s Teeth.

As the wind practically knocked me over, I felt like I was reliving the conditions under which this unique rock formation was created.
I’m glad I decided to go back to see them, because they were very cool.

Herb adjusting to resort lifePlus, I think it was more dramatic visiting them while experiencing the powerful force of the wind, which was, after all, what created their unique upward thrust.

Fortunately Dragon’s Teeth was our last planned stop, because we were soaked.

Back at the hotel we didn’t feel like going out for dinner so we ordered a vegetarian pizza from the Andiamo Pizza Truck on the resort grounds. It is run by Roy Yamaguchi, the same famous chef that runs the Humble Market Kitchin where we have our buffet breakfast every morning. It was really good.

Then we got in our fancy resort bathrobes and ate it out on the balcony.

Day 10 - Makena Beach, moonlight swim in Infinity Pool, exploring the Shops at Wailea, and Maloni’s Pizza)