A WEEK IN MAUI: LAHAINA, HALEAKALA, IAO VALLEY

MY WEEK IN PHOTOS: JULY 22–28, 2019! PART 1

This is part 1 of my week in Maui. We visit the old capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, try out some snorkeling, eat shave ice, see petroglyphs, visit Iao Valley, and walk amongst the clouds at the Haleakala Crater.

Enjoy!

Last week we arrived in Maui, our family is staying together in a house in Kihei on the South part of the island. We’re here all celebrating my mom and auntie’s birthdays.

MONDAY: West Maui, visiting Lahaina and Kaanapali

The water is so calm in the morning that we were advised to get our swimming in before lunch. The house owner advised us to try snorkeling out in front of the house in Kihei so a few of us got ready for the beach first thing after breakfast.

Going snorkeling or going to the moon?

Cheeeese

The snorkeling wasn’t great, so it just devolved into a little beach morning where the kids looked for sea glass and shells and swam around. (We did later find out by a coast guard that “locals don’t swim here because of sharks” so that was chill to learn after being in some murky shallow water with the little kids for the morning!)

Drove with my parents to Lahaina on the West Maui coast.

This is a super general history, obviously things are more complex but I just wanted to include a little bit because I think it’s important to understand even a little about the past to see why the present is the way it is. Going waaaay back, Hawaii’s history goes back to as early as 125 AD, with Polynesian settlers voyaging to the Hawaiian islands. Jumping forward to the 18th century, British explorer James Cook arrived and with him he brought military technology, tuberculosis and venereal diseases…and his “discovery” of the island prompted Protestant missionaries from the Mainland to set up shop. The weapons that Cook brought with him also helped Kamehameha I conquer and unify the Hawaiian Islands to establish the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1795. Around this time, Lahaina (where we are visiting today) became the Capital of Hawaii. This area was the center of government for 50 years until the capital was moved to Honolulu.

Side note: Soon after Cook’s arrival, Americans also immigrated to set up sugar plantations which in turn brought waves of folks from Japan, China, and the Philippines to work the plantations (one of my great-great-grandparents came through Maui to work the sugar plantations from Japan actually!)

There are a few walking tour routes in Lahaina to see the town, but my dad kind of made up his own route that involved starting at the prison, built in 1852 during King Kamehameha’s reign. It was mostly used to lock up rowdy sailors, as this area was also a very prominent whaling harbor.

Harpoon whaling boat chilling in the yard

The banyan tree was planted in 1873 to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first American Protestant missionary. It is a very impressive tree, that has 16 major trunks in addition to the main one. The roots come down from the branches toward the ground to make new trunks, so this whole thing is actually one tree. So coooool.

Surfers

Looking up the ferry schedule to Lanai (we didn’t end up making to Lanai)

Walked down Front Street and passed a sign for handmade leather sandals. Wandered over to the shop and talked with the owner for a while. A character for sure, but he did say that a well treated pair of leather sandals should really last a lifetime. Right on.

Continuing down Front Street

Ululani’s Shave Ice! We got lilikoi orange, guava, and mango with condensed milk on top. I wish I could eat again right now.

Mmm.

Starting to lightly rain as we walked back down Front Street to meet my parents at the car.

We stopped at Aloha Mixed Plate for lunch. We had shoyu poke, which was soooo delicious. We tried furikake garlic fries, and a special bento with spicy chicken karaage.

Stressball parents smiling after lunch

Cut to: Kaanapali Beach, which was beautiful and very busy. The entrance was attached to a mall and a big resort. Struggling with my hat in the wind, and wishing I had a swimsuit with me.

My parents really aren’t beach people, and they just really planned for us to swing by and look at the ocean before heading off.

Zach and I walked down to the end of the beach where there was a bit of cliff jumping action.

And as we walked back through the mall I convinced Zach to split a little acai bowl topped with lilikoi.

We headed back down the west coast back toward Kihei.

We stopped at Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop attached to a market and a juice stand.

Tempted by all the fruit

Mom got her own shave ice and then my dad decided he wanted to see nearby petroglyphs

Watching my mom hold the shave ice while driving on the bumpy dirty road was a real delight.

Olowalu petroglyphs. The sign reads: “In pre-contact Hawaii, it was very common for man to record his thoughts by chiseling images onto rock. The images are known as Ki’i Pohaku (rock pictures or images). The soft lava found on this volcanic cinder cone made an excellent tablet for such drawings. The Olowalu Petroglyphs, one of the largest concentrations on Maui, contains approximately 70 petroglyphs and are thought to be 200–300 years old. The numerous images shown here tell a story and provide us with a glimpse into the community of pre-contact and historic Olowalu.

Pretty cool!

Got back to the house and my auntie was feeling much better so we got some shot of the twins on the occasion of their 70th birthday! Woooo!

Can you feel the chaos in these photos

Working on the updated forms for the next round of the Scrabble tournament that was started the night before.

Playing a game where we toss items off the balcony to be caught by the folks down on the lawn. Endless entertainment.

Dang, boxing out

My cousin just chilling on the lawn chair haha

Dinner! Chicken karaage and miso salmon. So delicious.

Celebrating with cake, happy birthday mom and auntie!! Love you.

TUESDAY: Iao Valley, Haleakala National Park, Da Kitchen

Got an ube filled malasada from Sugar Beach Bake Shop (and got regular sugar and cinnamon sugar for the kids)

Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, at the edge of Kihei.

Wandered with the kids down the boardwalk, we looked at all the birds before parting ways again.

Drove to Iao Valley

Iao Valley has history that goes back thousands of years. It’s a beautiful place that has that tropical feel with the lush foliage and cloud cover. It’s a really easy place to visit with a little parking lot and paved trail to a few lookout points.

There’s a little circular path to admire plants, including a lot of plants brought to Hawaii by the early Polynesians. Kalo aka taro was an important crop grown in this valley.

Got some shots with the Iao Needle in the background.

Looking back toward the parking, but you can see out the valley

The Iao Needle aka Kuka’emoku, the phallic stone of Kanaloa, Hawaiian god of the ocean. The needle was used during times of war as a lookout, and this area was a battleground during Kamehameha’s unification war.

Rich in history

How his hair ended up like this I am not sure

From there we headed up to Haleakala National Park

A really winding road up to the summit

Visitor’s center

Stopping for some shots of the view

Up near the summit there are stone walls used by ranchers in the late 1800s. This land was used as pasture for cattle and shaped the paniolo aka cowboy culture that still lives on.

Walking on the short rocky trail to an overlook

Cold but also need sun protection

Leleiwi Overlook trail, it’s really short but a great view of the crater of Haleakala. I read online to try to go before 1 because the clouds roll in and totally block the crater.