OMG! I almost forgot to tell about our whale encounter on the way to Lana’i! So-o-o-o-o cool!!!
OK, now on to “Our Final Maui Moments”. . .
Sunday was our day of departure but our flight didn’t leave till 9:25 p.m., so we had all day to enjoy. We were given a complimentary late check out of 12 noon (at my request), which was nice cuz we didn’t have to rush to pack and get out. Both of us were rather quiet most of the day. I was reflecting on the previous 11 days and was sad that we had to leave.
We treated ourselves to a breakfast buffet at the poolside grill at the resort (not half as good as the breakfast buffet our first day on Oahu) before packing up and checking out. We had picked out a couple of places to visit closer to the airport part of the island and planned on doing some geocaching.
Our first stop was at Iao Valley, the site of the battle of Kepaniwai in 1790. History records the battle as a vicious massacre where bodies clogged the stream; now it’s a beautiful, lush, and peaceful green valley with peaks all around. There were people cooling off in the large stream just under a bridge — I so wished I could join them!
We found a geocache here. We made the hunt for it harder and more treacherous than it actually was by climbing partially up a steep, rocky hillside. Turned out the stinker was half way down from where we went up to and about 10 yards to the east. I did get a geocoin (or rather a photocopy of a geocoin) to bring back home and plant in another cash. A note by the owner of the geocoin said that he had the actual coin in his hands but was using a photocopy of it so that the coin can be enjoyed without getting lost. Huh??? How I can really enjoy a cool coin by looking at a picture of it!
So, we went to KMart which was on our way to our next stop, Ho’okipa Beach, where there was another cache I could drop the TB in.
Ho’okipa Beach has been a mecca for surfers of all ages since the 1930’s and is considered by some to be the “home of contemporary surfing.” This beach is also known as possibly the best place in the world for windsurfing. It is the site of two major world-class competitions. I didn’t see any windsurfers, but did see a few kitesurfers and a bunch of wave surfers (you can’t see them in the photo below, but there was a bunch out at the farthest wavebreak out). Part of this beach is rocky right at the shoreline, but it was beautiful nonetheless. We got our chairs out and found some shade to relax in. I just love to sit and listen to the waves! I think I actually fell asleep for a while.
When we were finally ready to wrench ourselves away, we went to the funky neighboring town of Pa’ia to have our last Hawaii meal. We found Cafe Mambo, which hit the spot for both of us. We shared a good cheeseburger and I got out my laptop to download photos from my camera and check my email.
Then, it was off to turn in our Mustang convertible and head to the airport. I decided I don’t like airports.
Alas, our vacation came to an end. But, I left feeling like I saw TONS of awesome things and had time to relax. I think I planned it well so that we had a good balance between doing and relaxing. It was the longest vacation we’ve ever taken (12 days, 11 nights), and it was SO nice not to feel rushed to see everything or pressured to relax, if you know what I mean!