Island Drive & Luau..

The forecast rain rang true.  It rained and rained and rained.  But when it was time for us to leave (rain or shine), the rain stopped and the day proved to be another truly beautiful one.

Awesome foliage....

 In the morning, we headed to one of several plantations on Maui.  Always a worthwhile visit, just being on these beautiful grounds, surrounded by so much foliage and green, made for a nice morning walk.

'Hey....no rain....."

Jeanette was telling some sort of story......but I was too far back to hear what she was saying...!  We spent a fair bit of time enjoying the grounds here.

This plantation made good use of sugar cane milling wheels and gears in their restaurant and shops.

Nice to just sit here and enjoy listening to the birds.

We journeyed back towards the airport city of Kahului before heading  further north and west on Highway 340.

Highway 340 is, more often than not, a one lane highway.  Driving speeds average between 15 and 20 MPH.  Often, one had to stop on the built in shoulders to allow an oncoming vehicle to pass by.  If one is in a hurry, one should not travel these roads.  But what sights we saw...in spite of the hair pin turns!

Example of a slight pull out for a car to pull over to allow another to pass by.

Navigating our way on Highway 340

This is but one of the many view along the 340 route.

We stopped often to take in the fabulous scenery.  We drove along some nice cattle farms and often dodged chickens and roosters on the side of the road.  They free roam here.

The topography changes quickly. 

We had given ourselves plenty of time to complete the west side island drive.  By late afternoon, we had reservations to attend the Old Lahaina Luau.  And by the time we returned to our condo, we freshened up before making the 30 minute walk to the Luau.

This bird must have been intrigued (or bored) by us because he/she did not move while I attempted several photos.

Farms and grasslands dominate the area along Highway 340

Pastoral and very pleasing sight.  One would not tire of sitting here for a long period of time.

Our view from the Old Lahaina Luau

 We arrived at the Old Lahaina Luau on time.  Having purchased our tickets long before our arrival to Maui, we learned that the venue was completely sold out for weeks to come.  Having heard that it is wise to book long in advance, we were sure glad we had done that.  And what a treat it was. 

Waiting to be seated at our table.

We were quickly handed a Mai Tai on arrival.  Hmm, those tasted so good after a long walk from Old Town Lahaina.  Once inside the area, we were treated to some great views, wonderful music, interesting chatter and more. The aromas from all of the food preparation had us looking forward to the dinner.

These Hawaiians hand made these figurines.   Some of them were our servers too.

The food choices were numerous.  All local Hawaiian fare, the highlight was the pit cooked pork.  And it was delicious.  The entertainment was first rate. And the service?...First class.

Collecting the Emu roast from the pit.

Fun night at the Luau

That colours our island drive and the Luau.  

The sun is shinning a bit more today; albeit intermittently between clouds. To say that the weather has been great would be an overstatement.  By and large, the clouds have dominated since our arrival.  But the daytime (night time too) temperatures have been most pleasant in the mid-70's.  The humidity hovers near 100% with all of the rains.  That said, the rains held off whenever we were outdoors.  So, no complaints.

We are planning our outing for today....so I'll sign off and get the caucus together.  Decisions need to be made.

Thanks for dropping by.

Mahalo

Well, This Is A Nice Place....

We've have seen drastic weather changes since our arrival here in Lahaina.  Sun, wind, and rain have been experienced.  And overnight, it rained very hard: So hard, in fact, that we could hear the rain batter the bamboo trees next to our window.  It sounded nice though.  No trouble with sleep.

Our little travel group  -  Jeanette, her sister Deb and Deb's husband Bob.

Deb and Bob left their winter wonderland city of Calgary to join us on this holiday jaunt.  They flew into the Abbotsford airport, near our home and we collectively flew to Maui from the Vancouver International Airport.   

Arriving late at night, it took a bit of time before our rental car was secured and we could drive the 30 minute route to Lahaina and our condo.  Once here though, we settled in very quickly.

One of the two pools in our condo complex.  The hot tub is at the extreme end of the pool

At this time of the year, this complex - with 200 condo units - is about 50% occupied.  And the best part of being in this complex is the one block proximity to the Front Street businesses, restaurants and the sea shore in Lahaina.

The Banyan tree in the central square of Lahaina.  Quite the story.

Read about it here: (click on the link below)

 Lahaina Banyan Court Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A close up view of the tree trunks.

Walking around Lahaina's central core so reminded us of Barbados.  So much history of early whalers and seafarers who plied these waters and scouted the Hawaiian Islands.

Imagine being paid $20/year - in the late 1800 - to man this lighthouse.

We walked all over the downtown core and headed further west along the sea shore.  Plenty of old buildings remain.  That is what colours the flavour of this lovely island.

Although it did not rain on us, the hills above were clouded with rain, from time to time.

This beautiful old building also served as a television station, in years past, and it remains in beautiful condition today.

Jeanette is checking out these huts at the site of the Old Lahaina Luau

With so much walking behind us, we settled into a great sea food restaurant for lunch.  Our seaside table had a great view of the activities on the sea; parasailing, sailing, fishing and more.

The menu choices were varied and our food choices were very good.

Cloudy and sunny periods were the story of the weather yesterday.

Back at our condo last evening, it began to rain.  And rain it did.  The humidity rose higher than normal but it was such a pleasure to watch it fall from our deck.  It didn't deter  me from sitting in the hot tub last night though.  The other party members chose an early bed time.

In the resort areas.

Nice golf courses here.

I chose not to bring my golf clubs along.  But this area offers up some lovely and challenging golf.  There are so many other activities to partake in.  That's our focus.  Oh.....and some nice R&R is what we like too.

A lot of catamarans can be seen plying the sea.

And the little video, below, is a short clip of one popular seaside sandy beach.

Apple users may not be able to view the video.  PC users will have no issue.

Surfers could be seen riding the surf in this area. 

And that pretty well covers our experience here in the Lahaina area of Maui.  More....much more to come in the days ahead.

Thanks for dropping by.

Off To Aloha Land. Sun, Sand & Surf Await!

By the time many readers get to this post, we'll be on our way to Maui and into a nice little place called Lahaina. With some fresh new photos to blog with, I'll report more often on the goings on while there.  The sun and surf will be a welcome relief from the west coast rains we've lived with these past several days.

Old Town, Lahaina, Maui

On the home front, it's been far from routine but many of the photos will seem routine to regular readers.  We have had a lot of family time with Brie, Easton and their folks out here on the west coast and, then again, some good fun with our Edmonton, Alberta grand kids (Owen and Kaylie) and their folks.

Brie checks out some apples and chooses one for a snack before helping to peel the others.

Out in Edmonton, Owen takes advantage of the fall leaves before the snow falls.

Our deck was often the place for a kiddie snack while the grand kids were visiting with Nana and Grand Papa.  Their special little table was well used.

I like this photo, taken only a few days after baby Kaylie was born.  Nana (Jeanette) is enjoying some time with Kaylie and her mom and dad.

Little Owen is having fun running through some leaves.

While in Alberta, Deni took Owen and me for some quad rides away from the city of Edmonton.

Our 4th (and latest) grand child, Kaylie.  She's pretty in pink

On a recent drive to Edmonton, the weather (photo below) is what I encountered in the high mountain country.  Although wet, the roads were most passable.

Our motorcycle friends from Vancouver Island dropped by our home on a return trip from Alberta.

Hector and Diane's tri-glide - Honda Goldwing trike -  will be joining us for many rides, no doubt, when we all get together in Palm Springs country in the new year.  We look forward to that.

Hector and Diane are heading out from our home; on their way to the BC Ferries terminal and the boat ride over to their Island home.

It looks like I am busy on the iPad....but.....it seems Jeanette caught me catching a wee nap in our sun room.

 She claims that I was napping.  I believe that I was simply checking my eyelids for cracks...and...otherwise busy reading! :)

Back from a golf round, I found our hot tub was busy with Trevor, Ginette and Easton enjoying the jets and the heat.

A 'selfie' with Easton (Jeanette and Brie in the BG) on one of our many bicycle rides in the neighbourhood.

Hector (L) and Lucky (R), with their spouses joined Jeanette and I for lunch in White Rock, only a few days back.

While enjoying a lovely lunch and visit, we firmed up our snow birding plans for the Palm Springs area.  Hector and Lucky both ride motorcycles and we now look forward to plying those great southern California paved roads through the mountains and along the sea shore.  

Lucky and Trena are now well ensconced in their lovely Class 'A' motorhome in the sun belt area of Cathedral City, CA.  They left the day following our lunch.

L-R  Diane, Jeanette and Trena are likely planning their own play time in Palm Springs, come the new year.

Two or our regular Sunday morning, Open Mic attendees are busy on their cell phones; quite likely fact checking something someone said.  In that group, one has to have his facts straight or someone will find you wrong.  LOL

After solving most of the world's problems, our coffee group usually finds a breakfast place.  This group is a fun one to partake in.  My brother would likely concur that, similar to his Alberta coffee group, ours is also a 'house of knowledge'.

Last Sunday while hiking in one of our nearby urban forests.

Sunday afternoon left plenty of sunshine to get us out in the woods nearby.  It felt good to get out for a nice, long hike in the fresh air.  We did notice how high the creeks and river were since the last few, heavy rainfalls we've endured.

Our long time friends (photo below) have sold their home and are now on their way to their new Province of New Brunswick, on the eastern end of Canada.  Their children and grand children live there and they made the decision to move there too.  Who can fault that decision?  Family is a like magnet.  

We'll have to find our way out to the eastern seaboard in the years ahead.

Sharing a last lunch with our friends, Denis (standing - right) and Odette, seated next to Jeanette.

They will be building their dream home, complete with a beautiful and functional wood working workshop.  Although not his career, Denis enjoys the pleasures of woodworking. And he has the tools to make anything out of wood.

While writing this blog, I received a text message, along with the two photographs below.  While on their first day drive eastward, Denis and Odette got held up in the small city of Revelstoke, BC (in the the heart of the BC Rocky Mountains) due to inclement weather and an accident on the Trans Canada Highway #1 that put a stop to east and west bound traffic.

Traffic halted on Highway 1 in the Rocky Mountains due to an accident

Heavy snowfall

We wish Odette and Denis a seamless drive (all 5500 kilometres) to their new home in Moncton, NB.

I caught this saying at the entrance of a funky little lunch place near our home.  I found it fitting in view of the recent terrorist attacks in the world class city of Paris.

Scenes like this one are pre-occupying my mind of late.  I so look forward to getting ready for our journey south once Christmas is over with.

Before that happens though, Hawaiian beaches beckon.  So....onward with that voyage!

...and spending some time here.

Aloha......!

Thanks for dropping by.