Our Trip from Sea to the House of the Rising Sun

by Gary Williams
(Oklahoma City, OK)

I started planning our trip to Maui in January after booking our airfare. We would fly to Maui on April 28th and spend 5 days in paradise.

A lot of research began, where would we stay and what would we do to fill each waking moment while we were there.

We started out in Lahaina at the Pioneer Inn, a historic hotel next to the harbor and Banyan Tree Park. We walked around Lahaina
our first morning enjoying the sights just after daybreak as people were going to work and children were going to school.

Our first adventure was to begin at 11am with a Zip-line tour with Skyline Eco Adventures at Ka'anapali. We choose this one as it was mostly downhill walking and it included going on 8 different zip-lines with lunch included. It was a awesome feeling zipping across lush valleys from high above where you could see for miles - we also were treated with some liquid sunshine but only for a few minutes. The rest of our day was spent exploring more of the history in Lahaina and relaxing.

We started our second day with one of the Maui whale watching tours with the Pacific Whale Foundation at 9am. We were at the end of the whale season so we only had one sighting and it was far away, but we were treated with a school of Spotted Dolphins that played and followed the boat. The views of Maui, Lana'i, Molokai and the deep blue water were breathtaking as well.

Our journey continued to Upcountry with a short stop at the Maui Swap Meet, and then we headed to Gods Peace of Maui B&B in Makawao where we would stay one night.

It was mid afternoon by then so we headed towards
Haleakala National Park (and the "House of the Rising Sun") to watch the sunset. The views were something else and hard to explain until you've been there so I took a lot of photos before and after the sun was setting.

The next morning our first stop was the Shim Coffee & Protea Farm in Kula. We had never been to a working coffee farm and Mr Shim gave us a tour of his land showing us the steps in growing to harvesting the coffee bean. He also has many different Protea plants, flowers and trees on his land that he told us about.

We continued towards Tedeschi Vineyards, the home of the Maui Winery. The drive there was breathtaking as well with many photo
opportunities. We walked the grounds of the winery, tasted some wine, then had lunch at the Ulupalakua Ranch Store which had live music as it was May Day.

We headed back towards Paia and spent some time at the Paia Beach Park, then headed to the Banana Bungalow Hostel to check in before going to the May Day concert at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Everyone was treated with pre-show entertainment of Hawaiian music and Hula Dancers in the courtyard. We went into the Castle Theater
to watch the Brothers Cazimero perform their "May Day is Lei Day" Concert.

On Monday we headed to the Maui Ocean Center and learned of the coral and tropical marine life of the Hawaiian Islands. The day was topped of with a relaxing afternoon at the Waihee Beach Park to soak up sun and the ocean. Our final day was our trip along the Hana Highway. It was part of a free tour provided by the Hostel where we were staying. We left behind a pair of sandals and a hat so sometime we'll have to make a return trip to retrieve those items.

Maui is truly paradise.

Hi Gary,

That's fantastic that you were able to pack so much fun stuff into your 5 day stay! What a great trip report!

We went on Skyline Eco Adventure's Haleakala Maui zipline, and it was really fun. I'd really like to try out their Kaanapali course too though - it sounds incredible, especially because of the fact that you get to zip over not just the jungle, but waterfalls too!

I loved reading about all of the places you saw in Upcountry - we haven't spent as much time exploring that area as I'd like - on this year's trip we plan on fixing that!

Sheralyn
:)