And so we've come to the last post of Vacation Slideshow: Island in the Sun, Maui
If you missed the first two posts you can see them here and here.
Day 5:
Day 5 was an amazing day for us. We started out the morning surfing around the same group of beaches we surfed at on day 3 of our trip near Kamala beach.We were a little farther south along this stretch of beaches and the bottom was a lot more sandy. A fun surprise this day was that there were a ton of giant turtles out! We mostly kept our distance from them letting them have their peace but it was fun to be out there with them!
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| Kalama Beach, Kihei, HI |
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| Surfing at Kalama Beach, Kihei, HI |
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| Sea turtle popping up to say hi, Kalama Beach, Kihei, HI |
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| Sea turtle swimming along |
After getting our surf fill for the day we went back to our home base, got cleaned up, and headed to the Maui Tropical Plantation. Despite its name I'm not sure if there is anything actually historical about this place but it was fun taking their little tram and getting a tour of their farm. The food they grow there is sold in the fruit market on the grounds and also is used in their restaurant also on the grounds. One of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing a demonstration of a coconut being husked and learning about the life cycle of a pineapple plant. Did you know that for each pineapple plant, only three pineapples are grown for it's entire life cycle? Also it could take years for the first pineapple to fruit. After that you have to wait a long while again for the next pineapple and a while again for the next pineapple after that. At least that's what I remember them telling us during the tour.
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| Tram in the distance at Maui Tropical Plantation, Wailuku, HI |
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| Two un-husked coconuts with one husked coconuts |
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| Pineapple plant |
After our tour we stopped by their ice cream stand to get complimentary cups of pineapple for taking the tour and also to have ice cream! Tim and I shared of scoop of a flavor they called Pa'uwela (named after a place in Maui). It tasted a little like orange creamsical. We also tried their Haupia flavored ice cream which was also very tasty!
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| Ice cream stand at Maui Tropical Plantation, Wailuku, HI |
Before leaving we stopped by their fruit shop and picked up a fresh pineapple and papaya for later.
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| The fruit shop at Maui Tropical Plantation, Wailuku, HI |
We had just enough time after the Plantation to cross another item off my list, a stop at McDonalds to see if they have any haupia pie! Haupia is a coconut custard. Last time we were in Hawaii we there just in time for this seasonal treat at McDonalds. Unfortunately, this time they didn't have any. But they did have taro pie. It wasn't as delicious as their haupia pies but it was pretty good.
After that we went back to our home base again to change for dinner. I usually don't change so much in a day but on this night we were going out to a luau and I brought along a very special dress for the occasion-- my Trashy Diva Lena Sarong in Blue Hawaii.
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| At the Feast at Lele, Lahaina, HI |
The luau was gorgeous, right on the beach, and the food, service, drinks, and entertainment were all excellent! If you ever find yourself in Hawaii, a luau is a must!
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| Banana and sweet potato chips served with a tropical salsa with ogo seaweed |
(Missing a pic- forgot to take it before eating it. Feast of Hawai'i- bamboo pineapple rice, lomi lomi salmon and kalo puree, kalua pua'a)
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| Feast of Aotearoa (New Zealand)- rakiraki salad, harore kumara, and miti hangi |
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| Feast of Tahiti- fiota-poisson cru, baked scallops, moa |
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| Feast of Samoa- gufe'e salad, palusami, I'a |
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| Desserts- hibiscus velvet cake, chocolate coffee flourless cake, haupia whipped cream, coconut mac nut caramel |
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| Our collection of flowers-- we got a flower with each drink we had |
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| Our collection after switching to non-alcoholic beverages |
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| Polynesian dancing |
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| Fire dancer show |
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| On the beach at the Feast at Lele, Lahaina, HI |
Outfit of the Day (day 5):
For the tropical plantation I wore a green plaid dress by Ixia which I got from ebay a couple years.
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| Green plaid dress by Ixia, pictured on the tram at Maui Tropical Plantation, Wailuku, HI |
For going out to the luau I wore my Trashy Diva Lena Sarong in Blue Hawaii.
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| Trashy Diva Lena sarong in Blue Hawaii, pictured on the beach at the Feast at Lele, Lahaina, HI |
Day 6:
Day 6 was our last full day in Hawaii. We started the morning to a breakfast of fresh fruits we bought at the Maui Tropical Plantation. We then headed out down south past Makena beach (big beach) for a morning snorkel. I believe the area we were snorkeling at is known as La Perouse Bay. It was a great spot for snorkeling. Lots of fish were out and the water was pretty calm.
We then headed to Makena beach (big beach) for boogie boarding. It was my first time trying it!
After boogie boarding we went grabbed some fish and shrimp tacos at Maui Tacos and then headed back to home base to clean up to get ready for a sunset dinner cruise with the family. Though we didn't get any good pics of it, we did get to see some whales! It was a great day.
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| At the sunset dinner cruise, Maalaea Bay, HI |
Outfit of the Day (day 6):
While most of the day was spend in a bathing suit, after we cleaned up to get ready for the dinner cruise I decided to wear my Tatyana Micky dress. This is one of my favorites for a comfortable nautical theme.
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| Tatyana Micky dress pictured at the boat docks, Maalaea, HI |
Day 7:
Day 7 was the day we flew back home.
We loaded up the rental car with our suitcases and headed out for breakfast. For breakfast that morning we decided to treat ourselves to some macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup one last time before leaving. This time they were banana macadamia nut pancakes. :D
We were planning on a having a little more time to make one or two more stops before heading to the airport but unbeknownst to us it was World Whale Day and Kihei was celebrating with gusto. They closed down the one and only street leading out of the town for their parade and so we were held hostage in town with no way out. Believe me, we looked! We tried every neighborhood street where we were only to find each and every one led to a dead end. It might have been interesting to see the parade if we weren't so on edge about being trapped in the town. Luckily we had left early enough that we didn't miss our plane but because of the parade we didn't get to see some of the last stops Tim wanted to see.You can never be in rush or on a schedule while on the island.
And so, here we are at the conclusion of Vacation Slideshow: Island in the Sun, Maui. I hope you enjoyed the pics. :)
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