Botanical Garden & Winery Inland Maui Trip

Today we drove inland to a couple highly-recommended spots: Hawaii's only winery (Kathy, Brett & Balika had already worked their way through 2 of the Maui Gold Pineapple Wine, which we loved- as did Fish, but through dropping it) and Kula Botanical Gardens. This was our first trip 'upcountry' and we were excited to see the views and experience the cool mountain air. Plus, we heard there were Hawaiian Elk Burgers served at the diner across from the winery!

Sure enough, the view was spectacular, the tour of the winery was fascinating (they make champagne in the 'true' method used in the French Champagne region! And of course, wine out of pineapple!). More interesting than the tasting was the tour, which detailed an eccentric ex-sailor who set up a ranch, complete with hidden torture chambers and trees imported from all over the world. We were able to enjoy a wonderful botanical garden, which we realize has turned in to one of our favorite things to do with the kids while traveling, for a few reasons: 1) it gives the kids a chance to learn how to use maps 2) its amazingly peaceful and beautiful 3) The style of gardens seem to reflect the character of the area. 4) Later, we get to enjoy Fish's amazing photos of the flowers- it's easy to come home from a vacation with lots of people shots and beach-scapes, but sometimes we forget to look at life close-up. And that's always refreshing.

We're not terribly interested in botanical gardens to be honest, but whenever we leave one we always talk about how glad we were to have gone!

Tikis in the botanical garden

Balika trying the wines...

The road to Hana

Ah, the road to Hana. T-shirts exist that say, "I survived the road to Hana." People talk about the trip in awed tones. We assumed it would be epic. Turned out it was beautiful, but not any more difficult driving that Corsica or even parts of France! We read LOTS of guide books and online forums about whether we could drive the ENTIRE road all the way around and got varied responses. Some said the road past the town of Hana was dirt- impassable. Some said that it was fine except for after floods. We got to Hana and just didn't want to turn around and go right back- we wanted to see the other side of the mountain/ island- so we decided to push on through. Turns out there was some dirt road, but it was no worse that the dirt roads in Kodiak. The south west side of the island was pretty brutal- dry, no vegetation, rocky beaches, cattle roaming everywhere, but the sunset was gorgeous, we did the final hour with a little group of 5 or 6 cars, and all in all, it felt good to have made it...

Eilidh spent most of the way counting bridges (most of them were one-lane!). I think she counted into the 80s. The adults spent most of our time looking for and at waterfalls- we must have counted 20 or so. Bella spent most of her time looking for the elusive rainbow eucalyptus, of which we counted a little grove right at the beginning of the drive and didn't see any beyond that... A great day, all in all!

A hidden treasure- in the middle of a botanical garden is an ancient Hawaiian temple that we didn't read about until we were just a few minutes away! Huge, discreet, quiet- we shared this gigantic botanical garden with one other couple. What a treat....

At first we thought this monk seal was dead. Turned out he was just sleeping- the beach ended up being cordoned off so he could enjoy his beauty rest. Monk seals are called as such because they are monk-like in behavior (solitary).

The amazing rainbow eucalyptus.

Sunset on the SW side of Maui after heading through Hana...

Fishing!

Some lovely meals...

Missing some photos here, but I did at least get a photo of us at our favorite dinner in Maui- at Honu. Amazing food. But where are the photos of it??? The memories of the amazing wood-fired pizza, tuna on toast and free dessert will have to suffice...

20th Anniversary couple

Amazing dessert- passion fruit tart with fresh fruit.

Luau

So we did the tourist thing and went to a luau... We walked from our condo to the show along the warm boardwalk, and on the way home walked in the darkness (stars!) and through sprinklers... It was a good night- great food (Kalua pork, fruit, fish, lots of rice and a fun selection of desserts), an entertaining show, and the girls were enthralled. Gotta do a luau at least once in your life I suppose!

Learning to hula

Eilidh's new tiki

Learning about Hawaii

Fish had an interesting visit with a Lahaina carver and was able to take some fantastic photos of the traditional tiki craft. Amazing!


On another note, the girls were surprised to find that there were 3 or 4 free classes at our resort by John, a fellow who was 'practicing his kids classes for the PGA families who were flying in the next week." We were glad to oblige. He gave some wonderful classes on 1) how to husk, then open a coconut 2) How to decorate a coconut with stickers 3) how to weave headbands out of palm fronds 4) How to be generally silly, yet respectful about the spirit of Aloha- the giving spirit of openness about culture that most Hawaiians seem to have.

Fish's purchase from the Lahaina carver.

John weaving palm fronds.




Girls learning how to husk a coconut.

Petroglyphs near Lahaina.