Maui and Kauai Day 6: Here Be Dragons

Started our day by snorkeling near our hotel. We saw a lot of interesting fish. The waves started to get a bit choppy as we swam, possibly due to the hurricanes nearby (which are predicted to go north and south of the islands, respectively.) There were also strong winds and dark clouds in the sky.

Us at the beach.

A coconut tree by the beach. We couldn’t ascertain whether it was hostile or not.

After snorkeling we went up to our room for a lunch on our balcony.

We then drove up to Kapalua for a rugged hike...

...which began with a harrowing journey across the Ritz-Carlton property.

And then proceeded along a golf course before actually becoming at all rugged.

A palm tree and its shadow.

We hiked out along one of the peninsulas that guards Kapalua Bay.

This area is called the Dragon’s Teeth. Catherine thought it looked more like a dragon’s spine.

Us during the hike.

Some views along the way.

It was very windy.

We found this labyrinth, which Daniel completed and Catherine also “completed” by stepping over the barriers into the middle of the maze.

The end of the peninsula.

Us at the edge.

Some pictures of the waves breaking on the rocks.

This one really shows the “dragon’s teeth” effect of the rocks.

Some pictures around the resort.

We then went in to Lahaina and had dinner at Lahainaluna Café. Catherine got a grilled cheese with bacon and Daniel tried the kalua pork sandwich. We shared fries and Maui onion straws. Both were delicious.

No trip to Lahaina is complete without a visit to Lahaina Printsellers. Two years ago we bought a beautiful map of the Hawaiian Islands, a reproduction of one made by the Lahainaluna printing press which was the first map of Hawaii in Hawaiian. We had also had a long conversation with Bob, the salesman there who is an expert on maps. This time was almost exactly the same, except that this time we bought a map of the Azores made by the Society for the Dissemination of Useful Knowledge. They were dedicated to providing accurate information, and thus avoid adding any dragons, Sea-monsters, etc.

We ended our night at Kimo’s, where a few employees seemed to be hanging out at the end of the day, and we had the opportunity to hear the bartender’s increasingly improbable suggestions for how to avoid large corporate chains and eat, drink, and buy local.

We have loved our time here in Maui but can’t wait to join our family in Kaua’i tomorrow.