My daughter Kate and I went on a fun adventure in Hawaii! This was our initial view of Maui Hawaii as we were coming in for a landing! WOW, this view made us so happy to be arriving in Maui and staying on the island for the next 6 days! The water around Maui was just lapping up on the coastline. The green from the island just popped against the color of the ocean. Maui is known for its beautiful flowers, friendly locals, good food, scenic mountains, and breathtaking ocean views!
Not to mention the Maui sunsets……………..
This beautiful sunset is taking place as we are on our lanai right before dinner. We are staying in Lahaina Maui with the island Molokai to the right of the sunset. Maui had the most beautiful sunsets each night, just breathtaking! While staying on Maui, we loved renting a condo in Lahaina because of how centrally located it is. There is a Farmer’s Market close by as well as restaurants and fun things to do. Looking out from our balcony (lanai) we could see the Island of Lanai out on our left and the island of Molokai on the right side of our view.
There are so many different colors of the ocean while looking at it! And then to see the vegetation on the island of Molokai just a short distance away from us. We could have just kept sitting in the same spot for the entire 6 days, soaking in all of this beauty.
This boat is sailing right in front of Molokai. You will notice the curves of the island and some of the rough, green terrain. Molokai is nicknamed “The Friendly Isle”. It is the fifth-largest island of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Island Chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is not largely populated so at night there are not many lights brightening up the island. Molokai is beautiful to see in the morning as the greenery of the island is evident and then at night, it’s just lovely with what seem to be twinkly lights.
What a blessing to be able to soak in this view from our chaise lounge chairs. The color of the water is so picturesque, along with the palm trees, blue skies, white clouds, and the island of Molokai in the distance. Just breathtaking!
The hibiscus flower is traditionally worn by women and Hawaiian girls. If the flower is worn behind the left ear, the woman is married or in a relationship. If the flower is worn on the right, she is single or openly available for a relationship.
The yellow hibiscus is Hawaii’s state flower. These flowers are just breathtaking to me! All of the flowers on Maui are so enticing to touch and stare at! The colors are so vibrant, no filters are needed whatsoever when looking at your finished photograph! Just beautiful!
Both of these plants are just spectacular! The plumeria flowers are on the left and the bird of paradise plant is on the right. To see these beautiful flowers growing outdoors in thick and lush plants is such a treat!
Where there is a pond of water or lily pads, there are dragonflies! They are so FAST, jet-setting here and there so quickly!!!! Four wings that are going a mile minute! Their wings are transparent and their eyes are very large. To try to focus in on this little guy was tough. So pretty, don’t you think?
The views are just spectacular. Then there is the food! Holy Cow, what an unexpected discovery to find Maui Brick Oven. Kate and I thoroughly enjoyed eating there. The gluten-free finds were unlimited! We just didn’t have enough time there to try everything!
We enjoyed walking down the beach from our resort to eat at the Sea House Restaurant on Napili Bay, Maui. Delicious gluten-free menu items. I started off with the Kula Onion Soup which was wonderful. Then I enjoyed the beautiful Polynesian Chopped Salad! So delicious! I am not sure which is more beautiful? The open-air view from our table or the salad itself!
Grilled Chicken, Asian slaw, Molokai sweet potato, pickled papaya salad, ginger peanut vinaigrette, and edamame hummus. Packed with flavor and nutrients at the Sea House Restaurant, Napili Bay Maui. AND then, just because I could…………. Kalua Pork Tacos; Corn Tortillas filled with slaw, smoked pork, salsa fresca, cheese, and avocado aioli. Completely gluten-free!! See what I mean? View versus food! It was amazing!
A lot of resorts have ‘Lei Making’ on one of the mornings during your stay. Sign up! Katie and I made these leis pretty quickly in one of the outdoor cabanas. We made reservations ahead of time as the slots can fill up very quickly and the resorts limit how many people can be in the group. The flowers (orchids, tuberose, and llama which is the island flower of Oahu) smelled sensational! The fun class is typically free! Be sure to put the lei in the refrigerator overnight to make it last longer.
Click on the video below to see something super cool!
Kate and I decided to be a bit adventuresome and see some underwater life in the Pacific Ocean! The water was a bit rough on the 10-minute ride out to the submarine. But once in the submarine and after it took off for about an hour ride, it was as smooth as butter! It was so cool to be underwater, nice and dry and air-conditioned, seeing the sea world.
There were some pretty cool fish along with a Spotted Eagle Ray! I had never even heard of a Spotted Eagle Ray before, let alone seen one! I’ve learned that they grow anywhere between 4-7 feet in length, excluding their tail. Their long tail can equal up to four times the length of its body with 2-5 venomous spines at the base! Yikes, that’s scary! They also forage on the seafloor for snails, shrimp, crabs, and sea urchins. So cool!!
This view of the mountains was seen when we were in the small boat on our way to the submarine ride.
Another fabulous, actually beyond fabulous, restaurant we decided to check out was Maui Brick Oven, in Kihei Maui Hawaii. Oh my goodness, the gluten-free items were too many to count. Especially because it is a 100% gluten-free restaurant! Guy Fieri filmed Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives from Maui Brick Oven in April 2017. I notified the owner Terry and did my own little feature of his restaurant. Be sure to look at the feature I did on another spot on my blog under ‘Restaurants’ (Just click on this link to take in all of the gluten-free deliciousness!) https://unexpecteddiscoveries.com/2018/06/06/maui-brick-oven You don’t want to miss the in-depth menu items and photos! The food, as well as the sweet and attentive family service, was spectacular! Check out the gluten-free pizza…..
We had heard about Turtle Beach, where Green Sea Turtles swim up to the sandy beach and then crawl up and along for a little R&R on the sand.
These next images are from Turtle Beach at Ho’okipa Beach Park on Maui which is not a very long drive from Lahaina at all. There was a lot of amateur surfing going on as well which was fun to watch.
Apparently, the turtles do this every day around 4:30 and snooze! They are probably exhausted from being on high alert to avoid Tiger Sharks! They use their flippers to flip up sand on their shell, I guess to stay a little cooler. Did you have a pet turtle as a kid? Remember the smell of the small tank? Multiply that a few times!! But still super cool to see so up close and personal! Hawaii has a $100,000 fine if you touch a turtle in or out of the water! Guess what, no one was petting the turtles!!
These birds are so pretty! They are the Java Finch/Java Rice Finch/Java Sparrow. All different names for the same bird. Even the birds are colorful on Maui!
The Dole Whip is a pineapple-flavored soft-serve frozen dessert sold only at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Hawaii! It’s gluten-free as well as diary-free. I didn’t discover this until our last day. Probably was a good thing! Boy, it was yummy!
Another fun Hawaii treat is Shave Ice, not ‘Shaved’ but ‘Shave’. It is part of the Hawaiian culture and is fabulous. Gluten-Free AND Dairy Free. This was 1/2 strawberry and 1/2 watermelon and mighty tasty.
This is a world-famous tree! It’s the Lahaina Banyan Tree. The roots descend or sprout from the branches into aerial roots towards the ground where they form new trunks. This results in the growth of many trunks around the main trunk. This tree takes up over half an acre and is 145 years old! It is the largest banyan tree in all of Hawaii as well as the Mainland. The tree was originally planted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Christian missionary work in Lahaina. The banyan tree provides nice shade for the local artisan fairs held 36 weekends out of the year.
More exploring the water and sea life! Gotta love Chacos for protecting our feet against stepping on top of Sea Urchins! We kept our toes curled up while walking because there were so many venomous Sea Urchins all around in every nook and cranny! They actually look pretty, but don’t be fooled! They are extremely painful and can cause extreme harm to your body.
This was our view for days on end! What a blessing to soak it all in. Such beauty every which way you looked.
Kate and I ran out of time to do everything that was on our list. We wanted time to relax as well, but I think we still squeezed in an awful lot of fun things in between relaxing! Not to mention the wonderful gluten-free foods! I highly recommend Maui. Can’t wait to go back!
Aloha,
