Maui

Yesterday the 8th July

A very lazy day yesterday, Amanda and Kate go shopping! Yes again! But that’s what sisters do! I decline the invitation preferring to lounge by the pool and catch-up with the weekends football. It’s our last night in Honolulu before we fly to Maui. Jim & Kate are keen to take us to a new restaurant “Nobu’s” on Ward. Nobu Matsuhisa has moved his famous Waikiki restaurant to the up and coming Ward centre in the Ala Moana district. Chef Nobu is considered an artisan, bringing fresh seasonal produce to the table in a Japanese Hawaiian western fusion style.
As is just about any want you may desire, Nobu’s is just a short walk through the warm tropical dusk to our destination. We are greeted and seated at a table that is in the midst of many others, with music blaring from ceiling mounted speakers and the loud buzz of the diners, talking to each other is going to be a challenge. The hostess is more than happy to move us to a quieter section of the restaurant where we are seated and able to converse freely. 

The waiters are attentive, soon explaining the menu. Small plates and sharing is the theme, degustation menus also available for those diners with a large appetite and deep pockets. The Japanese of course love their ingredients fresh, so fresh that a good deal of the items are uncooked. They also like their hot sauces, some of the listed ingredients sound deadly. Jim and Kate are vegetarians, it seems they have far less of a minefield to negotiate than we do. After a good deal of discussion Amanda and I decide on four courses to share. Oysters wrapped in thin slices of King Salmon (this one for me as these raw ingredients are not on Amanda’s must have list). Mixed tempura vegetables, Rock shrimp tempura with jalapeños sauce and Bay scallops with wasabi salsa. Thankfully both the jalapeño and Wasabi ingredients lacked extreme heat. We order two glasses of Lanson Brut Rose to toast our hosts and settle down to await food service. The food is beautifully presented, plentiful and tasty, service impeccable. Belly’s full we walk home to the Hokua through the warm night and under the almost full moon that is shining down on us through a haze of humidity that looks heavier than it is down at street level.
Today 9th July

Back to the airport after repacking for our flight to Maui, again the weather is superb, we just wake every morning and hit reset and repeat. We bid farewell to Kate and Jim, It being Sunday traffic is light and with the airport only a short distance away we are soon there. Our Hawaiian airlines flight makes the short jump to Kahului airport situated on the northern side of Maui. When we arrive the weather here is decidedly warmer/hotter and windy, nearly blowing off my newly acquired Truffaux panama hat. Since the cooler winds predominantly blow from the south off the ocean we are hopeful that our final destination at Kaanapali will be somewhat cooler. I need to check myself here arrived two minutes ago and I am complaining about the heat, bring it on, I say. Next stop pickup the rental car, we shuttle across to the rent ‘a’ car hub thankfully the process is smooth. I still don’t understand why they ask you to reserve a particular model or size vehicle, no matter which company you choose they never have the car you booked and they always try to up sell you.

Having secured a red Hyundai Elantra we hop back on the shuttle back to the airport baggage claim to await the arrival of son Matt who is scheduled to arrive on the 2.19pm from Honolulu. 
Matt arrives on time and looking fine after three consecutive flights from Adelaide then Sydney and finally Honolulu to Kahului. Starbucks has provided us with some much needed caffeine sustenance while we waited, we top up and make our way again by shuttle to pick up our transport. The road to Kaanapali awaits, a little nervously we take to the wrong side of the road and chortle off towards our destination. The road takes us south across the neck of the turtle shaped island that is Maui, ahead to our left in the distance is the cloud covered Haleakala volcano. We turn north west at the ocean travelling along the coast line most famous for its resorts and the old whaling port of Lahaina. The island of Lanai rises out of the deep blue water now ironically a whale safe haven. It is Sunday the locals are picnicking along the coastline their four wheel dual cab utilities lined up for miles along the coast keeping watch over mums, dads and kids playing in the surf. The smoke from BBQ’s can be seen rising above the low craggy trees that hug this part of the coast. No doubt their boom boxes are beating out a rhythm to match their playful spirits.

We drive on towards Lahaina anxious to settle into the resort hotel, pickup some supplies and slip into holiday mode. 
By 6.30pm we have settled in to our self contained apartment, discovered a nearby supermarket and stocked our fridge with enough supplies for a few meals complete with matching wine. Matt has lasted the day well but is starting to fade. As darkness falls our 7.45pm dinner reservation time is rapidly approaching. Dukes is the hotels only restaurant, set facing the beach with full beach decor, tables set under straw covered cabanas, sit amongst palm trees, torches with their yellow/orange flames flutter in the light breeze completing the scene. A male Hawaiian singer sits on a stool strumming on an electric ukulele under one of the cabanas accompanying himself to a rambling indeterminate song that is punctuated with bursts of Happy Birthday. 

Matt and Amanda order some beach fare, good American burgers with shoe string fries, beer and wine for them. I opt for some flamed grilled Opa, a tasty in season local fish but not before savouring my first piña colada for the holiday, do real men drink cocktails? I had to ask myself as the waitress hands the drink to Amanda, looking at me somewhat askance as I tell her that drink is mine! After our meal we return back to our beds along the fairy light lit pathways passing the sparkling pool the full moon shining brilliantly above us. An Hawaiian resort employee notices us staring at the brilliance of the moon and tells us that this is a Mahealani moon and that the ancient Hawaiians used the phases of the moon and the stars to guide their canoes on the long ocean voyages across the pacific, and so it guides us to our ships of dreams tonight.