Dorothy Piotrowski’s blog

What should you do on a beautiful sunny winter day.  Go outside and take pictures.  Karen’s friend Paula found that the University of Guelph was offering a three hour class on Photographing Winter Landscapes.  We thought that’s a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.   Karen and Paula’s friend Helayne joined us.  The class was at The Arboretum at the University of Guelph.  Our instructor was Sylvia Galbraith and she owns Silver Creek Photography.  We spent the first couple of hours inside while Sylvia gave us lots of tips and then we bundled up and went outside to practise what we had learned.

We wanted to spend our last day doing something fun, so we decided to take a snorkeling cruise.  We picked Blue Water Rafting because they use zodiac boats.  This type of boat holds about twenty-four people as opposed to seventy-five people on the other large boats.  The trip was awesome.  The first thing that made it fun was that Captain Joe drove the boat really fast.  We were flying over the crashing waves.   The first part of the trip you go and see the Kanaio coast.  It’s around the south side of the island.  We saw lava tubes, and Captain Joe even backed the boat into some of the tubes.  This is about the time that I got seasick.  This always happens if a boat is rocking back and forth and side to side.  Captain Joe gave me some kind of pill and then I was feeling ok.  After the tour of the Kanaio coast, we stopped at two snorkel sites.  It was very cool seeing all the different kinds of fishes.  It really helps if you have good equipment, it makes it much more enjoyable.  The ride back was something fierce.  Karen was sitting on the side of the boat and got soaked when we hit a couple of really big waves.

Since snorkeling is exhausting, especially when you have to be at the dock for 6:30am, we decided to head back to the condo.  We still had some last minute Christmas shopping to do, so we went to The Shops At Wailea.  Paula dropped Karen and I off back at the condo and she continued on to finish up her shopping at Maalaea.  Karen and I packed up our bags and then once the sun broke through, we went down to the beach for one final look at the ocean.  Once Paula got back, we headed over to Oceans Beach Bar & Grill to enjoy our final dinner in Maui.

Because we had more bags than we came with, we had to make two trips to the airport.  The first trip I dropped Paula off while Karen stayed back at the condo to finish up her birthday cake.  Once I got back, we packed up the car and made our trip to the airport.  When we got to our gate, there seemed to be some confusion about our flight.  Our flight was delayed for an hour due to a broken down plane in our original gate.  We tried to sleep as best as we could on our flight to Denver.  Once we got there, we found the Red Carpet Lounge and we spent an hour relaxing and enjoying their amenities.  Our flight to Toronto was aboard a smaller plane but the seats were bigger.

What a reality check it was when we went outside to wait for Karen’s brother to pick us up.  I could see my breath and I think there was a fifty degree shift in temperature.  We got back home around 7:30pm and we’re very tired.  It’s been a really really long day.  Another great vacation has come to an end.  I think it’s time to start working on the next one.

After two days of early mornings, we decided that we should sleep in and boy did it feel good.  Since it’s our last full day here, we thought we should hit one more beach.

We stopped at Safeway to pick up some sandwiches before heading to Palauea Beach, between Wailea and Makena.  This beach is used mostly by the locals, and is uncrowded.  There’s a beautiful sandy bottom, with rocks on both sides, and exquisite homes overlooking the beach.  We did the usual beach things but we also tried some snorkeling.  There were lots of different fishes. 

After spending the afternoon lounging around, we left and went to Pa’ako Beach aka Secret Cove.  It’s a very small beach that you reach through a small opening in a stone wall, and is very easy to miss unless you know where to look.  Once you step through, you will be impressed by this tiny picturesque beach.  It’s a favourite spot for couples to get married.  And wouldn’t you know it, when we got there, there was a couple having their wedding photos taken there.

On our way back to the condo, we stopped and picked up dinner from Wokstar (thanks Brooke for the tip) for Karen and I and Fat Daddy’s Smokehouse BBQ for Paula.  We enjoyed our final dinner in paradise on our lanai with a beautiful Maui sunset, and the most dramatic sky.

We needed to finish up our shopping, so we headed to Lahaina.  Also in Lahaina tonight was Wyland.  He was at his gallery painting and hanging out.  Karen bought his new book and he was kind enough to sign it for her.  By the way Helayne, he asked for you by name.  Just kidding (although he did remember us from the Niagara Falls Gallery).  We went back to the condo so that we could get to bed somewhat early.  We’re heading out for a snorkel cruise in the early morning.

Hi There! Today’s post is written by the birthday girl … yup, the big Hawaii 5-0 birthday has finally arrived.

We were awake today at 3:00 AM, so that we could leave the condo by 4:00 AM.  Destination … summit of Haleakala.  Dorothy drove for about 1.5 hours in the dark, along many, many switchbacks, until we reached the summit at around 5:30 AM.  The sunrise wasn’t until 6:49 AM so we had some time for a nap in the car … luckily we all brought pillows.  You can’t imagine the number of stars at 10,000 feet, when there is no light from any cities.  We were completely surrounded by millions of twinkling stars.

Sunrise was spectacular from Haleakala.  We had to wear jeans and shoes and coats, since the temperature up there dropped to about 44 degrees (from 82 at the condo).  The wind was really strong up there, which made it even colder.  It was definitely worth getting up so early.  After sunrise we enjoyed some Maui Splash wine at the summit … great way to start the day!

After shooting many photos, we wound our way back down the mountain.  Stopped at Kula Marketplace on the way, to get some photos of Poinsettas (they actually grow here, on trees and bushes).  Then onto Makawao, which is in upcountry, and a paniolo (cowboy) town.  First stop was Komoda Store and Bakery, for the best cream puffs in the whole world.  And malasadas (sugar covered donuts) on a stick.  Breakfast of champions!  We spent a couple of hours in Makawao, checking out all the fabulous shops.  And then to the Market Fresh Bistro, for a hearty breakfast, in the courtyard. 

By this time we were all exhausted, and headed down to the condo.  We spent a couple of hours by the pool, and swimming in the ocean in front of the condo.  And then we were off on another adventure.

We had booked a sunset cruise on board the Scotch Mist II out of Lahaina.  Dorothy and I had taken this cruise before, and totally loved it.  Captain Gene has a huge beautiful sailboat.  We motored out of the Lahaina harbour, and into the channel between Maui and Lanai, and then the sails went up.  We sailed around the channel for hours, following many whales, and drinking champagne.  Dorothy and Paula surprised me by arranging a birthday cake on board.  Chocolate, and more chocolate … delicious.

We sailed until the sun had set, and the stars came out, and then headed back to Lahaina.  After a bit of shopping, we went to Aloha Mixed Plate for supper.  This place has become my favorite Maui restaurant.  Beautiful location on the water, with great food.  The day started with stars on Haleakala, and ended with stars on the water.  The perfect way to spend a birthday!  

Thanks to Dorothy and Paula for a great day, and to everyone else for all the birthday wishes.  I wish you all can spend a birthday here some day.

One of the things that we wanted to do in Hawaii was to go kayaking.  We decided to take a whale watch/snorkelling tour with South Pacific Kayaks.  We met up with Mike who was our guide at Makena Landing at 7am.  Before heading into the water, he gave us the basics of kayaking (how to get in and out, paddling, etc).

Karen and I got into the kayak and started paddling.  Just a few feet out, we started heading towards some very large rocks and all I could hear from the shore was Mike yelling “paddle right, paddle right, paddle right”.  Not a good way to start the trip.  Once we got our rhythm, we met up with the rest of the group which was about 60 yards from shore.

The first part of the trip was to kayak out into the ocean about a mile and a half and look for whales.  Unfortunately for us, we didn’t see any whales, although others saw some spouting out near Molokini.  Kayaking is really hard when you have the waves and wind moving you in a completely different direction than you want to go.

The second part of the trip was snorkelling.  That was alot of fun as well.  Thanks to Paula loaning us her waterproof camera, we were able to get lots of pictures of the reef and the fishes.  We saw Black Durgeon, Yellow Tang, Red Sea Urchin, Black Sea Urchin, Moorish Idol (angel fish) and Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles.  The area where we snorkelled is called Turtle Town, and the huge turtles just swim by with their heads poking out of the water.  All of a sudden, it was time to go.  Time sure flies when you are having fun.  We managed to get back to shore without getting anywhere near those pesky rocks.  We definitely needed a rest after that so we went back to the condo to lay around the pool.

In the afternoon we decided to go explore upcountry.  Our first stop was Maui’s Winery at Ulupalakua Ranch where we sampled a wine called Maui Splash!.  It was so good, I picked up a bottle.  The next stop was Ali’i Kula Lavender farm.  There sure is alot of lavender in Maui.  On our way to Hookipa Beach Park, we found The Maui Surfboard Fence.  The fence is made up of surfboards that surfers no longer need.  It’s quite a site.  There were tons of surfers in the water at Hookipa Beach Park.  The waves were pretty big and it was nice to watch the sunset from there.

Our friend Patti from work recommended a place called Pizza In Paradise in Kahului.  When we arrived, it looks and actually it is a dive.  It takes a while to get your food but in the end it’s worth it.  Awesome pasta!

We ended the night with a small shopping excursion before heading for bed.  We need to get up really early tomorrow morning.