Maui

Last week we took off from our winter residence on the North Shore of Oahu and spent a few days on Maui. While it is great to be out of the "Blizzard Belt" for the winter, we really needed to get away from our secondary residence and get back to some of the things that we originally fell in love with on our first trip to the Hawaiian islands back in 2001.

We had a relatively short time on Maui so we were basically looking to get our rental car and head south to Hana, a very quiet town on the end of the island. Hana is super remote with one General Store, one Grocery Store, one Gas Station, two Hotels and a couple of roadside eateries. Most people drive to Hana (about 3 hours from the airport), see some stuff (just a fraction of it) and head back to their resort hotel. Not the Schmidts, it is our destination....

Now that I am working on a blog post, I wish that I had focused more on the things that should be mentioned about the town, but I blew it....So you will just have to get there for yourself if you really want the true experience.

The "Road to Hana" has some ridiculous number of curves and single lane bridges that will make your passengers car sick for sure. If you bring the book "Maui Revealed" with you, you will have all of the specifics outlined for you. However, we forgot our copy, so you will need to plan your own trip...

Our first stop was some random waterfall that Larry and Patrick wanted to jump off of...so I checked the obstacles below and they jumped....then I followed.

Once in Hana we headed over to Venus Pool and did lots of jumping. This is really our favorite spot, although I know there must be other places on that coast that are just as cool. Our other go to spot, 7 Sacred Pools (Oheo Gulch) was completely dry, so we passed on that one, and headed back to Venus Pool, via a little drive to the South and back again.

The other place we always visit is Wainapanapa State Park, The Black Sand Beach. However, on this trip we found a little fresh water cave that was always right under our noses, but just beyond our exploratory circle. We usually took the path to the South and the cave was on the path to the North. This cave contained some of the clearest water I have ever seen anywhere in my life.

I am told that too much text makes for a boring blog, so I am going to cut it off here and just give a bit of an explanation for each photo. Sorry if I was too wordy, but if you would rather I have more text let me know.....Comments are always welcome, and greatly appreciated.

Aloha,

Meatface

The "Red Sled"!!! Patrick was so pissed about this rental car, but it is hard to tell from this photo...

Skateparks right on the beach..What More could you ask for?

Fun with shades...

Patrick went first at the first falls, then Larry, and after much hesitation I hucked myself off of the top rock.

One of the amazing things that goes on in Hawaii is the Japanese folk taking photos of the most random things. This couple had Larry capture them above the Black Sand Beach sans the typical Aroha peace sign. I hope to include some "Aroha" photos on my next post...

Patrick working hard to peel a coconut...

The fruit of his labor...

Larry hard at work....

The sign above the entrance to the fresh water cave at Wainapanapa State Park.

Patrick in the cave with a little flash illumination.

Taco getting ready to jump in the cave pond.

Patrick with all natural light in the cave....

Brotherly love in a little chilly water in the cave..

The traditional Black Sand Beach rock face photos...

The boys at Venus Pool...

Larry off the highest cliff at Venus Pool with Patrick's approval..

Side by side..

One from just below the waterline looking up at the jump spots, Patti is barely visible center frame in the white T-Shirt. Someday I will get her to agree to be published in a photo on my blog, but for now she is for my eyes only.....except for a little cameo.