First let me say that BioFreeze saved my vacation! Slathered it on my neck & back & felt 100% better! Thanks Kerry!
Today we drove in a big circle all along the coast of West Maui or as Roy calls it, the tail of the fish (the shape of the island actually does look like a fish). You really do have to go around it because there is the coast and then all mountains in the middle. Hard to get lost cause there's nowhere to go, haha. Absolutely gorgeous views EVERYWHERE!! Our first stop was Dragon's Teeth. You walk along a beautiful golf course (the grass here is so perfect it looks fake) to cliffs that have jagged lava formations all along the edge, made that way from the wind & surf. So interesting to think of how powerful nature is and how unique that the edge of the cliff is carved into these shapes.
Our next stop is to see the Nakalele Blowhole. "The ocean undercut the shoreline, pounding underneath the lava shelf, where it spits through a man-sized hole in the lava", like a geyser! The guide book said it was 1200 feet from the road and 205 feet below. Being distance challenged, I didn't pay any attention to that. We walked along the trail for awhile them came to a couple of people climbing up a steep rocky hill! Uh oh, that's the way to the blowhole! Adventurous vacationers that we are, we decide to go for it. So we climbed down & made our way across the rocky gulch to a light beacon near the edge of the cliff. What a beautiful view! And the surf was crashing on several large lava boulders. Luckily we found some people to follow because there are no signs (except for the constant Beware of Everything signs) and ahead of us were more craggy rocks to stumble over & a big lava hill. We finally got to the blowhole! We didn't climb down to it's level but watched it from above & still got wet! It was awesome to watch the surf crashing against the cliff, then seconds later the water shooting out of the hole. So cool! We decided to take a different route out which was a little easier. We had no idea that this was such a hike & were totally unprepared ... I wore flip flops, we had no water ... and it was HOT. I was never so happy to get back to the car & guzzle about a quart of water! But I gotta say it was worth it.
We continued driving along the coast & kept stopping at scenic spots just to look, enjoy, appreciate! And take a bazillion pictures & hours of video! The land is just so varied, jagged cliffs, beautiful sandy beaches, flat land covered in such green grass, (and the colors of the green vary from yellow/green to lime green to a darker bright green), lava mountains covered in green vegetation, lava mountains that are just black, areas where you feel like you're walking on the moon, amazing!
We came to a food stand in the middle of nowhere & stopped for a fruit smoothie, ahhh, hits the spot. At a certain point the road changes to one lane, cliffs & ocean on the left, mountains on the right & all hairpin turns. And this is a 2-way road. There are turnouts along the way where you can pull over & let another car pass. So if 2 cars meet, 1 has to back up til you get to a turnout. After Schnebley Hill in Sedona, this was a piece of cake!!
Got back to the Whaler, freshened up & went to dinner. Right next to our hotel is a small shopping mall called the Whaler Village, lots of upscale shops & a food court. It reminds me of that mall next to Los Abrigados in Sedona. We can go out the back door of our hotel and walk along a boardwalk which continues along Whaler's Village & all the hotels & restaurants. Parallel to the boardwalk is the beach. We had dinner at the Hula Grill (early bird special, haha), a short walk from the hotel. Roy had caesar salad, filet, asparagus & mushroom risotto. I had 1 seafood & 1 pork pot sticker, baked mahi mahi in a crushed macadamia nut crust, white & wild rice & coleslaw with a sweet & sour dressing. Yum! Oh, and while we were dining we watched the sun go down, awesome!!
