"Blow horn" before curves! I love this sign! Americans usually never honk, but I enjoyed it, when we drove north along the West Coast of Maui, on a curvy, but not too bad road. Traffic is slow, caused by low speed limit and rental cars and (sorry!) elderly, undecided people. Speed limit is 25-45, rarely 55 mph, and parking is sparse and anarchic. Even worse is signage. Either you know your map really well, use GPS or you'll got lost.
After a fitful sleep because of the all-night crowing wild roosters (which are everywhere!), we had breakfast at the pool (included in our hotel package) - with fresh pineapple, fresh juice and French toast/Eggs Florentine. Then we started our exploration and drove to Nakale Point and famous Blow Hole (a hole in the rocks where waves push water high up like a fountain). We were not so much fascinated by the "blow hole" itself, but by the landscape around with rugged stones and lush green patches, blue ocean, and, Molokai, another Hawaiian island, in the background. Bought some banana bread and papaya lemonade at a booth on the parking lot for lunch, sold by locals at most observation points where visitors stop. The car became hot while parking, but outside it was rather windy and pleasantly warm.
Next stop: Slaughterhouse Beach and our first "Ride on the Waves". No, we were not surfing, just standing in the water and being overrun by high waves. No snorkeling possible, and, for whatever reason, only a couple of surfers present. We made a break after our swim in this beautiful bay, before we headed back to Lahaina, via the Whaler's Village (pic below). We had pictured something "historic" – though I have to admit that we are not as well prepared as usually –, but it was rather a shopping mall on the beach with a little whale exhibition. Parking fees were horrendous!
Back to Lahaina, we explored the little historic downtown area (pics below). In 1778 Captain Cook had come to Maui, in 1810 Kamekameha became first King of Hawaii. 1820 the whaling industry was flourishing and in 1859 the Courthouse, where we explored the historical exhibition (hurrah, we found a museum!) was built. In 1873 the monstrous Banyan Tree was planted in front of the courthouse, a ficus variety (Banyan-Feige/Ficus benghalensis). In the 1960ies not only the sugar cane industry was booming, but, also tourism started to pick up.
The ocean promenade in Lahaina is sprinkled with outfitters, mostly offering whale watch/fishing/diving excursions. For downtown: the partly historic buildings are mostly occupied by galleries, jewellery shops, beach-wear shops and restaurants, with some souvenirs, ABC stores (groceries/souvenirs) and tattoo parlors mixed in. We heard a lot of German, too.
On the way back into town we stopped at Safeway to get some provisions (like water), but boy, they were expensive! We knew, and, partly understand that shipping in grocery from the U.S. mainlands may make things more expensive, but 1. not THAT much (there are other remote regions/islands in the U.S. where stuff has to be shipped in and they are by far less expensive) and, 2., even the local produce is VERY expensive (the pineapple go, as we noticed today, by the pound, not by the piece and add up to about $ 5-6, Dole Pineapple Juice costs $ 5 for a large can and even the local beer is more expensive than imported beer. On the other hand, T-shirts (Made in China, Nicaragua or Pakistan) are offered "4 for $ 10", clothing is rather inexpensive. Just food (and accommodations, entrance fees, rental cars, gas) are outrageously expensive. Because, everybody needs a room and food and a car. That is a money-making machine, tourism has apparently spoiled the market and destroyed a fair value for money.
Well, it's been an interesting day anyway and we enjoyed it.
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