Teary Farewell

The inevitable had arrived. It was our last day in Maui. We soaked in the beach. Played in the surf. B mastered his swalking and will now represent our county in the national swalking championships. We finally managed to lunch at Badabing restaurant. I clicked away to make some last minute memories. Did some deep breathing and filled my lungs with the salty air. By midday we were packed and all set to move out. Ron came in at noon to make sure we were clearing out as planned.

The day was over in a flash and before you could say Aloha, we were at the airport lounge. A lot to take back home with us. This had been a fantastic honeymoon.

Oh sweet sweet Maui, I hope to see you again.

Precariously Perched on an Active Volcano

Yes, this was the high point, literally, of the trip. For those of you who think "Geology Rocks" then you must already know that Maui is home to Mt Haleakala, an active volcano that soars to a dizzying 10023 feet above sea level.

They get the beaches AND the mountains. Is there a God?? Anyway, we decided that this might be the first (and in B's case, last) time that we get to see the crater of a volcano. Unfortunately, going up 10023 feet involves a 2 hour drive. Add to that the fact that all our guidebooks recommend viewing sunrise (yes, the Rise) at Mt H.

Chin up and determined to make this once-in-a-decade (I hope) visit worth every penny, we (read I) decided to set up the alarm for 3.30 AM. Thats particularly ridiculous when in HI. There is no early bird-worm battle in this laid back place. I digress. Back to Mt H.

Two hours, many curves, some in the passenger's seat, and a 35 degree temperature drop later we were at The Summit. My light jacket was useless here - I never factored in the windchill. I was already eyeing other people's blankets! We stayed put in our car a little while, waiting for the sun to come out. Thirty minutes later we ran into the little glass house to view the big sunrise. It was brilliant. It was my first time above clouds and watching the sunrise. The picture is worth a thousand words indeed! Oh, and there is actually plant life at that altitude... and (really) its endangered!

We were back at our condo a couple of hours later and caught up with much needed slumber. Of course, that was another day of golf - this time around at the Makena Resort Golf Club. I played one of my better rounds here. The ocean, beaches, mountain, golf, hula dancing... all things that heaven's made of.

The Old Lahaina Luau

The next morning was rather pleasant. We lazed about our little rental pad a while before we greeted the birds and the rest of nature brilliantly bathed in sunshine. Another nice brunch at the Kihei Cafe, sumptuous and sinfully filling. Not a good idea when you're trying to stave off the cheese and eggs to keep the bikini on!

I decided I wanted to attend the Luau and the most authentic on the isle was voted to be the historic Old Lahaina Luau. What is a Luau you ask? A feast that our Hawaiian friends indulged in everytime an event of substantial importance took place - births, weddings, king's birthdays and the such like. What more fun can islanders have!

Unfortunately, being the best also means being the most expensive and having the longest waiting lists. Not one to be discouraged, I called up their local listing to be told that I'd be called back if something opened up that day. I'd had the audacity to ask for a reservation for that very evening! Pushing my luck, right?

Wrong. These friends of ours have a very business savvy heads on their browned shoulders. They added an extra table for us latecomers and booked in our money. Bottomline, I was happy.

The Luau was a grand affair. We were assigned places in the pineapple section (the fruit represents best things Hawaiian) and were duly escorted to our sit-down-at-the-foot-of-the-stage table. Did I mention the men wore yellow & green sarongs? Just the sarongs? And they all looked like they surfed when they were not Luau-ing!

We shared our honeymoon space with other couples - vacationers, repeat visitors and anniversary celebrators.

Back to the celebrations now. The folks at the OLL did a good job of telling the tale of how Hawaii came to be, how their people from far away Polynesia first discovered these islands and how today they are so very proud of their heritage and are pleased to showcase it for us. (Most of the dancers seemed to be half-American and not entirely of Polynesian descent to me). Ever since this 2 hour dance-story-song session, I have caught myself many times trying to do the Hula. Much of the booty wiggle is in the knees I was told.

The food however was forgettable. And I would not be surprised if most of the visitors agreed with me. The sight of the pig being removed from the earth-oven at the beginning had a lot to do with my appetite loss.

Nonetheless B & I explored all that the OLL had to offer - the tiki carving, flower lei making, photo taking, sunset watching. The high point of the evening was the dance that we got to share under the moonlight at the beach. A honeymooner's special the MC announced.

All in all, the OLL was a lovely evening. Like a cherry, if you will, on top of a huge sundae!

A Doctor, a Lawyer, a Fireman and B

Rise and shine… at 4 AM. it’s been four days since we arrived and the stupid jet-lag refuses to let go. I know I will pay for this soon. Today is a big day for B. he is playing at the Plantation Course. For those of you not so well informed about golf – the Plantation Course at Kapalua is the site of the first game of the PGA tour every year. I suppose he managed to catch some sleep through the night.

A little about the Kapalua area for the non-Hawaiian – before the tourists came, this beautiful land was all just pineapple plantations. Infact, the only pineapple cannery in the US is in Hawaii. And they are supposed to be the sweetest and most succulent here. However, unfortunately for me, I am allergic to that prickly fruit.

Kapalua is a good 90 minute drive up from Wailea. We grabbed another solid brunch this morning at the Honolua Store in Kapalua. As usual, we made sure it had an “ono” recommendation from our guide book. The store also had some good souvenirs which I noted for later purchase. it works out best for us to have brunch and then a snack in the evening before dinner. Of course, our condo does have a fully equipped kitchen but we did not do any cooking at all. No eating on the lanai, much against my wishes.

B pulled another one of his stunts and we got the discounted twilight tee time of 2.20 PM. A morning tee time, non-discounted is roughly $300. I was just a ride along for this round; this course is not for novices. We get there; I do some putting while B talks to the starter and manages to get us going almost over an hour earlier. That’s perfect, considering that it takes a good 5½ hours to complete this course.

We were to play with Bill, the doctor, Warren the lawyer and Steve the fireman. Bill was the really talkative one and wanted to know a lot about India and kept paining me. He was also the best player in the group. Warren did not come forth too much, at least not until he had downed a couple of Bud Lights and he was the worst player. Steve was a pain, shooting out advice and generally bluffing about his skills and his golf knowledge. Empty vessel, but not a bad player though. Also a real sour puss. My job, yes you guessed right – photographer.

B did not play the first two holes well at all. His driving improved but his putting & chipping were badly messed up. Oh, these greens are impeccably maintained. What a pleasure to play here.

Oh yeah, today is also Valentine’s day!! Our first V-day together! Candlelight dinner by the beach. Sigh.

"The Sands at Maui Lani" Round

This morning was our first golf round in Maui. We had reserved a morning tee time at the Dunes at Maui Lani golf course. B as usual had done a humongous amount of research on the courses in Maui and their prices. A morning round, which is usually the preferred tee time for most serious golfers, would set you back roughly $250. Naturally, no right minded desi ever paid anything in full. And there is always someone offering something at a discounted price. B got out the laptop and onto the internet to connect to some obscure local site that offered ridiculously cheap round rates. Nice. A couple of quick phone calls on our free landline and we were good to go. Ah, how nice to pay less than half and get full service!

We grabbed a quick brunch at Denny's. Terrible service. In the time that we waited to be seated we could’ve have finished eating!

The day was hot and humid but also mildly windy. If it hadn’t been for the wind, I swear I would’ve been fried. That is not to say that by the end of our honeymoon I was fried anyway.

It’s a good course, lovely service – wet towels, bag tags and all that. Smiling Joe and Freddie greeted us, made sure us honeymooners were not paired with another twosome. The views were beautiful. I might actually end up using the word beautiful several times through my Maui blog, and I promise to use the thesaurus as much as I can, but really there is no other word to describe everything here. A shitty day here would be when your Titleist doesn’t find the cup on your second putt from 1 yard. By that statistic two of my three golfing days here were shitty. This was one of them. I played my usual windshield golf; the ball found every crooked nook and twisted corner just outside the designated fairway. Yes, I am proud to say that I made contact. Direction is an entirely different ball game, pun intended. B was a bit out of touch, but he managed a respectable 93. Definitely nowhere near his best. I usually stop keeping track of shots when I cross the double bogey limit. I was in charge of getting good pictures of B’s swing action for future reference. Don’t tell him, but I was more interested in the mountains in the background. O Haleakala, no ko ai!

Later that day we walked down to the beach at the Ekahi village. One thing about our place of residence, there were many, many elderly people staying there. In a way that’s perfect for us because Wailea is more like a resort area in Maui and with such neighbours there was hardly any disturbance around. I was tired out at the beach that evening and fell asleep really early without much of a dinner. We planned to go to an Italian restaurant called “bada bing” – remember bada bing bada bang bada boom – the Italian Mafioso thingy? B always pronounced it “badaa” like the opposite of “chhota” in Hindi. Tickles my funny bone even now. Apparently he did go to bada bing but their kitchen was closed and he had to settle for a pizza express number. He saved some for me, the dear.

Days 1 & 2

Day 1

Yippee! Sunlight makes its way through wooden window blinds onto my eyes. I can hear the waves crashing. It’s the most b-e-a-utiful morning in Maui. I step out onto our lanai and take a deeeeeep breath at the sight. Refer picture. Now, imagine being in the picture. Bet you can’t! Impressive sunrise – check. I urge B out of bed to share this slice of utopia. We shower quickly and head down to the walk along the shore – a private walk shared among the resorts that line this side of the isle. It’s easy to feel that you are where you were always meant to be.

Morning walk pictures and off to the guide-book-recommended breakfast cafeteria. Nice place, but very small, bursting at its seams and fast service. We drove around a little while before returning to the resort and our beach.

It was my first time wading into ocean water. I’m used to the controlled pool environs. However I was rather proud with the way I handled the waves and enjoyed the afternoon with my non-swimmer B. we splashed around for quite a bit and then waded back to our striped beach towels for some shut-eye in the sun. Bliss. We moved to the pool a little later and I had the best passion fruit cocktail I have ever come across. Nothing like a cool and refreshing drink to jump start your sleepy limbs.

Meanwhile, good news from the front desk, one of our delayed luggage pieces had arrived. It had all of our clubs. Naturally that meant a trip to the driving range and some terrible hitting on my part. I’m most comfortable with the woods. The irons don't tolerate me. The putter is my sworn enemy! Oh who cares, I’m in Maui!

Day 2

We checked out today, just to check into our rental condo for the rest of our stay. Oh, we also picked up our final missing bag at the front desk – my pink, broken-handle Wilson golf bag. We droe a block down the road to our condo and met Herr Ron Holbrook.

I tried my rusty German on Ron, our condo owner; his was rustier! We left our bags and spent some time chatting with the old guy who owns two poodles and liked the pink color of my clubs. Make of that what you will. He also had a little earring on his right ear and spent most of his life in SFO. B doesn't agree with my conclusion!

We quickly left to be at our designated departure point for some whale watching. It was exciting to be miles away from the coast looking out for humpback whales. We did see several calf and mom humpbacks playing around. Nothing really spectacular this afternoon. We were sailing for about an hour and half and while we started back, the captain told the passengers – "A free drink for anyone who can tell me the origin of the word catamaran". Ha-ha, easy drink that was as I shouted out from the back of the boat about the Tamil origins of Kattai-Maram! We later chatted with the captain who was most curious about where we were from! Fabulous.

I wanted to hit the pool, B wanted to hit some balls. So we decided to meet about 90 minutes later at the heated pool by the beach. I swam and swam and got my swimming muscles back into action. No sign of B at the 90 minute mark. It was dark and getting a little chilly. I decided to take action and started on my way back to the condo. I’m surprised I actually made it home easily enough although it was pitch dark. My navigational skills only seem to shy away in the sun!

Home I was, and still no B. quite some time later he walks in with stories about his new friend Kino who fixed his swing. Ok, how interesting…. We headed up to South Kihei for some Greek dinner. The food was awesome. A little pricier than we had anticipated, but in the end justified by the sheer authenticity of the place and the dishes.

Oops...

Our honeymoon began with a little hiccup. Two of our bags did not make it with us. The two that did come had the clothes. I was glad. B was pretty upset that the golf clubs would take another day to arrive. I had to remind him that it was him and I on our honeymoon and that golf was secondary. Try explaining that to a golf addict who has been seeing snow and subzero temperatures the last eight weeks! Oh, ands it’s still my birthday. My 29 hour birthday!!

Going to Maui is like going to Pune from Bombay. The latter is fast and people rarely have time for each other. Pune by contrast sleeps for two hours in the middle of every weekday. Life in Maui is clearly laid back. There are not too many roads where the speed limit is over 30. Ten and twenty are common. One amazing fact about Maui – the birds here are fat lazy slobs. I am yet to see any avian on this island that actually flies. Wings are wasted on those feathered friends, they are happy on the ground beneath your feet at your table eating scraps (sometimes even on your table if they are bold/hungry enough), on the roads they use the crosswalks while adroitly avoiding car wheels or just sitting on the lowest tree branch singing a lilting tune. I can say that the first and the last characteristics apply to the locals as well.

Pick up bags, rental car, and map and drive 20 minutes to resort. We checked in and drove down to the nearest taco bell (yes, I know what you are thinking) for a quick bite. Why? It was ten at night, and restaurants here close at ten. Sigh. No Hawaiian tacos here, the same stuff from the mainland is served. Sigh. Back at resort and sleep like a baby.

Onward Ho!

Well, well, well, here I am on the last leg of our onward journey to Maui! It is another good five hours to our destination. What does one do when one is forced to into a confined little space with a constant engine drone in one’s ears with feet that feel like ever expanding melons? Write, of course! It’s also been quite a while since I blogged. I think mine is turning out to be more of a travelogue and less of a blog.

It has been over twelve hours of staring around the plane and out the window and my eyes are beginning to ache. Unfortunately I still do not feel the lack of rest, or perhaps it is the excitement that’s keeping me awake.

B has had two cat naps already – lucky him, but to his credit, he did not sleep a wink the night we were to leave. It’s that old theory about not being able to wake up early enough if you decide to sleep the previous night. Personally, I always have trouble getting myself out of bed be it 7 AM or 11 AM. I learnt early on that some things in life are to be humbly accepted.

Below us, the vast blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean as seen from above many a white puff. These flights, at least the domestic ones have decided not to serve food. The mathematics involving number of passengers, food options per passenger, total pounds of food to be carried and the extra fuel to be carried and burnt by the big bird (phew!) clearly show that eliminating meals while still charging the same fare can infact be very very beneficial to the airlines. I really don’t mind this but the one biggest downside is the increased traffic to the restrooms due to excessive beverage consumption. Self not spared.

The stewardesses on the other flights were definite veterans in their chosen field, and retirement seemed to be the last thing on their minds. The stewardesses on the Maui flight are the same, except more colorfully decked with massive fake flowers in their mile high updos – like a peacock showing off his brilliant feathers just before the monsoons!

Now, a look at our co-passengers. A quick visual survey reveals that a majority are baby boomers. They have the money, the time and the insurance. The second largest contributing sector would be young parents. Surprised? Me too. Children are taking to the air much earlier these days. And they yelp with joy all the way. Lucky me. Then finally come the honeymooners and brides/grooms-to-be.

I’m a bit of a planner, or at least I’d like to think so. My meticulous listing and checking of items on the list(s) usually never fails. This time I’m disappointed to say that I missed out on two very necessary items. I will try not to feel their absence too much. In my defense, I stuck to list item #7 “Update Ipod”, I never wrote “Keep Ipod”.

After much deliberation and a few pages of Crichton I began to doze off. I was very aware of a baby crying quite loudly and its mother profusely apologizing to the people around, but somehow it seemed too faint and far away. My 30 odd minute deep sleep was just the pick me up I needed. I opened my eyes to a beautiful cloud topped mountain in the distance, shimmering in the golden rays of the setting sun behind us. Ah, beautiful beautiful Maui. A traveler’s dream, a retiree’s home, honeymooners’ heaven, Polynesian paradise.