Bamboo and Ukuleles

Our next Maui adventure involved a 7 am pick-up at the hotel with two other couples. We were going to East Maui for a waterfall/rainforest hike with a company called "Hike Maui." This is one of the first stops on the infamous "Road to Hana." Our guide was a smart and friendly young man named Aaron. After filling out our waivers, we stopped at their warehouse as some in the group opted for the special 'footwear.' I declined it. More on that later!

The great thing about Aaron was that he gave us a lot of history of the island, along with pointing out all the flora on the hike. He had many personal anecdotes about his life on Maui and he asked us a lot of questions about where we came from. He found it amusing how many mainlanders were afraid of encountering spiders on the hikes. When we asked what scared him (being a person who has surfed big waves and jumped off cliffs all his life), he admitted that nothing scared him more than on a trip to the mainland, riding in a car going 75 mph alongside 18 wheelers on the highway (a daily occurrence for most of us)! I think 45 mph is the highest speed limit on Maui and they have nothing much bigger than a pick up truck. Anyway, he made the hike informative and fun, letting us taste kukui nuts straight off the tree and demonstrating how to make rope from another tree. Here are some pictures I took that day:

Kapok Tree

Twin Falls. It had not rained recently (even though we were in a rainforest climate). The good news was that it was not too muddy, the bad news was that the waterfalls weren't that impressive.

The goat shoes that everyone but me chose to wear. I admit I did slip and fall twice on the hike due to slippery rocks, but I just felt like I needed better arch support than that for walking three or four miles.

These may have been eucalyptus trees, but I can't remember. The trunks felt very spongy.

 

Baby Pineapple

Irrigation built for the sugar cane plantations about 100 years ago. Sadly, 2016 is the final year of production for the last remaining large sugar cane producer on Maui.

Bamboo Grove

Upper Falls - we had our lunch break up top and people were allowed to jump off  into the pool below.

Our guide getting ready to jump (out of the six in our group, three jumped). My husband took photos for everyone else and I just enjoyed my turkey sandwich and apple banana (a miniature banana that tasted like an apple - much better than a regular banana, in my opinion).

Blue Gum Trees - brought over from Australia

Caveman Falls

Inside cave looking out from behind the falls.

After the hike, our guide drove us to Ho'okipa Beach Park on the north shore where the really big waves hit Maui. The extreme waves in the winter are called, "Jawz," and can reach 70 feet.  You may have heard of the famous Jawz surfing competition.

This photo gives a feel of how strong the mist was. I had never seen anything quite like it.

After a long day of hiking, we returned to our hotel and relaxed a bit before our evening event. We were headed to Honua Kai Lani on the south shore for a picnic and outdoor concert under the stars.

Another amazing sunset

This is Brittni Paiva, known as Hawaii's 'ukulele darling.' She played mostly her own original music, but also threw in a few that we knew, such as Maroon 5's 'Sunday Morning.' She was really quite good and I learned that it's pronounced "oo-ka-lay-lee" not "you-ka-lay-lee."

 

 

 The main act was Henry Kapono, another native Hawaiian musician. I guess he's been in some movies as well, such as 'Waterworld.' He was really good, again, playing original music as well as everything from Jimmy Buffet to concluding the show with, 'Stairway to Heaven.' My husband and I enjoyed it tremendously.  Just another day in paradise!