Creel Photography

MAUI

For our annual summer vacation, Rachael and I chose to visit the tropical paradise of Maui. The decision making process is democratic in nature, but since there are only two of us, split decisions are resolved through compromise by both parties. I am the photographer looking for pristine nature scenes, solitude, basically an ecotourist. Rachael is the bargain shopper, the tour taker, basically the “econotourist.” Over the last few years of marriage, we have successfully chosen vacation spots where we both have satisfied our vacation tendencies, and have both learned to enjoy the way the other prefers to vacation. Maui was no exception, offering plenty for the eco and the econotourist.

The island of Maui has an extinct volcano on either side of the island, with a valley between. The air temperature is moderate year round, and the water temperature is pleasant year round as well. Tourism is the main industry, but sugar cane (50,000 acres), pineapples, and coffee are also well-represented industries.

The following is a summary (I would say brief, but that would be a lie) of our weeklong visit, interspersed with a few of my musings.

HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE

Aloha! It’s a word that I spent my entire Maui vacation unsuccessfully trying to comprehend its meanings. I know that it means “hello”, and it is a substitute for “goodbye” since the Hawaiians do not really believe in goodbyes, but it also has some other less conventional uses. For instance, I saw a pamphlet and a bumper sticker that said, “Spread the Aloha”. Assuming we are not talking about a local butter substitute, you can see how truly confusing the word can become. Am I supposed to spread the hellos and goodbyes? In an effort to understand the word in more detail, I browsed at a bookstore in Lahaina and noticed a rather thick book that was written with the sole purpose of explaining all the meanings and usages of the word. I was overwhelmed and soon gave up. Needless to say, I am still confused. However, I plan on taking my confusion and using it to my advantage. You see, I plan to make it a practice to insert “aloha” whenever I can’t quite find/remember the word I am looking for. I enjoy spreading the “aloha” (means confusion in this instance).

Do not get me wrong, for the Hawaiian tongue is a beautiful language to the ear, but the Hawaiians sure like their vowels, and they sure do not use many of the consonants available in the English alphabet! In fact, I’ve heard an unconfirmed report that when playing Jeopardy in Hawaii; you have to buy consonants instead of vowels. If you had to buy vowels, you would end up having to pay Pat Sajak.

As if the quantity of vowels used is not difficult enough for the average English speaking person to comprehend, the issue is compounded by the fact that the Hawaiian vowels all have pronunciations that are inconsistent with general English usage. For instance the letter “a” is routinely pronounced as “ahh”, “i” is “ee”, “e” is “aye”…you get the point, and I am still confused. Let us briefly apply our newly learned knowledge and practice our Hawaiian pronunciation with a few examples of names of places that you may see referenced as we move along. Repeat after me…Kaanapali, Kahului, Haleakala, Keanae, and Hana. Very good, now you have about the same Hawaiian vocabulary as I.

When you combine the abundant usage of the 5 available vowels, with the limited usage of the available consonants, it seems to me that soon you start running out of possible letter combinations that can make short, manageable words (perhaps that is why “aloha” seems to have multiple meanings) and have to resort to using long, confusing words. The long Hawaiian names all have translated meanings, but I can barely remember any of them, so just for kicks I will give you my translations as we run into these names throughout the rest of this journal.

One interesting piece of language information that I learned from coffee mugs in a souvenir shop is that my name in Hawaiian is “Koma”, and Rachael’s name is “Lahela”. I’m not sure how accurate souvenir shops are in teaching the local tongue, but I’ll take my language tidbits wherever I can.

FLIGHT

I pride myself on being able to sleep almost anywhere. One of the few places that I have never been able to sleep with any degree of regularity is on a plane. To rub it in, the gentleman sitting behind me on the plane not only slept the entire flight, but also snored loudly to make sure that I was constantly aware that he was resting whilst I suffered through the long flight. All right, I am exaggerating in saying that he slept the entire flight. He did wake up every ten minutes or so when his sleep apnea caused him to make deep nasal noises followed by giant inhalations to replenish oxygen to his resting body, but he was soon back to sleep. The kids sitting next to him found it quite amusing, as did Rachael and I.

The total flight time to and from our hometown and Maui is about nine hours. We went into the trip knowing full well that nine hours is a long time to spend on a plane, but the alternative means of transportation (swimming or taking a boat) are obviously impractical for people with limited vacation time. The early morning flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth was not all that bad, but the overnight flight on the way home was horrid. No amount of reading, listening to music, counting sheep, or daydreaming that I was in first class with a seat that reclined to a comfortable position could make me, or Rachael, doze off to sleep. By the time our return flight arrived home, we were both zombies, and Rachael has promised that she will never take another flight longer than five hours. I am pleased with her decree, as it rules out a vacation to France that she has been dreaming about but that I have been dreading. I guess all the misery of the plane ride home served a greater purpose.

Neither Rachael nor I had ever experienced jetlag. That is until 2:30AM the night we arrived. This made it 7:30AM at home, well after the time we are normally up, and our internal alarm clocks were awakening us with the subtlety of a bull in a china closet. Luckily, after a late night/early morning snack and a few chapters read in our respective books, we fell back asleep around 4:40AM and managed to sleep until about 6:30AM.

LODGING

After our arrival in Kahului (which translated means “city where the airport is located”), Rachael and I uneventfully rented our car and headed off to our hotel. Our hotel was about a 30-minute drive from the airport and was located in a beautiful little town called Lahaina (which translated means “city where Thom and Rachael stayed”). The hotel, called the Pioneer Inn, is a 1900’s era building that is located on the harbor and is also home to a few shops and a sidewalk café with pancakes the size of Buick hubcaps. As is seemingly tradition in tropical vacation spots, the room was hot when we walked in since the hotel staff turns the air conditioning off in all unoccupied rooms. We cranked it as low as would go and then headed out to find some food. Upon returning, we found our room to still be hot, and the air conditioning to not be functioning properly. So, we informed the hotel staff who promptly moved us to another room where we found the air conditioning and living conditions to be quite adequate for the rest of our stay.

The Pioneer Inn is not the classiest (translation: most expensive) of places to stay on Maui, but the requirements that we look for in a hotel room, namely that it is has a good air conditioner, is clean, safe, and has warm running water and a toilet, were all met at the Pioneer Inn. The Pioneer Inn suited our needs just fine, but there are many options for those who might prefer a more elegant setting. There are many resorts on the island, such as those in Kapalua (which translated means “place that Thom & Rachael could never afford”), and Wailea (which translated means “ritzy neighborhood near golf courses”). There are also many condominiums for rent as well. The timeshare business is very competitive on Maui. If you are willing to listen to a timeshare sales pitch, you can actually get some of the activities at heavily reduced prices, but we chose to pay full price for activities and spare ourselves the torture of listening to a talking head expound upon the virtues of timeshares. I am sure if we had gone to one of these torture sessions I would have been convinced to spend money we do not have, as these deals always seem so good.

FOOD

Front Street, in Lahaina, runs the length of the town and has many restaurants from which to choose. On the day we arrived, we strolled down Front Street reading the menus of the waterfront restaurants, and eventually decided on the Lahaina Fish. Co. since they were still serving a late lunch. Rachael had the Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken (with pineapple slices), and I had the Mahi Mahi Sandwich trimmed with fries and a wasabi mayonnaise dipping sauce. We were both very impressed with the food, the view, the service, and yes, the price. Entering into the vacation, we had planned on trying a number of different places since I am an adventurous diner, but we enjoyed the food at Lahaina Fish Co. so much that the restaurant turned into a favorite hangout of ours. We ended up eating there 4 times throughout the week. For dinner, I would suggest the Fresh Fish Stir Fry, which has 3 – 4 types of fresh local fish in it. Excellent food! I wish I were there now!

Fresh seafood is the name of the game on Maui. Many waterfront restaurants feature freshly caught fish, including Mama’s Fish House near Paia (which translated means “place with lots of wind surfer dudes”). The view from this restaurant affords one the opportunity to watch windsurfers skim across the water, but through a series of events (time got away one evening, decided to catch an earlier flight on the last day) we never were able to try the food. We have heard so many good things about the restaurant and I would definitely make sure that we ate there if we were ever to return to the island.

It has been my experience that dinners combined with entertainment are generally heavy on entertainment and quite lacking in food quality. That observation was first rebuffed, and then reinforced on successive nights during our stay. One evening we attended the Old Lahaina Luau where the food was actually quite good (more to come on the rest of the experience later). The pig, cooked in their beachside imu (sand pit oven) was tasty to say the least. Fresh Mahi Mahi, beef teriyaki, and an assortment of Hawaiian style vegetables accompanied the buffet style dinner. Liquor was served in abundance, as exhibited by the plastered woman from Kansas City (which translated means “Kansas City”) who shared a table with us, but for those of us non-alcohol drinkers, a pineapple based fruit drink was also served. The fruit drink was excellent, and Rachael has tried a number of different combinations of fruit blends since we have returned home in an effort to duplicate their recipe. The food on our dinner cruise aboard the “Maui Princess” the next night was, being nice, not very good. Two choices of entrees were offered, with both of them lacking in taste. I chose the prime rib and Rachael chose the grilled chicken. While the cruise, the atmosphere, the sunset, and the conversation with our tablemates from Seattle was very nice, the buck far outweighed the bang in this instance.

As picnic spots are in abundance on Maui, we chose to picnic on several occasions throughout the week, including one day at the lava flow on the South side of the island near Makena. This lava flow is the last one to have occurred on the island and occurred around 1790. It was not a particularly beautiful place for a picnic, as it looked more like the surface of the moon than a lush tropical isle, but it was interesting in that very few plants are growing in this area even though the last flow was so long ago. Besides, we were hungry at the time and since the last few years we have brought an entire suitcase of food with us to save us having to pay exorbitant tourist prices, we might as well eat some of the goods. I must admit that it is quite embarrassing when the suitcase full of food goes through inspection, but in the end it sure does save money for cheapskates like me.

ACTIVITIES

The Maui Ocean Center is located near Maalaea Bay (which translated means “Bay near the Maui Ocean Center”) on the South side of the island. Though admission is quite expensive, the aquarium is worth the visit. The beauty of the tropical fish in the exhibition tanks is difficult to convey in words, and the information provided by the accompanying displays and staff is important in understanding the ecology of the Hawaiian Islands. Brilliant blues and yellows and were contrasted by shimmering silvers and reds in a display of fish that resembled vibrant works of art. On published intervals, a helpful staff member lectures in front of the largest of the aquariums in air-conditioned comfort. The staff member would name the fish and give interesting details concerning their life-cycle, feeding habits, and habitat as they swam by his position in front of the glass. Of interest to me were the tidbits of information concerning shark species that call Maui home. For instance, did you know that a shark is able to detect the presence of 1 drop of blood in an Olympic-sized swimming pool? Shark eyes are ten times more sensitive to movement than humans. A shark can sense the movement of fish buried in the sand. Those are all things you want to know after you have completed your time on the beach, huh?

Lahaina, as has already been mentioned, is a harbor town. By default, it is a hub for tours that involve chartering boats for snorkeling, diving, fishing, and various other water activities such as dinner cruises, and parasailing. There are also a couple of companies that offer semi-submarine tours, and one company that offers a submarine tour that dives to a depth near 100ft. The semi-submarine tour that we participated in was aboard the Reef Dancer Semi-Submarine. The clarity of the water was adequate but not great. We did see a nice variety of tropical fish including the Hawaiian State Fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. I did not make that up! Translated, it means “pretty fish with real long name that is hard for the average English speaking person to pronounce.” I did make that up. The guide was semi-informative, but was rather abrasive. If one does not wish to snorkel or dive to see the local fish, the next best thing is definitely to visit the aquarium instead of taking a semi-submarine tour.

One of the more popular ways of risking life and limb on Maui is by taking a helicopter tour. Prior to our departure a relative of mine relayed to me a tragic crash story involving a Maui helicopter company, but luckily I had the foresight to keep this information from Rachael until after we had completed our helicopter tour with Sunshine Helicopters. We opted for the 45 minute tour that flew us to the top of the volcanic crater of Haleakala (which translated means “tall mountain with big hole in the top”), and then down the Eastern side of the mountain over the city of Hana (which translated means “city at the end of a long winding road”) and the surrounding rain forest. All the passengers, 6 in all, were fitted with headphones through which we could hear the pilot talk about the sights that we were seeing, including many waterfalls. Many of the waterfalls we witnessed could only be seen from the air since they were located on governmental land where access is seldom granted. We also witnessed a number of picturesque rainbows on our trip. The helicopter we flew in was fitted with four video cameras that capture the entire flight that the company will gladly give to you in return for twenty tourist dollars. Although Rachael shot some video using our camera, and I ran through a few rolls of film in my attempts at aerial photography, we decided to part with some of our tourist dollars and bought the video. I guess I should just classify it as an expensive souvenir.

As has already been mentioned, we spent an entertaining evening at the Old Lahaina Luau. Attendees are given a choice of being seated on the ground in traditional Hawaiian style, or being seated at a normal table. Rachael and I opted to sit on the ground to be traditional. The fact that the ground seats are cheaper was just a bonus. The show was themed around the history of luau in Hawaii. Starting with the Polynesian ancestry, continuing through the Missionary era, and ending with modern luau, the show weaves an intriguing story. The dancers and musicians performed flawlessly, and the costuming was colorful. Some of the musicians and dancers also have table-serving duties, and the service did not suffer from their dual roles. We had a lovely time at the luau and would definitely do it again if we were to return to Maui.

A large portion of the mountainside in western Maui is used for growing pineapples. Since both Rachael and I love pineapples, and since we had eaten a few fresh slices at local restaurants, we decided we would take a tour and see how they are grown. The tour departed from the Kapalua resort with a handful of passengers in the van. The tour guide, an 18-year employee of the Maui Land & Pineapple Company, knew everything you would ever want or need to know about pineapples. Maui Land & Pineapple Company owns nearly 29,000 acres on the island with approximately 6,000 of those acres used for growing pineapples. It is two years after the plants are planted before the first fruit is ripe. After the first harvest, a daughter and subsequently a granddaughter fruit are often produced, although the size of the fruit decreases. After the granddaughter fruit is harvested, the plants are plowed under and the field is prepared for re-planting. The sweetest pineapples are always the mother fruits and those that are harvested in the height of the summer months (pineapples are grown and harvested year round on Maui). At one point, the guide sliced open a pineapple picked off of the plant and passed the slices around for the tour participants to eat. I cannot even begin to describe how juicy and sweet the pineapple tasted. After the tour guide explained how to pick the best fruits, each tour participant was allowed to pick their own pineapple to take with them. Rachael and I picked a pineapple and bought two more that we boxed up and brought back with us on the plane. We always look for Maui grown pineapples when we go to the grocery store now.

Golf is a favorite pastime for many visitors to Maui. Everywhere you turn there are world-class courses that cater to all levels of golfer. I gave up the game of golf a little while back when I finally figured out that I can only afford one hobby (photography), and that I was not very good at the game. Besides, why would I want to spend my vacation getting irritated and upset every time I hit a poor shot?

Another common activity on Maui is whale watching. Unfortunately for us, the whales are in the warm waters on the south side of Maui in the winter months (roughly October through early May). The rest of the year is spent in the waters near Alaska or in transit between the two spots. There are a number of companies, such as the Pacific Whale Foundation, that offer whale watching adventures when the whales are present.

ECOTOURISM & PHOTO OPS

Driving the road to Hana is a must do for all visitors to Maui. Although there are a number of companies that offer tours where the driving is done for you, we elected to drive ourselves. The road to Hana is filled with one-lane bridges (56) and has many hairpin curves (617), and although driving a convertible would have made it more fun, it was still absolutely enjoyable. Hana is about 52 miles from the airport in Kahului, but because of all the twists and turns the drive takes between 2 and 3 hours, depending upon traffic.

The drive goes through the Hanawa Rain Forest, which receives an average of 350 inches of rain a year at higher elevations. Combine the amount of rain with the fact that the forest is on the side of a mountain, and it is easy to see why there are so many waterfalls dotting the hillside. Quite a few of the waterfalls are visible from the road, and a number of them can be easily reached via a short hike. While Rachael watched from the bridge, I hiked down to one picturesque falls for photographic purposes. Since the falls was difficult to reach, I had the scene to myself (which is unusual since it is a popular activity to swim in the pools at the bottom of falls) and was able to take a number of photographs from a number of different angles.

Past Hana, we drove to the 7 Pools area (Ohe’o – which translated means “7 Pools”). As the name implies, the area consists of 7 small pools and falls before finally cascading into the ocean. This area was crowded with swimmers the day we were there who all looked like they were having a refreshing time.

A number of places along the road, locals were selling freshly cut tropical flowers. Compared to the exorbitant prices we pay on the mainland, these flowers were a bargain. We considered buying some to take home with us, but were unsure whether such material would pass agricultural inspection and be allowed back on the mainland.

The other popular tourist activity involving driving is the trip to the top of the extinct volcano, Haleakala. Sunrise from the summit is said to be spectacular, but we did not experience it first hand since it involved getting up at 3:30AM to be there for sunrise photographs. When the alarm went off at 3:30 on the morning we were planning on driving to the summit, we looked at each other, re-set the alarm for 7AM, and went back to sleep like any rational person. Instead, our drive up the mountain put us on top shortly before noon, and I felt guilty that we didn’t go ahead and get up early to improve the quality of my photographs.

The drive from the airport to the summit is about 30 miles and takes about 1.5 hours. I still find it amazing that one can swim in the ocean in the hot sun, and a few minutes later be standing at 10,023 feet gasping in the cool mountain air. Obviously this is not an easy concept for many people to grasp, as there are several signs at the top of the mountain that state “walk slowly at high elevation”.

As I have previously stated, the last eruption occurred around 1790. At the observation deck at the summit, one can view a number of cinder cones within the main crater, and I was amazed at the different colors present. The crater is about 6 miles across at the widest spot and has a number of hiking and horseback riding trails. I would have loved to hike down a ways, but since time was short for us, I just settled for a few photographs from the rim.

There is a plant called the Silversword that only blooms at the top of Haleakala and on one of the volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a very pretty plant; silver in color, with red blooms, and once on the edge of extinction. Through measures put in place by the National Park Service, the Silversword is now making a comeback on Haleakala. The plants bloom once in their lifetime, which may take between 3 to 9 years, then die.

Exploring the western side of the island north of Kapalua, though far less popular than the road to Hana, is worth the time for photographers and those interested in nature. The flora and terrain is quite different than that encountered on the road to Hana. It is not uncommon to see cacti growing in spots, along with other plants that are more indicative of a desert than an island in the tropics. A common misconception is that the entire island is covered by dense tropical vegetation, yet nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, the northeast side of both mountains is exposed to the trade winds and “catch” the clouds. The clouds produce rains, but the rains rarely reach the western or southern sides of the mountains. While some areas within the rainforests receive an average of over 350 inches of rain a year, the southwestern sides of the mountains receive very little rainfall. The city of Lahaina, for instance, receives on average less than 12 inches of rain per year. Considering that the island is less than 80 miles long, I find the difference in rainfall rather staggering.

Northeast of Kapalua, the road turns into a one-lane road on the side of the mountain. By one lane, I do not mean one lane on either side of the road, but rather one lane. Period. A number of times either we or the car coming toward us had to back up to a spot wide enough to allow the other to pass. As the road heads farther west, you get back into a rainy area of the island, which makes driving this road even more adventuresome. Needless to say, Rachael was rather nervous on this stretch of the road, however the drive was scenic, and photo opportunities abounded.

No trip to Maui would be complete without the requisite sunset photographs. While none of the sunsets we witnessed were particularly spectacular, they were certainly worthy of a photograph or ten. One evening, we drove out to a beachside park, just outside of Lahaina, where I had already identified a coconut tree that would make a nice silhouette with the sunset in the background. We also witnessed a nice sunset on the dinner cruise.

SHOPPING (ECONONTOURISM)

Rachael and I buy a refrigerator magnet on every vacation that we take. The magnet must relay the essence of the place visited, and is never a hastily made purchase. The advantage of this tradition for Rachael is that it allows her to set foot in every souvenir shop in the vicinity and also fulfils her innate desire to shop. We began the quest the afternoon we arrived, and the purchase of the chosen magnet did not occur until toward the end of the stay. While searching for the perfect magnet we entered a score of souvenir shops, some tacky and some not. Along the way we picked up souvenirs for family, friends, dog sitters, neighbors, former acquaintances, State Representatives, hair stylists, and garbage collectors, and finally we settled on the perfect magnet. The magnet is in the form of a flip-flop and is painted with a beach scene and the word “Maui”. I guess some of the thrill is in the hunt.

The area on and around Front Street in Lahaina turned out to be our center of shopping excellence. Not only are there souvenir shops, but also clothing stores and art galleries. There is also a small mall in Lahaina, once a pineapple cannery, with souvenir shops and the standard mall fare as well.

Kahului also has its share of shopping sites, including a mall that has all the same stores that you will find in any other mall in the United States. There is also a Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Costco located in Kahului, although the prices are quite inflated as compared to our local stores. At least part of the inflated prices can be explained by the fact that Maui is an island that is more than 2000 miles away from any continent. I’m sure that shipping charges are rather steep. The most dramatic price difference that we noticed was in the price of gasoline, which was nearly double what we pay at home.

BEACHES

The beaches of Maui are numerous, clean, usually close to an area you can snorkel, composed of fine pebbles, and crowded. Since Rachael and I are huge fans of desolate beaches, we spent a good amount of time searching for a stretch of beach where we could be away from the throngs of people. It took a while, but we finally realized that our best chance of having a stretch of beach to ourselves was to hit the beach early. The water was cooler than I was expecting, but was still comfortable and was quite clear. The waves were rather forceful, so we had fun sitting in the sand along the break line and allowing the waves to push us back toward shore. The only problem with this little activity was that it caused our swimming suits to be filled with the pebbles from the beach. I’m sure that housekeeping back at the hotel wondered what we possibly could have done that left that many pebbles in the shower and trash.

Surfing is a common activity for the locals and tourists alike. Surfing lessons are available on a variety of beaches, but neither of us felt an overwhelming desire to learn to surf, so we refrained. Windsurfing is also very popular on the north shore of the island. Several times we drove to Hookipa Beach (which translated means “beach where windsurfer dudes hang out”) and watched the windsurfers zip across the water.

ANTECDOTES
While waiting to board the helicopter for our tour, we encountered a “gentleman” who fancied himself an expert on everything. After telling the people in the area all about Maui, he turned his attention to matters such as the best cameras to buy and, since many helicopters are made in Ft. Worth, TX, he felt it his duty to inform everyone about the Ft. Worth area. Not knowing that we call the Ft. Worth area home, he proceeded to inform all in the area that virtually everyone in Ft. Worth has a gun rack in their pickup in his effort to explain how backward Texans can be. I have lived around Ft. Worth for 15 years and can count on one hand the number of trucks I have seen with a gun rack. Why would Texans need gun racks when we can legally carry a concealed weapon?

While waiting for the festivities to begin at the Luau, a couple that we recognized from the plane to Maui sat down next to us. When I found out they were from Oklahoma, I flashed them a “Hook ‘Em Horns” sign as a friendly gesture. The lady jokingly but abruptly told me “nice talking to you, have a nice dinner”. It is good to know that the Texas/OU rivalry isn’t set aside just because you are in a neutral state.

Always seeking to learn, we found out on our vacation that ants love “Paydays” (the candy bar). We left an empty wrapper in the car one evening and the next morning we found it covered with the little critters. I guess I also learned that ants are able to swim. How else could they have arrived on the island?

On our numerous jaunts along Front Street in Lahaina, we encountered a number of people who greeted you with a clipboard saying, “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to issue you a citation”. Figuring that they were trying to sucker you into attending a timeshare revival, we never stuck around long enough to verify exactly what they were selling.

On the drive to Hana there is a roadside stand advertising fresh fruit smoothies for five tourist dollars. Needing refreshment, we stopped and ordered us a smoothie only to find out it was merely fruit blended with lukewarm water. To say the least, it was nothing like the crushed ice smoothie that we were expecting.