Maui Week 1

On Monday night we caught a flight to Maui. After feeling sick almost the entire week on the Big Island, I was determined to not let this ruin the rest of my vacation. Assuming I had Gastritus,  I turned to Google and found out that people who went on this diet felt better. So I only ate foods on the alkaline list and I'm still on the diet and have been for almost two months now. By changing my diet I was at least able to somewhat function instead of  being curled up in bed holding my stomach from the pain. Which when you're in Hawaii is the last thing you want to be doing! However this diet makes you drop weight fast. I lost 10 pounds in a week so I had to be really careful that I  ate enough calories. I never thought I would see the day where I would be counting calories to gain weight!

On Tuesday I was feeling so much better that I was actually able to go swimming in the ocean. Matt and I went snorkeling at Po'olenalena beach. The snorkeling was amazing here and we saw an octopus and a really cool fish that blends into the sand. I also saw the biggest turtle I have ever seen in Hawaii. I was chasing it to get a better look and acidentally got myself caught in a riptide around the black lava rock. After about 5 minutes of kicking with all my might I was finally able to get out of there, but that really freaked me out so I headed back to shore while Matt finished snorkeling.

On Wednesday we decided to check out West Maui. Matt read about a short hike (which was all I could handle) called the Acid War Zone. It was a really breezy hike with incredible ocean views. Matt and I loved watching the waves crash into this huge black rock in the distance. We put a video of it on youtube here. The war zone itself was amazing. The wind blows salt water onto the rocks and it erodes them to make it look like coral rock. After the acid war zone we continued our hike to the Nakalele blowhole. This blowhole shot water up probably 20-40 ft high. Matt and I got drenched and felt like we were at seaworld getting splashed by Shamu. We couldn't get a very good video of it, but here it is. I guess it's just one of those things you got to experience in person.

On Thursday we decided to drive the Road to Hana. Unfortunately our GPS took us the wrong way through some sugar fields, past a landfill, and finally into the desert. Matt wanted to turn around after an hour of driving, but I told him to keep going since it looked like from the map in the guidebook that we would eventually end up in Hana. The roads were really narrow and bumpy, but we eventually made it to Hana. Once we were in Hana we enjoyed driving the road we should of took back to our condo.  While we were driving we stopped to check out waterfalls and the views along the way. The Road to Hana has the prettiest scenery I have ever seen in my life. There is green everywhere, beautiful waterfalls, beautiful trees, and gorgeous ocean views. Even if you had the nicest camera in the world pictures would never do it justice. I think this was my favorite thing in Maui.

On Friday we drove back to West Maui to check out the beaches around there. We first stopped at Honolua Bay. It was a beautiful walk through the forest to get to the shoreline. On the shoreline we saw hundreds of chickens walking around. Matt got in and snorkeled while I read on the beach with my kindle. After spending a couple hours there we headed off to the boardwalk in West Maui. We found a parking space and walked about a mile along the boardwalk until we reached Black Rock. Most of the resorts are along the boardwalk so it was kinda fun to people watch and see all the activities going on around us. At the end of the boardwalk we found these cheesy face cutouts so we couldn't help, but snap a picture. I learned I would not look good with black hair! Matt snorkeled black rock while I sat enjoying the sea breeze and getting some sun.

On Saturday we headed to Kahului beach to check out the kitesurfers. I could spend hours watching because it's so fun to watch. One guy was really good and would launch himself off the waves and ended up 20-30 ft in the air gliding along the ocean. If I ever live near a beach I want to learn to kitesurf. After watching the kitesurfers we headed to Makena beach. Matt went snorkeling, but I was addicted to my book so I decided to read. While I was there an endangered Nene came onto the beach. A local called a park ranger because I guess they like to track them since there are only 100 of them left in Maui. It was funny because the goose would run away from the ranger, but she loved me. She came right up to me about 1 foot from my beach towel. The ranger had me snap pictures of it for him.