ALOHA!

We are three days in, and we have begun the big unwind. Maui slips into your soul and gently reminds you to slow down, look at the water, inhale the perfume of the white ginger and the plumeria. We have never visited in September before and it's fascinating to meet some new blossoms, like this one - a "shower" tree. They look like they are draped in tiny little orchids, shell pink or golden yellow, and they are especially beautiful up country in Kula and Makawao way.

There is a delightful lack of tourists in September and the beaches are roomy and inviting. The trade winds are practically stilled, the oddest phenomena of all, as we really count on the cooling breezes. I don't know whether that's a sign of global warming or not, but it is definitely missed as we are cooking. It's thirty degrees, but given the stillness and humidity, it's more like forty. We move slowly and seem to physically expand and enlarge through some odd kind of fat combustion. Swollen ankles, sticky backs. Thankfully the pool and the ocean provide an instant and pleasurable cure. Beer helps, but only if you drink it quickly before it comes to the boil.

Baldwin Beach, just before the little town of Paia, was a beautific blend of soft emerald and turquoise. The boys had a good dip before Pele decided she no longer wanted to share and tossed them back on the beach. No harm done, other than a salt water sinus rinse for Peter.

 

To head up-country, toward Haleakala and Kula, provides instant relief as there is at least a 10 degree difference in temperature. The fall also provides a spectacular clarity to the air, and even at over 5000 ft elevation, you can see both sides of the island through Maui's delicate neck. We parked at Ulapalakula ranch and enjoyed a local red hot dog at a shady picnic table as we drank in the view.

Today we said a sad farewell to the Boulton's who, at this moment, are about 30,000 feet up in the arms of Air Alaska. As Lisa said, it was a double-hard good-bye, leaving behind this beautiful island and us as well. We have only a week until we face the same fate and already we are bemoaning the fact that we didn't extend the holiday to two full weeks. Months. Years.

In the meantime, we will enjoy every second of this magical island, including a cocktail on the beach tonight to watch the sun hit the water and listen to the conch shells announce the evening.

 

 

 

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