Paia and the West Highway

The torrential rain on our first full day in Maui did not leave us with a ton of activities, so we piled into the car and headed to the small down of Paia. Paia is a tourist town with plenty of shopping, local artists and white sand beaches. We wandered shop to shop... And even identified a few giant spiders-- which Ashley literally poked. It would not be a holiday without Ashley harassing wildlife.

Ashley pointing at a giant spider.

 

On the recommendation of a coworker, we started our next morning at the Kihei Caffe. Banana macadamia nut pancakes and french toast... A half papaya filled with yogurt and granola... And even pork fried rice with an egg on top. Food this good deserves to be Instagrammed.

 

Banana Macadamia Nut pancakes.

 

Our second day was grey and overcast as well, so we piled into the car again, and drove the west highway on the island from Wailuku to Kapalau. This highway is much like the famous Road to Hana-- winding and twisting with many blind corners and single-vehicle bridges. Julie and I loaded up on ginger pills to keep the motion-sickness at bay. We encountered this burnt-out, abandoned car on one of the turnouts. The colours are so strange, it doesn't even look like a real photo (but I assure you, it is!).

 

Burnt out car on west highway.

 

At this point, we had been on the island for two days, and hadn't actually been to the beach, so we took a walk down to the beach to watch the sun set. And what a sun set it was! Complete with whales breaching in the distance.

Sunset in Kihei.

Tom and I on the beach.

Pretty!

 

We finished off our night with poke fish tacos, and bulldog margaritas. And Jeff turned our coconut into a narwhal. A narwhal in looooove.

 

A bulldog-fueled artist at work.

Looking forward to more snorkeling! Cross your fingers that the water isn't too choppy.