Maui, Hawaii part 3

Happy to see you are all enjoying our trip to Hawaii so much. It was such a magical place.. we had so many incredible experiences but now we come to an end.

DAY 9

We had another relaxed morning. We spent some time on the beach and then walked over to Black Rock. It was a large rock jutting out that people climbed and jumped off of. It was located at the end of our beach just a couple of minutes away. What we didn't know was that it was a sea turtle hotspot! 

They were not shy at all and just kept swimming up to us.

Around 1:30pm we headed out to explore Maui's upcountry. Upcountry Maui is located on the slopes of Haleakalā and offers a cooler weather and a more rustic, paniolo (cowboy) vibe. He headed straight for Makawao. It was a cute area lined with galleries, shops and restaurants. It felt like we weren't on a tropical island anymore. 

We ate at Freshie's. Nice and simple food. Very tasty and generous portions. 

There are two famous bakeries in Makawao, Komoda Store and Bakery and Maui Cookie Lady. Unfortunately Komoda is so popular they sell out within hours of opening and close around 1pm. The Maui Cookie Lady on the other hand was open and it was the cutest store.

It smelled overpoweringly sweet though.. like maple syrup. The store not just sold the famous cookies but also other Hawaiian products.

The cookies were massive and not freshly baked as I had imagined. We thankfully only bought three. 

Because they were not good.. at all. They were not at all decadent.. all three tasted very similar and kind of raw and crumbly.. you could feel the crunch of the sugar that hadn't fully dissolved.. like I don't even know what to say. They were easily the worst cookies we had ever had. 

Afterwards we headed towards Haleakala National Park. We left around 3:30pm to get to the summit by 5pm to catch the 6:50pm sunset. 

Many people go to watch the sunrise but it involves a very early wake up time, advance reservations and driving up the volcano in the dark. The sunset does not need a reservation. 

The drive was winding with sheer drops and quite foggy in the beginning until we broke through the clouds and were above them. Above the clouds! 

Haleakalā National Park is named after the dormant volcano within its boundaries. The name Haleakalā is Hawaiian for "house of the sun". According to a local legend, the demigod Maui imprisoned the sun here in order to lengthen the day. The summit, known as Puʻu ʻUlaʻula (Red Hill), reaches 10,023 feet above sea level.

There is a hike that takes you down into the crater which we did not do. 

Here we are at the summit. It was cold. We had our books and our snacks waiting for the sun to go down.

The breathtaking moment when the sun is below the clouds but still on the horizon. This is definitely a Maui must!

We made our way back down and stopped at Teddy Bigger Burgers. H was already half asleep. The burgers were good and true to their word bigger than the average burger.

DAY 10

Before we knew it it was departure day. We had a late night flight so we started the day slowly. 

We packed and checked out. We had breakfast at Kihel Cafe.

Then we drove to the Nakalele Blowhole. There is a hike called Acid War Zone that takes you through a war zone like landscape to the blowhole or you can park closer to the overlook. We parked at the overlook. 

The blowhole was not very active and while we could have walked closer to it we were all in flip flops and decided against it.

The blowhole is located on Kahekili Highway. This highway is notoriously dangerous with steep cliffs, no guardrails, and no shoulders and a no go by most car rental companies. The blowhole is where many suggest to turn back around. So we did. 

We stopped at Honolua Bay beach lookout to watch people snorkel.

and made another stop at Kahauiki Gulch - I think. There was another car parked there and we got out to investigate and discovered a narrow trail - very short, leading us down to these cool tide pools.

 

and then we started to make our way back to our hotel. While we had checked out we could still use the beach.

We stopped at Miss Arepa to pick up some arepa's and they were so good. We ate them on the beach. It was a very very hot day. We went to visit the turtles at Black Rock one last time and then cleaned up and headed to the airport. 

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