Our sojourn on Maui ended with a whimper. On Sunday morning, we decided to hike out to Keawanaku Beach, a spot we hadn’t visited in the past. The hike begins at the end of the road in La Perousse Bay and follows a four-wheel drive track for about a mile. Then we detour onto ‘The King’s Highway’, the remnants of the old Hawaiian trail through the lave fields, for another mile or so. Finally, we see the grove of trees at the shoreline and make our way across the lava to the beach. It’s taken us so long to get here that we’ve lost the benefits of the early morning ocean. Waves are crashing and there’s such a surge that we decide it’s not a good time to snorkel. The trip back takes only 55 minutes. Maybe next time.
Since we’re out this way, we decide to try Ahihi and see if the rays will again show. The wave action isn’t too bad so in we go. Doreen no sooner puts her face in the water than she’s got a mouthful of salt water. Her snorkel isn’t working properly and she can’t figure out why. After several more fruitless attempts, we’re forced to abort. We’ve managed to spend five minutes in the water and get no more than ten feet off the beach. Not much of a return for four hours of activity. By now the morning’s gone, the wind’s picking up and snorkel time is done. After a quick lunch at a roadside stand, I catch some sun at the condo pool and then begin packing.
Our Monday morning flight to Honolulu is uneventful but doesn’t present the picture opportunities of our earlier Go! flight. We pick up our rental car at Enterprise (no more older models) and head for the condo in Waikiki. We check in, find our parking spot and prepare to settle in for the next two weeks. One problem. I can’t get the key out of the ignition. After we grab lunch, it’s back to the rental company for a replacement. (They can’t get the key out either!)
It’s a nice condo, if a little small. We’re on the tenth floor with a view of the Ali Wai canal and the municipal golf course (maybe that’s why this place is called Fairway Villas). There’s a pool on the 29th floor with sun loungers and sauna. I’d be happier if the dishwasher wasn’t broken. Doreen told the lady at check-in that it wasn’t a problem because she’d brought her own. Great! We had a few small glitches at the condo in Maui as well. The second day we showered Doreen noticed that the shower’s side wall was loose so we called the caretaker. The repair guy came in, looked at the problem, decided they’d done a poor job when they’d installed the enclosure. He said they’d run a bead for now and repair it after we’d left. A few weeks later, the television went on the fritz. What’s Doreen going to do without “Dancing With The Stars” and “Survivor”? The set is replaced with a smaller TV for which they can’t find the remote. Not much switching between channels 3 and 59 now!
Any problems we’ve had have been put in perspective by events that have happened to others on Maui while we were there. Two days after we’d been to Haleakala, they had a fatality in the downhill bike activity. A lady lost control, put her bike on the ground but slid across the road into the path of an oncoming tour bus. A few days later, as we were leaving Mokapu Beach after snorkeling and sun, we noticed a gaggle of EMO respondents. We later learned that a lady had been carried into the shallow, rocky area while snorkeling and had panicked. They were unable to revive her. As we waited at the airport for our flight to Honolulu, we read in the paper about a 27-year old resident of Kihei who had gone with two buddies to swim in the infinity pool at the top of Makahiku Falls. Told by the park rangers that the pool was still closed because of high water levels, they’d hiked in to see for themselves. As they turned to leave, he either fell or jumped into the pool. He did not surface and his body had not yet been recovered.
No comments:
Post a Comment