Maui Vacation - Part 3 of 5

On our anniversary, Dec. 11th we woke up to a double rainbow outside our balcony. A storm came in during the night leaving it a little cooler and muggy.

We drove north along Honoapilani Hwy which turned into Kahekili Hwy and ends up in Kahului. It was a two hour drive that went along tight switchbacks up and down the mountain. At times the roads were so narrow only one car could fit at a time. It was beautiful but a little nerve racking for us both because the edge of the cliff was right out the door. We drove past the secluded village of Kahakuloa and the Kahekili's Leap rock. 

Finally we arrived into Wailuku and began our drive east to the small down of Paia. You could see fields and fields of sugar cane along the highway in the valley. This is the reason Maui is called Valley Isle - the large flatland separating East and West Maui. This area is dominated by only one thing - sugar. Before people came to these islands, a thing dryland forest existed here. The Hawaiians quickly cut down the trees when they discovered the island, and the area became a barren desert, after which the Hawaiians had little to do with it. When western man arrived, he saw an opportunity to grow sugar in this unused region and began building ditches to bring water to this thirsty land. Today, the broad valley between the two great volcanoes is an ever-waving field of green trisected by the three highways. This is the last sugar plantation in Hawaii, and its days may be numbered.

After the town of Paia, we arrived at the restaurant Mama's Fish House, where we celebrated our anniversary with a delicious meal. The restaurant is situated next to the cove and our seat was overlooking palm trees and the huge waves splashing into the rocks. For an appetizer we had the Crispy Mahimahi Roll with Hamakua mushroom sauce and poha berry compote. They were very good! We could have just eaten that all night long. For our main meal we both ordered the Maihai caught along our north shore by Eric Nakamura, stuffed with lobster and crab, baked in a macadamia nut crust (as pictured). It also was served with a lobster tail, asparagus and rice. Wow!! The fish was moist and tender and crust gave it a little crunch while the sauce made it over the top. It was delicious! We ended the meal with Kona coffee and a small cranberry biscotti.

We headed back to the resort where we watched another sunset and relaxed hearing the waves splah along the shore.