The little store at Kuau introduced us to Poke (pokey)... raw tuna with a hint of seaweed with soy and sesame dip, Coconut sorbet in halved coconut shell and POG.... a great juice mixture made from passionfruit, orange and guava.
We spent the first and last days at Baldwins beach in Paia a long white stretch of beach scattered with coral debris and fringed by palms and acacias.
A lunch ritual was my Obama burger, Ahi burgers for the others from The Fish Market in Paia. The Obama burger was a grilled slab of Cajun Ono (white fish) topped with Wasabi butter, slaw, cheese and mayo and was too die for. Paia had a real surfer hippie vibe with Mana foods being a mecca for all things wholesome and delicous. Latarte was a stunning boutique of resort wear, totally beautiful coverups that Leigh and I drooled over, but with price tags around the 200 - 300 mark these tops were not random buys. If I hadnt just purchased my summer gear from Lisa Curran back in New Jersey I might have splurged.
The white sands at Wilea just along from the 4 Seasons Hotel was our fav spot for turtle watching. The mound coral there was the softest green and although fish were not plentiful there were enough to satisty. A large turtle swam along the beach and popped his head up beside me. He was a shiny freckled brown with bright eyes and his beak looked a little dangerous. Milson and Pip swam with him for a while.
We discovered a cool Pupu lounge (apetiser or small plate) in Kihei where we all tried different
tropical cocktails. We loved the tiki lights and glasses and stayed for dinner there before heading back to put Tim's chickens to bed.
Most nights we grilled(bbq'd) fish back at the house which was fun. The air was fresher than we are used too and a little cooler than the humidity of NYC, it was a treat to sit outside each night by candlelight and enjoy the tradewind breezes the island is famous for. No need for aircon just a few celing fans ( which I've had to accept are the only way to go in this climate if you hate aircon...and I do) and many of the windows were just sliding screens left open all the time.
Honey girl, brownie and blackie were the reason Mils and Leigh were housesitting for Tim. Three chooks, Junior Boy the ginger cat and the veggie garden and newly landscaped front garden required a fair amount of daily effort. Honey girl was the star, laying one perfect egg per day in a little crate by the back door. Milson herded the three chooks nightly into their chook house and let them out again each morning. Leigh hand fed them with gourmet options daily...quinoa, shitake mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, couscous, oats and even raisins.
We took a trip to Lahaina and Kapalua to snorkle at spot X with the green gate..up near Honolua Bay.. sadly the fish had moved on and the coral was almost non-existant. My parents visited here about 20 years ago when the tropical fish were teeming in colorful schools right off the beach. Now just the odd grandaddy parrot fish floated around in an empty sea. The day was fun though and we checked out the famous golf courses at Kapalua, Kaanapali and Lahaina. We had happy hour $2.50 Mai Tai's !! at Lahaina by the water and bought some Ono and Poke from a local chap in the town which we grilled back at the house after stopping at our B&B for champagne and poke in the garden. Mils and Leigh gave me a gorgeous pink frangipani Lei.
The latest sports craze has revived the old Hawaiian sport of standing on a long board with one paddle and paddling along the coast. We watched each day as people paddled past in really choppy seas. The trades were blowing every day but it was obvious the locals were not put off by the conditions. Another idea we noted were the swim mits people were wearing ... with webbed fingers swimmers teamed these with short flippers and just took off along the coastline. Windsurfing and kite surfing were big there too. There really wasn't any surfable surf during our time but it was great to see people out enjoying the ocean again.
It was sad to leave after only 5 days but we felt like we'd had a good getaway and it was lovely spending time with old friends.
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