This year we returned to Maui at the end of June which was a bit later than normal due to the 2 months we spend in Italy and France – see the blog at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/sueandrenze/4/tpod.html We flew into Honolulu and then caught the Mokulele island hopper to Kapalua Airport where we were picked up by our neighbours, Jet and Mike. The plane is a single engine, 11 passenger aircraft so we were able to get some shots of Honolulu as we flew over. As usual, our first task next day was to pick up Chandler who at 14 ½ years old is still going strong.


Early in our stay we went to an art opening at one of our favourite galleries, Viewpoint in Makawao, a small town on the lower slopes of Haleakula . This of course, gave us the excuse to go to one of the best places in Maui to have dinner, Polli's Restaurant, a wooden shed with a tin roof, great atmosphere, friendly locals and the best margaritas and Mexican food on the island.

In the middle of July, Rebecca and Mark arrived for two weeks which was extended to three. Great time with all of us together, having poke (sashimi tuna to which is added avacardo or seaweed, etc) on the beach, a sunset cocktail cruise on the Gemini catamaran and some nice dinners, eg at Honu and a new favourite, The Cane and Canoe. While we were out on the water on the sunset cruise, the first yacht in the Victoria to Maui race, Valkyrie sailed to the finish line after 2,308 nautical miles (4,274 km) – breaking the race record by 17 hours, their time 8 days, 9 hours, 17 minutes and 56 seconds.

In between working on their app Friendin, Rebecca and Mark also relaxed, went for nice walks and did ziplining at Lahaina . There are two composite videos Mark made, one of the ziplining and the other of him swimming with the turtles at Kapalua Bay – all from the GoPro they gave Sue and me for Xmas.

We spend most mornings at either Napili Bay or Airport Beach relaxing, reading, swimming and doing lots of snorkelling. Not all bad!! This blog entry has a number of videos of us snorkelling made using the GoPro. Initially, there weren't that many fish around but all of a sudden towards the end of July they appeared.

We always have a return to Maui party but this year it had to be postponed twice, one because too many friends were off-island and then because of the threat of a hurricane hitting Maui. So far there have been 4 potential hurricanes coming here but all have veered away – instead we only have received lots of wind and rain. The party was finally held, Hawaiian style – bbq in the carport at the beginning of August which was a great success .

Missionaries have played an interesting and colourful part in the development of the Hawaiian Islands, especially from the middle of the 1800s. Bailey House in Wailuku, which was built in 1833, and one of the first western style house on Maui, was originally intended as a mission but was turned into a school for children run by Edward Bailey and his wife, Caroline. This is now a small museum with displays from when the house was the Bailey’s home. Two interesting items in one of the out houses are Duke Kahanamoku's 1919 redwood surfboard and 33-foot (10 m) 1900s era outrigger canoe which was carved from a single log and is one of the last koa fishing canoes made in Hawaiʻi.

One other experience we had was with our friend and neighbour, Nancy Phelps (www.nancyphelpsphotography.com) who was commissioned to take new photos of the yacht, Scotch Mist II, and we were invited as her guest for a sunset sail. It is a beautiful, 50 foot yacht with plenty of room and just a great experience on a perfect evening .

One of the more challenging things about driving in Maui is keeping an eye on what tourists in rental cars are doing. They like looking at the view while driving. A few weeks ago the inevitable happened to us when we were driving along the main highway, in heavy traffic so fairly slowly, when it happened – BANG. We were rear-ended by a tourist on the way to the airport taking their last look at the surfers. No-one was hurt and there was only slight damage to our truck but you can see in the photo how the rental car ended up – a mess. The police told us that it happens 2 or 3 times day at this time of year and 5 or 6 in whale season. Their insurer covered us which was nice.


On a personal note, Sue has been experimenting with her painting and trying out some new techniques and I have been coordinating the Quality program in Zambia as well as a few other professional activities. Who said retirement is quiet!!!

Tomorrow we are off to Hawaii, the Big Island for 5 days so we will have an entry on that trip some time towards the end of the month.