Thanksgiving in Maui

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So last we spoke it was Thanksgiving Sunday morning and I was sitting in the living room of our condo. I now find myself early on a Tuesday morning on our deck catching up on our activities and my thoughts from Sunday and Monday. We have done quite a bit on our few days 'on island' so far, as is par for the course with the Charles-Roberts family (and Rachel has been game every step of the way, with the amazing ability to sleep in when the rest of us are raring at an ungodly hour).

Sunday morning was our first full day, and several of us were awake and making breakfast at a very early hour. It's worth reminding that with the lack of daylight savings time and a two hour time change, a 6am wakeup is actually 9am in Victoria. Anywho, Lori made us a great cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and coffee, and the Charles-Roberts' all chatted and exchanged thoughts on our hectic trip and the day ahead. We had a slow morning, and eventually rounded everyone up and headed to Kapalua Bay for sunning and snorkeling. We all went in the van, and attempted to follow Garmin's directions. We ended up going right around the moon so to speak, as the parking lot for the bay was very hard to find. At one point a valet said it was 5 turns back, and we all counted aloud, then Snorkel Bob said it was 3 ahead and we all counted aloud. We did eventually find it, and walked down through the amazing looking Napili Kai Resort to the beach. There was a nice restaurant overlooking the bay (The Sea House), and a sandy beach with swaying palm trees like something out of an elvis movie. Rachel and I and Jeremy went straight in to snorkel. Mum (Anne), Dad (Tony), Andrew, and Lori paddled while Jeremy was getting used to the snorkeling while Rachel and I ventured further out towards the point. There were a few fish along the coral on the edges of the bay, and it was great to be back face down in the water (you know what I mean). After a couple of hours enjoying the amazing bay and water and fish and trade winds and peace, we piled back in the van to reset and clean up at the condo before more adventures.

We drove south to Duke's on the beach at Kaanapali for a happy hour drink and pupus (term for appies in Hawaii, FYI). There was a guy playing ukulele on the patio, and we relaxed and grazed and chatted. It was hot in the sun, but that's not a bad thing (except for those of us that had to apply substantial aloe that evening).

We then drove down to the Sheraton at Kaanapali to get more sun. I snorkeled along the south base of the rock, while we watched people dive in off the rock itself. I saw quite a few more fish, along with quite a large sea turtle. I didn't like the fact that a group was following it around a little closer than one would like, but they weren't touching or hopefully bothering it too much. As the sun set, there was a cliff diving ceremony where a flaming torch bearer (that's a guy holding aloft a lit tiki torch) ran around the patios of the Sheraton lighting the tiki torches, then ran up the rock and down to the end. He did a few bows with a lei and the torch, then dove in the water, to applause from the crowd on the beach. We then headed back to the condo for dinner.

We made pizza and salad and had an early night, with the prospect of venturing up the volcano Haleakala ahead of us very early on Monday morning...

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