ROFLOL! Thought I would share little of the travelogue I send Mandy and Chris with you all.
We have been having the best time. We cannot believe how
romantic this place it when you're here with the right person!
We arrived 45 minutes late on Friday, due to headwinds…but the limo was waiting and the driver took care of our luggage so we had no delays once we were on the ground. The island is breath taking, I had forgotten how GREEN Hawaii is, the resort is gorgeous. Our suite is on the ground floor with a private patio and hot tub that is surrounded by lush tropical vegetation with a path that opens onto a grassy slope the leads down to the rocks and the beach beyond. So far it has been in the low 80’s during the day and gloriously sunny with just a few clouds here and there.
Friday afternoon we just unpacked, walked around to orient ourselves and went for a swimming in the lagoon then laid out in the sun, had dinner in one of the restaurants here in the hotel, on the terrace over looking the ocean, afterward they had a small band for dancing so we danced under the stars. It was VERY romantic LOL, the time caught up with us about 9:30 so we soaked in the hot tub and turned in realtively early.
Saturday we had breakfast bright and early on our own patio and then went out on the Catamaran and saw Sweetheart Rock and Molokini. Molokini is a crescent moon-shaped islet located less than three miles off shore. Legend has it that Molokini was once a beautiful woman. She and Pele the fire goddess were in love with the same man. The jealous Pele cut her rival in two and transformed her into stone. The woman’s head is supposedly Puu Olai, the cinder cone by Makena Beach. We went snorkeling there. Gorgeous and there were lots of scuba divers. We saw tons of tropical fish, but the most amazing was a mother humpback whale and her baby.
About 20 sea miles away, and standing 80 feet tall is Puu Pehe—also known as "Sweetheart Rock and like everything else around here it has a legend as well. The story goes that a ravishing young princess was captured by a young warrior from the island of Lanai. He took her as his wife and brought her back to his home island. He was so stricken with her beauty that he was afraid to let other men see her, and thus he confined the princess to a sea cave near the rock. One day, when he was away, the weather suddenly changed, and the raging surf began to pound. The warrior rushed back to the cave, but it was too late: His beloved Puu Pehe had drowned. Heartbroken, he retrieved her body climbed the steep rock island, where he buried her in a tomb. Overcome with grief, the warrior then leapt off the rock to his death.
Satruday night we went in to Lahaina for dinner, and to this live show called Ulalena, it’s a kind of Cirque du Solei’ meets Hawaiian mythology…really good, lighting, special effects, costumes, music and dance, engrossing the 75 minutes time just flew.
This morning We rented a Jeep and went up into the hills to Upcountry Maui, home to the paniolo’s ( Hawaii's cowboys) to the town of Ulupalakua. Ulupalakua Ranch, is a 20,000-acre open range that overlooks the Ahihi-Kinau Reserve and La Perouse Bay. We went Horse back riding on their range and into the reserves and along the cliffs…The scenery was breathtaking, we saw axis deer, wild turkeys, quail and cattle, guava groves and patches of ironwood trees, a school of dolphin frolicking in the bay below. The area is also awash in glorious flower farms..the scent in the air is very heady.
Tonight we are going to the luau.
Tomorrow it’s the helicopter tour of the Island and we’re going snorkeling again. We leave Tuesday night and get home early Wednesday morning. So I’ll talk to you all Wednesday night. Take Care.
