Today is our last full day in Hawaii. I am always so sad to leave a place where I’ve had a wonderful time; New Orleans. Europe. New York. Vermont. Now here. I’m beyond grateful that I have such a happy life to go home to, but when I think I might never see this place again – almost certainly not in this same way – it makes me very sad. What a marvelous time we’ve had here.
Our adventure today started – last night! That’s right, Dan and Stef actually did something at night. We must be on vacation or something.
First, a little background. I really assumed Hawaiian music didn’t hold a lot for me. I thought there would be a lot of slide guitar, which is not my favorite. But Dan kind of forced me to listen to Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, and I was hooked. The Spotify autoplay after his albums yielded even more loveable music; Dennis Pavao, Gabby Pahinui, on and on, hour after hour of wistful, plaintive acoustic music that suited the keep-it-simple Hawaiian vibe. And the vocals! Men and women alike with incredible vocal ranges. Songs I could really relate to. Songs in lilting, vowel-rich Hawaiian.
At Sandy Brewer’s suggestion, we went to the Slack Key Masters performance down the street from us. First, a tour of the Napili Nui, a new resort to us, where the event was being held. View of Napili Beach from their fancy restaurant:
Their fancy hibiscus:
The walk up to the concert venue:
The venue:
Two of the performers connecting before the show:
We are so, so glad we went. The opener, a mainstay for these performances named Shem Kahawaii, was magnificent, and embodied everything I’ve loved about Hawaiian music. The most fantastic voice. I was immediately swept up.
There were two other performers, a bluesy Hawaiian named Kevin Brown, and a white Hawaiian ukelele player named Brad Bordessa. They were both great, but neither moved me like Shem. At the opening and closing, a hula dancer, Wainani, joined them, and she was a beautiful older lady in a gorgeous dress – no grass skirt, thank you. It was all very tasteful and felt like a cultural experience that I didn’t have to feel gross about. For the final number, all 4 of them graced the stage.
Overall, extremely satisfying – something I probably wouldn’t have done 9 times out of 10, but was so glad I did.
And then, it was pitch dark out, and the clearest skies we’d seen the whole trip. On our way home, we went stargazing. Out at the edge of the world, you can see a lot of stars.
You can even see the Milky Way.
We finished our night, then got up for our last day. I have to pause here to say how fun the waves have been in the cove outside our lanai. A big one rolls along the rocks, detonating as it goes like a chain reaction of depth charges.
We didn’t have the most ambitious plans for the day. We wanted to revisit some of our favorite spots, and leave plenty of time for the fairly complicated packing we needed to do to make way for all our Hawaii booty.
We enjoyed our morning with our cat friend, who I’ve been calling Kukui Nut.
First up: Honokeana Cove, right outside our front door. It’s Snorkel Time. We looked for turtles on our way. Would it be a good day? We only saw one, but resolved to try anyway. To our relief, the waves looked much calmer than they’d been when we tried the other day. On that somewhat murky day, the water hadn’t been very clear. Most worryingly, we weren’t able to leave through the put-in spot, because the waves threatened to knock us into the rocks. Today, no such thing, people were getting out just fine.
And wow! What snorkeling! The water was much clearer, and we found the spot where the turtles hang out. We saw one, then another, then another – they were everywhere! There were giant ones and small ones, and one of the smaller ones kept swimming toward and around me. I tried to stay the regulation 10 feet away, but he just kept chasing me. I got a good look at his coloring and his tortoiseshell pattern. There were so many, there was no counting. There were other fish too, I think?
JK, we saw some gorgeous moorish idols, tangs, and several long skinny barracuda looking fellows we couldn’t quite identify. It was a great day of snorkeling.
We headed to Honolua Bay. Folks, the secret is out about Honolua Bay. The shoulders for a half mile around were crowded with cars overflowing the parking lots. But the forest was gorgeous again. It’s my single favorite Maui place, so here are a million photos.
Also – another very handsome rooster.
The cove was neat, but we weren’t going to beat this morning’s snorkeling. We admired the blue water and calm waveless ocean, and headed back.
We drove a half mile up the hill to overlook this magnificent little wonder from above. Seriously, it’s desert all around, then this little patch of the most lush rainforest you ever saw. It’s a miracle.
Look at the color of that water!
We headed to Kapalua Beach, where, again, we were happy to see very low and unintimidating waves. We spent a pleasant hour there, including a dip in the ocean and a hibiscus kombucha.
We stopped by the apartment for a snack, and we were so glad we did, because not 15 minutes after we got home, it started misting…then drizzling…and before we knew it, we were in a proper rainstorm! Our first on Maui.
We enjoyed a cerveza and some taro chips (a Stef favorite that Dan had found at Napili Market) while it rained off and on, and then I went for a quick dip in the resort pool.
After some suitcase engineering, we were ready for dinner, and resolved to go to the tiki bar next door at Napili Shores, site of the wonderful Gazebo restaurant with the macadamia nut pancakes we agreed was our single favorite meal of the trip.
Was it a fantasy of mine to get foofy drinks with elaborate garnishes? Yes, and I didn’t even dream of them being in tiki-themed glasses, so, way to outperform, Maui. Virgin pina colada, and an NA hibiscus margarita.
We got Maui nachos – wontons with kalua pork and other wonderful Hawaii things.
We got the luau plate, but as you know, we are failures as bloggers and did not get a photo. It was dramatic too! With pork wrapped in taro leaves and cooked (not bad), and all kinds of yummy Hawaiian things. It was a very festive end to our meals here.
And we were back for the sunset. Yoga on the lanai, and this Lion King moment for Kukui Nut:
If you’re going to have a last sunset in Hawaii, this is a great one.
The Hawaiian folk music was right, and tears might have rolled down my face. It’s a good thing we have our kitties to come home to, or we might never leave at all.
I’ll post some wrap-up reflections this weekend. Thanks for following along!