Sunday 17 May 2015

Hawaii Four-0


I've always had a notion that it might be easier to turn 40 on a beach somewhere, sipping a Mai Tai.  After all, many things are easier on a beach somewhere, sipping a Mai Tai.  So for my milestone birthday in April, I packed my bags and my baby and headed for Maui.

Mr Super Traveller

Unfortunately, I failed to pack my driver's licence or credit card.  Oops!  I discovered this at the check in counter when I tried to pay for my luggage.  Mom, who had joined me at YVR, was less than impressed.  But not surprised, I suspect. 

We got changed into our Hawaiian gear before landing.  Even Throckmorton.

Derek was not able to come on this trip, but I had two other fantastic fellow travellers: Mom, who joined us in Vancouver, and Bronwyn, who met us in Maui. Neither of them wanted to be my chauffeur or sugar-mama, so Derek got right on the task of sending my cards by courier.  

We quickly fell into a very chill morning routine.  B & I would go for a run through Wailea, finishing up at the Honolulu Coffee Co, where we would meet Mom for our morning Nutty Hawaiian Latte.  Finley came along for the ride, which was a pretty slow ride going up the hills!




After our coffees we would walk back along the water & I like to jump in the water at Keawakapu beach to cool off.  Finley, however, did not like it the first time I did that!  Here he is, trying to save me from the unseen dangers for the ocean.  If this blog had sound effects, you would be muting this picture.


I took advantage of the freedom afforded by having two excellent babysitters with me.  I've wanted to do my rescue diver course for a long time, so I finally did it.  It was a fun course and I learned a lot.  I spent my the morning of my 40th birthday pulling my instructor up to the surface, doing in water rescue breaths and pulling him up on the beach.  It was a fair work-out!  No photos of my course - it was too full on to stop for a photo op!

However, I will share some pics of what Finley got up to with his grandma & auntie:

1. Ate bacon.  Approximately one pound.


 2.  "Walked" it off.



 3. Ate chocolate.



It would be fair to say that he really enjoyed his time with them.... As long as they didn't try to take him to the beach or the pool.  These were not popular places with Finley, making me temporarily wonder if I really bore this child!

Our first beach trip was to Secret Beach, which is quite aptly named.  On the day we visited, there was only one other group there.

Secret beach, all to ourselves

As you can see, Finley was not overjoyed.  Perhaps he was embarrassed to be seen with his mommy in her "sporty" sunglasses.



Auntie Bronwyn tried to lure him into having some fun with sandcastles....



 But he maintained a death grip on me while proclaiming "All done beach".



I thought he might warm up to the beach as the trip wore on.... Well, we did manage to get to the point where he didn't cry at the beach.  As long as you let him stay in his stroller.  Here he flashes a rare beach smile for the camera.



The pool wasn't any more successful.  He was OK with hanging out on the edge of the pool, perhaps sticking a foot in, but that was it.  I wonder if he saw that same James Bond movie that traumatized me as a kid... the one where the woman is swimming in a pool and the villain somehow solidifies the surface while she is under water.  That's all I remember about it, but it scared me!


"Bye bye" to the pool and "all done" at the beach... you are probably wondering if he liked Maui.  I think he did.  We did lots of great walks, hung out on the lanai, played with the doors in the condo, and found an amazing playground.  Not to mention eating off the Keiki menu at some local dinning spots.








I had a great birthday, which we celebrated by eating and drinking!  Bronwyn and I had birthday shave ice from Ululani's, a fabulous shave ice place in Kihei.  I went to town & got ice cream and mochi on mine!  Yum.  I requested that we do the shave ice as a sort of tropical version of a birthday cake.  Little did I know that mom & Bronwyn had planned a surprise for me after dinner: coconut cream pie & lilokoi cream pie.  Triple birthday treats!  I remember hearing something about how one's metabolism speeds up at age 40. 





We ate in on my birthday as my dive course had taken up a good chunk of the day.  However, a few days later we had a very special treat (talk about stretching my birthday luck!) - lunch at Mama's Fish House.  This is one of those places that you think couldn't possibly be up to all the hype, or possibly worth the price.  It is and it is!  The food is amazing and the views are pretty hard to beat.  We got a front row beach front table.

My meal: Ahi tuna

Mom & Bronwyn both had stuffed Mahi Mahi

Finley's meal (his choice!)

Aloha!

Our view - WOW!


We did more than eat, believe it or not!  I went for a dive on the West side of the island (over by Lahaina).  The dive boat was supposed to go to Lanai, where I dove once before, but the weather prevented us.  That was disappointing - Lanai is famous for its lava caves & black coral.  Hopefully next time I'll have more success.

Here is one of the last photos I took before I killed my "waterproof" camera



Bronwyn spent her evenings taking gorgeous sunset photos from various beaches around Wailea.

An artist at work
My sunset photos sometimes look like this...

But often I was just lazy & took a photo from the lanai while I hung out with mom & shared a beer with...

Throckmorton!
It seemed like the trip flew by, then suddenly it was time to head back home.  I can't wait until next year when we can continue the beach & pool exposure therapy with Finley!  Big Mahalos to Mom & Bronwyn for looking after Finley while I took some "me" time to rest my weary 40 year old bones!

He looks like a surfer dude, right?

KO'ed