Ribby's Pie Dish: February 2013

Yes, dear readers, we did spend time at the beach while in Maui. But our focus for these five days was most definitely seeking out the full experience of nature in the hills, mountains, sea and of course sand. To do this, we couldn't spend too much time lying around soaking up the rays. One of the best destinations for white sand in Maui is the still fairly undeveloped Makena Beach on the south shore. This was our destination for Thursday. With our other goal of seeking out as much fine art as possible, we also planned on a quick stop by the Four Seasons Maui resort in Wailea.

The morning started, however, with breakfast at The Plantation House restaurant in Kapalua. We sat by an open window overlooking the North Shore of Maui and Lanai. The atmosphere was very elegant and yet somehow completely laid back, friendly and casual. Yet another example of how even the more formal venues on Maui always end up being relaxed and convivial. I had quite possibly the very best eggs benedict ever. Light and fluffy, with lox instead of ham, pescetarian-style.

The pineapple motif on the carpeting at the restaurant was quietly elegant. I loved the soft turquoise of the planters, inside and outside.

We then headed to the Four Seasons to say hello to Kari McCarthy once again. Kari was there for the weekly artists' showcase. Kari transports a number of paintings and her easel to make the trip from Kula each week. It's a fantastic opportunity for these artists to speak with hotel guests and others, like us, who come just to see the collection. After our visit with her, we walked around to view more of the artists and their work, in addition to the works installed throughout the open air Wailea foyer. This is known as Maui's premiere collection for art, a real step up from nearly all the galleries and work we saw in Lahaina. One of my favorites was this antique quilt. The actual color was a bit softer and rosier than it appears in these photos. Nevertheless, I like seeing it as a sunset orange, too.

Mika McCann is a fiber artist who works with local dried plant fibers of all kinds. We saw a display cabinet of her work, some of which we had also seen in Lahaina at the gallery in the old courthouse.

Then our Thursday road trip really started. The road to Makena Beach was carved straight out of lava flow ("the flow," as we were told by a Haleakala park ranger on Tuesday).

We had an opportunity to stop at a scenic outlook for yet another opportunity to view breaching and spouting humpbacks. The Hawaii Ocean Project had a couple of staff members available to hand out information and answer questions.

On the road once more, no longer a paved four lane highway, but a rocky, dusty two lane road with little to no shoulder. Here we were truly in the middle of an old lava field, barren and inhospitable to plant life. The dark rock and soil appears to be fertile, but we had learned that it contains virtually no nitrogen, essential for supporting growth. I reasoned that the fat cable we saw must have been for internet service for residents who lived out this way. There were far fewer cars at this point, as the trip out here is more of a commitment and not as widely known. Good thing. This is probably why Makena remains less developed and there are fewer tourists like us to disturb its natural beauty. These fields were also used at some point for explosives tests, and there were signs posted everywhere warning visitors not to step off the road because of the danger of encountering unexploded ordnance.

We drove beyond Makena first so we could stop and admire the haunting beauty of La Perouse Bay. This isn't much of a beach for soaking up the sun, but the contrast of the black rock with the blue water and golden sand was quietly beautiful. This protected wildlife sanctuary contains a wide array of sea and land creatures as well as sensitive and important indigenous Hawaiian cultural sites and objects. Walking and sitting on the rock to pose for these photos was a bit tricky.