Maui And Family Trips With Kids
Climbing Mount Fuji, paddling the Mississippi, getting lost in the jungles of Brazil - a heroic venture is needed for a travellers story. As I mentioned to my friends the next adventure, they seemed to act as thou I was planning to circle the Ice cap of the North Pole in fat bottom boat, or drive in the desert with my motor bike. In all honesty I was taking the family to Maui, the wonderful island of enchantment where my wife and I had met ten years ago during a Christian singles retreat. This time we were are alone, we had added our first keiki to the mix. Would we ruin the opportunity of romance?
Ten years before, we had walked up Haleakala during a cold windy morning to watch the sun rise over the crater, indulging in evening strolls along the white sandy beaches and memorable dinner along the ocean. I wont go into all the details, but the single most memorable time was driving along the Hanna road following Mauis north shore. The sea to our left smashed into the jagged volcanic rock. To our right was the deep green jungle.
So, we decided to visit Hanna, in a German utility vehicle, having barely passed around the hip surfers of Paia, the kids start babbling of heat and nausea, so we take a break at Hookipa Beach, and we stroll down the volcanic rock beach to view the surfers battle tremendous waves. Returning to our drive on the road, our eldest childs tan pales further with each switchback - and its off to the edge of the road. Then it is the youngest childs turn, though too late this time. During the midst of complaints, the obnoxious smell of breakfast fruit has us returning home. The islands grandeur remains the same - it is our holiday planning that must alter.
We find our selves spending mornings at the beach, just before the afternoon breeze brings up the surf. The children love to play and swim. I tried to body surf on the whitecaps, and tumbled into the breakwater. Our children build their castles against the sea, bury their feet and legs in the wet sand, and then snorkel with us. In the early afternoon we return to the cottage to shower, eat an excellently prepared lunch, then do school-work Hawaiian style sitting under a palm tree.
Activities are planned as learning experiences for the children, land-locked mid-westerners who know next to nothing of the ocean. Several thousand miles from any continent or major island group, the islands of Hawaii are the most isolated islands in the world. Being so isolated, it is no small wonder that nearly thirty percent of Hawaiis marine life can not be found anywhere else in the world.
Ulua Beach in Wailea, we can enjoy the unique opportunity to snorkel with a naturalist from a local marine life foundation, who educates us on names of variety of tropical fish and the urchins that live within the coral. We ventured out on the PWFs complex of marine life to do some snorkelling at Molokini and turtle viewing at Turtle Town. These trips have a reputation of being great for children, even taking them one on one during the boating expedition for an educational talk, with the opportunity to be an certified Junior Marine Naturalist.
Not all of our time is spent underwater. From Lahaina, we traveled to Kaanapali riding the old Pacific Railroad Sugar Cane Train. A long time ago, when sugar was king, the steam train hauled cane from the fields to mills for processing and sold to foreign merchant vessels. Now, the 1890 locomotive steams along the narrow track, while a conductor tells us about the sites along the old pacific corridor.
Our day of fun comes to an end and we walk along the ,many travelers rental vehicles, parking at the end of a long queue. The valet steps out from a car in front of us, mumbling about the smell of spoiled fruit and fish. Nothing like that back home, I smile. She seats herself into the driving seat and her nose begins to crinkle. We run off to the airport taxi thinking about how life is so different where you travel to.
