I used to live on Maui, in the Iao Valley, the very last house on the road at the base of the volcano. It was weird because everyone couldn't wait for me to see "the unusual" trees they have as you drive up through the park. I'm waiting and waiting, while everyone was in awe.....they were PINE trees! The only place they grown on the entire island! I was so unimpressed having lived in New England most of my life, Seattle and a wee bit of Oregon othertimes, that I just couldn't share their enthusiasm. (I was the odd man out so to speak).
I also spent time living in Haleakala, one of the most beautiful, and wealthy <at that time anyway> areas I could have had the fortune to live at (they have beautiful resorts, and I lived at the edge of a cliff, in a health resort with other
personal trainers, spa clinicians, massage therapists, etc.)....but also at the time I was there, much ground was being broken to put in several new gold courses!) Did you see the HUGE white dome capital hotel? That was being constructed when I was there. A lovely place to shop is Lahaina, but as the name means, "HOT",....it is HOT! There's no release from the heat there, even though it's near the water. They have some nice tattoo shops and souvenir shops though, like little funky native strip malls.
There's an excellent GERMAN restaurant of all things, which I couldn't believe (they served traditional, not "Americanized" German cookery....good thing I'm of German descent).
Did you go to the black beaches or do any surfing? The waves are gorgeous.
The one thing I couldn't get used to was how much of their sand was littered with what, to my feet, felt like thorns, and it was painful to walk across the beach. (Not all, just a few). Remember, too, as someone who lived there I didn't always hit up the tourist-y places, so that may explain my experiences.
I hope you had a chance to visit some places forbidden to "gaijin." Some of the inner areas of the island don't take kindly to visitors but because I lived there, and was with people who had, I was extended the "temporary" courtesy of not being viewed, treated or labeled as a gaijin. I was privy to a lot of things that non-natives never got to experience. It's a very different lifestyle (not as polished), but you get a unique flavor and taste to the lifestyle.
I miss Maui greatly. (And isn't the coffee wonderful? Even IF the pineapple is outrageously expensive and illegal to eat, even if a tree grows in your yard!) We had pineapple trees and PEACH trees of all things (or some fruit that looked like a peach) but we were forbidden to pick and eat from the trees.
I am sure you enjoyed your stay, and I hope you have the chance to return.
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