Tuesday, June 25
Youll be glad to know that on the next day, we remained on fully paved roads. They even had lane lines painted on them and everything. Nothing but the finest in highway engineering technology.
After such a long, hard day of driving, it was time to have a little fun. We got up and had our breakfast and coffee (note: my aunt praised me for brewing it strong every morning) and the kids put on their swim gear. This was one of the days they were looking forward to the most on the trip: surfing lessons!
Last year, when I had finished off our
Surprise Disney Trip Report (shameless plug), I had outlined the plan to go to Hawaii. Dan (FauntleroyFan07) sent me a message telling me that his sister-in-law lived on Maui and gave surfing lessons on the side, and that he could put us in touch if we were interested. So, I checked with the kids. Scotty, as cautious as ever, decided there were too many unknowns involved to try it. But Sarah and David looked at me as though I had just asked them if they wanted their own fully-functional Iron Man armor suits for Christmas. Surfing lessons? Sign me up!
So, Dan put me in touch with his SiL, Melissa. He also told me shed probably give us a family and friends discount. Seeing as how Ive never actually met Dan in person, I didnt know if I could pull this off, so I spent some time memorizing his family, including his wife Candi, son Parker, and daughter Whats-Her-Face.
Just kidding. Its Noelle. I did have to ask Dan what his last name was, though, just in case it came up.
Anyway, just the fact that Dan was willing to set this up for me just goes to show how cool DISers are in general, and how awesome Dan is in specific. Thanks, man.
Id spent a little time e-mailing Melissa back and forth and wed set up our lesson for Tuesday morning. We met at Kalama Beach Park on the south edge of the town of Kihei. Melissa was incredibly warm and sweet, and seemed to hit it off with the kids right away. We walked across the street to a local outfit that rented surfboards (sorry, I didnt write down the name of it). Melissa had told us to wait for her before we rented boards because the people who ran the shop knew her and would give us the locals rate as opposed to the gouge the tourists rate. Sounded good to us.
We got boards and booties (lava rocks and coral underwater will do a number on bare feet) and walked back to the beach. Next to Kalama Beach Park is a sandy area called The Cove, where a coral reef forms a ring out in the water that keeps the waves relatively calm. It appeared to be a popular spot for first-time surfers and paddle-boarders to get their feet wok, sorry, I cant use that obvious pun here. You might start to think this is one of Barrys TRs.
Melissa took Sarah and David off to the side, still on land, and started going over the basics with them while Julie and I tried to keep Scotty entertained on the beach.
Were we worried about how Sarah and David would do? A little. We had tried to coach them up beforehand, that it was going to be tricky, theyd probably fall in the water a lot, not to get discouraged, keep trying your best, etc. You know how it is with kids. Sometimes if you dont have instant success, you quit on things too easily. Naturally, this tendency completely disappears once you become an adult.
At least there was
absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of
sending them out in the ocean.
You know what? They need some cool surfer nicknames. Lets call them Sharkbait and Chum.
So where was I? Right, the beginning of the lesson. Melissa kept Sharkbait and Chum on dry land for the first 15-20 minutes, teaching them proper positioning. Heres how you lie on the board, heres how you paddle to catch a wave, try and catch it at this point, and then heres how you jump up on the board when its the right time. I didnt really get to hear the specifics, so dont expect me to give you any demonstrations later.
Finally, it was time for them to hit the waves.
I guess I should say waves since it was so calm, but you have to start small. Melissa led them out to the point where the small waves were breaking and spoke to the kids some more.
They patiently listened and took the instructions. Finally, it was time for their very first attempt. Julie got the camera ready.
Scotty watched with rapt attention.
Melissa got Sharkbait and Chum lined up.
A small wave approached, and they started paddling
And they both got up!
We cheered from shore, and Melissa cheered from the water, so they heard it in surround sound. Hopefully. Seriously, it was amazing. I never dreamed theyd have such an easy time of it, but they were consistently getting on their feet and riding the waves in. They looked like naturals.
Ok, if youre posing for pictures, I think that means you really got the hang of it.
They were in the water for the rest of the hour, getting instruction, riding waves, and generally having a blast.
They came ashore, and we thanked Melissa profusely. She was wonderful with them, and I have no hesitation recommending her to anyone who is interested in trying this out. She said she would welcome any business!
I have a great picture of her with the kids and their boards, but I didnt ask her permission to post it so I wont do that on a public board. In any case, this worked out better than any of us had expected, and at the end of the trip both Sarah and David would mention this as one of their favorite things they did.
Wed paid for an hour with Melissa, so her time was up. Even though she only charged the family rate, we thought she deserved a little extra to show some gratitude. After she left, Sharkbait and Chum begged to go out and try again. Sure, why not?
They didnt have the same success as they did with Melissa, and I think it was because they needed the little push she was giving them from behind to get them going with momentum. They werent quite strong enough to paddle the boards themselves. But thats ok. They were still having a blast.
Meanwhile, we were apparently taking pictures of trees.
I guess we were getting a little bored. In any case, it was approaching mid-day and we had a bit of a drive ahead of us, so we called the kids in and returned the boards. Then we piled into the Jeep (miraculously returned to us after Hana) and drove around the west coast of the island towards the town of Lahaina.
Right on the tip of the West Maui Mountains, before you turn north up the coast, theres a scenic overlook and I pulled over just because at that point, the water was unbelievably gorgeous. Theres a line in The Shawshank Redemption where Red speaks of an ocean so blue it hurts your eyes and at that moment, I understood it completely. We tried to take pictures and I dont think they truly captured the spectacular hue of the ocean that day. But it was still a nice view.
We drove on to the town of
Lahaina, an old fishing village turned resort town on the west coast. Its still known for its harbor and fishing charters, as well as many, many tourist shops and restaurants/bars. Parking is a bear there. Theres one free lot in town and it fills up quickly. We did a drive-by and it was full, so we found a pay lot that wasnt too hard on us and walked into the town. We headed for the
Banyan Tree Park right along the waterfront. Youll never guess whats there.
Crap, you guessed it. Anyway, a banyan tree planted in 1873 looked like a perfect spot for lunch, so we sat on a bench under the tree and had our standard gourmet meal of crème de la peanut and grape reduction sauce on baked, sliced dough.
As lunchtime entertainment, we were treated to an older woman badmouthing her employer and cursing non-stop to her friends. Im sure my kids enjoyed the never-ending stream of profanity.
As soon as we finished lunch, Scotty decided to follow the First Rule of Banyan Trees. So he found a good hiding spot.
We cruised the shops for a little while, taking note of which obnoxious Hawaiian shirts might be good possibilities to make the trip home with us. We also ducked into
Crazy Shirts (the same place that does the t-shirts for Aulani) and found that they were becoming our favorite touristy t-shirt shop on the islands. We liked their Kona coffee-dyed shirts (they actually did smell like coffee) as well as a fun Road To Hana Survival Kit shirt that may or may not have made the trip home as a future Christmas present for somebody.
We didnt spend a lot of time there (dont worry, well come back later) because David and I were on a special mission that afternoon. We were going to cross an item off my bucket list.
Coming Up Next: Id keep playing. I dont think the heavy stuff will come down for another couple of hours.
just kidding, she is a great person.
That was our favorite accomplishment in Hawaii- it was totally righteous, Dude! So thrilling to see your two oldest doing it!
