DAY 4 IN HAWAII: THE ROAD TO HANA: SPECTACULAR! Pictures and Videos of our day at the end of the blog.

Aloha!

Pre-blog note: If there are large gaps in the spacing on the blog my apologies in advance. I haven't quite figured out why that is happening. Just keep scrolling down until you see "Aloha Alan" :-)

It was a fantastic day today. We were up at 5:00AM and because I knew I would have no time for breakfast I pre-bought this granola yogurt fruit bowl.







































We then hit the Road to Hana. It's a famous drive with a lot of stops along the way but it basically involves about 6 hours of driving along roads that constantly twist and turn. This video is only a mild section of what we drove through (and you can see a sense of the "windiness" if you look at the GPS screen in the car):



We enjoyed the trip very much but we wouldn't do it again. Once is a must and once is enough. When you get out of the car at the end you feel a bit like you have been on a never ending rollercoaster.

We packed food for the day. Some was good and a lot was not so healthy but the following is what was consumed along the way plus some additional fruit.












































































This is a home made roast beef and cheese sandwhich for the road.







































We read multiple places that we HAD to buy Banana Bread in Hana so we did (they were sampling it with jelly and once we tasted the jelly we had to buy that too).



As soon as we got home we had a quarter of the loaf each (with jelly). This is my serving:



Dinner at home was skinless chicken with eggs, rice and green beans:







































Late night snack was rice thin crackers with cheese (I'm not tracking but I did calculate the cheese out at 3 Smartpoints for 2 Tablespoons):







































The stop involved a lot of challenging walks up hills and through rocky terrain so I feel like I got a good workout. I spent about an hour and a half swimming in the ocean too. Hopefully that helped counterbalance at least a bit of the food.

These are some additional pictures from our drive and stops along the road to Hana:

Here are a few videos we took:



Today is my birthday. I thought abought saying I was just going to enjoy the day, not worry today and not post my food, but I have decided that instead I will enjoy the day, not wirry today and post my food anyway. It is what it is and it is all part of the journey.

Photos tomorrow :-) I am going snorkelling at an underwater crater tomorrow too!

Aloha

Alan

DAY 3 IN HAWAII: Au Naturale Day

Aloha!

I woke up hungry yesterday morning but didn't want to have breakfast right away as I wanted to have it with Jamie (or maybe I just wanted him to make it) but he isn't allowed to eat for two hours or so after taking his Synthroid (Thyroid Replacement Pill), so I had some fruit to tide me over.



That didn't prove to be enough so I had more fruit :-)



That did the trick until Jamie started cooking. He made eggs, turkey, and veggies on toast. Perfect!



The morning was spent swimming in the pool and on the local beach and sitting in the hot tub (have I mentioned I love the hot tub?). Jamie made lunch (I am a lucky man) but said he felt like something more substantial today so he made pasta with pork and green beans.



It was then time to get in the car and hit the road. The first stop was a street side fruit and veggie market where we picked up more goodies:





The plan was to hit Makena Beach (better known as "Big Beach") and that was exactly what we did. It is only about a 20 minute drive with great ocean and golf course views along the way.

When we got there we saw a Fish Taco stand. We had heard so much about Fish Tacos we wanted to try one.



I had one bite and knew it really wasn't my thing so one bite was enough. Felt pretty proud of myself for not just "eating it anyway". Even Jamie thought it was "just ok".

Big Beach was absolutely beautiful and Jamie and I both had a great afternoon. He relaxed in the shade (which is what he loves to do) and I played around in the ocean for the afternoon (I think I should have been a fish...not the kind that ends up in a Taco though).







There is another side to "Big Beach" called "Little Beach". You have to climb over a hill of rocks to get to it but once on the other side you will find yourself on a nudist beach. I didn't take pictures for obvious reasons, but couldn't resist the temptation to jump in the water "au naturale".

It was a very freeing feeling but I think I would have liked it a lot better if I was the one one there. Jamie kept his clothes on and continued to enjoy the shade.

After getting home I decided that since it was "Global Runners Day" I should actually go for a run. I ran 5K. The first 1.5km was on the beach in the wet sand and was tough (but I now know that our stretch of beach is exactly 1.5km) and then I jumped up onto the road to run the rest. After I finished I jumped back in the Ocean and walked through the water another 1km home. It felt great and I think the salt water will be good for my knees and Achilles post-run.



When we were driving back from the beach earlier in the day we picked up some Mahi Mahi and some Moon Fish and Jamie made Fish with Brown rice and vegetables for dinner ( I really am spoiled).



I had some more fruit as snacks later. I know..it is a lot of fruit...but compare it to what I would have consumed if I had eaten out three times today.

All is good.

Today we are driving the famous Road to Hana . We are heading out about 6am (I'm posting this at 5"10AM Hawaii time) so it will be an early start but should be a great day!

Aloha

Alan

DAY 2 IN HAWAII: It was cloudy and rainy but who cares?

Aloha!

It was a cloudy/rainy day here in Maui yesterday but we made the most of it.

I couldn't have asked for a better start to the day as Jamie made me Smoked Salmon and Eggs on toast!

We had a leisurely morning at the resort (I enjoyed the hot tub immensely) and had turkey sandwiches for lunch before heading out to visit a new beach.

The beach was called Baldwin Beach. It was perfect because the beach was large, the water was warm, the waves were fun (I love big waves and at times they came in big) and because it was cloudy with drizzles of rain there was virtually nobody there. We even had our own private Lifeguard :-)

 

After walking the beach and playing in the water for a couple of hours we headed over to the hippy town of Paia. It really was like a step back in time. It was pouring rain at this point so we didn't take many pictures but it was fun checking out the artsy shops and having coffee with the hippy crowd listening to throw-back music. I wish I had taken pictures of some of the hippies. We are talking long hair, beads around the neck, clothing that is practical, loose, and artsy, on chilled back people just enjoying life. I was almost jealous of their carefree lifestyle. Then again...we all know that nothing is ever as simple as it appears. I'm sure they all have their own life challenges. I'm not sure they all actually have a home.

We also stopped by this Tibetan Buddhist Church Shrine when the skies cleared for a bit.

I had read a review about a great Sushi restaurant called Nuka about 15 minutes further down the road. It was very good but probably not worth the price. We did eat well and picked up some organic fruit from the market across the street.

At the restaurant we ordered a Sushi Platter and a Sashimi Platter and shared it.

Jamie saw Udon (noodle soup) and he loves Udon so he ordered that and it came with a plate of Tempura. I had a taste test of the Udon soup and two pieces of Tempura. This was my portion.

After this we headed home to relax for the evening. Relaxing for me meant enjoying 2/3 of this while enjoying the sunset.

 

Today the weather looks a bit iffy but the sun is shining now. We will head to another beach later (called Big Beach) and just let the day unfold.

Thursday and Friday are quite structured so for now...it is just relax time. 

Alan