In Search of Whales off Maui

 After a long journey from Alaska, the Humpback Whales are in Hawaii.  They are having their young ones, called calves.  Whales are easily spotted from land when they "blow".

We decided to take a closer look.  We signed up for a whale watching excursion aboard the Quicksilver.

The Quicksilver is based out of a small marina (above).  About 20 passengers made the trip.  The search for whales was on.

We got close to lots of whales.  The problem is this.  The whales jump out of the water, everyone screams, you point your camera, you hurriedly click the camera, and hope for the best.  Unfortunately, the whale is back in the water by the time you take your picture.  Like this:

Here are my best attempts.

The pictures were not so great, but the trip was.  The Captain's narrative about whales was amazing.  Then, there was the setting.  It is beautiful out there on the water.

We returned to the marina, very pleased with the trip.

The Sentry, a Golf Tournament

The best golfers in the world are here at Kapalua this week.  They are playing for a $3.5 million first place prize.  Some $20 million will be paid out.

We hailed the Kapalua shuttle bus to give us a lift up to the tournament.  We went early so we could walk the course.  Lucky for us, there were no other hikers on the course, the back nine holes.  We took in the beauty as we walked backwards, from hole 18, to 17, etc.  Number 18 is one of the most famous holes in golf.  Note that I am pointing at the length, a long, long 677 yards.  It is sharply downhill so most players are on or near the green in 2 shots.  Amazing.

An early-morning walk reminded us of the beauty of the course and the homes along the course.

We set up chairs on the very edge of the 10th green and watched the players come by.  We watched the entire field before moving to hole 18 to see many of them come in again.  Turns out this is one of the best places to set up camp.  The views are terrific.  Between players groups, we watched whales breaching in the distance.  We watched our favorite players come through.

Here is our seating arrangement, just off the green.  Here is Justin Rose in our group after he hit a shot a bit right.

Again, the views are outstanding up here on the hillside overlooking the sea.

We moved down to the bleachers at hole 18 to watch the action on the long hole.

Sit back and enjoy the final two days of the tournament, Saturday and Sunday, on TV as the world's best golfers compete on a super long golf course.  

There is a bird here on Maui with a sound like no other.  The sound of the Zebra Dove is so pleasant to hear when you step outside.  Take a listen:

Zebra Dove

Above the Clouds

Welcome back to Hawaii.  It is beautiful here.

It was time for a daytrip and our Mustang convertible was the right car for us to take a drive above the clouds.  We drove up Mt. Haleakala, a massive volcano which forms 75% of the island of Hawaii.  The road up was winding, and scenic.  It was weird driving through the clouds, then breaking out into the sunshine.  We were up over 10,000 feet.

Above the clouds.

Looking back.

So, the big deal here is to drive up to the summit for sunrise.  Indeed, we did that in 2015 with our entire family.  Please join me for a trip back in time.  It was cold on Mt. Haleakala as the sun came up over the clouds.

Next up is the golf tournament, and whale watching at sunset.  But first, please enjoy this short musical from Hawaii.

Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

We can see the whales breach from our villa.  Neat.  

We are at the Kapalua Villas on Maui, Hawaii for a week.  We keep coming back to these villas by the sea.  We time our visits with The Sentry annual golf tournament just up the hill from our villa.

Let me introduce you to the Kapalua Villas.  Here are some pics:

To our south is the Montage Resort complex:

To our north is the beautiful Ritz Carleton complex:

Now we can get to our Day 1 activities.  There is a long walking path along the sea, extending from the Montage, past our Kapalua Villas and on to the Ritz Carleton.  The path is almost two miles long.

After the long flight from Tampa to Maui, a day of recovery hiking along the sea was nice.  These pictures don't capture the beauty, but imagine the waves crashing into the shoreline.

Dianne and I would like to wish you a Happy New Year as we relax by the sea.

Tomorrow we will take a road trip up through the clouds to the top of a volcano.  Stay tuned.