West Maui Circle Trip

After John finished his snorkel trip, we headed for the west part of Maui. Our plan was to have lunch in Lahaina and then see how we felt. If you visit www.gohawaii.about.com/library/maps/blclickable_map_of_Maui.htm, you can see all these places I'm talking about. Lahaina is one of the oldest towns, dating back to the 16th century. Many of the original missionaries came here to begin their work. Alot of folks find it charming but it was a little too touristy for us. But we did find a nice Thai restaurant for lunch and then wandered around town some.

This is the Baldwin House, oldest house on the Island. It was home to the Protestant medical missionary, Dwight Baldwin and his family from the mid-1830's to 1868.

The Banyan Tree in front of the Courthouse. It's more than 60 feet high and casting shade on 2/3 of an acre. It was planted in April 1873. Absolutely incredible.

After a short wander, we decided to head up the coast and do the circle trip since we were already part way along. The road follows the coastline pretty closely most of the way around so the views are great. There are a ton of very nice resorts along the far west side. We were using our trusty Maui Revealed book and it said to stop at the Ritz-Carlton and walk along the edge of the gold course to the cliffs to see the Dragon's Teeth...pretty amazing.

Next up was the gorgeous Honolua Bay...
Just another view of the water...

We're starting to head across the top now and find The Nakalele Blowhole...

We come around a curve and see hundreds of Century Plants covering a mountainside...
Coming to the northeast corner we see the Kahakuloa Head in the distance...

The road is starting to get really narrow now....and whoa, what's this...a single lane road for a mile and a half along the side of the mountain....what an adventure!! But what views--however can't stop to take a picture!! Ah, almost to Kahakuloa Town and the end of the first single lane road. Pretty much the rest of the east side of the drive is on very narrow road, but what a beautiful drive....