Maui

For the past few days I have been enjoying the start of my four week vacation with a little stopover in Maui on my way to San Francisco. I arrived on Sunday, 3 December via three flights with brief stops in Sydney and Honolulu. The weather here has been slightly cooler than the heatwave I experienced in Melbourne over the past two weeks, but it has been warm and pleasant. I have been staying at the Aston Ka'anapali Shores in a junior suite with a kitchen (thanks to a free upgrade). The place is very close to where I stayed when I was last here in 2011. They have two great pool areas, hot tubs and assorted activities on the grounds each day, although there isn't really any beach access. However, I still had lovely views of a couple good sunsets along the water when the clouds weren't too thick.

The main reason for the stopover in Maui was to meet up with my brother James, sister-in-law Simi and her family, my nephew Logan and niece Kylie. It has been good to spend time with them and celebrate a couple family milestones. One was James and Simi renewing their wedding vows on Kapalua Beach to celebrate their ten year wedding anniversary this year. After the short ceremony we celebrated with champagne and appetizers at the outside seating area of Merriman's Maui.

We also celebrated Logan's birthday by going to the Maui Ocean Center, which has a mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits. We happened to be there on the day that they do vet check-ups for the green sea turtles, so it was very exciting for Logan to watch as the staff cleaned, measured and weighed them. The place is a perfect spot for kids to explore, and was also a good activity for what turned out to be a very windy day.

Overall these past few days have been fairly chill, with a lot of time spent in the pool swimming with Logan and Kylie. Yesterday I had most of the day to myself as my brother went golfing, so I walked down to the public part of Ka'anapali Beach to sit and watch the waves and get a bit of sun. I had lunch at Duke's Beach House, where my awesome waitress comped me a Hula Pie, which is made of a chocolate cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge, toasted macadamia nuts and whipped cream. It was delicious (and filling).

This morning I bid farewell to everyone as they were on an earlier flight to Sacramento, and grabbed breakfast at the Beach Club before heading off to the airport for my flight to San Francisco. It's colder in the Bay Area, but not as bad as I was expecting for a nighttime arrival (and no fog!).