Maui Christmas

                      

It was Christmas Eve and our flight was completely full with passengers who were not dreaming of a white Christmas.

We had been flying over water for many hours when islands came into view that appeared to be floating among the clouds. It was a beautiful first impression of Maui.

Walking off the plane and into the terminal I waited for the first breath of flower scented air that I have always experienced on Oahu.  I wasn't disappointed.

One of my fellow crewmembers lives on the island, and he surprised me with an orchid lei because it was my first visit here.   A lovely tradition!

Christmas day was warm and sunny, with a cooling breeze.

A perfect day for the beach.  There are bicycles available at

our hotel and one of my friends went for an early morning ride. I will have to do that on my next trip, since I was tired (or just lazy)  and slept in till about 8am.

I was fascinated by the palm trees that are planted around our hotel.  I wondered if they really grew into that shape  without any help.   I asked about them and was told that they have been trained to grow this way.   I'm still not sure how they do it, but it is a beautiful effect.



I headed down to the beach with a friend about 10am for some sunbathing and people watching.  You always see a variety of characters on Waikiki Beach, and I was hoping that it would be as interesting here.  Again, I was not disappointed.

I watched this woman walk past us a couple of times, and I finally had to ask her for a photo.  She gets my vote for best Christmas beach attire.

We spent a couple of hours on the beach before I decided to leave.  I haven't been spending much time in the sun, and didn't want to burn. Turns out that two hours was too much sun, and I am still pretty red today.

I had really hoped to see some whales, but that didn't happen.  I have seen them close in to the shore in Mexico, but I was told that doesn't happen often here in Maui.  They do come into the bay by our hotel, but you usually have to take a boat out to see them.  That wasn't something that I could arrange on short notice on Christmas Day.

Going to the airport we drive past field after field of sugar cane.  I saw a sign for a museum of sugar cane, and think that would be very interesting to visit.  So bicycling, snorkling, whale watching and sugar cane museum give me just a few reasons to return soon and spend some time exploring this beautiful island.

It is always good in wintertime to take a break from the cold weather destinations and find some    

warmth. Whatever it is about an ocean, I come away with my mind renewed and my soul refreshed.  This little vacation was just what I needed to finish my flying for the year.