It wasn’t all beach time in Maui. I mean it mostly was, plus pool time, plus playing the ukulele looking at the ocean time, plus expensive cocktail time. There was a lot of looking out at the sunset like Luke Skywalker as well. On one of the days though we hired a car and went off on an adventure. Four years ago, we had done the Road to Hana, or at least as much of it as we could fit in in the short December daylight. This time we were going Up Country, but we did stop off in one familiar place, the surfing town of Pa’ia. We were going for lunch at the Pa’ia Fish Market, an evidently popular place with a long line out of the door. While my wife and son lined up, I went a bit further down the street to start a sketch of Tobi’s Shave Ice, where we had been back in 2019. Page 1 of a new sketchbook. I loved their shave ice when we went before, and this time did not disappoint either, when we popped in after lunch and after shopping in the little stores. Pa’ia is an interesting little town, a lot of traffic rolls through though, so it doesn’t feel peaceful. We didn’t go to the beach this time. For the best; while we were getting lunch, a fire truck zoomed through town, and it turns out that a local surfer was killed by a shark out in the waves at about the time we came into town, we heard later on. It was sad news, and the beach was closed off. From Pa’ia we drove uphill and up country. Before we went to Pa’ia though we visited the ʻĪao Valley State Monument in West Maui, a really interesting tropical park with deep green valleys and a dramatic promontory called the ʻĪao Needle (Kūkaʻemoku), which I did a very quick sketch of above in pencil and paint. The needle is said to be a huge phallic representation, whatever that means. The valley has been the burial ground for many big nobs, that is local nobolity and even one of the Hawaiian kings. There was a particularly bloody battle here in 1790 called the Battle of Kepaniwai, between Kamehameha the Great and the Maui army of Kalanikūpule, but Kamehemeha won and the islands were united. It was a really interesting and beautiful place to spend a morning, and covered in a blanket of tropical cloud.

Anyway after we left Pa’ia we were uphill all the way to Haleakalā. We stopped off on the way in a small village called Makawao, where we looked around and found the Maui Cookie Lady. This was a tiny little store, so small only a few people at a time could go in, while everyone else had to wait outside. (That reminded me of the newsagents near my school, which only let two school kids in at a time.) That waiting time gave me a chance to get the sketchbook and brown fountain pen out, and I drew as quickly as I could. Eventually my wife emerged with these two massive, well I say cookies, I thought they were cakes. I was less fussed about eating these massive cookies, but when I finally did eat some the next day, I was blown away. The one I had was some kind of chocolate one, and it was like a mix between a cookie and a brownie, but way better than either. It was one of the most amazing things I’d ever eaten. So if you are in Makawao, look out for the Maui Cookie Lady because she makes seriously amazing (and huge) cookies.

We drove further up, up, up country, getting some dramatic views across Maui, our ears and eyes all popping. Then we hit the clouds, and the sunlight dimmed, and the roads twisted and turned in huge zigzags up the mountain. Eventually, the clouds melted off and we entered Haleakalā National Park. We bought a National Parks Annual Pass, because we definitely intend to visit some more this year. I’ve become quite interested in National Parks, and have collected pins and postcards from each one we’ve been to. Ok in the past few years, so far we’ve visited Arches (Utah), Canyonlands (Utah), Yosemite (California), Petrified Forest (Arizona) Grand Canyon (Arizona), and now Haleakalā (Hawaii). There are many more on the list. We are planning to visit Bryce Canyon and Zion (both Utah) later this year. The day was pushing along fast, but we were only in Haleakalā for one reason – to watch the sunset. A lot of people come to watch the sunrise, but I didn’t much fancy getting up at 3am to drive several hours up a mountain in the dark, and then not get a parking space. Sunset it was, and I have to say, we all agreed it was well worth it, a real once in a lifetime experience. We drove above the sea of fluffy white clouds for a while longer, like this was some floating island in the sky. We reached the crater and went and had a look, but we wanted to make sure we got a seat at the top table so we got back in the car and headed for the summit. Haleakalā – which means ‘House of the Sun’ in Hawaiian – is a giant dormant volcano, and the crater is an impressive sight as the shadows slowly drift across it. Legends say that the grandmother of the Hawaiian heroic demigod Māui was born here. I had to sketch it. There were otherworldly plants called ‘silverswords’ dotted around, a super rare plant that grows nowhere else on the planet except here. It was cold up at the summit, 10,000 feet above sea level, and we had to wrap up warm. There were a lot of people gathered up there, but it wasn’t too bad, there was sunset enough for everyone. I played my ukulele up there above the clouds. This is a sacred place for local people from Maui, and you can see why. There was a local man singing as the sun set, with his own ukulele, singing a local version of ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’. Across the mountaintop are the space surveillance systems of the Observatory, which you can see in my quick pre-sunset sketch below. It was beautiful.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime sunset. I know the sun goes down every single night and pretty much always has done, but where you watch it from really makes a difference.

Yeah Maui was pretty amazing. Big thumbs up from me.