Maui - Hawaii

Arriving in Kahului in the evening, we almost automatically went to the car rental with the excitement of which car it would be this time. However, the lady at the Hertz counter was already a little tired and didn't have an open ear to give us a nice vehicle. So we left with a Ford Fiesta. Since accommodations in Maui were extremely expensive this week, we had rented an apartment before through Airbnb. Since it was already 9:00 PM and dark, it was a bit difficult to find the apartment. But after a short search, we found the right entrance and also the keybox where we got the house keys from. For our money, we got an apartment with a master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room with TV and couch, and cool grandma chairs and a seating area. A huge fruit bowl and a coffee machine sweetened our stay and allowed us to have extended breakfasts from now on. However, hunger drove us out again to explore, and with the TripAdvisor app and a rumbling stomach, we ended up at the Mexican restaurant 'Freds', which turned out to be a stroke of luck. The casual furnishings, delicious tacos, and margaritas drew us back there again and again in the following days.

During breakfast, we browsed through all the catalogs and booked a whale watching tour. Wow, that was really impressive. We saw humpback whales slapping the water with their fins and jumping out of the water, followed by their young and dolphins. Many whales stay in the waters between the islands from November to April. Afterwards, they migrate back to Alaska. Totally happy, we drove up the west coast to Lahaina, a beautiful town with small beach houses and old facades. In the 'Cheeseburger in Paradise', that's the name of the restaurant, a one-man band played music and the whole restaurant sang 'Sweet Caroline' loudly while eating. It's somewhat American, but you have to experience it and sing along. :-)

After that, we went to bed because the next morning we left at 5 o'clock to experience the sunrise on Haleakala at 3000 meters above sea level. Wrapped up in all the jackets we had, hats, and cameras, we waited for the first rays of sunlight. Some TripAdvisor reviews said that this was the best experience. Our resume is as follows. If you're not standing on a mountain for the first time and maybe have already seen a sunrise or sunset, it's very nice but nothing more. Unfortunately, we had slightly cloudy weather and maybe that's why the impressions weren't the same. But what is sensational is to watch the spectacle of about 200 people wrapped in blankets and bathrobes waiting for the sun on the summit and freezing at around 0 degrees Celsius. It's really funny.

We enjoyed the remaining days on the different beaches in the south and northwest, as well as on the grandma chairs in the living room where we followed Roger Federer's matches and his 20th major title at night.