Hanalei.

This is the quintisential view that every tourist to Hanalei has and why not? Look how beautiful it is and from the big rain we had, how the river has swelled.
The taro patches here are plentiful here, our friend Martin owns Maui Taro Burgers (commonly known to his buddies as Martin burgers) and they are fricki'n delicious.
Even on a cloudy day the Napali Coast takes your breath away.
As the first north swell of the season showed up, I was attempting to show the sets rolling in....anyway-now I've explained, you get the point of this photo. This break had 6 people on it, a veritable sanctuary for a migrating Italian surfer from Maui!
And it produced waves like this - sweeeeet! This was two days ago and with the swell building I suspect this is going to look like childs play in comparison to what we see today.
We have spent most every evening enjoying the sunset at Hanalei. The sand is like powdered sugar, the view consistantly stunning and the vibe friendly and healthy. Anywhere you live it's worth taking a moment to reflect on your abundence, as the day slips from late afternoon into night.

Busted!

In my absence my business partner Nancy, has be squirreling away our company funds in an inventive but not so subtle way. She’s just too proud to get away with it!

Le Coq au vin.

This photo screams for a double entendre, so I plagiarized some British humor for my own amusement!
(Michelle) Well I was wondering if I could use your cooker to finish off this dish I’m making for Ulli's dinner. Coq au vin.
(Sharon) What?
(Michelle) Have you ever tried coq au vin?
(Sharon) No but I once let an Italian put his hand up my jumper on the back seat of his Fiat.
Ahhhh...some things never change :-)

Hawaiian directions.

Walk down the little dirt path,
Past the log in the water,
Under the tree where the big coconut lives,
And ta-dah....there you are. I swear I've lived in Hawaii for 17 years and cross streets and road names are rarely used unless you're visiting. If you ask me for directions I will look at you with bewildered confusion if you name the roads 31 to 56 etc..... Actually it's not dissimular to the UK-go past The Red lion, make a left a greasy spoon, past the chippy and ta-dah....there you are (I'll have half a bitter shandy-thanks for asking)!

The Garden Isle.

One of the many advantages of having an Inter-Island holiday is the lack of jet lag. Up at 6:00am-flight at 8:30am and in our car and off to our first adventure by 10:00am, excellent.
A nice welcoming I'd say....
The horn spouted and that was as much tourism as we could handle! We caught a small kine surf contest in Poipu and the Groms were ripping. While Giampaolo was off surfing the longest left in the State....I dabbled in a little computer art. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but being the lap top novice that I am, I hadn't yet twigged that between the sand, dust, salt spray & insects, the beach wasn't the place for a computer-duh!
The shore break was a spanker.....
Ulli-this ones for you....
"Lazy Sunday afternoon, I got no time to worry.....close my eyes & drift away". Who the hell sang that song? Anyway, I didn't want to close my eyes for a second as the day was so varied and beautiful-gosh what a lucky girl I am.

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Murder most foul.

A few weeks ago I went to open my mail box and guess who was hiding in the hinge! Oh my word, not pretty and I wasn’t even woman enough to open & close the mail box over & over again to put the poor little bugger out of his misery! I just walked away racked by guilt and found him devoured by ants the next day. Now I knock on my mail box before entering.

A few years ago I went to close my bedroom window and guess who was hiding in the window jam! Oh my word, not pretty and I wasn’t even woman enough to open & shut the window over and over again to put the poor little bugger out of his misery! I just walked away racked by guilt about how bad I felt for squishing the poor innocent little gecko! Now I look before closing the window.

I go in my storage closet every few weeks and (you guessed it) who’s there to greet me in the door jam but a dried up, prehistoric, stuck to the door jam, former gecko!

So imagine my delight at seeing this plump little fellow on the outside of the screen and seemingly out of harms way. I just had to take his photo to prove he was still alive before I blinded him to death with my flash!

For a good time go to....

http://mauisurfreport.blogspot.com Giampaolo has a new little toy...suffice to say I laughed my ass off & I doubt you'll be disappointed by his latest post.
Meanwhile, having looked at Greg's arse all week, I thought I'd replace it with another! Actually, I just like all the blues in this photo and the uphill motion of the ride to the other side.
Evidently as you get up there in years, getting splashed in the face isn't as fun as it used to be!

Men behaving badly.

One often hears the refrain “there are no decent men on Maui”. I beg to differ and here is my proof along with a little quiz!

While Gregg’s arse might look natural, it’s not…in fact it’s all artificial and man___!
While Ulli looks as cuddly as a bunny he's really just looking for the first opportunity to push, pull or hold something roughly (other than Michelle) to show off his manly man____.
Jami (subtle as always) brings a whole new meaning to the opening in the street that gives access to sewers below the street. What a fine specimen of a man____!
And finally, Giampaolo is comfortably in disguise from the organized posse searching for an Italian criminal who has so far escaped their grasp. It's an outright man____!
Ok- this is just a cool pici of Brad-Me and Erol at the post Hana Relay pajama party. Big thanks to Jami and Nancy for once again being the hosts with the most. In true Hana Relay style they are now passing the party baton to anyone that wants it!

Eye sight test and quiz answers: man-made, manpower, manhole, manhunt.

Sign language.

Classic-if you live on Maui you know these signs have been around for a few months and (while I’m sure it’s a noble cause) I honestly have no idea what they are promoting in the community! However, I am enjoying the sporadic graffiti and was quite pouty when I missed taking a picture of “Impeach Bush” on one of them. However, this little gem made up for it…… as if getting the correct font wasn't enough, they also got the right font size – extremely impressive!

Tribute to Steve Irwin.

As a tribute to Steve Irwin, Giampaolo decided he’d work his way up to crocodiles and start with something more in his league, a salamander. Crikey he’s a cute little fella (the salamander not GP)!

Readers digest (literally and figuratively)!

After a two year absence we were finally back to Poli-Poli cabin for our 6th annual book club retreat. Choosing the books we’ll read for the next nine months is a fun and passionate process with few guidelines beyond the “ooooohh” factor! The laughter, connection, stimulation (of the intellectual type!), support and fun we have make this a really satisfying and magical experience.
Despite Carols fears of global warming….the fire raged on!
Zippy had tough competition against sociopaths, Hawaiian history, racial clashes , Truman Capote & the tantalizing prospect of wearing a pouffy white dress….she did win the most amusing book cover award, though posthumously as she didn’t make the cut!

Those that did:
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes by Gerd Brantenberg
The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Broken Trust by Samuel King & Randall Roth