First day in Maui

We took a short flight from Honolulu over to Maui and when we came into our room we looked out on the view to see this lovely rainbow.  We also saw a rainbow in Oahu, what a delight.

 We waked out to the ocean side of the hotel to find that a cruise ship was anchored.

 We drove up toward north beyond Kanapali beach, stopping along the way to enjoy the views.

 The mountain on the left is called Pu'u-koa'e Tropical Bird Hill, the one beside is Pu'u-kahuli-anapa Overturned hill that shines.

 The road that lead down around the switchback and back up to the point we took the picture was only one lane wide!  Couldn't really stop and take a picture for fear of meeting a car coming the other way!

 Some more stunning views of the coastline.

 A view across to another island.

 We then drove down to Kihei and found the Maui Quilt Shop.  It is a small narrow shop that is packed with wonderful samples and gorgeous batiks and other lovely cottons.

 There were some Australian tourists stocking up as we entered the shop and a local buying the end of a bolt of fabric.

 A great shop to check out if you go to Maui. Check them out online at http://www.mauiquiltshop.com/

 They have several lovely Hawaiian style quilts on display in their windows.

 A lovely table runner.

 We drove over to Kahului to check the Fabric Mart there, lots of poly/cottons with Hawaiian inspired motifs.

 They also had some lovely bark cloth. Enjoy them online also http://fmart.com/

 We also found some 100% cottons along with batiks at Fabric Mart.

 Next stop in Kahului was just down the street at Sew Special.  This was the largest quilt shop we found on Maui.  At first we walked by not seeing the sign.

 Inside once again lots of fabrics, and lovely samples on display.

 They have a great collection of batiks and some lovely Hawaiian style patterns for sale.

 Every direction you look you will be tempted with colour and design. They don't have a website, but I found this online tour of their shop with some information here http://hawaiiontv.com/sew-special-maui-hawaii/

 Here a view of our room in Lahina, we had a full sized galley kitchen along with a lovely view of the mountains from our lanai.

 We went next door to Betty's Beach Cafe for a great Hula Burger and lucked into watching some of the floor show from the restaurant next door called The Feast at Lele.

 They started by blowing the conch and then these lovely ladies began to dance.

 Then the gentlemen came up for awhile.  We didn't stay for the whole show, but did stop in on two more occasions to watch different parts of the show.  We moved over to our pool area to enjoy the sunset under the palms with the trade winds blowing.

 My Hawaiian floral from Fabric Mart.

 I was debating which book to buy and then found out they were less than $7.00 each so I got all four.  They each have 15 patterns inside!  What a bargain.

 I got these lovely batiks to make a pineapple motif quilt.

 This bag was found at Foodland, very whimsical designs and as a bonus they have recipes on the sides of the bag that are traditional to the islands.

 What a fun bag!

 A great first day on the island, with more to come.

A quilt shop and Waikiki Aquarium

First stop of the day was Kaimuki Dry Goods quilt shop.  We took two city buses to get to this great shop.

 They have a huge selection of quilting fabrics and some lovely patterns.

 This shop has lots of lovely staff and and some great customers.  One worked for the bus company and helped us figure out the quickest way to get to the Waikiki Aquarium.

 Bolts and bolts of fabric and lots of samples to get inspiration from.

 Next stop was the Waikiki Aquarium, hey look, there's Dorry!

 Dorry and friends watching a speedy friend gliding by.

 This coral looks more like a mushroom.

 Hard to get a picture of this guy speeding around the tank, look at it's interesting tail.

 Lots of colour and movement.  I didn't use any flash with my photos, so as not to disturb the fish.

 These jelly fish were amazing to watch as they moved around the tank.

 What a lovely red sea urchin, almost looks like a flower snapped off it's stem.

 Don't these look like toadstools floating in the water?

 Bright lemon yellow and crisp white contrasting nicely.

 Graceful shape and movement, a silent symphony.

 A frog face fish!

 This coral looks like a huge oyster.  Love the little fish on the right.

 A lovely graceful fish.

 Who is that masked fish?

 Do these stripes make me look fat?

 Peace and serenity.

 A lovely Hawaiian queen.

 Some plumeria flowers opening up, a memorable Hawaiian scent.

 Inspiration.

 A double hibiscus flower.

 One with ruffled edges.

 An unusual colour combination, peach and amethyst purple.

 A different type of bird of paradise.

 Another iconic Hawaiian symbol, Hawaiian Airlines.

Next stop Maui!