Today was to be a much simpler day as we hopped over to Maui for the rest of our trip. It started out early driving down to the airport (less than an hour away) in Hilo. On the way to the airport we had a very pleasant and easy breakfast at what some might call an old fashioned diner. I just remember the orange juice being really good!

One thing to say about Hawaiian airports for flights between the islands - very low key and casual. None of the normal tensions for longer flights. They still had the security checks but things were just easy.

When we landed in Maui at the Kahului airport, we headed to get two new rental cars. I can’t remember all the details but Rob was able to upgrade to some kind of red sports car. I myself stuck with the simpler economy type model (I choose to be not boring in other areas).

I was hoping to drive around the north eastern shore of Maui to get to our resort. I knew that it was a narrow winding road that hugged the cliffside much of the way. But the rental car companies were prohibiting travel on it (along with the back side of the Road to Hana) I suspect due to inexperienced drivers and the difficulty of getting cars out of trouble in remote and tough locations. The people at the restaurant for lunch also said that the road was bad and we should not take it. I was still willing but the majority of our group (i.e. everyone else but me) won so, after eating another nice, simple meal, we headed along the south eastern edge on a really nice highway to get to our resort hotel - The Mauian on Napili Bay.

Unlike our hotel on the big island which was more of a tropical plant, old boy scout type place, this hotel was right on the beach with some reefs just off shore along with large tortoises. The hotel has a very nice courtyard between the buildings with one of the courtyard’s sides running into the beach. Our rooms were more modern than the last place but still comfortable. The walls were a bit thin but I don’t think that anyone was planning to stay inside that much. Each room also had a nice patio. One thing that I noted about the building - the doors did not fit tightly (you could see light through the gaps and feel a breeze). Obviously the weather is warm year around - air leaks were the last thing on their minds when they built the place.