The headline is about the green turtles because, in the end, that was most definitely the highlight of the day for me. The rest was quiet and maybe just a little foggy in comparison.

Rick was out early for his rowing adventure. It seems he had a good time in a boat with 3 women, 2 from Vancouver. (Should I be calling it a canoe? Yep – outrigger canoes, or Wa’a.)

The club is run by volunteers, mostly retired. Each canoe has one volunteer in the front and another in the back to keep everyone rowing in unison and control the direction of the boat. The only requirement to become a member is to have your own paddle.

They never did paddle past the condo, though I waited patiently outside. Why? Because they went left!

In this case, left was definitely a great choice as they rowed past Kalepolepo, a section of beach surrounded by a man-made stone breakwater and home to a bunch of green sea turtles.

I had actually read about Kalepolepo, and we had even tried to go there the day before. We were unsuccessful as I was very confused by the parking lot, unexpectedly located at the Whale Center.

They beached the canoes and walked along the rocks looking for turtles Rick said that they were initially hard to spot, as they were easily confused with the rocks. One of the rowing club volunteers began pointing them out – 7 in total.

Rick returned a few hours later looking very happy with tales to tell and recommendations to share. The volunteers in Rick’s canoe proved to be fonts of knowledge about things to see and do in the area. Information about this restaurant, and that bar, was almost completely lost on me. I had a hard time hearing much after ‘”7 green sea turtles” but I knew I could catch up on the rest later.

The beach and the condo area in general was quite deserted. Perhaps Tuesday was churn day, we will never know. We spent a few very peaceful hours on the beach and floating in the ocean. I finished my book, The Cellist of Sarajevo, which I would recommend.

After showers and a late lunch we decided to head south, back to Kalepolepo. It did not disappoint.

At first look, we could not see a single turtle. Then Rick spotted one in the rocks. Man, it must have been quite the chore to haul himself up there.

Then we saw more and more and more of them. Most were swimming about in the shallow water. We could see the top of a shell, or a little face pop up, so knew they were there.

This particularly large turtle had been hanging out on the beach when Rick was there in the morning. The only evidence of any movement was the trail he had left in the sand.

It is ridiculously hard work for these guys to haul themselves around. I think they try to make it easier on themselves by waiting for high tide. It looks exhausting.

The little pond was very shallow and there was no way to actually ‘swim’ with the turtles. I had been exploring the use of my phone underwater, which is feasible with this model of iPhone. In the end I just could not bring myself to plunge is underwater to take the money shot. Instead, here is another image, borrowed from the internet. They are so graceful in the water and I wanted that to be the last thing you saw. This guy has a lovely little face.

No one else on teh beach seemed to be paying a stitch of attention to the turtles – until we did. Perhaps it was because they did not see them until I stated bouncing around excitedly, pointing and taking dozens of photos. In retrospect, I wish I had been more restrained.

Green sea turtles are protected. There are signs everywhere about keeping back 3m (10 ft). Even though there are markers all around the rocks and the beach for people to keep the apprpriate distance, there is always someone who thinks that rule does not apply to them.

I kept hearing Bill Cosby in my head “Hey Kids! Get out of that Jello tree!” I wanted to holler at a few people, including one woman who climbed on the rocks and was maybe 2 feet away for a snoozing turtle. Instead I muttered under my breath and glared as hard as a could. She seemed to get the message and backed away. I am a grown up! When will I get comfortable with speaking my mind? <head shake>

We stayed for ages and I loved every moment of it.

Rick had heard about a good place for drinks and half priced appetizers for happy hour. It was still too early for that so we decided to drive down the road towards Wailea.

We passed through South Kihei, which was a bit more downtrodden than North Kihei, where we were staying. There were a fair number of homeless people, something that would probably be relatively comfortable in this part of the world, and a large number of pizza parlours and food trucks. The beaches were still beautiful and we saw the only lifeguard stations so far.

Eventually we ended up in Wailea. I assure you, there were no wild chickens running about those manicured lawns. This was clearly high end Maui with stunning hotels, beautifully landscaped golf courses and gated neighbourhoods.

Rick had a peek at property prices; a small 2 bedroom condo was $1.8M; a 5800 sq ft house on the golf course… $21M. Maybe we can go back at some point and wander around. Rick did point out the Gucci store which gave me pause. Nah.

We turned our truck around and headed back to a slightly less appealing South Kihei and Lava Rock, our recommended snack stop. I confess right up front to complete snobbery. Just the look of the elevator gave me pause.

Rick was determined to give it a try and I was his wingman, so in we went. The Mai Tai was questionable and after only a few sips I knew I could not drink it. The food choices were ‘sports bar’ in nature and even the menus had seen much better days. Combined with the downtrodden look of the place, I knew would not be able to eat the food due to a (perhaps irrational) fear of food poisoning. To be fair, the place was very busy. Good intentions aside, we left. I’m sorry babe.

On the way home we stopped at Safeway for some groceries and saw this little guy. Apparently the Safeway parking lot is the place for wildlife sightings in Maui.

It was a quiet evening though the wind was mighty. It sounded like cats wailing outside our screen door. I was happy to tuck myself into bed with a book.