Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Pay It Forward Fun

There is nothing I love more than blue skies and palm trees
While sipping in the last of the sunshine 
(And maybe a beer or two)

I came up with plan for what to do with our beach chairs 

I would give them to someone with the stipulation to text me a picture of the fun they are having

I wrote the instructions on the arms

 Included my blog and phone number

 I bombarded my candidate....they had just arrived as we were leaving. 

They were exhausted but took on the challenge!

When we landed in Regina my phoned dinged!

My first PIF!!

(Pay It Forward picture)

Thanks to Seth and Sarah Milchman of Washington,D.C.

It just made my heart smile to see this picture! 

Looking forward to seeing how far this can go!! 

Christa

 

Monday, January 30, 2017

Last Day in Paradise

 

 This was our last beach day.

Paia is where all the surfers hang out.

Our take on this sport was that it was a lot of work for only a few good rides

Kudos to surfers!

 
These are waves you don't turn your back on!! 
 
We met up with the Steinke's cousins for one last lunch at Haliimalle General Store
 

 Arnold and I shared a buttermilk chicken sandwich 

And an oriental chicken salad 

 This is also the home of some amazing glass blowers 

We checked out what new things they are doing 

I liked this glass bust but I think it's because it's purple!!!

They were making turtle heads when we were watching  

They had a few new things...

A Marlin jumping out of the water

Paintings on aluminum  

Very 3D!! 

Was a great last day in Maui

 Christa 

 

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Hop, Skip and a Jump

Arnold and I were feeling pretty special!!

Arnold's Aunty Annette lives 20 miles from us 
but
 we hardly get a chance to meet up...

Annette daughter, Colinda lives in Kauai 
and 
Annette was visiting her at the same time we were in Hawaii 

The two of them hopped on a plane and came over to Maui to visit us!!


We picked them up and explored Maui for the day!!

We watched whales and had lunch in Kaanapali

Drove the coast to Paia for some dessert and coffee

It might seem like we ate our way through Hawaii.

We did.

When you are a farmer growing good food,

You want to eat good food!


The crepes looked so good at Cafe Des Amis we had to go back

 Strawberry crepes, pecan crepes!!

Colinda had banana and Nutella  

The waiter brought 5 crepes for 4 people.

We asked why the extra one??

I think Colinda showed him a little 'shoulder' but he said we had great smiles


Sorry about the bad picture but my bun was made with purple tarro root

Thought that was pretty cool as it is my favorite colour!!


It was such a nice visit!

These island hoppers are now off to Australia!!

Travelling must run in the family!!
Aloha

Christa

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Paia Food Tour

This tour was called Local Tastes of Maui

We all met up at Flatbread Pizza

This is the list of local procurers they use for their ingredients
Ono Farms is the first farm tour we did and they are on the list!
This was a walking tour which in clouded a history of the town of Paia
 Our first stop was the Gelato Store
Where we tried a smoothie called Lave Flow
It was strawberry, banana, coconut and other fruits
Great start....

Up the street was Charlie's Bar

Charlie was the original owners dog who was a Great Dane 

 This huge guitar was a gift to the bar 
 Willie Nelson comes here to play all the time
 We were served a feast of blueberry pancakes with macadamia nuts,
Breakfast burrito, banana bread French toast and coconut syrup, 
and delicious veggie omelet with local ingredients
The juice was called POG
Pineapple, orange and guava juice....
 As you can see...no complaints!!!!
DELIC
 This painting was recently hung of som elf the famous people who have eaten here.
This is just part 1!!!
 Can you spot Oprah and Michelle Obama?
There is actually a legend on the side for who I see in this one!!
Next stop was the local grocery store.
This place had EVERYTHING!!!
It was a health food store, deli, bakery,ice cream shop and grocery in one.
The produce manager, Gary gave us sample of his tropical fruits 

The citrus section was my favorite..surprise....surprise!! 
 We tried a Brazilian cherry which no one had before!
It was sweet and sour and huge all at the same time.
We crossed the street over to Cafe Des Amis
For some Humus topped with balsamic, olive oil,and paprika with pita chips
 Getting full....
next stop was a quesadilla of crispy duck and Maui onion....
Of course...we devoured it before I could get a pic....
Yes...it was delic 
(I know... broken record)

 Like all great meals,
It was finished with some hot or cold coffee.
I don't like coffee but after doctoring it up I did finish mine!
This was our little foodie group

Gary,Arnold,Christa,Stephanie, Joy and George 
 Stephanie and George were from California 
and 
have done many food tours around the world.
George loves to garden and has an apple tree with 30 varieties on one tree!!
Last stop was an artisan shop.
These tiny seashell necklaces were made by the people who live on a grid less island in Hawaii
Only original native residents can live there.
There are only about 150 native people left.
All the items were from local artisans
It was a wonderful ending to a great tour!!
We hung around and explored the rest of the town.
 I thought of you, Brenda King!!
Coloured sea glass...tourist trap! 
This was just too easy 
 This bike was made of bamboo and functioned! 
This was the curtain for the changing room in one store.

I so wanted to buy it just for the fabric!!
 We had some time left in our day so we headed into the Upcountry near Kula
4000 feet above sea level 
Ali's Kula Lavender  Farm
 Way up in the clouds.
The temperature was 20 degrees cooler! 
 It was a gorgeous farm.
You could see everywhere!  
Where else could you get clouds and ocean in the same photo!!
It was a great way to learn about the area! 
Christa 

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