Lavender and Lau Laus

Today was Luau day - we had the family over this afternoon for one last celebration before they flew back on the red eye to their real lives.  Last night, we started the preparation by making the Lomi Lomi Salmon (a salt-cured but uncooked salmon dish made with boneless sockeye, sweet maui onions, and tomatoes) and a three layer banana - coconut cake decorated with lavender and  nasturtiums picked from the roadside.  This morning we got up early and cut several banana leaves from the trees in our yard.  They were washed and trimmed and then wrapped around seasoned fish and baby back ribs.  These little packages, called Lau Laus, were placed in the oven to steam and slow cook all day. We also prepared an assortment of purple and orange sweet potatoes seasoned with a pineapple - mustard - brown sugar sauce, some vegetarian maki sushi rolls, pineapple fried rice, Hawaiian sweet bread, and a tropical fruit salad.    To wash it all down, we had some mai tais, wine, and vodka collins made with a local organic sparkling pink grapefruit juice. 

Before our guests arrived, we took some time to go to Ho'okipa Beach where we swam a little bit and watched the surfers.  No big action today - although it was windy and choppy, the waves were relatively small and didn't develop much of a curl. Hard to believe this is our fourth day here and the first time we've set foot on the sand or gone in the water!  On the way home from the beach, we drove up to the lavender farm in Kula where we tried lavender scones with lavender honey, and drank lavendar lemonade.  All very tasty :) and the view was stunning.  And funny thing - I ran into one of my colleagues from the Bay Area there!  What a small world!

There is No Hawaiian Word for Multi-Tasking

Today started off early again, with a 5:30 AM conference call followed by about an hour of work.  After wrapping that up, I dropped Bob off at the bicycle shop in Pa'ia where he rented a really cool titanium bike and went on an escorted 45 mile ride on the hills and roads around the Hana Highway.  He had lots of fun, not just on the saddle, but also because he got to meet Owen Wilson's girlfriend (Owen has a home just down the road from the bike shop), and also a guy who placed 2nd in the Tour of California last year.  This guy is on the Garmin team and he owns the bike shop and excursion company that Bob rode with today.  Bob was able to chat with him briefly about this year's upcoming tour, which was pretty cool.

Bob worked really hard this morning on his ride, so as a good wife who properly empathizes with her husband during his amazing feats of prowess, I got a massage and lavender-sugarcane exfoliating scrub after soaking in the world famous hydrotherapy baths at the Grand Wailea.  The spa day was a birthday gift from my sister-in-law Jennifer (thank you Jenny!!!).  The facility was amazing - I felt decadently guilty amidst all the marble, fountains, and statues of romanesque goddesses.  The hydrotherapy baths were incredible - there were five or six different sunken mosaic tubs each named after an island, and each filled with a different medley of sea salts, herbs, and fragrances that purportedly had a variety of healing, medicinal, regenerating, and calming powers.  It worked for me!  My skin was soft as a baby's afterward. 

I returned back to Pa'ia in the early afternoon to pick up Bob and have a light lunch together.  We are enjoying this little town because it is full of natural foods stores and several vegan restaurants which help us stick to Bob's diet.  Lunch was delicious and consisted of a very tasty slice of cheese-free tomato pizza and a green papaya salad.  After eating, we strolled through the quaint shops and galleries in town and then headed back to our hale to take naps and hang out listening to the birds from the lanai, where I am sitting now as I write this blog. No big plans for tonight, just more of the same.... sitting, sleeping, relaxing.  It's funny how the islands just suck the ambition right out of you!  Even my cell phone has caught the Aloha spirit -- it can't seem to keep a charge for longer than 10 minutes anymore!  Hmmm,  now what was I supposed to be doing?.......zzzzz

Here Comes the Bride

I am liking the new overseas office of Treasury Management Solutions!  Thursday started off with conference calls with mainland customers who are three hours ahead of us.  Although I was on the phone early (6 AM Hawaiian time), I also was able to finish my work for the day early - by 10AM, leaving the rest of the day for fun. 


We packed up our things, including our clothes for the wedding, and headed to the other side of the island to meet up with Mary, Jennifer, and Barbara (Bob's mom and sisters).  After sitting around their pool at the Westin for a couple of hours and having lunch and a mai tai, we started getting ready for the wedding.  What a crew we are.  Bob forgot to bring socks for his dress shoes. I forgot underwear, since I wore my swimsuit over.  Barbara forgot to pack the shoes to go with her dress.  No worries!  This is Hawaii! Everything is casual here. We all got by!


The wedding started at 4 PM and I have to say, it was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to.  I wish Carena and Marie could have been here to take notes!!  The location was on the lush north side of the island, at Haiku Mills, the site of a former sugar cane plantation and factory.  The old factory building, which has since lost its roof and become overrun with tropical growth, was the site of the ceremony and reception.  Below are some pictures to help give you an idea of the venue and atmosphere.




Guests were outside enjoying the views while we waited for the Judge who was a member of the Groom's family.




The music for the ceremony and reception was traditional Hawaiian



The flower girls were curious about the Bridesmaids




This is the old mill building, sans roof. 

 


Bride and Groom were married on these stairs, with the sound of the fountain in the background




Groom Doug Mossman first sees his Bride!




Mother of the Bride watches her daughter approach her husband - to - be



Bride and Groom meet at the steps to exchange vows



Man and Wife!




Mother and daughter




Relaxing before dinner



Cow-Duck-Frog: Maui's answer to Man-Bear-Pig

I woke up in the middle of the night to the overwhelming sweet scent of gardenias fillling our bedroom.  It was quiet outside, except for the strangely misplaced sound of some creature which I can only describe as a cow-duck-frog.  Its intermittent call is a combination of a moo, a quack, and a croak. As the dawn approached, a crescending symphony of birds began to waft into our room - first the occasional rooster, then the cheeping of hundreds of little birds, and finally the louder sounds of bigger tropical birds which I like to imagine are large parrots or even toucans, although I haven't actually seen any yet.


Bob and I are finishing up some work projects and then we'll probably head into Pai'a and the beach for some exploring. Below are a couple of pictures.



The basalt rock cliffs and banyan roots

 


Chickens:  the REAL birds of paradise

 

Coral in a Frosted Flakes Box

After a frenetic rush to get packed, load up the computer with all the mandatory work files, send off the last emails to my team, and download all the directions to the vegan foods store, the B&B, and of course, Costco, Bob and I headed off to the airport and had a nice, uneventful flight over to Honolulu and then Kahalui, Maui.  We had a two hour layover in Honolulu, and while we were wandering around, I spotted the agricultural inspection station and it reminded me of another time we'd come through, with 6 year old Marie.  On that trip, we had all cleared our luggage through ag inspection and then got in line for security.  Marie was unusually fidgety and agitated, and just before it was her turn to go through the security metal detector, she turned around and ran as fast as she could away from security and down a long corridor, with no explanation.  We were all baffled as we stepped out of line and took off after her.  Finally she stopped at a trash can, threw her little box of frosted flakes cereal away, and then casually started walking back to security.   When we asked her what that was all about, she kept shushing us until we cleared security, and then she admitted her felonious act:  she was trying to smuggle some bits of coral she'd collected at the beach back to the mainland in her little cereal box!  Fearing she would be caught and imprisoned, she decided at the last minute not to risk it, and she disposed of her contraband.  Funny the way the mind of a 6 year old works!

We arrived at our home for the next 8 days - the Wild Ginger Falls B&B - at about 5 PM this afternoon.  It is an adorable little hale in a tropical setting, complete with banana and papaya trees, perched adjacent to a creek bed which is dry today but appears to have seen some action a couple of days ago, judging by the ponding around the boulders.  Just across the creek rises a 40 foot high chiseled basalt wall covered in lush growth, including some really cool banyon tree roots which stretch from the top to the bottom of the rock face.  By the time we got settled in, it was too dark to take pictures, but I will do that tomorrow and post them for you to admire.

Bob and I are settling in for the night to do a little work (have to pay the bills somehow, so we can really enjoy ourselves on our next adventure to Croatia and Italy, coming up in about three weeks).  More later - Good night!