Holy Rosary Church

On Baldwin avenue near Paia rests the Holy Rosary Church, home to a memorial of Father Damien.  Damien was the Roman Catholic priest that lived on the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai, where he cared for and lived with Hawaii's leprosy patients.   Since performing three miracles, the Pope canonized Father Damien in October 2009 creating Hawaii's first saint in the process.

King Kamehameha V, determined to rid Hawaii of Hansen's disease (leprosy), quarantined all those afflicted to the Kalaupapa settlement beginning in 1866.  I've heard stories of early patients literally dumped from the transport canoes near shore and left to swim to Kalaupapa to fend for themselves.

The settlement is definitely worth a visit, although it's best to book a tour in advance.  The peninsula is surrounded on 3 sides by ocean (duh) and the 4th side abuts a very steep, 1,700ft tall cliff face.  Access is difficult.

Dawn Patrol

Hookipa at dawn - a special and magical time.  If you live on the North Shore and you love to surf, when can you?  Usually, it's before you need to punch in, which is before the sun rises - especially in the summer.  Like a daily ritual, people come to Hookipa Beach Park to exercise their bodies, awaken their minds, and refresh their spirits.  These are all locals.  As a matter of fact, I recognize two people this morning.  One works at Mana Foods and the other at Upcountry Fitness - all Maui citizens enjoying their mornings.   Just another day on the Valley Isle.



Just Arriving - 5:21AM

Stretch and Pray

Follow the Leader

Ridin' Solo

Just Leaving the Truck

Stretch and Focus

About to Jump In

Shreddin' It

Talented

Out For Fun

The Lineup

To Catch or Not

Fresh Coconut Juice for Breakfast

Maui's Most Special Sprinkler System

I see this set of 3 sprinklers come on every morning on most days.  They go off in sequential order.

First

The Exclamation Point:

Second

Old Faithless:

Third

The Paint Peeler:

Kool Keokea

People sometimes ask me where Oprah lives on Maui.  Well, I know of one property that is up here - way, way upcountry near the town of Keokea.  So far up that it's actually cool and mild during the day.

How to get to her house?  Sorry, go stalk this celeb on your own time!  No star maps from me buddy!

One of the most prominent and well-known stops in this tiny picturesque town is Grandma's Coffee House.  G-Ma's serves some of the best Maui-grown coffee around and has a wonderful old-fashioned feel with a scrumptious homemade breakfast and lunch.  Here's my egg salad sandwich I enjoyed on their outdoor deck:

Here are some local "black and tans."

For more info on Grandma's : Grandma's Coffee House

Three's COP-any

Cops, you know da Po-Po, the PoLICE, Boys in Blue, Coppers, Guys with Glocks, etc.

I love Maui cops.  Only in Maui will you routinely see two cop cars parked behind a vehicle that's pulled over for speeding.  Today, I saw three cars on the side of Hana Highway with the cops standing around outside talking story (a.k.a. - shooting the breeze, but without the negative connotation).   I could of just missed a major stop, accident or something very serious, who knows.

I did recognize one of the officers.  We used to work together in another life...

West Maui Flare Up

Just when we all thought the West Maui wildfire was dying down, there was a flare up this afternoon at about 1:30PM above the Kamehameha Golf Course.

Over 60 hours after the fire began, the fierce winds stoked the flames and two MFD helicopters were busy dumping water on the blaze in an effort to extinguish it.

It was amazing to see how large the fire appeared to be in relation to the helicopters and their tiny water buckets.  The dumping of water seemed to have little to no immediate effect on the flames.  I guess over a period of hours the water must win, but from where I parked on the Honoapi'ilani Highway staring through my 300mm (450mm full-frame equivalent) telephoto lens, the helicopters looked like scurrying dragonflies spitting on an inferno.

Did you know it costs $420 per hour to operate the fire helicopters?  It's ironic because in April the Maui County Council wanted to short the Maui fire department $90,000 from the original $825,000 the MFD requested for the helicopter budget.  Find story here.

A massive MAHALO to all the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and volunteers involved in this monumental undertaking.

All the shots in this post were taken around 2:15PM this afternoon.

View from Kuihelani Highway

View from Honoapi'ilani Highway

Keiki Fitness

Every gym has exercise classes right?  We've all heard of yoga, spinning, and pilates.  How about Keiki boxing?  Keiki means "child" in Hawaiian.  The term is so common in Hawaii almost nobody I know uses the words "child" or "children" when referring to those ever-growing little people.

My local gym, Upcountry Fitness, has this class called "Keiki Boxing."  The gym recently expanded and will soon open an entire room dedicated to them with a Keiki Fit Zone.

I think this is a great idea given that these days, and I'm sorry to say it, our kids are growing more sideways than they are vertically.  According to a shared 2001 University of Hawaii and BYU study, 22.2% of Hawaii's youth aged 6-11 and 23.8% aged 12-17 are overweight.   This is TWICE the Mainland average.  Please don't tell me that's all genetic there - it's also a matter of more calories going in than are burned. 

I've always wondered if the best way to combat this nation's obesity epidemic would be to take away all food stores, restaurants, and supermarkets and thereby force everyone to grow, collect, and catch their own food.

Such a concept is more feasible in Hawaii due nice temperate conditions year round.  There's fish in the sea, wild deer, chickens, and boar running around all over the place, and a plethora of various fruit trees covering the islands.  Hungry?  Catch your own dinner.  Can't grow Twinkies in the ground can ya!

In all seriousness though, nutrition of course plays an integral role in the solution, and I applaud organizations like Upcountry Fitness which specifically address grass roots concerns such as keiki health.