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Wine tour - our guide, Ivo, was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of good details about each area. We went to the Pelešac Peninsula and several regions within the peninsula (Ponikve, Cingac, and Postup). The drive overall was beautiful, winding along the coast. Steep cliffs down to the very blue water. Our first stop was Miloš, which was our favorite. Family owned with a beautiful new tasting room — they had a grant from the EU to help build it. They use Croatian oak to age, but only after it’s been neutralized with water. They do not want any oak imparted on their wine. We then went to a wine museum because it was too windy for our original stop… it was okay. You could see tools used to historically make wine and olive oil. Pictured above is an olive oil press. Our final stop was Korta Katarina, which is a beautiful large house owned by a Minnesotan couple. We had a view of the sea while we had a wine and tapas pairing.

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Forgot to post about our meal the second night at Nautika. It was excellent! Beautiful views of the sea and Fort St Lawrence, plus we had the perfect evening to sit outside. Their wine menu was a literal book, and we selected a vintage Croatian sparkling wine at the recommendation of the sommelier. We wanted something local and he did not hesitate with his rec — 3 years on the lees (aging on yeast), only three vintages made and less than 2000 bottles produced. It was delicious — just as good as any champagne I’ve had! We did the 5 course tasting, which was all seafood. I even tried a mussel! Every dish was beautiful and yummy but our favorite was the shrimp. I joked it was Croatian shrimp and grits.

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Day 3 - Private boat tour of Elaphiti Islands. Our boat guide was Iso. He was born and raised in Dubrovnik but spent over a decade in Brooklyn… he sounded like a true New Yorker! We had a wonderful and windy day. Our first stop was the Blue Cave — you swim into a fluorescent blue, reflective cave. We of course did not have our phones with us because you swim in, but imagine a bright blue glow due to the reflection of the sun and water on the sand. We then visited the sandy Beach Sunj of Lupond and then the town of Lupond. In Lupond, we saw a replica merchant ship that takes out tours. It was fun to see! That is where we had a beer before heading home.

Also, we learned that Dubrovnik only allows 3 cruise ships at one time. We were lucky with lower crowds but seeing this ship in person made me realize how massive they were!

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After the fort, we went to a bura bar called Bard, which is a bar on the sea cliffs. It’s a popular spot for drinks and swimming. Bura means hole in Croatia, so there’s a subtle doorway you go through. Beautiful views of the sea — Kevin had a local beer and I had a frozen margarita! We went for a dip in the ocean. Water was a nice temp and very salty 😂 It was tiring fighting the waves!

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Day 2 - Food tour, walking around Dubrovnik.

On our food tour, we had local cheese, prosciutto (similar to Italy but less salty and smoked), olive tapenade, octopus, black risotto (risotto with cuddle fish and ink), gnocchi, and gelato. Lots of local wine as well. We like Malvasia (light white) and Plavac Mali (bold red, really like Dingač region).

Dubrovnik has lots of stairs! After the tour, we went to Fort Lovrijenac (Fort St Lawrence), which had great views of the city. It is now used as a theater for plays, usually Hamlet.

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Day 1 - arrive in Dubrovnik and the City Walls tour. Our guide Mia was informative and nice! The tour consisted of walking on top of the walls for the entire perimeter, which led to beautiful views! “The city” as they call it is the old town within walls to protect themselves from enemies, including Venetians. They are made of limestone and we’re constructed from 13-17th centuries. There are two gates and four fortresses. The fortresses are semi circular as any corner of a wall is a weak spot.

First pictured is Onofrio’s fountain which brought fresh water to the city. The dog on top (pictured later) protects the water supply from being poisoned.

The city was mostly destroyed in the earthquake of 1667, and it was bombed during the Homeland War in 1991. The city also has many cats because they were originally brought to eat mice and rats to prevent disease. There are really no predators, so now there are many cats within the city.

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Competition pod.

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Whale watching

What an experience! We were on a small boat with 11 people total (including us, excluding two staff).

We were in search of North Pacific Humpback whales who migrate all the way from Alaska to mate and give birth to their calves. They travel the long distance to avoid orcas who would prey on their babies. They go to either Hawaii, Cabo, or Japan. This is the very beginning of the season so whales are still on their way here. Prime season is January and February I believe.

Some interesting whale facts:

- About 80% of the whale population will migrate. Whales that are too young to mate or whales who are older than mating age will stay up in Alaska.

- They fast while they’re down in Hawaii because the waters are not flush with their food. Mother whales can lose almost 30% of their body weight during this season due to fasting and nursing.

- Calves stay with their moms until exactly 1 year. Females only have one baby at a time because it is so physically taxing. Babies weigh 1-2 tons when born.

- Whales don’t really have predators once they’re full grown as long as they’re healthy. Babies are most at risk. They can live to 60-80 years.

- Whales can hold their breath up to 45 minutes on a deep dive, so while seeing the tail flip up out of the water is cool for a photo, it means the whale could be gone for a while.

We started off the trip with a pod of spinner dolphins that stay in Hawaii all year round. They were smaller than the dolphins we usually see but were fun! The water was so clear, you could see them easily. Then we went out for whales. We saw probably about 8 whales — you can identify them by their fin pattern, but they can move so far in a short amount of time, it’s hard to be sure of an exact number. For the majority of the trip, we saw some whales that were not very active. They’d come up for a breath and dive. We were about to head in when we saw a group!

The group is what they call a competition pod, which is where male whales follow a single female around hoping she will choose him to mate with. Males have nothing to do with the female whale or baby after mating. They posture with each other and “fight”, which is really more like bumping and pushing. Not really aggressive. They come up to breath a lot more during this because of the activity, so we saw a lot more of them. We even saw ones face although I didn’t capture it. It was a great finale! I will post two videos of it next.

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Another view of crater from higher elevation.

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View of crater at 8,000 ft.

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Haleakala —one word: AMAZING! Kevin and I really lucked out and feel we got a unique experience here because of how down tourism is. It’s sad to see the impact on the economy, but it has been nice for us.

We started the day off at the pool, got a late lunch, and our first shave ice (pictured). Hawaii is known for their shave ice and it did not disappoint! Such a great texture and flavor — I got pineapple, strawberry and sour apple. Kevin got lemon and strawberry. After that we drove the hour to the entrance of Haleakala. We had heard the roads were bad but after Hana, this was a breeze. More reminiscent of the drive to Highlands.

Haleakala is famous for their sunrises — you have to get a reservation, wake up WAY early (like 3 AM) to get there in time, etc. That did not sound appealing to us so we decided to try sunset instead. It was the best decision. Per Hawaii’s website, it describes Haleakala as: “Towering over the island of Maui and visible from just about any point, Haleakala Crater is a force of nature in every sense. At 10,023 feet above sea level, this dormant volcano is the stage for a breathtaking range of landscapes—and skyscapes.”

We got there around 3 PM which have us over two hours to explore in the daylight since the sunset was at 5:51 PM. We were most surprised by all of the vegetation on the mountain given the altitude — plus lots of cattle! When we were driving up, there was thick clouds so we weren’t sure what we’d be able to see, but lucked out with mostly clear skies at higher elevation.

We walked two paths to see the crater, which was amazing. It doesn’t come through well on the photo but it felt like the moon or space — red dunes, lava rock, and views of the sea. It was just awesome. We stopped at another overlook that saw the rest of maui — luckily the cloud had mostly passed through by that point 🙌🏼 We also saw a nene bird — a goose that is the state bird of Hawaii. He looked lonely 😂

Finally we made our way to the summit in time to park and get a good spot for the sunset. It wdefinitely filled up, but I imagine it was a small crowd compared to normal. As the sun fell, not only did we get spectacular colors but we also got great views of the other islands: Other half of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. It was truly a wonderful experience — and a cold one! As you’d expect at that altitude, the temp drops. Maui was about 85 when we left and at the top it as about 55-60 with sun. Once the sun set, it quickly dropped into the 40s. There were lots of cold kiddos around, but we came prepared with layers.

We stuck around for the dark skies, and boy, am I so glad we did! I have never seen so many! SO MANY! It was breathtaking. I also think I caught a glimpse of the Milky Way but that may be wishful thinking. I know the core of the galaxy is visible from there at other times of the year. There is an observatory at the summit, and I totally get why. I recommend googling “Milky Way Haleakala photos” to see some epic pictures.

Anyway, after that, we decided to head back. It was about 6:30. We spotted an orange moon and caught more sights of the stars as well as Maui all lit up (last picture). We also had to slow down for a cow or two on the way home. We picked up a salad and pizza close to the hotel and watched Toy Story for dinner in preparation for The Rewatchables podcast we want to listen to on the way to Kapilua. It was a great, great day!

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Day 1 in Wailea

We were sad to leave Hana — we loved the remote feeling of our hotel and our room was a dream. The drive back was “easy”... the turns are always rough but we only passed a handful of cars which was great. I can’t imagine driving the road to Hana when it’s a normal level of busy!

We arrived safely at our hotel, the Grand Wailea, and grabbed lunch before Kevin’s tee time. The hotel is lovely — very grand, indeed! The “lobby” is large and open air. You can tell their occupancy is way down — restaurants are closed, concierge desk are empty, only one or two employees at check in. The view from the pool and our room is stunning!

Kevin played the Emerald course. It was beautiful, as to be expected. Lots of ocean views and I am pretty sure I spotted some whales at the beginning. The golf course lady said they were out there but we sort of lost the wide-open view once we started. My favorite part of Hawaii is the stark contrast between the bright green vegetation and the blue of the water/sky. It’s everywhere and I LOVE it!

The final photo is the view of the sunset from our room’s patio. We played a board game, had cocktail/mocktail hour, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery!

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The blowhole we found! The real one is much more impressive. I’d Google a video.

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Waianapanapa State Park - Black sand beach

Just a few minutes from our hotel was Hana’s black sand beach. Sand is a loose term... it was mostly rocky which was very cool to see. It was actually very busy so we sort of kept to ourselves. It is known for the beach (of course), a lava tube, a cave, and a blowhole where the sea sprays out as waves come in. We focused just on a short hike to see the coast, foregoing the popular attractions.

We thought we found the blow hole (I will post a video next) but turns out that wasn’t the main one. Regardless, it was fun to see the waves violently crash against the coast!

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Seven Pools

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Our first trek — Pipiwai Trail! This is part of Haleakala National Park... we hope to visit the peak and other side side later in the trip, but this part was about a 25 minute drive from the hotel. The most “treacherous” part of the drive, but still not bad. You can only go so fast, but lots of hairpin turns!

The hike is a moderate 2 miles in to the big falls and then you just back track. There are several cool things to see along the way which was great! The first was Makahiku Falls — you can see it hidden along the greenery on the big mountains. It was beautiful to see the high peaks around it. We then came across a banyan tree, which I had never seen before. Roots growing out of the branches! Then you walk through a bamboo forest to get to the final stretch before the big falls — Waimoku Falls! Stunning! Hard to tell in photos but these falls are TALL! It was running about mid-flow... they had a picture of when it’s really rushing and it was crazy. Flash floods can happen within minutes here due to all the rain so you can’t get too close.

After the trail, we went to see the Seven Pools which is what this area is known for. You used to be able to swim in them but they have had several deaths due to the flash floods or slipping so it’s now closed. Fine by us! Forgot to add a photo in, so I’ll post it next.

Overall a wonderful stop and we are so glad we stayed in Hana to make this easy! We had lunch at the food trucks (delicious tacos) before heading to the beach.

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Our hotel — Hana Maui Resort

We are so glad we decided to stay in Hana! This resort is very nice, albeit a little remote. It reminds us of both Costa Rica and the Amazon hotels we stayed at!

When we first arrived, we were given a nice room. It was clean and comfortable, but no direct view of the ocean which was no big deal at all. We set our stuff down and headed to the local mart to get some waters. Upon our return, we realized we shared our bungalow with a family of three young children and one was having a meltdown. Lots of screaming and crying! We realize we’re going to be those people soon, but not now! Kevin called the front desk and very politely asked if they had another room we could move to due to the noisy neighbors. Our ladies Tammy and Nancy hooked us up!!! We got moved to basically the farthest corner of the property with our own bungalow, a nicer room, and an ocean front view. It was really, really kind of them. Plus, no neighbors!

We spent a lot of time on the deck listening to the ocean. It was great white noise while we slept. Plus we got wonderful views all day! The last photo is the view from our deck yesterday AM. In the second to last photo you can see our bungalow on the very far right.

Moving to this room really changed our outlook on this part of the trip. We loved it. The staff here were SO nice and friendly. Would definitely recommend someone stay here if they want to stay in Hana!