It's Friday

Aloha! So today is our last full day on Maui. We leave tomorrow afternoon for Honolulu then a direct connection through to Houston. I was so tired last night I went to sleep as soon as we arrived back at our apartment, woke up and ate dinner then went back to bed.

I think while I am at home I run on adrenaline as I work from the time I wake up until I go to bed and I've found when I am on vacation and once I start to relax, all my body wants to do is sleep. Pity we don't have another week here.

Yesterday we met up with Keri (Keri Designs) and her friends and that turned into a lovely lunch at a little place with a name that I can't remember. The food was superb and I'd definitely go there again.

We also made the trek up Haleakala, the dormant volcano that last erupted about 200 years ago. It takes a while to drive up those winding roads to the peak which rises 10,000 ft above sea level. It is rare that Haleakala is cloud free and yesterday was cloudy but the views from up there were still stunning.

Both these photos of the shoreline of Maui were taken from around 6,000ft.

The Silversword (below) has been bought back from the edge of extinction and is a stunningly beautiful plant. There are some lovely specimens growing near the peak of Haleakala

The other photo is part of the crater of the volcano. It is huge and there are numerous hiking trails for the adventurous tourist. I'm afraid I'm not one of them but I really enjoyed the experience of looking out over the barren landscape to the rolling mountains, rainforest and ocean far below.

I've come to the conclusion that Maui is a stunningly beautiful place and one of the few places I've visited that have impressed me. Coming from the beautiful area of Australia (the Whitsundays) that I call home, a place has to be pretty special to equal or surpass that and Maui has done that.

Even though I've had time to look around Maui, this trip hasn't been all 'play' and after spending the day with Keri today and talking through our plans, it is time to let the cat out of the bag.

We are planning a stitching retreat here in Maui. There will be classes in Hawaiian quilting, needlepoint and cross stitch with well known teachers, including Keri and myself, (although I don't really count myself as being that well known) and plenty of free time allocated for those who want to explore this magnificent island.

Since the retreat is in the early stages of planning, I can't give you any more details but those interested have at about 18 months to save your pennies for the stitching retreat of a lifetime.

Husbands are more then welcome and there is plenty of fishing, golf and exploring they can be doing to keep themselves occupied.

Since this will be my last entry from Maui..... Aloha and I'll catch up with y'all when I'm back in Texas