The Challenge at Manele on Lana'i

The ferry ride started out to be very hot while we waited in the harbor to onboard all passengers. It got much better with the breeze once we took off (and with my golf umbrella giving me some shade on the sun deck). It is only 45 mins over to this quiet island and once one gets close to it, the view is pretty. Nice cliffs and just nature and almost no civilization to be seen until one enters the harbor area.

A five minute shuttle ride up the hill and you are there: beautiful views of the beach and the excitement in the air to play a challenging and pictoresque course. The driving range and practice area is inviting and as it was not crowded at all, I took advantage and warmed up for my round. Off to a good start I had a 45 on the front nine.


The back nine then got so scenic that I took tons of pictures and started to add shots to my score. I am blaming this on the lovely distraction... With a disappointing 53, I summed up a 98 (with 31 putts). Playing it from the back tees though, I guess this is an ok score for "social and picture taking round".

On the shuttle and ferry back, I chatted to Jon and Al who had played 36 holes today (Manele and also the Experience at Koele) and their mother Jasmin and they were so kind to invite me along to dinner at Mala. Buzzing place on the water front in Lahaina with excellent mojitos and great dishes on the menu. Thank you Michael so much for treating me and a big hug to all of you for such a fun evening!

Beach day: Octopus and Turtles "on display" and prime rib "on the menu"

Really, I should have probably booked a surfing or paddle board lesson here on Maui, but I just felt like hanging out by the beach and check out the fish. Snorkeling here is special. Maybe not as many fish as I have seen on the Maledives or in Sharm el Sheikh, but as a real treat, I got to see an octopus today and a turtle.

In the afternoon I booked my ferry and golf trip for tomorrow, before I went for a run staring at a beautiful rainbow and then headed to Lahaina and strolled along Front street. Lahaina was the capital of Hawaii in the 19th century until it was moved to Honolulu. Pretty little shops, a historic district and a lot of art shops and galleries. Upon advice of the travel agent, I parked my car in the only fee free parking lot - checking out where it was - as I will need to park my car there for tomorrows outing to the the island Lana'i.

Mmh, prime rib for dinner at the Outback steak house. Thanks Aussies for putting up this chain. As it is a small world, I ended up sitting next to Nicholas at the bar. He is the guy that pulled out the shark yesterday and was quite pleased with the pictures I took. He came for dinner here as he only caught another shark today (an even bigger one he claimed) but not any fish he intended to eat.

Kapalua Plantation Course and the tiger shark

Round number 40 today and as I am told by members Mick and Jeannie, this is a very lucky number in Hawaii. The home of the Mercedes Benz Championships is a real challenge. A bit bummed that they had just sanded the greens, this actually turned out to be good for me. They were still pretty fast and quite true to their roll. With 34 putts I scored a 96 today, which included 1 birdie, 6 pars (also on the long 18th finishing hole) and lost some balls on the way. Wind again, yes, there is always wind on Maui. This course is difficult to play and even more so, if you don't know it. Being paired up with members is a bonus. Thank  you Mick and Jeannie, also for pointing out the lovely guava and picking them from the trees along the 9th hole with me. What an enjoyable 40th round.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at DT Flemings Beach Park (next to the Ritz Carlton). Instead of sunset watching (which was today behind a cloud) there was quite some excitement as a guy caught a tiger shark after a half an hour battle to tire him out. He then set him free again (with a pierced nose... poor thing) as he is after other fish. And so was I, more sushi on the Sansei Menu (tonight though at the Kapalua branch on my way home).

The Dunes at Maui Lani: tradewind adding 2-3 clubs on most holes...

Beautiful scenery with mountains in the background but also fierce winds on the front nine. My playing partners today were Ryann and uncle Doug (I met Ryann and his father John at Elleair yesterday and he arranged for a game today) and a friendly local guy (whose name I cannot recall right now). Golfwise, this was one of my worst rounds on the trip: 106 and 40 putts. Shame on me. Cannot blame that completely on the wind... This is golf: good days - a couple of them, and bad days - too many of them. This was round 39 on my trip (hope I counted correctly) and I am so looking forward to hopefully score better on my 40th round!

These ducks were friendly and came very close - guess,
my bird killing has not made the news after all.

After I had dropped of the guys at their place, I went to Little Beach in Kihei, just in time for beautiful sunset. Did I say Phuket was nicer... hmm. Maybe this is equally nice if one brings a drink along :) and then looks forward to excellent sushi. I already ate at Sansei yesterday and because the sushi there is so nice and fresh and prepared in such exquisite ways, I thought I return tonight to eat other things on the menu. Definitely is a must visit for sushi lovers and make sure you try their specials.

Elleair Golf Club: 60$-Tuesdays... and a birdie (but a dead one, not the kind I was looking for...)

The starter teamed me up with Gary today. I didn't see where his drive went, and he didn't see mine... but he could hear it hit something and so could I. Oh boy, I could not have hit it if I wanted to. Topping my drive of the first tee, it went straight for a lovely bird about 30 yards away from the red tees, that I had just admired as I was getting ready to tee off and thought to myself that I should take a picture of it later. I did take a picture... but unfortunately of a dead bird. My drive killed it. This is definitely a first for me and I hope it is also a last! More than slightly irritated, I continued and struggled a bit for a couple holes until I got the bird out of my mind or at least to the very back corner of my mind. Every birdie chance today, I left untaken. Two putts even rolled straight for the hole and then took a funny turn right in front of the hole - a bit spooky. A 93 with 39 putts I thought was an ok result for this memorable round.

RIP dear bird!

South of Five Palms is a lovely beach that was recommended to me by Cindy and Donna who I met at Starbucks on my way to the beaches in Kihei. Beautiful sunset - coming close to the sunsets in Phuket - where I think the only plus is that it was warmer and I always had a happy hour drink with it at the Beach Club of Twinpalms hotel in Surin Beach.

Kauai to Maui

What a change in scenery. The drive from Kahului airport to my condo in Kaanapali takes me along the very scenic ocean road. But here on Maui, the dominant colors are gold and brown and the blue of the sea, not much green in sight except for the palm trees and man made gardens. The Aston Mahana does not have much of a beach to use either, but just next to the hotel starts a nice stretch of beach.


In the afternoon, I drive up to Napili Bay and sit out by the beach until sunset. Then I stock up on breakfast supplies in the local supermarket as I intend to have my eggs home made and eaten on the ocean front balcony of my studio for the coming week. Everything is a bit overpriced, except the pineapple for 99c (maybe they subsidize the pineapples?).

Golf at Wailua and Dinner at Bar Acuda

Second time around today to start off my day at Ono's family restaurant for breakfast. Today, I ordered the short "tropical stack": a generous portion of their banana pancakes with hot home made coconut syrup to top it. I am not a sweet tooth (I think I already said that in Melbourne... maybe I am slowly developing a taste for it?), but this is delicious. Just absolutely fabulous!

Wailua really is a nice course, I am glad I got a chance to re-play it and improve on my score. Today, I even birdied the scenic 17 par 3 down to the ocean. Off to a rocky start, I improved during the round and shot a 44 on the back nine, with good chipping. This is a long course and helps practice chipping quite a bit (I would like to think I am already more consistent ...).

hole 17 - par 3 (birdie for me today :))

Too sad that this is my last day on the garden island, I really tried to suck in as much as I could on my sunset drive to Hanalei, where we were meeting friends for dinner at Bar Acuda. They serve tapas - excellent tapas. I am so blessed that most of my friends are "foodies" and enjoy going to places that serve great meals.

Taro fields in Hanalei valey