Sunrise-Moonset...

WAILEA, Maui, Jan 4 - My Elua condo is a heavenly place in which to wake up.  The scent of the golf course was drifting in from the northern window; smell of the ocean from the south balcony.  Birds chirping, happy they survived the night.  

For some reason, mournful notes from "Sunrise, sunset... swiftly flow the days" (a tune from the "Fiddler on the Roof") were whirring in my head this morning.  When I got up and walked out onto the balcony at daybreak, I understood why...

At the same time as the sun was rising over the volcano behind me, the full moon was setting over the ocean in front.  A double delight on this Jan 4, 2007.  So I hummed, "Sunrise, moonset... swiftly fly the years, one season following another, laden with happiness and tears."

And then, I went from the sublime to the physical.  As you can see...

...my condo here has a regular little gym nook in the corner of the master bedroom.  I used it to shake out the dreamy cobwebs from this lovely morning.

Extending the Range along the Money Trail

After working out, I decided to extend my walking range beyond the Grand Wailea Resort, the farthest point to the south from my condo to which I had ventured so far.  As I headed in that direction, I came across this sign:

Anyone able to pronounce the name of that first restaurant on the sign deserves a free meal there, wouldn't you say?  The name reminded me of another practically unpronounceable long name that I saw this summer on a sign in Bangkok.

As I walked on, the coastline became more rugged.

But the homes of Wailea Point (an exclusive private community developed in late 1980s), which enjoy the above ocean view, were anything but rugged.

Their lawns looked like putting greens.  And the carefully manicured vegetation around them was as pretty as anywhere on the island.  The ones above also have a spectacular ocean view (see below).

These homes look out to Molokini island (a dark line just to the left of that tree), a favorite spot for snorkeling by Maui visitors.  The bigger island in the background is Kahulawe.  Never heard of it?  No wonder.  It's an uninhabited island.  For decades, the U.S. military used it for target practice.  Now, it may take decades to clean it up from unexploded ordinance and other debris.  Oh well, most "regular" tourists don't know that anyway.  And even if they did, they can't see the mess from this distance.

The longer I walked, the more I felt as if I were following a money trail.  The scenery down the coast to the south of this spot is nothing short of grand.  More of Wailea Point homes gracing the top of the cliffs overhanging the ocean.  No wonder most of these 3,000 square foot-"condos" sell for just under $5 million.  Back in 1987, when they first went on the market, they started at $435,000.  

By the way, I found out today that even my little (1,100 sq ft) one  bedroom, two bath-condo at Elua Village sells nowadays for around $1 million.

Just around the bend from Wailea Point is this resort that consists of Mediterranean style "casitas," in addition to the main hotel building.  It turns out it is Fairmont's Kea Lani resort.  I remember checking it out on the net before this trip.  It was sold out even though it's room rates were higher than the rent I am paying for my condo.  What I didn't know was the reason... it lies on Maui's money trail.

Later this evening, I heard in the news that the oil and gas prices have dropped precipitously this week.  Were they traded as equities, the decline would have been equivalent of a 1,500 point drop in the Dow.  "Interesting," I thought, especially as seen from here in Maui.  The prices on the island are $3.19 per gallon for regular unleaded gas (versus $2.19 in Arizona).  Guess oil companies evidently charge what the market can bear.  And here, on and around the money trail, they can obviously bear quite a bit.

END of Day 2... CLICK HERE to go to Day 3

Back to Hawaii Twenty-O-Seven Index

Back to Home