Our last full day in Maui, we decided to visit the Kula Botanical Gardens-- the one that we closing when we tried to stop on our first full day in Maui. We slept in a bit and enjoyed a lazy breakfast at/around the condo before heading out.
It was another beautiful, clear day!
We arrived at the botanical gardens around 9:30 and spent nearly 2 hours exploring. Evan and I took a crazy amount of photos and Alec brought along his sketchpad and pencil.
My photos are in no particular order and I threw in some of Evan's as well... enjoy the roundup!
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| notice the flowers growing OUT of the pink fronds! |
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| I was obsessed with these hanging flowers |
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| The green balls are macadamia nuts; this was a macadamia tree |
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| There were a couple of gazebos |
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| we saw ducks, cats, koi, geese, and more. |
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| This tree had the neatest bark! |
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| There were statues and benches and mosaics walkways |
We got to see painted eucalyptus! Pinks, greens, purples, so many colors you don't expect to see on the trunks of trees.
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| aren't the colors amazing?! They're even more colorful up close. |
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| The new jumpsuit I bought while souvenir shopping yesterday was so comfy! |
This 8 acre botanical garden is entirely family owned and well worth the money (we thought!) to explore.
After touring the gardens we headed to the north shore (back over on the road to Hana) to try and glimpse the major swells (50-60 feet!) predicted... but apparently everyone else had the same idea as there was no parking to be found anywhere. Luckily we had seen some pretty large ones rolling in our way home from Hana that we were told were probably around 40 feet.
We continued on to the west coast instead to check out the towns of Olowalu, Lahaina, and Kaanapali-- pretty much the only section of Maui we hadn't yet visited.
Lahaina was where the wild fires from 2023 raged and while we still saw lots of signs and efforts to raise money it did seem like it was slowly coming back but there were wide swaths of areas where all you saw were foundations and barren landscapes.
We ate lunch at Duke's Beach House in Lahaina- the food was incredible!
I got Duke's Hawaiian Plate Lunch (a plate lunch in Hawaii usually refers to a protein served with rice and macaroni salad).
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My protein was Ono-- a really delicious fish
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| Alec got the mango BBQ chicken salad |
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| We all split Hula pie (macadamia nut ice cream with cookie base, chocolate sauce and crushed macadamia nuts) |
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| We had such lovely views with this open air restaurant too. |
It was such a beautiful property.
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| These series of resorts had a sign that their "wild cats" were vaccinated and taken care of so it was safe to pet them. |
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| Alec made friends with every one we saw. |
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| Duke's as seen from the beach/boardwalk area |
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| This side of the island looked quite different. |
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| From the highway back looking at the part of the island we've been staying on. |
We sat on the lanai and watched our final sunset on Maui.
Grabbed some ice cream/gelato for dinner and called it an early night.
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| Toasted coconut with macadamia nuts |
The botanical garden was amazing! Those flowers and trees!! I'll bet it was so neat to see those unique varieties of plants in person. The pictures are stunning!
ReplyDeleteSo fun that you got to visit the botanical gardens! That place looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteMother Nature is amazing and the hard work of the family who run it. The flowers and trees are beautiful. All those cats, not so much. I’m a dog person.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers and plants, looks like a bird, bee and butterfly heaven. It's nice to see the preservation of the diverse species of plants, there are many undiscovered plants that hold medicinal cures for ills that plague humans.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and your photography is on point!
ReplyDeleteWhat incredible blooms! I am adding this botanical garden to my bucket list for Hawaii!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.kathrineeldridge.com
I've always heard Hawaii/Maui has the most beautiful flowers. I would have gone to the botanical gardens too. It looks like you had the whole place to yourselves. The food looks amazing, especially that pie.
ReplyDeleteThat gelato is one I would order. Your pictures are beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen macadamia nuts growing. I love a botanical garden and look for them when we travel. Have a nice weekend!
ReplyDeleteI love botanical gardens. I love that picture of the red flower in the foreground and the puffy red flower in the background! The grounds you visited later are beautiful too as is the sunset!
ReplyDeleteThe flowers and foliage is so amazing! I am saving all your Hawaii posts because Mr. Nine and I want to get there so bad. I can’t believe we haven’t yet. Your photos are amazing and happy weekend!
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