Kick back,soak up Maui's version of old-style Hawai'i

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Travel Editor

At Nanea a'o Kula, a lavender farm on Waipoli Road in Kula, Maui, gardener Amy Endo trims lavender plants that scent the air — and the delicious scones served at tea. Photos By Carl E. Koonce III • Special to The Advertiser

Despite all the development on Maui, pastoral scenes still abound Upcountry.

At Enchanting Floral Gardens in Kula, Maui, eight acres of plantings from around the world attract visitors.

But the overgrown protea farm behind me, and the view of gray-green eucalyptus forests, emerald meadows and hills rolling down, down, down to the curve of shoreline was pure Maui.

This sense of the two places I love most in the world coming together all in one location had me smiling as I strolled the deserted grounds of Olinda Country Cottages & Inn in the soft light of the late afternoon.

The next day, I would recapture the feeling — of being at home and yet removed to another place and time — at the Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono, a gracious, rambling old wood-floored house complete with servants' quarters and outbuildings on the venerable town's High Street.

Here, owners Janice and Tom Fairbanks (she turned out to be an old classmate of mine from Lahainaluna) have re-created 1920s upper-class Island life in the lofty-ceilinged rooms filled with glowing wood furniture, floored with woven mats, stacked with old books.

If Maui to you is the beaches of Ka'anapali or Wailea, or the bustle of Lahaina or Kihei, come see another side of the Valley Island — what Mauians call "Upcountry" and "Townside."

Visiting Olinda, Kula and 'Ulupalakua on the slopes of Haleakala, and exploring historic if rather faded Wailuku Town and neighboring areas offer you a different perspective of this multifaceted island, one more in keeping with its early 20th-century history, a bit more downscale and local.

A pre-holiday weekend on Maui might be just the thing for pumping up your holiday spirit. Janice Fairbanks decorates The Inn at Ulupono within an inch of its life. Tree-lightings, Santa arrivals, art and crafts sales, and the annual Na Mele O Maui hula and song festival all are coming up. The Saturday-morning swap meet in Kahului is a treasure trove, as are the antique and collectible shops on Wailuku's Market Street, and the hippy-dippy clothing and gift stores of the one-time mill town of Pa'ia.

Or you can be selfish and run away from the holidays and shopping, visiting a working lavender farm, riding horseback, exploring Kula's botanical gardens or 'Iao Valley's Hawai'i Nature Center or hiking in a West Maui rain forest.

My midweek Maui adventure went like this:

Wednesday afternoon

A friend had recommended Olinda Country Cottages and hostess Laurie Lipp (standing in for owner Ellen Unterman, who was traveling) told me on the phone to drive up Olinda Road until I had to stop. As my car nosed up the steep, narrow, winding road past a bird sanctuary, intriguing-looking houses and cow pastures, I began to wonder if I'd reach the clouds before I found the place, but pretty soon, there it was. I keyed in the code they had given me, parked in the gravel driveway and found a note welcoming me to my room in the upstairs wing of the main house, which I would have all to myself.

The inn consists of two large bedrooms with private baths — I had one with a downhill view; the other looks up the hill to the protea farm — and a living room where breakfast is served and you can relax with a book or magazine. Downstairs, the kitchen-equipped sunny Pineapple Sweet opens onto the garden and is like a whole studio apartment. And there are two secluded cottages, as well — a treat I'm saving for my next visit. Unterman is an antique dealer and the rooms are decorated with intriguing collectibles from different places and periods.

Before it got dark, I slipped back down the hill to Makawao for dinner at Casanova's — an exceptional salad of Maui-grown greens and a steak topped with Maui goat cheese. Back at the inn, no TV, just a book and a delicious chance to snuggle down under a fluffy duvet and enjoy being a little bit chilly.

In the morning, Laurie served me a smile and a gorgeously presented breakfast of cereal, a basket of breads, butter and jam and a plate of fresh-cut fruit — pineapple, mango, blood oranges, sunset papaya and apple bananas, not your usual "fruit cup." The good food, pleasant surroundings and, above all, the quiet so profound you could hear it had me ready to send for the rest of my stuff and move in for good.

Thursday daytime

Leaving Olinda reluctantly, I began a leisurely drive along the slopes of Haleakala which, in the course of a long day would take me from Makawao to Kula, on to Ulupalakua, then back down again through Oma'opio to town.

A good bit of my morning was spent touring Nanea a'o Kula high up on Waipoli Road in nearby Kula, the lavender farm that's got all of Maui talking with its delicious teas, gardens buzzing with happy bees, craft classes and shop full of delights. Don't miss it.

Afterward, I explored Enchanting Floral Gardens on Kula Highway, with pathways winding through 8 acres of themed plantings. Though a bit unkempt and overgrown in places, the garden offers close-up looks at some amazing flowers. Gardeners and photographers will love it; others (especially children) might be bored.

A few jacaranda were still in violet bloom and I stopped along the road to snap a picture and stroke the velvety warm noses of some friendly horses. Had a back ailment not prevented it, I would have liked to take advantage of one of a number of horseback opportunities in the area: guided rides in Haleakala National Park, pasture rides in Makawao, a waterfall ride off the Hana Highway — pick up brochures from racks in the baggage claim area at the airport.

I stopped in at the venerable Kula Lodge, which has a heart-stopping view of the isthmus and the West Maui Mountains. The dining room smelled musty, so I elected to buy a jar of Surfing Goat Dairy goat cheese in the gift shop and pair it with some crackers for a picnic lunch at Rice Park, where Kula Highway and Haleakala Highway come together, which has an equally amazing view. Just up Lower Kula Road, the sun gleamed off the dome of famous Holy Ghost Catholic Church, its renovation paid for by years of bread-baking on the part of its parishioners. Stop in for a look at the woodwork and hand-painted statues.

An interview appointment for another story took up much of my afternoon. Had I had time, I would have driven into Haleakala National Park, headed over to Tedeschi Vineyards in 'Ulupalakua to taste some wine or taken a hike (there are numerous Upcountry hiking trails — consult "Hiking Maui, the Valley Isle").

When it was time to head downhill, I turned off on Oma'opio Road on a whim. This back road down to the isthmus also happens to be the home of Surfing Goat Dairy, which offers tours that include the opportunity to milk goats and taste the cheeses.

Thursday evening

I was glad to get to my temporary home at the Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono, the Miulana Room in the newest addition, Vagabond House, a modern three-room complex shoehorned into the inn's back yard. Vagabond House is named for the title of one of Island poet Don Blanding's books. Blanding's romantic doggerel about Hawai'i was popular during the period when the original house was in its prime, so Janice and Tom Fairbanks have given the place a Blanding theme. "When you are passing will you pause/ Or — if you will — drop in and see/ This garden that belongs to me."

The Vagabond House rooms are done up in Sig Zane floral prints, rare framed plates from a book on the indigenous flowers of Hawai'i and period-looking furnishings but with modern amenities (TV/VCR, coffeemaker, air-conditioning, ceiling fans, Aveda bath products, luxurious multihead shower).

Exhausted, I picked up a plate lunch and ate in front of the TV despite the temptation to visit one of my favorite Maui restaurants — local-friendly Tokyo Tei, funky Tasty Crust or bustling Saigon Cafe. Janice offered snacks and juice from the fridge in the main house dining room and even came up with a corkscrew for my wine. (Don't you drink cabernet with hamburger steak?)

Friday

Protea flourish in Upcountry Maui, and there are numerous opportunities to see them in gardens and buy them to bring home.

Inn residents are free to lounge in the living room with its East-West decor or — my favorite, on the front porch, where there are comfortable chairs and tables. This house, built by a banker for his daughter-in-law (oddly, there's rarely any mention of his son), features rare 'ohi'a and eucalyptus wood floors, beveled-glass entry doors and a daylight basement where the kitchen and servant's quarters were kept (the granddaughter of the housekeeper once turned up as a guest at the inn, offering a few anecdotes).

The Fairbanks retained the facade when they renovated the home in 1995, but were forced to all but rebuild the house, retaining original features wherever possible. The supporting beams were so rotten the only thing holding up the house was the stucco. "It would have fallen down or burned down pretty soon it was in such bad shape," Janice said. A veteran of many fixer-uppers as she followed her husband around the Mainland where he worked in the hospitality industry, she supervised much of the renovation, as Tom Fairbanks continues a career as food and beverage director of the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel.

Waving a reluctant goodbye, I headed off to poke through the collectible shops on Market Street (there's an ever-changing menu of shops on this two-block stretch, once home to fishmongers, butcher shops and dry goods stores). Afterward, I took up a run up to 'Iao Valley, where the Hawai'i Nature Center occupies the site of my childhood home. Whenever I visit, I wish I had a child with me, as their Interactive Nature Museum is so much fun; instead, I end up acting like a kid myself. A guided rain-forest walk is offered that takes you deeper into the valley and across Kepaniwai Stream on well-worn trails (suitable for older children and most adults).

Other choices for a "Townside" afternoon might have included a visit to Ka'ahumanu Church and the Bailey House Museum, site of missionary activities, or a quick drive out to the Maui Tropical Plantation, where you get on a tram to tour a model of a working plantation.

Another option — one I chose on another recent Maui trip — is the beautiful if somewhat hair-raising cliff drive to the tiny village of Kahakuloa, about 15 miles from Wailuku but a good 40-minute drive with white knuckles on the steering wheel for the driver and amazing views for the passenger. Along the way is one of the best gift shop/galleries in the Islands, and surely the most out-of-the-mainstream, Kaukini Gallery.

Had it been a Saturday, I would certainly have visited the Maui Swap Meet, favorite of Mauians for unusual crafts, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, secondhand stuff, potted herbs and baked goods. Ka'ahumanu Center in Kahului is also home to a couple of interesting shops, including Maui Hands, a shop that specializes in Maui-made products.

And if I were traveling on the weekend at this time of year, I'd look for craft fairs and art sales.

If you go ...

Attractions

Here's more information on attractions on Maui. You'll find literally dozens of brochures, free guides and special offers at the airport. Be sure to ask a lot of questions and carefully evaluate attractions one against the other before making a choice.

• Surfing Goat Dairy, 3651 Oma'opio Road, Kula: 20-minute tours on the hour between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, noon and 4 p.m. Saturdays and noon and 1 p.m. Sundays ($3 per person, party of four required; tour only, no cheese-tasting); deluxe 2-hour tours offered at 9 a.m. each Saturday including visit to pasture, goat-milking, tour of factory, cheese-tasting ($12 per person). Saturday tours routinely sell out; book in advance, (808) 878-2870. www.surfinggoatdairy.com.
• Nanea a'o Kula, 1100 Waipoli Road, Kula: Teas and culinary tours, craft classes, private parties (reservations required); shop offering line of culinary, bath, beauty, aromatherapy and other products. (808) 878-3004, www.mauikulalavender.com.
• Enchanting Floral Gardens, 2505 Kula Highway, Kula: 8-acre garden with more than 2,000 species of tropical and semi-tropical plants and flowers from around the world. Admission: $5 ($1 for children 6-12). (808) 878-2531.
• Hawai'i Nature Center at 'Iao Valley, 875 'Iao Valley Road, Wailuku: open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; rain-forest walks at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays, walk fee is $24.95 adults, $22.95 children (includes admission); museum admission only, $6 adults, $4 children. (808) 244-6500.

Accommodations

We chose to go the mid-price B&B route on this trip, but Maui offers every possible accommodation level, from super-luxury resorts to hostels.

• B&B we tried: The Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono, 2199 Kaho'okele St. (Kaho'okele and High Streets); (808) 244-5897, www.mauiinn.com, $120 to $180 per night includes full breakfast, free parking. Olinda Country Inn & Cottages, 2660 Olinda Road, Makawao; (808) 572-1453, www.mauibnbcottages.com; $140 to $245 (depending on whether room, suite or cottage) includes breakfast, free parking.
• Other options: For a Maui bed and breakfast listing, go to www.maui.us/maui_bed_and_breakfast.htm; rates from $69 a night. Also: www.hawaiibnb.com, www.bestbnb.com.
• Kula Lodge & Restaurant, 15200 Haleakala Highway, Kula: a rustic chalet inn with popular restaurant, awesome views; rates from $115 a night for a studio with private lanai to $195 a night for two-story chalet with fireplace, private lanai, loft; (808) 878-2125.
• Budget hotels: Banana Bungalow Maui Hostel, 310 N. Market, Wailuku; (808) 244-5090; private rooms from $37.40 for one or $51.85 for two; www.mauihostel.com. Maui Beach/Maui Palms Hotel, a 142-room low-rise Castle Hotel popular with kama'aina and business travelers, offers rooms and suites; 170 Ka'ahumanu Ave., Kahului, (808) 877-0051, www.castleresorts.com; from $89.
• Maui Seaside Hotel, a spare but comfortable motel-style low-rise hotel, some rooms with kitchenettes; 100 W. Ka'ahumanu, Kahului, (808) 877-3311; www.sand-seaside.com; from $98.