October 7, 2011, Maui Friday, Pineapple Tour

Sorry, this is out of order, but it has happened to me two times now...and I'm not going to redo it again!
So, you get to jump a couple of days!!!  Sorry.

This morning there is a different cruise ship moored in our beautiful ocean view.

We were woke up by a wrong number at 4 am.  No back to sleep now.

Okay, so today is the day of the Pineapple Plantation Tour with lunch at the General store Restaurant.

We drive Little Blue Maui to the Maui Gold Factory and Plantation, it is at Hali'imaile, 10 minutes from Kahului.

We tasted 3 different stages of "ripeness" of the pineapple, and we could have all the pineapple we wanted to eat, right there in the field.  I took a ton of photos..I'm not quite sure why, but I think it was because we were inland and the view and expanse was quite amazing.  The soil there was very red and powdery and Steve, our guide (he was good, but not as good as Larry) said it was a good thing that it was not windy.  Later we saw from a distance the red clouds of dirt...it could have been a red, gritty, sticky mess.

We decided that the best tasting Maui Gold pineapple was the ripest and you can only get that there, it tasted like a Pina Colada, it was sweet, mellow and had a slight coconut background flavor.  Very good.

More information can be found here at their website:   http://www.mauipineappletour.com/

Maui Gold is the only pineapple grown in the USA, and it is only grown on Maui.  We both got a pineapple to take home, they said it would last 10 days..I suggest if you ever do this, to plan your tour closer to your flight home.  Just saying that we probably kept our pineapples a little long before eating.

Lunch at the General Store Restaurant, which I did not get a picture of, was good, but it is not anything like a general store, the name makes you think of Cracker Barrel, and it was pretty medium high end.  Our meal was prepaid with the tour so we had a narrow choice of food.  We both had Lemon Pineapple Ade and I had Moonfish (very good) and Carol had a weed salad.  Okay, okay...she said it was very very good.  Looked good, but if you know me...I'm not much for salad.  We refused the desert, no chocolate.
More on Moonfish http://.hawaii-seafood.org/wild-hawaii-fish/other-ocean-species/moonfish-opah/

10-7-2011 5:15 am Another cruise ship.

10-7-2011

10-7-2011 The sun rises off to the left and begins to shine on the Island of Lanai.

10-7-2011  Yes, dogs seem to be able to roam the beaches, and they love it.  Some owners clean up after them, some do not.

Maui Gold Pineapple planters.  They work 3 days a week, and make $40.00 an hour.  I was amazed that they can stand upright after all this bending.  Anyway, the machine shoots the pineapple tops on the field and then the planters plant them with a hand trowel, 2 movements...stick trowel in to make hole an shove the pineapple top in with the other hand.  Very fast.  I'd like to be a pineapple planter..for about 15 minutes.

10-7-2011 Planted pineapple.  this field will take one year to make pineapples and after 5 years of pineapples the field is replanted with new plants.  So you get 5 harvests just like sugar cane.

10-7-2011 New pineapple plants.

10-7-2011 Maui Gold Pineapple plantation.

10-7-2011 A baby pineapple.

10-7-2011 A baby pineapple.

10-7-2011 

10-7-2011 Pineapples ready for harvest.  The plants are very close together.

10-7-2011 The Maui Gold Pineapple Tour bus, this is the only Pineapple Tour in the world and our guide Steve is the only pineapple tour guide in the world.

10-7-2011 I just had to get my hand in there.



10-7-2011 The mechanical harvesting machine which extends across the pineapple fields. Field hands walk behind the boom and handpick the ripe fruit selectively, place it on the arm, and a conveyer rolls it into the truck. 



10-7-2011 

10-7-2011 Sugar cane.

10-7-2011 Carol and I in front of the sugar cane, so you can see how tall it is.  Again, the sugar cane is planted and they get 5 harvests and then they plow it under and plant new.

10-7-2011  Maui Gold packaging plant and Lab, they test each batch for acid and sugar content.

10-7-2011  Ready for shipping.

10-7-2011  Steve explaining what the large expensive machine does...I wasn't listening.

We ate dinner at "Captain Jack's", no not that Captain Jack, but it was very good and we listened to live music.

I walked into one gallery and there was a beautiful large painting of Koi (large carp, goldfish) and I exclaimed, "Sushi!".   You should have seen the look on the sales lady's face!  I had some explaining to do.  Even my explanation sounded a little fishy.  (Sorry).

Lahaina was crowded but in a good way, lots of couples and young families.

We explored the side streets and an older Hawaiian lady hand made flower clips for hair.  She made them from very light weight clay and had painted them.  they were beautiful, she saw me and picked one up and put it in my hair.   Of course I bought it, but it is one of the really good memories I have, she was a great lady.  Very Hawaiian.  (Flower worn on the right - single or available, flower worn on the left - taken or married).

The flower hair clip that she made.

It was a nice ending to a very nice day.

10-7-2011 The sun setting behind the Island of Lanai.