After spending a week in a condo on the touristy west side, it was time for some peace and quiet in the mountains. I had expectations of a hopefully remote area with some trees and streams to take in the wonders of the rainforest. When we pulled up to the house we were blown away. I thought I was stepping into Shangri-la. This place stands atop a mountain overlooking a lush tropical rainforest valley that offers a view of the ocean that should have a sign out front, ‘Scenic View,’ for tourists to stop and take pictures. The house is really cool from the outside, decked out like an ideal getaway, but when you step inside it really takes your breath away. It is a multi-level house designed for maximum viewing, naturally lit and ventilated, totally belonging to the surrounding environment. We had Makawao, Paia and Haiku to tour, but never wanted to venture away from the house, so beautiful and relaxing was the scene. When we did, however, the locals were clearly cut from a different cloth and we got to know the real Maui.

The morning greets you with a flock of exotic finches dining from the feeder on the back porch. You step out the front door to a couple of native quails, deer up the driveway moving along their morning graze and the diversity of the natural flora and fauna just goes from there. I’ve always been an avid naturalist and as soon as Sydney found out I like critters she hooked me up with an impromptu venture to identify amphibious species of the jungle nightlife. The next day she took me on a tour of the coffee plantation, just showing me around their property. It was more impressive than the high dollar tours you buy from the keosks in Lahaina. I really don’t know why haven’t seen these scenes on National Geographic, but let’s just keep this a sleeper as long as we can.

Both Sydney and Maurice were so friendly and accommodating that we invited them over from their busy schedule for a barbeque the last night of our stay. I’d rather do that again than venture out to the expensive restaurants on the coast any day. With fresh cut Hawaiian mesquite to fire the grill or the living room wood stove, who needs another fish burger?

This was our first trip to Maui, but certainly not the last. Our new mission is to save our pennies for the next 300 days so that we can go back there to spend just one more week.

Oh, and for the record, the coffee is sublime.