I have been looking for an amethyst ring for years! It's my birthstone and I longed to find a unique one at the right price. I found it at the most out of the way art store (Turnbull Studios, Sculpture Garden and Fine Art Gallery) and Jim gave it to me for a Friday the 13th/Valentine's/birthday/anniversary gift. Now that was a bargain for him; four gifts in one shot! We celebrated my birthday with a delicious dinner at the Sea House, lit by tiki lamps as we sipped our tropical drinks and Jim and I savoured scrumptious local fish.

Like the waves on the shore that we hear throughout the night, the days roll by with a contradiction of consistency and variety, welcoming whatever and however much we choose to do. Coming to Hawaii for four weeks offers us a relaxing pace knowing there are many other days ahead to do what we thought we might do, and didn't, today. Soon our perspective will change but for now we are embracing this aloha style.

An evening in Pa'ia, a bustling little town of surfers, offered us the best wood-fired pizza ever at the Flatbread Company. Our favourites were the Thai veggie curry and the macadamia nut and garlic pesto pizzas. Following that, we relished in a full day of rest, comprised of reading in the sun, swimming, eating leftovers including the massive serving of fried rice from the Gazebo, and napping. We were ready to go again.

My cousin (once removed) and her family are here in Maui for a couple of weeks...it seems with Facebook it's very easy to find out what others' travel plans are. We met up with her and her 13 other family members - all but three being in-laws - and enjoyed a lunch at a beach-side restaurant. This was another serendipitous connection on this trip.

World Whale Day was on Feb. 14 so we took in some of the activities in Lahaina at the 'whale love' conference including talks by National Geographic photographers and accomplished whale researchers. We learned about whale sounds and heard some intriguing stories.
Surprisingly, nobody has ever seen a humpback whale give birth or breed.

We scooted around this end of Maui, up along the northwest coast testing local sources of banana bread and candied coconut while checking out coastal walks, whales off the shore and the Nakalele Blowhole. The surf was up so Jim dumped us at our condo and spent three hours photographing at a favourite local surfing location.

Even better than seeing whales from the shore, twice we went whale watching on a raft with Captain Steve's. Seeing moms teaching their baby whales to breach or to flap their pectoral fins or actually swimming directly underneath our boat and staying there while keeping a steady eye on her offspring was breathtaking.

On the Waihe'e Ridge Trail, we tested our knees again although this time Brenda and I completed the entire hike. It's a spectacular trail visiting ridge lines where the view looking out gave us a full picture of Maui and looking straight down on either side we saw the lush valleys below. I tried to keep positive as we progressed and my knees ached but by the end of the steep decline, which is always the harder part, I had nothing left in my positive thinking bank. I wondered if I would ever walk again. Thankfully, the next day I was able to descend the stairs in our condo and get my morning coffee!

It is remarkable how travel agrees with me. I must be able to find a natural rhythm that, somehow, I cannot tap into when I'm home. My post concussion symptoms have all but disappeared now after 3 weeks away. Is it psychological? Have energetic changes affected me? Is it the removal of stress? Who knows? I know it works. I had an astrologer tell me recently that I needed to travel and she specified that it was a need not a want. I guess I'll have to do more of this; all I need is a significantly larger bank account!

NOTE: To see all of Jim's Maui images in higher quality, visit his Flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimneale/ sets/