Upcountry

Today we gave up our morning beach walk time so we could get out the door by mid-morning and travel "Upcountry" away from the teeming masses of locals and tourists at sea level.

Our first stop was at the Surfing Goat Dairy which was founded by a couple who emigrated to Maui from Germany.  The dairy has been in operation for about ten years and milks about a hundred goats of various breeds.  For $10/person you can take a 20-minute guided tour, feed the goats, check out the milking station (which you can see in operation during a special "Evening Chores" tour in mid-afternoon), learn how the fresh and aged cheeses are made, and then sample the products.  My favorite was the fresh cheese with lavender.

The cheese tasting portions were small, so we headed up the flanks of Haleakala to Grandma's Coffee House for a quick lunch before continuing on south for another six miles to the Tedeschi Winery.  After a short tour of the grounds that covered the vineyard and harvest operations, as well as a bit of the history behind the 20,000 acre ranch where the winery is located, we sampled both sparking and still wines made from pineapples (much more abundant than wine grapes on Maui) plus a Chardonnay and Colombard white, and a red made from Syrah and Merlot.

Then it was on to the Alii Kula Lavender Farm for a tour of the farm's extensive gardens followed by a cup of tea and a lavender scone. Our final stop was at the Curtis Wilson Cost Gallery in the Kula Lodge.  Cost's father was an artist in Carmel and taught Curtis landscape painting techniques.

Up on the mountain it was probably ten degrees cooler than down in Kahului and Kihei today, and a few raindrops fell on us during the winery tour and the drive back to our condo.