I had a hunch that our week on Maui might not be blue skies and sunshine every day. Typically, January is the worst weather month in the Hawaiian Islands, a fact I discovered just days before flying away for a week of warmth.

Since I’d never been to The Valley Isle, I checked www.mauinews.com to see what was happening, weather and otherwise. The headlines were typical island fare, and several could have been plucked from the pages of The South Whidbey Record: “Panel seeks to protect night sky from light pollution”; “Prolific Mother Goose is killed on roadway”; “Good Shepherd to open kitchen for needy’; “Discarded tires removed from Maui beach”; “Snow falls, power out.”

Snow on Maui? Yup. Thanks to an upper-air weather system called a Kona low, several inches of snow fell on the summit of Haleakala and there were power outages at the higher elevations. Granted, we weren’t going to be hanging out at the 9,000-foot level of this dormant volcano, but we were headed to Upcountry. Fortunately, the snow melted before we arrived…but the rain made its presence known.

If you’re not familiar with Upcountry Maui, I wasn’t either. I discovered it while seeking out a spot far away from the concrete, condos and crowds of Maui’s popular West Side and South Shore. We landed at Kahului Maui Airport on an overcast afternoon, after a brief layover in Honolulu (Hawaiian Airlines begins direct service from Seattle to Maui in March). But it was warm, real warm. And it felt good.

We were headed for Makawao, one of the state’s last “paniolo” (cowboy) towns, about 20 minutes from the airport in Upcountry. This is an area of rolling hills and misty mountains … and after a 20-year drought, plenty of the much-needed precipitation has turned the hillsides a brilliant green. As we rounded the dozens of switchbacks on the 12-mile uphill trek from Makawao to Olinda Country Cottages, the scent of eucalyptus became more pungent with every turn. At last we arrived at The Hidden Cottage, our base camp for the following week. If you want privacy, this is it. Our cottage was down a long driveway, tucked into a field of exotic Protea. The only people we saw during the week were the fellows who came to pick up the garbage early one evening.

Pineapple fields and pastures surround the town of Makawao, Upcountry’s “Eye of the Forest.” Today, most of the real cowboys are long gone and it’s a combination of oldtimers, old hippies and New Agers. It still has the feel of a western town (they have a Fourth of July rodeo every summer), but quality boutiques and numerous art galleries are housed behind the wooden storefronts. Smart zoning has kept modern retail complexes away, and there’s nary a Starbucks or Blockbuster on the two main streets. Think funky instead of gentrified. Best of all, they have seven (7!) good places to eat — impressive for a town of 5,000-plus. According to our friendly surfer-waitress at the Makaweo Steak House where we dined one evening, 75 percent of their business is from the locals.

One of the more colorful characters in Makawao is Gary Moore, owner of HI Hearth & Leisure. As the unofficial mayor of Makawao, he doesn’t mince words when it comes to his town (he was stationed at NAS Whidbey decades ago). Clad in a chili pepper shirt (he sells them, along with stoves, barbecues and all kinds of hot sauce) and smoking a ciggy, he’s Makawaoan through and through — with plenty of edge. “I haven’t been to Lahaina in seven years,” said Moore about the popular tourist town on West Maui. “It’s just like Tijuana.”

Just north of Makawao is the sugar plantation town of Pa’ia, home to Ho’okipa Beach Park, the windsurfing capital of the world. Dozens of shops selling everything from surf gear to hemp wear line the two main streets, along with a number of good restaurants like Pa’ia Fishmarket. We ate lunch there twice, and the fish sandwiches (I had Ono) and coleslaw are delicious. It’s a casual picnic table place as opposed to the nearby Mama’s Fish House, the ultimate Hawaiian eatery on the beach. Save your money for this one, but it’s well worth it.

So what about that weather? It didn’t just rain, it poured. Up to 4 inches an hour on the worst day, with some areas getting close to 14″ of the watery stuff. In fact, three people drowned while stupidly trying to ford a stream in their rented Jeep. We played it a lot smarter and went to a movie.

The name of the film?

“Snow Dogs.”

Sue Frause can be reached by e-mail at skfrause@whidbey.com.