Haleakala

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Leaving the Banyan tree behind we started for Paia. But sitting at a stop light we saw a sign for Haleakala National Park. You guessed it…diversion #2. It was about 10:30 am by now and we thought it would be a just a quick side trip. After all, we weren’t going at sunrise or sunset, the 2 most popular times to visit.

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The airport shuttle driver in Albany had told us that we should make the drive because we could see the whole island from the summit and it would be worth it. As we entered the park a sign warned that there was no gas available in the park. I looked at our gas gauge. It was 1/2 full so I figured that should be enough. The sign also said it was 22 miles.

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Haleakala, aka “House of the Sun”, is a dormant volcano that is famous for its sunrise and the people that take the bike tour to see it. They take a van to the summit and after they watch the sunrise they  bike down the mountain.

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The operative word here being “down”. They really fly! All along the road were warning signs to watch for bikers. There were a few hard core bikers that were going up. I guess there are always going to be a few people that have to do it the hard way!

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We made it to the first check point with no problem. Sandy had a National Park Pass so we only had to stop at the gate to pick up our brochure and show the pass. The entrance fee without the pass is $20.00 per vehicle in 2016. The price is scheduled to go up in 2017  to $25.00.

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2nd stop was at the first visitor center.

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Here we made a rest stop and chatted with the rangers. We learned that the park is home to the Nene, the Hawaiian Goose and state bird. There is a pair that lives near the station but they only come out when it rains to play in the puddles. We didn’t see a Nene but we did see some little birds that seemed to be hunkered down.017

Still we were cautioned to drive slowly. We wouldn’t want to be responsible for the loss of a goose when it’s so endangered.

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Gas check…It looks like we’ve used almost 1/4 of our gas. All this uphill driving must be taking a toll.

 

It’s Just a Little Tree

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We started out to visit the  valley between the west mountains and Haleakala. Then we planned to stop at Mama’s Fish House in Paia. A friend said to have lunch and watch the surfers. On the map it looked like quite a drive so we figured it would be a full day.

Of course we didn’t stick to the plan. Why should we? We’re on vacation.

Our first diversion came in Lahaina. We’d driven through there but didn’t see the huge Banyan Tree. Now I was determined to find it. How can you hide a tree that is said to be 60 ft tall and takes up .66 acres! It’s a whole block! And we didn’t see it??? Maybe we’re blind.

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I found a map with the location of the Banyan Tree and it was right where were were the day before so before we headed out to Paia we headed to Lahaina.

We turned down Prison St so named because there is an old prison built in 1882 to lock up rowdy sailors.

Some of the original rules posted on the prison wall are:

  • Tobacco, opium, or intoxicating drinks may not be used by prisoners unless the physician determines they are necessary for health.
  • Prisoners must not spit on the walls or floor.
  • Singing, whistling, and laughter are prohibited.
  • Prisoners who violate the rules may be flogged, or have their food reduced, or their head shaved.

But back to the Banyan Tree. We parked at the bottom of Prison St. As we left the parking lot on foot we turned right. We walked about 1 block and spotted the tree. Its in a park at the corner of Front St and Canal. I remember driving right past it but I was busy looking at the restaurants and shops to my right and missed the tree all together.

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I’m glad we found it now as it is quite impressive. Planted in 1873,  the tree now has, in  addition to it’s main trunk, 16 secondary trunks of major size. The canopy spreads over more than 1/2 acre.007

It only takes a minute to visit the park unless you get caught up with the vendors who set up stalls in the shade so be sure to add this to your Maui Bucket List.

Surf’s Up!

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Day one on Maui and it was time to do some exploring.

We sat through an Expedia Presentation so we had some ideas on where we wanted to go for starters.

First of all we headed back toward the airport to see what we’d missed in the darkness when we drove in. It was a beautiful drive. The sun was out and the road (rt. 30) followed the coastline.

People were already gathering at the various beaches along the way. Finally at Ukumehame Beach Park we spotted some “would be surfers”. We pulled over to watch but it soon became clear that there just wasn’t enough surf. The ocean was calm and all the wannabe surfers were just sitting on their boards hoping for a wave that wasn’t coming any time soon. Time to move on.

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Next stop was the scenic look-out over the whale sanctuary. There were some boats and a couple of divers but no whales.

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We moved on a bit further then turned around and headed back the way we’d just come. We wanted to go to mile marker 38 to see what was on that stretch of road. The Expedia rep said after mile marker 38 the road got very dangerous so that was going to be our stopping point.

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We had lunch at Beach Bum’s Bar & Grill then headed back up Rt 30. It had started to rain and the traffic was slow. Eventually it came to a halt. After sitting for awhile we finally began to move and around the corner we saw the reason for the hold up…paving crew! Once past this obstacle we were surprised when all of the cars ahead of us began to turn off the road. Not knowing what was going on we followed and there they were… surfers! The real deal.

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We later learned that we’d stumbled on one of the premier surfing spots on Maui, Honolua Bay. This was a great experience. Much more thrilling to watch in person than on the TV. I hope we see more surfing like this while we’re here.

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In The Morning Light

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Maui is beautiful.

Ka’anapali Shores is beautiful.

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I got a good nights sleep. Woke up at 6:30 am Maui Time, that would be like 11:30 am east coast time. At first I couldn’t understand why I was seeing my co-worker’s text. Then I realized it was Monday and I was waking up in Paradise.

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To prove it I stepped out on our balcony to check out our “ocean view”.

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Our alarm clock was the best kind. The natural kind.

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The birds.

Never a Dull Moment

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I was about to tell you that except for last minute flight changes travel with American airlines was uneventful. I received timely text messages with flight changes, happy smiling faces answered questions willingly, got priority boarding because my back was hurting and they even offered me a wheelchair. I assured them that wasn’t necessary.

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The flights were on time and landed early at each leg of the journey. The longest layover was at LAX. Our flight from Philly arrived almost an hour early. Our flight from LAX to Maui had been changed from 2:30 pm to 5 pm so we had a long wait.

Finally our flight was called. It was a full flight since 2 other flights had landed late causing passengers to miss connections so they were crammed onto our flight until every seat was taken.

We took off on time and everything seemed to be business as usual until about the middle of the flight.

The window passenger in my row wanted to sit with her husband who was seated several rows back. The flight attendant went to ask if the other window passenger would swap seats but both the husband and his seat mate were sound asleep. That should have been the end of it but noooo. I had just fallen asleep when the attendant returned to say  the husband and his seatmate had woken up and the seatmate agreed to swap with our window passenger. It didn’t matter that I’d just fallen asleep, The flight attendant woke me up so that my whole row could get out and allow the window passenger to swap seats. Finally everyone got settled in their new seats and I resumed my attempt to get a nap in.

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I had just dozed off again when the announcement came in. Is there a doctor on board? Actually they asked if there were any licensed medical professionals who could lend a had with a sick passenger. Of course that got everyone’s attention. The cabin lights, which had been dimmed, were back on full. There was a commotion in the aisle. Apparently the passenger had passed out or fallen. She was eventually moved to the exit seats as there was more room and several doctors were attending to her. The airline was lucky. There was a doctors convention in Maui so they had ample assistance.

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I saw them administer oxygen and a saline drip. Once we landed in Maui we stayed seated until the EMT’s met the plane had helped the patient disembark.

Luggage claim was very quick and picking up the rental car was also a breeze.

The only remaining snag was locating the resort. A 25 minute drive turned into a 1.5 hour search. My great directions were to look for a pink hotel but it was pitch black and nothing had any color!

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After several frantic phone calls we finally found the hotel and got checked in. That bed felt so good! I was definitely down for the count but the travel part was over for now. We were on Maui!