First Day in Maui

Now this is what Hawaii is all about.

Back at Hana Beach we enjoyed watching local

children diving off the peir. They were having a blast!

These lonely palm trees on the isle made for an

interesting photo op.

This was on the way back to Hana Beach from Ohio Gulch. The boat

had a difficult time manuevering the turn onto the narrow bridge.

Later down the road it ended up hitting an oncoming car. The

policeman in the car behind saw it all.

You can see the Seven Sacred Pools in this view.

One of many waterfalls at Ohio Gulch

Another view of Seven Sacred Pools

Ohio Gulch also known as the Seven Sacred Pools

Waves crashing against the rocks by Ohio Gulch.

Give me a smile Alan

Alan in line at Tutus at Hana Beach.

Hana Beach

One of many waterfalls on the road to Hana.

Alan checking out a cave...is there a strange animal living in there?

Starting out on the road to Hana

Day Seven-Kahului, Maui-Mostly cloudy, 81’ Maui, the second largest Hawaiian island is referred to as the Valley Isle because it consists of two mountain masses separated by a low narrow valley-like isthmus or neck-of-land. The city lies in the flat corridor between Maui’s two volcanoes, and this is where most of the island’s population lives. Kahului is home to thousands of former sugarcane workers, and home to the last operational sugarcane factory in Hawaii. Maui Tropical Plantation and Iao Valley gives you a great overview of Maui’s agricultural villages, orchards, sugarcane fields and flower gardens. The Maui Ocean Center is an attraction you’ll want to see. Although the stretch along Maui’s coastline is perfect for relaxing, the island has an underlying energy that inspires people to do things they might not do otherwise. Ascend to the summit of the Haleakala Crater or better yet fly over the crater via the Hana-Haleakala by Helicopter. A lot of people enjoy snorkeling at the Molokini Crater. Here are a few fun activities you might enjoy doing while there: going to the top of Haleakala, snorkeling in Molokini or trying you could try your hand at windsurfing. You can also visit another Hawaiian island by taking a ferry to Lanai, the Pineapple Island, set sail with Lanai Catamaran, or tour Lanai on a 4x4 Trekker. You can also soar over the island of Molokai known as the Friendly Isle, taking in their gorgeous sheer sea cliffs on West Maui-Moloki Helicopter. One can also do as we did, and drive the scenic, winding Road to Hana. You can also hop on the Hana-Haleakala Helicopter. Maui’s top show is Ulalena, considered by many as the best show in the Hawaiian Islands. It depicts an amazing story through acrobatics, dance and song. The legends, myths, and magic of the Hawaiian Islands and its people come alive with this breathtaking show.

During our time in Maui we rented a car, as we wanted to take the road to Hana and past Hana to see the Oheo Gulch known as the ‘Seven Sacred Pools’ to non-locals. If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘IQ’ you will remember it mentioned. We took the shuttle to Thrifty Car Rental and chose a nice dark blue convertible. However, since we brought my scooter in the trunk we couldn’t put the top down. That was okay though as being our luck if we’d had the top down it would’ve rained. It was a beautiful day for the long drive that wound around over 600 turns and over 56 bridges. Even though it was only 53 miles it took us about three hours to reach Hana. Halfway to Hana we stopped at a roadside stand and got a snack. It felt good sitting in the shade of the covered hut and enjoying the fresh air. Some children stopped there with their dog but the dog seemed happier staying behind and getting scratched behind its ears by us. After awhile it finally decided to go on home. We stopped several times to take in the sights. There were several waterfalls along the way that I was able to take pictures of. At one stop there was a cave, which Alan thought needed investigating. Luckily, there wasn’t some kind of wild animal making the cave its home. At one area there were people picking some kind of plant and when we stopped I asked what they were gathering and they said watercress. It looked like short little herbs similar to mint. There were thousands of huge bamboo trees so thick you couldn’t even see through them. It went on for miles and miles. We spotted lots of Kukui or Candlenut trees along the ride as well. The views of the ocean were magnificent but we kept our eyes on the road. We finally reached Hana Beach around lunchtime. There were nice facilities for picnicking, restrooms, and even a place where you could order something to eat. The name of the place was Long Board Tutus. I was so proud of Alan as he remembered that ‘tutu’ meant grandmother. Alan had a teriyaki burger and I had a BLT. It was a nice place to take a break before heading on to ‘Ohea Gulch’. The road to Hana was fabulous compared to the road that we had been traveling on to the ‘Seven Sacred Pools’. It soon turned into a very narrow gravel road. I was in tears and didn’t want to go any further but after a quick stop to check out a pretty waterfall and browse at what the locals were selling. I grabbed my sanity and we continued on down the road. Soon we were at the park and after that harrowing drive I couldn’t go see the falls, as my scooter wouldn’t make it down the path. So I waited and gave Alan the camera. He did a splendid job at capturing the falls and took a wonderful beach shot of the waves crashing on the rocks. I had taught him well.

On the way back to Hana the road didn’t seem so scary to me but the funniest thing happened. I was wondering what was going on ahead of us at the bridge. There was a pickup pulling a boat and it had gotten stuck trying to maneuver the corner just before the bridge. After about 15 minutes or so it was finally on its way. I had heard a big bang and sure enough the truck had hit an oncoming car that was edging its way around a corner. The funny thing about the whole thing was the fact that a policeman was driving right behind the pickup. Needless to say the man in the car probably wasn’t too happy as it probably was a rental car but at least the policeman was there and could fill out all the necessary information stating that it wasn’t his fault. We had made sure to take out insurance on the car we rented, especially since we were doing the road to Hana drive and had heard it was a tricky one. Since we had lived in the mountains and Alan is a truck driver he had no problem maneuvering the road. When we got back to Hana beach we took our time watching all the school children jumping into the water. They would do all kinds of flips and were having the time of their lives. Oh to be as child in Hawaii! We had ice cream while waiting. We decided to head on back to Kahulului so we could get back before dark. I didn’t want to be trying to go around all those corners and bridges in the dark. Alan saw a sign saying lava tube caves so we turned off. It was past visiting time but the owner said we could go ahead. I didn’t know whether I’d be able to walk much but was willing to try. The owner gave us some expensive flashlights and we headed on out. The first challenge was walking down all those steps made of rocks. At least there was a handrail. I got down to the first level and saw where there were even more steps and these were even worse. There was absolutely no way I’d be able to go any further. As it was, I wasn’t sure I could even make it back up all the steps I went down. I did and the owner was nice enough to refund our money even though he didn’t have to. He was nice and encouraging and told me I at least tried where a lot of people don’t even do that. I was bummed but I can say I did go down a lava tube. I enjoyed the rest of the drive back.

We noticed a long stretch of bamboo trees growing so thick on the mountain that you couldn’t even see through it. They were huge. There was a roadside stand where a man was selling coconut slices that had been baked 24-hours with cane sugar and it was so good! I bought a bag to bring to work. I hope I can get more or else we’ll have to go back to Hawaii sooner than we planned. It was almost sunset and there was a nice park where surfers enjoyed the waves called Hookipa Beach. At first there weren’t too many surfers but as the waves got bigger so did the crowd of surfers. I snapped loads of pictures as I wanted to find the perfect surfer photo and I ended up with several really good shots.

Soon nightfall had come and our tummies told us it was dinnertime. We wanted to find a nice local restaurant where the food was good and not expensive. While driving down the street a wonderful fragrance filled the air and now all we had to do was find out where it was coming from. We turned around and found that it was coming from a small little place in a strip mall called Da Kitchen. We could tell it must be a great place to eat as there were people waiting outside to go in. Alan gave them our names and we went back outside to wait. It wasn’t long before we were seated and we chose some great local food. They served huge portions. We even treated ourselves to dessert. We found our way back to the ship and finding a parking place was a bit difficult but we found one and I had to ride my scooter in the dark. I had Alan watch out for any cars that might not see me. It was around 9:00 by the time we boarded the ship. We had an exciting full day, one that we’d never forget. Sleep came to us easy.