We went for a few short hikes to small waterfalls, and along little creeks. They were all nicer than most found scattered all over us, rathen than mile after mile of them.
Stopped for lunch at a roadside bus-cafe 'Cafe Romantico' All Vegetarian, All amazing food, I had great focaccia slice, Miranda had a good samosa and Laura had a quiche.
Afterwords we went to the Waianapanapa State Park. Took a loop trail that visited some freshwater cliff-pools and heard stories of a Water-cave that eventually comes out up the side of the cliff a ways a way!! I just had to try this.. . But i could not get Miranda or Laura on board. After I was already treading water in the pool, prepping to swim into the caves myself, another girl (A stranger) was entering and offered to try out the adventure with me. We swam in, me holding a small flashlight above my head.. After about 40 feet of cool cavern with deeper than can touch cool water, We had to climb out of the water a bit, then slip through a hole smaller than 2ft in diameter. This hole dropped us into another freshwater cave (couldn't touch) so we swam 50 feet in there to a steep volcanic lava tube, after managing to rock-climb a bit out of there we appeared out of a cave exit in the cliff wall about 50 feet up and 100 feet from where we started. This was so much fun, I managed to talk Miranda and then Even Laura into attempting it with me a second time, and they both did well and had fun. Supa Cool. Checked out he black beaches and shore-caves a bit.
Final big stop was the seven-sacred pools area- this was an amazing 4 mile hike, Stupendous bamboo trail walk, super high waterfall, river-pools, bridges, all great.
Aloha cottages in Hana rented us a great 2 bedroom full amenities 70's cabin for $100, so that worked sweet.
We looked for dinner, but only found pasta for $23 a plate... Decided on store-bought dinner, veg burgers,chips and hummus, and ice cream cost $29!! Expensive groceries, but cheap considering options. Was a great big 5-star day.
-Joe
A day late, but Laura and Miranda on top of Haleakala. Super windy!
An amusing sign at one of the stops.
Joe in the awesome bamboo forest.
Laura and Miranda in front of the super high waterfall.
The main room/kitchen of the cottage.
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This morning we got a later start than planned. We wanted to leave around 6 to start the road to Hana. We didn't actually leave until around 7. Once we got closer to Lahaina, we realized that the crater looked clear of clouds, so, especially since we got a late start, we should head up there instead. Unfortunately, it's a bit colder up there, and we did not bring our jackets... The views were amazing and the 'crater' was very neat looking. We didn't stay super long since it was in the low 50's and insanely windy.
On our way down, we spotted a Zipline company. We decided to check it out. See how much it was, how long, if they had openings, etc. Turns out, we could go with the people that were getting ready. So, no waiting at all! It was a bit pricey, but we went anyway. It was tons of fun. I didn't bring my camera, but I got a number of photos and videos with Laura's cell phone. Don't think I'll ever be able to get it on the blog... but she might email them to me. We'll see.
Now we've just been resting at home and getting some things caught up. We did find out that the guy that owns the place found someone for tomorrow night, so we're packing up tonight and leaving in the morning for the road to Hana. Joe has a place rented out there tomorrow night and then we'll be in the North Shore hostel the following night. It will be nice not having to drive in and out of here everyday for the rest of our stay.
-Miranda
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We woke up at 5:30am in order to get to the harbor we were leaving from by 6:30. We were going on a snorkeling adventure out to Molokini. A crater about 2 miles off the coast of Maui. On the way there, we saw a few whales. We got to the spot before other boats though, which was nice. We got to snorkel for an hour. The water was super clear. There wasn't a lot of underwater geography, but there were lots of different kinds of fish. Some we hadn't seen yet.
From there, the plan was to go to Turtle Arches, to see some turtles. Apparently the surf was pretty high in that area, so we went to a different spot instead. On the way, we saw two adult whales breaching off in the distance. Very neat!! They breached at least 3 times.
The spot we went to for snorkeling was amazing. It was probably half a mile off the southwest coast of Maui. The geography was great and the visibility was really good also. We saw quite a few turtles and lots of fish.
Once we were done with the snorkeling, we did a little whale watching. We saw a whale calf practicing breaching. Once we were in shore, we decided to check out Paia for surfing/boogie boarding opportunities.
The water ended up being a bit messy, but Joe and Laura went out anyway and had a lot of fun. Afterwards, we had a yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant there in Paia, then headed home to conk out for the night.
-Miranda
One of the turtles I saw
CLICK FOR VIDEO:TURTLE
One of my favorite fish, the Black Triggerfish. Apparently known as the Hawaiin Parana because when they used to allow the feeding of the fish, it would bite fingers trying to get the food faster. Fortunately (for a number of reasons) they don't allow the feeding of fish anymore.
CLICK FOR VIDEO:BLACK TRIGGERFISH
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This morning we tried to go boogie boarding. We basically, completely failed. Joe needed to get out before 10:30 or so because he needs to stay out of the sun as much as possible. We went to the beach we had gone to before, but it was breaking on shore and that's it, so that wouldn't work. We tried a few other beaches, and nothing looked like it would work. We finally found one that might have worked, but it was a super long walk from the parking lot and by the time we got there, it was too late for Joe. I had pulled something in my side back on the second day we were here and it got worse when I tried to boogie board, so just Laura went into the water. Unfortunately, she got a little freaked out, but did catch one wave back into shore.
We had whale watching scheduled at 2:30. The weather was perfect. Nice and breezy, so we stayed cool, and it was relatively cloudy, so we weren't roasting in the sun. We didn't have to go far to see whales. We watched a calf breaching. The mother dove (showing her fluke) and then breached. It was great! We saw another mother and calf later. The mother was holding the calf up on her nose, pushing it around. The guys on the speaker said they had a whale do that once, swimming right by the boat, like she was showing off her baby.
We went with the Pacific Whale Foundation, which is a non-profit organization. All profits go towards research, education and conservation, which is great. We had a blast.
Here's a video of the calf breaching and the mother right next to it. (Ignore the guy talking. He's referring to the Humpback Whale songs we were listening to from the hydrophone they had in the water for a bit.)
CLICK FOR VIDEO:WHALE BREACHING
-Miranda
A gorgeous view from the boat.
This was right before she breached. Normally showing the fluke is sort of a goodbye. This generally means they are diving, so I was not ready to try and take a photo of her breaching. Oh well.
The Banyan Tree in Lahaina. This is one tree, and only about one quarter at that. The main trunk isn't even shown in this photo.
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Today we decided to go on a little hike. We hung around the house for a few hours in the morning, then left for Kahului to get lunch at a store that has only vegetarian stuff in it. Their hot deli/buffet is huge! It was very good.
From there, we headed down the highway to check out a hike that is supposed to have a couple swinging bridges on it. We weren't quite sure where to find it. We eventually did though. It was on a plantation, so we had to pay $6 per person.... Seemed a bit steep, but the hike was gorgeous and fun. At the end is a pool you can swim in. We didn't bring our suits, but it was still a great hike.
Our general plan was to head to Paia afterwards to play in the waves and have a good dinner. It ended up being too late, so we worked our way home and stopped in Lahaina again. The hope was for pizza, but we were not impressed with the menu. We ended up finding a Vietnamese place that was very good. We just headed home after that. Very fun day.
-Miranda
;)
Laura in front of a Banyon Tree. These trees are super neat. Their branches let out 'feelers' that are roots and will basically create a whole nother tree trunk. There is one in Lahaina that you would swear is multiple trees.
Laura by a super pretty flower.
;)
Laura and I walking across one of the swinging bridges. (Click on photo to see it larger.)
Joe in the bamboo forest.
The three of us at the pool at the end!
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