December 16, Sunday & December 17, Monday

December 16, Sunday    &    December 17, Monday

Sunday:    

We arrived in Maui this morning, at the port of Kahului.  


  The Pride of America, as we disembark
The excursion this morning is called “Best of Maui”. We leave the harbour and drive out of the town and into Iao Valley, to see Iao Needle. We are at the base of the West Maui Mountains, on the Northwestern peninsula of Maui. Iao means Cloud, and the valley wears its name quite well. 

 Iao Needle:   “The traditional name for this 2,250 foot high peak is Kuka’emoku, the phallic stone of Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the ocean. During periods of warfare, the peak was used as a lookout by warriors. Rising 1,200 feet (370 m) from the valley floor or 2,250 feet (690 m) when measured from sea level, the "needle" itself is an illusion, and is in reality a sharp ridge that gives the appearance of being a spire when viewed end-on. The needle is an extension of and surrounded by the cliffs of the West Maui Mountains, an extinct volcano.”

I walked all the way up to the lookout point, and this was the view back to the bus and into Iao Valley.   I then came back down and went further into the small valley to walk along the stream before making my way back to the bus.

Our driver today is a slow talker, as well as a slow driver. I really have to concentrate on the information he is giving us, otherwise I’m going to fall asleep. We only drive a short distance out of the valley before stopping at the small “Hawaiian Garden Centre” for another photo op.
These gardens reflect most of the cultural groups who have immigrated to this island and whose communities have influenced traditions, foods and music found on these islands: Portuguese, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Philippino.

 Portuguese gardens

 Korean gardens

 Japanese Gardens

 A walk through a bamboo grove

Chinese Gardens

From there we drive on Highway 30. On the Northwest area of the island are the West Maui Mountains (looks like a head and face), narrowing down to the 9 mile isthmus, and on the Southeast end (the torso) is the huge Haleakala Mountain.

 

Maui Map.   See, I told you it looked like a head and torso! 

The Hawaiian driver is still providing us with lots of information about the flora of the island:  There are over 350 species of hibiscus,
 the Plumeria Tree or Frangipani (from Central and South America), Jacaranda Tree (from Brazil, and guess what, it’s part of the mimosa family….  I did not know that although I have seen many in spain and South America. They were not in bloom unfortunately).
  The Protea Tree (from South Africa… I “bemember” those). {That’s for you Sharon!} 
The candlenut tree (or candleberry or kului tree) is Hawaii’s state tree and the oil it produces, which used to be used in oil lamps, is also used as a tattoo ink. 
The island of Maui produces lots of fruit:  avocados & guavas (originally from Peru), mangos (from South America), melons, and of course pineapples and coconuts.  Did you know that bamboo is not a tree?  It’s a grass, and the tallest grass in the world; it can supposedly grow up to 100 feet.  Do you know what the second tallest grass is?  According to our driver today, it’s sugar cane, which can grow up to 12 feet tall / 3.6 meters.  My search on the internet indicated however that the tallest grass is “elephant grass” which can grow up to 4.5 meters.  I learn something new every day. 

There are fields of sugarcane everywhere, but we are told that most of the sugar mills have closed down.  Only one is still operational in Maui and another on the Big Island.  Sugar cane already grew here when Captain Cook arrived in 1778.  The driver is giving us information of how it is grown and what they make with sugar cane: molasses, sugar, maple syrup, …..  WHAT did he just say?  Maple Syrup?   I just laughed and I said “I’m pretty sure you need a maple tree to make maple syrup”.   Later on during the day he was talking about volcanoes and said “the archeologists who study volcanoes…..” and I laughed again.  So when I jotted down these notes and the information he had provided, I decided that I would have to recheck all the information on the internet before publishing any of it on my blog.   He was trying though, to provide us with as much information as he could, and if it hadn’t been for those two comments, I might have taken everything he said as true facts. 

The driver is a funny guy however and he asks us if we’ve noticed how Hawaiians are built, physically built.  “We’re built for comfort, not for speed.”    Very funny, and also very true.  Everything is layed back here; no one is in a rush to get anywhere or to do anything.  Bring your patience with you when you come, or better yet just SLOW DOWN and enjoy life the way they do.

 Driving along the plains of Maui, across the isthmus

Our next stop was at the Maui Tropical Plantation. Our driver got off first to get our tickets for the 11:45 tour, but I overheard his conversation with one of the ladies there. Someone had screwed up and forgotten to book our group for a tour. We would have to wait until 12:30 for our tour. I walked around the gardens and shops while I waited (bought a cute little sundress and a pair of sea-glass earrings). 

 Beautiful landscaping on the plantation

There was some zip-lining available, but their towers did not seem to be high enough

  and most of the time the people didn`t make it all the way to the next tower and had to be pulled in.

More of the gardens

Finally it was time to go for the tour of the plantation. Another disappointment. Very limited area and the bulk of the time was showing us how to crack open a coconut. I`ve probably seen this done 6 times now.

 Sugar cane fields

 Pineapple bushes

Can you guess what these flowers are?  They are chrysanthemum bushes ! 

 Macadamia Trees

 and the ground under them are covered in nuts

The Plantation Restaurant

We continue on our route to the south of the Island and arrive at the Maui Ocean Centre near Ma’alaea Harbour, an aquarium, where the driver drops us off and tells us we have 1 ½ hours to wander around. 

 Very strange looking fish

 beautiful corals in every tank

Oooohh.   Did you know it is extremely difficult to take photos of moving fish.  They are too darn quick!

The tanks are separated into zones and although not extremely large, it has a great set up.  Lots of tropical fish and areas showing us Shallow Reefs, Mid Reefs, and Deep reef fish life.   The huge sting rays are always the most impressive. 

 Very colourful fish at every level of the ocean

 and the corals are amazing.  Check this one out; the fish match the colour of the coral.  Pretty good camouflage

 This one too.  Can you spot the fish in this tank?  They are the lumpy looking ones in the "lighter shade of pale"...  Ah Pink

 Octopus

 Another strange looking fish, and with that nose and smile, could easily be in a comic strip

 Jelly fish.  It's so pretty!

 SHARK ! ! !

And beautiful Manta Rays.

I managed to get some good pictures, but some of the quick tiny fish were absolutely impossible to photograph.  Our drive back to the ship along Highway 380 is much faster and the return to the ship is fast.

I meet a couple from California who are originally from Cuba.  The man has been very sick onboard because of the rough seas.  I know that I have a second set of pressure bracelets somewhere in my luggage and promise to look for them and lend them to him.   I find out that they have an excursion booked later in the afternoon to go see the sunset on Haleakala Crater and enquire on availability to go along on the same one.  The driver first says he does not know and that I will have to ask the Roberts rep when we get back to the dock area.  When we arrive at the dock however, there isn’t anyone else from Roberts around and when I ask the driver again he answers “No problem, I’m driving that tour as well and we only have 17 people signed up so far.”   ? ? ?  Why didn’t he tell me that in the first place ? ? ?   

We are late getting back to the ship however (4 people were more than 10 minutes late getting back on the bus from the aquarium, add to that the 45 minute delay for the plantation tour) and I have less than ½ an hour to rush up to my room, change into warmer clothing, rush up to the lunch buffet area to grab something to eat and get back to the pier to get on the tour bus.  No luck with the dining room however, they are just cleaning up.  I’m told that there is a smaller area which serves food all day above the pool area at the Aloha Deck.  Up one more story to locate the food, make up a burger bun with salad, chicken fillet, potato salad and a pickle and ask the guy behind the counter for a paper napkin to wrap it up on.  Sorry, no paper napkins.  I explain that I’m in between shore excursions and need to bring the sandwich with me on the bus.  He is so nice; he gets me to give him the sandwich and wraps it up in plastic wrap along with some fries.    I rush back down to the 3^rd deck and exit the ship, just in time to make the bus for the next excursion.  I simply pay cash to the driver and off we go.

The road up Mount Haleakala is dizzying.  There are 24 switchbacks showing on the map, but I’m sure there were more than that; suffice it to say that I probably could have used my pressure bracelets.   (PS – I brought my white ones along this afternoon and gave them to the Cuban gentleman and his wife.  I’ll hunt for my purple ones when I get back to the ship tonight.)

We pass through a variety of landscapes from sugarcane & pineapple plantations to agricultural farms, through rainforest to alpine areas and on to desert like moonscapes up in the crater.

 Driving up Mount Haleakala,  four switchbacks on this photo.   Haleakala or the East Maui Volcano is a massive shield volcano and is also known as “House of the sun”.

 Looking back down toward the port of Kahului

 We still have a long way to go, but we are almost above the clouds

Haleakala National Park rises from a lush valley beneath a waterfall at sea level to a red desert of cinder cones at the summit of Mount Haleakala. An astounding array of climates and life zones lies in between. Rain that falls on the volcano’s slopes and carves its valleys nourishes a multitude of life forsm.. You are now in Kua Mauna, the land above the clouds, where people never dwelled for long. The people of old only came to this sacred place for specific reasons.     It is an extinct volcano which last erupted more than 900 years ago.

Haleakala Crater:  The brochure I have indicates that it is the size of Manhattan.“The massive depression some 11.25 km (7 mi) across, 3.2 km (2 mi) wide, and nearly 800 m (2,600 ft) deep. The surrounding walls are steep and the interior mostly barren-looking with a scattering of volcanic cones.”    It’s the largest volcanic crater in the world according to our driver. ?WHAT?   {The internet has a multitude of answers for this question:Yellowstone in the USA, Mount Tambora, Mauna Loa in Hawaii (is the world's largest and one of its most active volcanoes), Poa in Costa Rica is said to be the second largest, at 1.5 kms in diameter and 300 meters deep. I saw it when I was there.}

It is freezing by the time we reach the top of the mountain, at over 10,000 feet above sea level. 23F with the wind chill. I opt out of climbing any higher since the wind is so strong it would easily blow us over. I would have needed ear muffs, gloves, a thicker sweater.

The sun makes it look a lot warmer than it is.

 My shadow and I love the view of the crater

“Huge cinder cones dominate the desert-like scenery.”

 The sun no longer shines in the crater, so the colours below are muted.

It is really HUGE.

 Huge lava stones are strewn across the top

 We watch the sunset over Maui

The ride back to the ship is quite a bit faster, but no less dizzying.  I can’t risk closing my eyes to snooze or I’ll be sick.   Luckily though, the ship stays at the harbour tonight and we get a second day in Maui.  I’m very tired and it’s late when we get back so I opt for a quick meal at the buffet tables of the Aloha Café on deck 11, rather than going to the dining rooms on decks 5 and 6.

Monday:
Still in Maui:  Although I had originally booked an excursion for today, but had received an e-mail indicating that the tour was no longer offered.  It had included the crater and lunch at a lavender farm.  I had tried to book something else, but finally decided to just stay on board ship, enjoy my balcony and the on-board facilities.

I read in the paper that American Samoa was just hit by Cyclone Evan and there has been heavy damage; 12 to 15 feet storm surge, the worst storm to hit Samoa in 20 years. Maybe not being able to do the original south Pacific island hopping was a good thing after all.
 

I finally connect to the internet to send off some emails and catch up a bit on Facebook. It costs $55 for 90 minutes of internet time, quite expensive, so no Blog updates during this cruise! Sorry.

 As we wait to leave port, the sun sets behind the clouds, and a group of rowers make their way across the harbour.

Good bye Maui !