maui: first weekend

As we de-planed in Kahului airport, we immediately started shedding layers of clothing. It is strange traveling from your home, where it was 40 degrees and rainy, to a temporary home with a sweet smell and sunny days. Strange, but amazing. After the first weekend, we're feeling pretty adjusted to island life on Maui and have seen some major sites and tasted interesting local fare. Here are some highlights:

Hana Highway

Car sickness, be damned! On a particularly cool and cloudy day we hit the stretch of highway out to Hana. We made several stops along the way, to hike up to waterfalls, explore the coast and grab local fruits and snacks. Also to give me a chance for my stomach to settle. We took a windy road down to Nahiku that ended in a grassy overlook of the ocean. On the way we passed a fruit stand and loaded up on citrus.

From Maui

A few miles later we passed a road side vendor with the promise of fresh ice cream. The owner was busy burning a pile of branches, but bounded over to our car to sell his wares. He was out of the ice cream but let us sample his coconut candy. We bought two bags, one of liki'moi and one of caramel. Crisp and coconutty, with a light sweetness, the stuff is killer. He told us he spends 16 hours making each batch by hand.

From Maui

The state park in Hana was beautiful, with black sand beaches and lush flowers. Nick managed to get a shot of the water spray through a blowhole.

From Maui

Haleakala

The day after our drive to Hana, we could see the volcano (previously enshrouded in clouds) and after a stop in Makawao for provisions we headed up to 10,000 feet. It was a perfect day for the hike in the crater and we had it mostly to ourselves. Once you descend into the crater, you feel as if you could be in any desert on earth, much less one in the middle of the sky. Miles of lava rock and cindercones to explore, with exotic rare plants like the silversword.

From Maui

There are a few park service cabins scattered throughout the crater and we found one with a picnic table where we took lunch. There were some friendly nene trying to beg some coconut candy from us.

From Maui

The end of the hike (back up to 10,000 feet!) was during the sunset and we caught some color in the clouds and on the hills.

From Maui

Iao Valley and Big Beach

We went to see the Needle in Iao valley before having our beach day. The park was pretty crowded with tourists of all sorts, but we found a secret trail that headed up to a viewpoint and a handmade shelter.

From Maui

The beach was all I could ask for, with warm sand and blue water.

From Maui

The way the shore meets the ocean causes large waves to break hard. We watched as most people were tossed by the waves, and a few local guys did some maneuvers with boogie boards.

From Maui

Now we have a week of work ahead of us. Check back next weekend to see what it brings.