Maui - By 'Copter, Car, Bus, and Foot

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It takes some nice weather, some exploring, and some time to see all that Maui has to offer. In the past, this wasn't one of our favorite Hawaiian islands. With our first soggy week of weather we were still feeling a bit down on the island. The past 2 weeks of lovely weather and cool activities has changed all that and now, Maui is looking rather Marvelous!!

The major attitude change started with the helicopter tour over the volcano, Haleakala, and then along the southern coast near Hana. The skies were quite clear when we started the flight, and we were able to see the cane plantations and the coast line during our climb up the slopes of the volcano. At the summit of Haleakala, the clouds started to gather and we had intermittent visibility with some rain showers. This created some great rainbows and interesting views through the clouds. Some of the rainbows were below the helicopter and were circular in shape.

One of the best sights in the crater was a wall of waterfalls that was flowing profusely after all the rain the preceeding week. This feature of the crater is called "The Wall of Tears" and it was beautiful. My photos don't do it juctice. We're hoping that there will be better scenes of it on the DVD that we received from the flight.

After leaving the volcano, we flew along the southern coast. This is a very rugged mix of volcanic lava, steep cliffs, and rain forests. In the area of Hana the pilot pointed out the estates of Oprah, George Harrison, and Jim Nabors. The views along this coast are really stunning and much more impressive than along the drive to Hana.

We had to rent a car to get to the heliport, so the day after the flight we checked out some ancient Hawaiian ruins and the latest lava flow that occurred in the 1790s. It was also a good way to get to some of the best beaches. One really beautiful one is called Big Beach and it is connected to another nice beach called Little Beach.

When we are without a car we continue to use the bus and have explored the government seat town of Wailuku and the old whaling town of Lahaina. Otherwise, we are on foot walking the three beach trails that we have found and doing the walk to and from the library.

A few humorous things have occurred during our stay, so this will be the section called "You know you're in Hawaii if......."
the rental car agent makes you sign a form stating that you won't drive the car out of the state!
it costs more for 6 gallons of gas than it costs to rent the car! (regular is $3.90 a gallon)
the radio station is reporting cases of "whale muggings'! (That's the whale doing the muggings.)
the mall Santa is dressed in shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and a lei.
the bus stops at the hospital and a man in just a hospital gown and bare feet gets on and rides to
a medical clinic two stops away.
the girls are wearing bikinis with Santa hats and Uug boots!

Thursday, 12/27, we flew to Kauai and were greeted with MORE RAIN!!! It is still raining today and who knows when it will stop. Still, the Teriyaki Ahi (tuna) at one of our favorite restaurants, the Hanalei Dolphin, was excellent and helped pass our first chilly, rainy evening on the island. We were hoping to hike Waimea Canyon on Friday, but the weather postponed that activity. So, for now, it's Starbucks, the library, Borders, the Kuhio Mall, and wet walks in the rain.

We hope you are having a happy holiday and enjoying your time with fun activities, family, and friends. Best wishes for a great New Year and please stay in touch.
RPM

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Photos

Viewing the volcano
The crater, which is the size of Manhattan Island, was covered with clouds.

Partial view of the Wall of Tears
There are so many waterfalls in this area that it is called "The Wall of Tears".

Jim Nabor
His property is adjacent to one of the ancient Hawaiian king's home site.

Comments

[Abby]

weather
Dear Ron and Pamroe, Sorry to Rain on your parade in Hawaii(ha,ha!) Iput in a word with mother nature, WE are getting snow tonight New Years Eve! So look what I conjured up for us! What are your plans to celebrate New Years? We're going to grandma and Judes to play cards. My parents are keeping Carlea and Lane(my nephew). I loved the rainbow photos! See you next year! your friends, Abby, Carl and Carlea

[Mindy, Deno, Kalin & Karson]

From Snowy WV
Love your pictures. Got to get away for a minute during my visit to your blog. Very nice! The boys played in the snow today, thrilled their bones. Wondering where in the world you are now. Love you guys! Mindy

[rick]

maui
hi, we just drove this hana hwy road with a tour company...i can see why george would live there, tourists drive by but few people live there that are concerned with celebrities...the road was awesome to photograph, the rugged coastline and that rain forest was something else. i recommend it once in your life....sorry about the writing, im getting use to a laptop...hate these things sometimes,lol. i miss george h.