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Published: September 15th 2014
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It was a couple of hours drive to Haleakala national park. It's the same park we'd visited on the Hana Trip when we walked through the bamboo forest, but as it's so big, today we were more towards the northern part which is more volcanic as opposed to the rainforest we were at on Tuesday. Bridget was our driver today and she dropped us to the visitors centre before parking the vans at the top and hitch hiking back down (something quite common here!)
It was a lovely view already and we had a look at the Silversword conservation greenhouse which was experimenting with the growths of the plants with varying amounts of water. Apparently these plants exist nowhere else in the world and take approximately 50 years to grow before they die off.
We had a look around the visitors centre whilst we waited for Bridget to return, and then we began our 12 Mile hike of Haleakala Crater. It was a nice temperature, if a little bit chilly in the wind, but ok. The views were really nice and it was such a vast area. The landscape was pretty much the same for
the first 8 miles where we stopped off here for a basic toilet stop. (Basic meaning a hole in the ground surrounded by a cubicle of corrugated iron.) As I opened the door loads of bluebottles flew out and had I not been so desperate to pee I would of held on, but needs must so I willed myself to be quick and escape the loud hum of the bluebottles-yuk!
We laid on the grass for a bit until the rest of the group caught up, and then we started the second part of the walk which was all mainly uphill from now.
The couple from Bolivia and Holland we'd met at the hostel said it was the worst part and it just keeps climbing on and on, and said something to the effect of 'it's the hardest walk I've done in my life'
All I can say, is he can't of done much walking as this route was a total breeze-even for me. I'd even go so far to say I could of ran the last 4 miles and felt ok at the end. It was probably the best part of the hike as
the landscape changed and got greener and the views were stunning up in the clouds. We got some great pictures and enjoyed the walking at a nice pace.
After we all met back at the van, we drove to the viewing point for sunset. It was a bit chilly up here, I'd read it can sometimes be 30 degrees cooler, but it wasn't that bad. The views were great and probably the best part of the day for me. The views of that part of the island were great and it was just a really peaceful time with everyone sat watching the sun go down on another happy day in Hawaii.
Back at the hostel, the hot tub wasn't working-gutted as this day would have been the nicest of all to jump in after a 12 mile hike, oh well cest la vie. We did a final wash so we didn't have to take any dirty or damp clothes with us tomorrow when we fly to Honolulu, and walked to the Chinese across the road from the bungalow. The portion sizes were huge! We'd have been well happy with that if it hadn't been disgusting. (One
of those where you're not sure it's chicken) so we ate the rice and noodles and did the typical british thing of saying we were too full to finish the rest.
We're sad it's our last night here in Maui, and particularly at this Hostel. The day trips have been amazing and the people even better, and I really feel we landed on our feet staying here (Mum I think even you could manage this away from your home comforts!) but we've seen and done all we wanted to do and tomorrow is a new adventure and up to the Island of Oahu, which is the main place for tourists. I hope it lives up to the great week and start to our holiday we've had here in Maui. I really do feel so lucky to be able to visit and experience places like this.
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Grandma and Terry
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Belated Birthday greeting to Darrell glad you had a good day, your whole holiday seems to be fabulous, hope your second week is equally as enjoyable what super memories you will both have, make the most of them. Just to let you know Grandma had her injections in her back today, so we keep our fingers crossed it will do some good. Love to you both all the best.