Maui, Hawaii

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December 31st 2011

Published: January 23rd 2012

Hawaii is an amazing place that continues to surprise me. After just returning from my fourth trip I am already looking forward to my next visit. This was the second trip to Maui for me. I didn’t get many good pictures to share on the first trip so I tried to make up for it this time. We only had about four days this trip but we made th... Read Full Entry

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23rd January 2012

Home and Away
Bob Carlsen

Great blog
What a wealth of information! And timely too since Linda and I will be passing through Lahaina on a cruise to the South Pacific islands, Sydney, and New Zealand for our 40th anniversary. The ship arrives in Lahaina at 7 am and departs at 5 pm. We were thinking of renting a car and driving up the Haleakala Highway to the National Park to see the volcano and everything else there is to see on the way there and back. Bing maps says the drive is about 100 miles round trip and takes 3 hours to do, without stops. In your opinion, is it possible to drive there and back in this amount of time? Do you recommend a particular route to see some of the waterfalls you mentioned and perhaps the humpback whales? We would rather see humpback whales for free than pay the hundreds of dollars it would cost to see them in Kaikoura, New Zealand.

27th January 2012

paavo33
John Nietfeld

lahaina
Sorry, this has been a busy week and I can't keep up with everything. Your upcoming trip sounds amazing! Good on you as they would say in New Zealand. I haven't had a chance to go through all your blogs yet but I noticed the Grand Tetons and that is a place in the U.S. that I really want to get to . . . along with Glacier. Yes, that sounds about right for the driving distance to Haleakala. But, actually the waterfalls are on the drive to Hana on the wet side of the island. I'm thinking you might have to pick between the Hana road and Haleakala. You might be able to do both but it would be a pretty brutal day of driving without much time to stop and look around. We started from Kahalui one day a little after 8am and drive a complete loop around the island and got back around 6pm - 6:30ish. But I stopped quite a bit and also did some hiking. if you take the Hana option you might consider just driving there and back. Sometimes you can see whales from the coast off of Route 30 just south of Lahaina. We saw them in the distance this past trip and I saw them from the car the trip before that. I had an amazing experience in Kaikoura swimming with the dolphins there. I have never seen so many dolphins in my life. Hordes would swim by the boat and then they would dump us off while they swam around us. Very unique experience. It wasn't that expensive. But, I didn't go whale watching so I don't know how much that costs. I do remember getting a really yummy but basic white fish sandwich from a roadside stand down on the Fyffe Quay road that runs along the coast on the south side of Kaikoura - there is a nice, scenic walk there that goes from town out and over the ridges. You might have been there before but the South Island is amazing. I spent a couple months there about 2 years ago and loved it. Ok, gotta run for now, take care! John

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