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Published: November 2nd 2006
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I'm going to have to make these a little more concise now that I'm paying for the time to write them, plus there probably won't be any photos as again I'm on public computers so it might be a bit difficult timewise for the uploads.
Day 8 Not a lot happened to me today, the six hour flight from San Francisco coupled with the wait at Honolulu meant that most of my day was spent in transit. I did meet a nice man on the plane from San Francisco, though, who was the regional head (State of Hawai'i) of Morgan Stanley. He told me about the island the furthest west in the chain that is exclsively for those of Hawai'ian descent to even visit. Sounds quite interesting, must be a strange place without much development. Then I met a lady in the bar at Honolulu Interislnd Terminal called Danielle who showed me that in order to get any service in Hawai'i you have to near enough grab the waiter by the scruff of the neck. Oh, and I got a great deal on sandals at a mall, two pairs for twenty-five quid that would have cost me about sixty all
Lahaina I
The banyan tree in the main square at Lahaina in at home.
Day 9 Off to Little Beach once more. I have to say that nude beaches are certainly not as tittilating as they might sound. For every attractive naked female there are a hundred UNattractive naked females and a thousand naked men. Two things I would have died a happy man if I had never seen. The first is an old man in nothing but a jockstrap, a somewhat grimy jockstrap, running at full pelt down the length of the beach every once in a while. For some reason the jockstrap actually made it more disturbing than if he were completely naked. The second was the naked guitarist, desperately trying look cool and fit in with the hippy crwd and their drums but failing woefully because a) he was dancing like a buffoon, an b) he was clearly desperately trying to grab any attention that would come his way.
Day 10 A pretty quiet day by all accounts. Pete dropped me at a plantation town called Paia whilst he was off tending to some gardens and although it had a charming quality about it, it consists of a crossroads and... no that's it. The only thing
of note was the waitress who came to give me menu when I had lunch gave me the most horrified look of disdain I've ever received simply because I had my bag on the table and she couldn't put the menu down.
Day 11 Went on the Lahaina historical trail with Pete. Lahaina is a strange town that seems to be verging on the edge of being something and somehow falls just short. The history, whilst interesting and filled with royalty, debauchery and cannonball hits to missionary houses was somehow very smalltown, lacking any real impetus or anything that really draws you in. The Chinese house/museum was certainly of some interest and was educational but it didn't really fill me with any desire to write home about it. Maybe it's because the scenery around the place was so breathtakingly stunning that I felt the stories should be just as magnificent and full of epic adventure to match up. Who knows?
Day 12 Went snorkelling at a place called the Aquarium. It wasn't anything particularly spectacular I have to say and the fact you have to trek across half a mile of volcanic rock just to get there certainly
took the shine off of the pluses about it. And I did get burnt, which is my own fault, but you know these things just add up to give an overall less than positive review.
Day 13 Today I spent most of the day writing out the blog for San Francisco so I didn't get much done. I know that seems to be a recurring theme in my time in Maui but to be honest I always saw it as more of a chill out and relax time than a busy see everything time; I had been there before after all. I did walk up Iao Valley to visit the park at the top where Pete had taken Jo and I but we didn't walk around. It really was absolutely stunning when I went, the sunlight was just right to really emphasise the rolling mountains and harsh steep valleys, and there's a wonderful river that runs right through the whole thing, weaving through the jungle over and around all manner of rocks and small waterfalls. The few dozen senior citizens wearing sandals with white socks pulled up as high as they would go was a bit offputting, there were
two busloads of Polynesian Tours there at the time, but you can tune out the inane comments and breathless wheezing as you walk up and down the steep paths and stairways.
That night a few of Pete and John's friends came over and we played some poker, and I have to say that it certainly was an education on how not to get a group of people to play a game. Most of the time seemed to be spent waiting for people to bet who already had or waiting for the next bet when everyone else was out. Proof positive, if ever it were needed, that a few glasses of wine does absolutely nothing to help your attention span.
Day 14 For my last day in Maui we went up to the peak of Haleakala, the 10,000 ft volcano that makes up most of the island. Unfortunately at the time we were at the top there was a dense cloud cover over the crater so I didn't manage to see the view that's supposed to be the best. We did however do a small hike a bit further down and I did get to see the crater there, and it certainly was majestic. I didn't get much of a look because at the time we were standing on a ridge no more than ten feet across so most of the time was spent staring directly at floor beneath my feet and trying not to think about tumbling down the rockface. On one side I could see all the way down to the crater floor a few hundred feet below and on the other I could see nothing, just a vast abyss of white cloud which I have to say was infinitely more terrifying as it combined the fear of falling WITH a fear of the unknown, which for me was horror personified. Also, I was very annoyed when I could hear people saying that they could "feel" the air was thinner up there, as though they had some remarkable extra sensory perception that allowed them to detect a few less molecules per cubic metre of air.
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Olly
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Dude, it all sounds good - but where are the pictures of the hotties? you can't have seen none so far! Hope your having fun