So good, we did it twice, twice

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Days 148 to 152 of 166

Just before we move through this blog, first photos are of the Kona open air airport which we forgot to post with our last post.

Maui island is North West of Big Island which means that it is older. Effectively as the various volcanic cones come up from the sea floor the eruption sites 'move' towards the SE, so that is why Big Island is active but the other islands are not.

Maui is also noticeably smaller than Big Island which should make getting around easier, but then maybe not - see later.

What Maui is good for though is whale watching....big time. Unlike other well known whale watching areas eg off Boston, USA, the whales off Maui are a) only 10 mins or so out the harbour (rather than 30 mins to an hour) and b) they are there for quite a while, several weeks per whale, rather than just passing by.

The area off Maui is where Humpback whales come to hump! And then, 12 months later, come back to give birth. It is believed that several thousand visit the Whale Reserve each season, November to May. That makes the whale watch tour operators pretty safe in their 'see whales or get another trip free' guarantee.

And it didn't take many minutes before we had our first 'breach' - a humpback rising most of its body length out of the water. And so it continued for most of our trip. Breaches, many many breaches .... tail slapping, head lunges, pec slaps (hitting the surface with one or both fins). An absolute wonderful 2 hours of whale watching. The trip ended, before returning to harbour, with the captain switching off the engines and lowering a hydrophone into the water so we could listen, live, to the whales under water. Astounding!

The next day we took a gentle road train trip around a tropical fruit plantation, which was fun. Did you know that each year more people are killed worldwide by falling coconuts than by sharks? ?

Quote of the day - father to a 3-4 year old girl whilst we were waiting for the road train. "Ava, you need to leave the rock behind!".

And that evening we returned to the site's Mill House restaurant for the most delicious meal, one of our best...period! So good, in fact, that we went back for a pre-theatre meal 2 days later.

At least that meal made up for the disappointment of missing several watchable acts by just days here and in Honolulu - Mick Fleetwood's Blues Band (he lives on Maui and has a restaurant there), Carlos Santana (also lives on the island), Bonnie Rait, Blood, Sweat and Tears....

Our 3rd day on Maui we took a 'small drive', less than 100 miles. So why did it take nearly 8 hours to do 'the road to Hana', another of those best drives in the world drives? The drive is narrow, with 617 curves and 56 one lane bridges, in the single direction, so double that for the return. And the locals' driving was diabolical. They don't like the tourists on their roads, and will overtake in the most stupid of blind bend places!

There are some waterfalls, but they weren't very water-full, and some views, but on the whole the drive was vastly over-rated.

Last full day on Maui and so we did another whale watch. Again wonderful. Less breaches this time but two extended separate watches of mother and calf, one pair baby 2 weeks old, the other just about 1 week. ???

We also managed to at last have a shave ice, which is what it sounds like. They take a block of ice and grind/shave it into a pot. They then pour fruit syrups over this - up to three flavours from a very extensive list. Very refreshing. We had pineapple, passionfruit & blueberry. Good choice!

After spending the afternoon on a beautiful beach overlooking the whale bay we went to the the local historical theatre to watch their production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and very good it was too. Quite enthusiastic and locals who could sing!

So that was it for Maui, next day flew to Honolulu. What a contrast!

Written, in a lovely room near to Waikiki Beach, with barely 1 1/2 weeks left before we are home ?, but still Vancouver to come ? Here in Hawaii, they leave fresh pineapple in guestrooms!!

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