A Day in the Life...: March 2009

I'm sorry I didn't post this sooner, I've been dead tired every time we get back to the condo. Well, on Friday, we started out our day with a trip to the Iao Valley. It was beautiful, the valley was coated in forest, with a stream running through. The famous Iao Needle was awesome, it looked like something that would be on the island in King Kong. Haha. We went off the trail on one of the dirt paths with a sign beside it saying, "Trail off-limits, travel at your own risk." It sounded kinda like a threat or something. Haha. The path was cool, we went right beside the stream, and had to go through the forest, which looked like billions of tentacles waiting to suck you in. After we left the valley, we headed to Big Beach in Makena. It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. The sand was perfectly golden, and the water was a crystal clear turquoise. The water was a little chilly, but not nearly as cold as the snorkeling waters in Molokini, and I got used to the temperature fast. Brett and I went out in the water, which was perfectly clear the whole way out. It was awesome. Angie was being a wimp, scared that the water was too cold, or that the waves would attack her. Haha. I finally convinced her to swim out, because you could see the whole way down to the floor of the ocean. The waves were awesome, because you could see right through them right before they were about to crash. Then I made the stupid mistake of trying to body surf with my sunglasses on, figuring that I could find them in the clear water if they fell off. Well, the water didn't help, I lost my sunglasses. Ugh. We then traversed up the big hill beside the beach, hoping to see some whales. There was an awesome mini lava field in front of the hill, with waves crashing in huge walls against it. I walked down it, climbing over lava rocks, jumping over tide pools. It was awesome down there. The waves crashed right in front if me, making waterfalls across the rocks. There were all these weird creatures attached to the rocks, they looked like something that would jump up and suck your brain out. I called them "Brain-suckers." Haha. After that, we headed to Maluaka Beach, near Makena. It was okay, but there were big rocks in the water. Then we drove through HUGE lava fields, and you could see the source of the lava. For dinner we went to a restaurant in the Maalaea Harbor.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Maui - Day 3 - The Ali'i Gardens

Maui - Day 3

Today went all over the island. First, we were headed to the Iao Valley, but we decided not to go there, because it was covered in clouds. So we headed to the opposite side of Maui, and began driving up Haleakala. We went to the Alii Lavender Gardens, where they grow all kinds of lavender, and tons of other plants. The view from there was amazing, you could see pretty much the whole island west of Haleakala. We then drove even farther up the mountain, toward the Redwood Forest. We were so high, we began driving through the clouds. All the trees have this wierd redish orange fungis stuff on it, which was kinda soft. We got so far on the road, it became a durt road. There were ferral pigs running around, and signs warning you of wild cows. We couldn't go any farther so we turned around with a cliff on one side, and a steep hill on the other. Kudos to Brett! We then went to a small French resturaunt for lunch. Yummy! After that, we started driving in the hills, through the cypress trees, and the smell of eucolyptess trees filled the air. The same strange fungis was on those trees too. We drove over to the north shore, and watch the wind surfers surfing the huge waves. There were tons of surfers. We then drove the whole way back to the condo, and rested for a bit. This afternoon we took a walk on the beach near our condo. The beach was beautiful, and empty. The water was surprisingly warm. We walked about 3.5 miles, and then walked back. Then we had pizza for dinner.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Maui - Day 2

Today was amazing. I woke up at 5:00, and got to watch the sun rise over Haleakala, behind the palm trees. At 7:00 we went down to the Maalaea harbor for the boat that would take us to Molokini. We sailed on the Paragon II and started with whale watching. The whales were awesome, even though there weren't many of them out there. When we finally made it to Molokini, which is a extinct underwater volcanic crater, which is now covered with a coral reef. After we got our snorkeling gear, we climbed down into the water. The water was freezing cold, and I kept forgetting to breathe. Haha. The reef was beautiful, there were colorful fish everywhere, sea urchins, and tons of different corals. We saw an eel, which was really creepy, because it was almost like a snake, and it was wiggling through the coral. We also saw an octopus, which was kinda weird, it moved like a snake/spider and it was strangely fast. Angie was taking pics underwater with her camera, and the photos turned out great. When we got out of the water, we were numb. I literally could not feel my hands, and I kept slipping and falling on the boat. When we got back to the condo, we cleaned up, and headed to Lahaina for a late lunch. We went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. I've never seen so much shrimp in my life. Haha. It was good, and I was stuffed by the time we got done. We then drove up to the Lahainaluna High School, which has a great view of Lahaina, the coast, and Lanai in the distance. On our drive back, we saw about 7 rainbows beside the West Maui Mountains, it was beautiful. We then got back to the condo, and now we are watching American Idol.

Here are some pics of our day:
Sun starting to rise behind Haleakala