Arrival

OK - these are the characters I spent a week with in Maui. Left to right: Danita (my sweetie), her brother Paul (who lives in Maui, does sales at a resort and provided us with a suite for a week!), Danita's mom Joanne, and Joanne's friend Linda.

When we checked into the suite, this was our view ... looking out over the ocean to Molokai to the West (in this view) or the Island of Lanai to the South.

The resort is a giant pink edifice. Kind of an elongated pyramid shape outside, with two interior atriums. Here's what it looked like looking down from the walkway on our floor ... 10 stories down to palm trees, koi ponds and a restaurant.

Our second day there - at the beach. We swam in the warm sea and admired the tan and trim beach-goers!

Clear clear blue and turquoise waters... sigh

Then there was whale watching ... the calving season was on ... I lost count of how many we saw.

I've got a lot more respect now for the photographers that catch shots of whales spouting and breaching! It's a split-second shot from a rolling deck.

Danita and I took a day and hopped the fence at Iao Needle and wandered up the Iao valley. Actually more like scrambled up the north ridge of the valley.

Through the forest there were rocks wrapped in a leaf (banana leaf?) and placed in auspicious settings. One grouping of many such prayer stones was at a petroglyph that looked like a rainbow man. This valley was the scene of one of the bloodiest tribal battles in the oral history of Hawai'i.

And yes - it was rainforest. Guavas, bananas, eucalyptus, wild lilies, ferns, mists, mountains...

When we returned to the resort Danita took a swim in the ocean while I sat on the balcony and kept some Hana Bay Rum company.

Ah, the road to Hana.

What could I say.

For Oregonians, imagine the most windy parts of the old Columbia Gorge Hwy. and of Hwy. 101 on the coast. Now combine the scenery of both. Now make it rain forest. Now make the road twice as twisty. Now make every bridge a one lane affair (there are scores of bridges).

Yes the drive was worth it.

Here are some shots. We took some short side trips before reaching the seven pools.

Then Paul, Joanne and Linda drove back.

Danita and I hiked up the Kipahulu Valley to a horseshoe cliff with three waterfalls at the end of a box canyon. Between the top of that cliff and the caldera of Haleakala Volcano (at 7,000' elevation) is an area that has no trails and is legally off limits to humans.

The photos at left are (top to bottom):

• Near Black Beach
• Lowest of the Seven Pools
• One of numerous waterfalls on the hike up Kipahulu Valley
• Entering the bamboo forest - an incredible place
• Flowering trees, with hint of waterfall behind them

Danita and I spent another day going to the top of Haleakala Volcano (there is paved road to the 10,000' summit), and back to the resort.

And yes ... we did enjoy the trip.