Whirlybirding Molokai

Our visit to Maui ended with an Air Maui helicopter tour of Molokai's great north-east sea cliffs, reputedly the world's highest. Vicki had been wanting to do such a tour since Kauai, and I of course will ride on anything that flies low and slow. Of course there's much more to the story, including a final drive all the way down to Makena/Perouse State Park at the end. But the helicopter ride was pretty incredible, and I'll just let the pix do the narration.

Ascent of Haleakala

Closely watching the completely unreliable weather forecasts, we reserved Monday for our ascent of Maui's big volcano, Haleakala. (I keep trying to tell Vicki that the intersections of alpine and maritime are really bad places for weather forecasts...). But first we visited pretty little Paia and then, after Haiku (no poetry festival), the beautiful Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center.

At the wonderful Visual Arts Center, Vicki

stands by perhaps the largest Norfolk Island

Pine I have yet seen

Fuller view; but now I wonder whether this

is really a Cook Island Pine--both "discovered" 

by Captain Cook--but the latter with a more

curved appearance; anyhow, it's a big one

We are now about half way up the 10023 foot mountain,

with a great view of southwestern Maui, looking toward

Maalea

Two nene, at the Haleakala National Park mountain visitor

center

Silversword plant, endangered, but thriving in this weird

environment

At the summit; the parking lot is at 10000 feet; it was a tough

23 foot slog, but I did it; Vicki joined me later, after a nap

Unfortunately the place was in a complete white-out, high

wind, rain, etc., with nothing to look at but the nearby

observatories

Well, there was the white rainbow like the one I saw on

Mauna Loa a couple years ago; properly called a "fog bow,"
I understand, or "sea dog" if you're a mariner

After an hour or so, it cleared enough to see a bit of the

"crater," actually a severely eroded canyon

And a bit of the lowlands

And some of the summit terrain

And the one thing I really wanted to see, Hawaii's two great

mountains in the distance

We rewarded ourselves with dinner at the Haliimaile General

Store, Vicki the ribs, me, the incredible cocoanut seafood

curry, with cocoanut porter; yum

Maui Sunset

Driving back from Hana, we finally caught our Maui sunset, at the overlook near McGregor Point.

Hana Highway, Part Two

A larger waterfall, near Haleakala National

Park Kipahulu Headquarters

A beautiful banyan in the Park; love those aerial roots

Older Hawaiian archaeological site

Lower pools emptying into the sea

Spider webs shimmering; I now know all the

words to "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Root-covered trail in the Park

Guavas, yum

Mythically-important island off Maui's coast, part of the

Hawaiian creation myth...(ask Vicki)

Hana Highway, Part One

One of Maui's attractions is the Hana Highway, which one takes to get to Hana, on the east (wet) side of the island. The highway is a little more than 50 miles, starting near Pai'a, and, with 620 turns and some 60 bridges, three quarters of which are one-lane, it takes nearly 3 hours to drive, with minimal stops and traffic. Nearly all the highway is through rain forest, close to the coast, with occasional views of the beaches, cliffs, and sea. We started early, stopped often, had lunch on Hana Bay, and drove on to the Seven Sacred Pools in Haleakala National Park, on the southeast coast. And then drove all the way back....

Ho'okipa Beach, near the start of the highway

Surfing at "h-poko"

Taro paddies at Keanae Point

One of dozens of waterfalls along the way

Lava arches in the cove at Waianapanapa State Park, near

Hana

Green tunnel near the Park

Hana Bay Beach, where we stopped for a picnic lunch

The Hasegawa General Store in Hana, something of a

landmark; since 1910