Toronto or bust!: maui part one (pics by amanda)

some of the super fun things we did:

snorkel with giant sea turtles, a manta ray and a ton of nemo look-a-likes...no big deal

goofed around at the snorkel shop

walked around touristy Lahaina

hammock time

laughed at people younger than us doing keg stands
(friday night keg party at our hostel, Banana Bungalow)

surfed (the hostel in Paia)

saw a giant Buddha

Buddhist temple

our new friend Marie with her snorkel camera

view from the Buddha

got dropped off at the 6500' mark up the Haleakala volcano road to ride 29 miles of downhill switchbacks...so fun!

the view on the way down

stopped at Rainbow Bridge on the way down...Jimi Hendrix was here!

the view back up the Haleakala road on a different day, this time for a hike

the start of the sliding sands trail (12 miles/19 kms) into (and out of) Haleakala crater

Marie at a junction

old lava hole

jon pointing in the direction...the only direction, really

the trail

i think this was the point in the trail where jon turns to me and says "i feel like Moses"

nene (almost look like canadian geese)

our friend Marie yelling "i'm queen of the world!"

the last 3 miles...UP

the (steep) way back up...

the view from the end of the Sliding Sand trail...out of the crater, above the clouds

took the unbelievably picturesque road to Hana:

swam in waterfall pools and in caves (jon's much better, non-blurry photos to come!)

caving in the dark, and in water...i actually can't believe i did that (but so glad i did!)

old church made of lava rock

400 foot waterfall on a hike in the national park on the road to Hana

swam at the Seven Sacred Pools at the national park (road to Hana)

flora and fauna...and crazy trees:

giant aloe plants lining a stretch of road on our way down Haleakala by bike

massive!

rooster in the flower garden

incredibly huge Banyan tree that takes up a whole park in Lahaina

and at a certain time of the day all these squealing birds come and roost in it's multitude of branches...pretty amazing

Silversword in Haleakala crater...these cool looking plants only grow between 2100 and 3100 metres of elevation

blooming Silversword in Haleakala crater

lush green rainforest, road to Hana

all those swinging vines reminded me of George of the Jungle

view from the hammock at our hostel

dense bamboo forest, hike on the road to Hana

although bamboo is not native to Hawaii, it's still pretty cool...i've never walked in a bamboo forest before

another crazy Banyan tree...this one at the Seven Sacred Pools (road to Hana)

sugar cane

things we ate...and drank:

delicious chocolate bar made with kona coffee

the local specialty: shave ice
(like a glorified sno-cone with flavours like mango, pineapple, passionfruit, guava, covered in coconut cream with mochi at the bottom)

warm, tasty banana bread on the road to Hana

lunch stop on the road to Hana: Brudda Hutt's bbq
shrimp pasta and best fish taco. EVER. (ahi with mango/pineapple sauce and capers!)

we picked our own guavas on the hike to the waterfall in the national park on the road to Hana

fruit stand (honor system) down the haleakala road

pineapple guava

so good!

harvest from the fruit stand

Kona Brewing Company's Wailua Wheat Ale with passionfruit

Maui Brewing Company's Coconut Porter

happy hour in Kihei

$4 litre mai-tai (!!)...dangerous

Kona Brewing Company's Longboard Lager

sweet sweet pineapple from a farmer's stand

found a farmer's market while waiting for the bus...this massive avo was a dollar

and so deliciously creamy!

sweet potato from the farmer's stand

a huge bag of cherry tomatoes from the market for 2 bucks!

another lovely dinner not photographed was the night we cooked up the fresh hawaii beef (jon got a sirloin steak for 5 bucks just butchered!) and the ahi tuna steak i got at the same little japanese market down the street from the hostel for 4 dollars...definitely worth staying in town with the locals!

beach time:

post surfing beach time in Lahaina

doing a lime in da coconut dance with a post surfing beer

post-surfing...Lahaina beach

Baldwin Beach, Paia

the ridge overlooking Big Beach/Little Beach (Makena)

over the ridge from Big Beach, the path down to Little Beach

the infamous sunday beach party at little beach (the clothing optional side of big beach, aka Makena Beach).....chocolate mushrooms or vegan, gluten-free pot brownies anyone?