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?
Big Beach (Makena)
that's jon in the middle...body surfing (his new favourite pasttime)
Big Beach
Big Beach
Little Beach
Baldwin Beach (Paia)
Little Beach
Baldwin Beach (Paia)
hawaii truly is the land of sunsets...maui sunsets did not disappoint:
Marie with her snorkel camera mask again
stand up paddle boarders
Little Beach
wishing my shadow didn't get in the way of Jon in this beautiful light (Haleakala summit, post hike)
Haleakala sunset:
the only time we wore jackets in Maui (it was cold at the top!)
