Anna in Maui

rainbow at waimoku waterfall

spider webs are prettier in maui

bamboo forest

o'heo gulch pools

rocks at black sand beach

(taking a rock is bad luck...and against the rules)

red sand beach from the cliff above

the town of hana

stalactites in the lava tube

(not to be confused with stalagmites)

As you can see, Dane and I have been busy playing in Maui while mom has been at work.  It has been a wonderful week and I can't believe it has gone by so fast!  Tomorrow's adventures include snorkeling, exploring the crater at Haleakala, beach time, and crossword puzzles (for Dane). 

Fish

Every few days I go down to our local loko (an ancestral fish pond) and hope that our fisherman has come  in with his catch.

Off the back of their pickup, Greg and his wife set up shop.

Here he is with a mahi mahi. On a good day's catch he'll get 20 to 30 either mahi mahi, ahi or ono.

Then he'll filet it on the spot.

And I'll bring home a bag of mahi mahi. How we will miss this. It doesn't get any fresher.

The Big Island

This last weekend we took a puddle jumper over to the Big Island and got a different experience from one here in Maui.

Our first stop was to experience the growing fields of the world-known Kona Valley and its coffee.

The Kona bean's unique flavor is due to the rich composition of the lava base.

We shared our breakfast with geckos with Australian accents 

and saw turtles basking on a black sand beach.

Then we went down to South Point, the southern-most point of the USA. If we looked real hard and kept looking, we would have seen Antarctica.

Unlike Maui, much of the water around the Big Island is that beautiful, aqua-blue found in the Caribbean.

We drove to the top of the Kilauea Crater, and although there are parts of it that continue to flow, we were only allowed access to it gaseous spew.

The Big Island is a much younger island than Maui, the lava flows much newer, and the many lava flows dominate much of the landscape.

Sometimes, for as far as the eye could see, mile after mile, was the barren blackness. We found a lot of it ugly, and a lot of ugly.

However, not all of the landscape was bleak. In the northern end near Hawi, we found rolling green hills reminiscent of Ireland (a tip o' the hat to the Irish alcove).

Flying home we saw from above another river of lava as it had flowed to the sea.



These Floral Pics are for Becccerrrr

Actually, this isn't a flower. This non-native species is a yummy fruit called rambutan.

These last two pictures are of a Haleakala silversword, found only on Maui and only above 7000 feet. They bloom once (bottom picture) after fifty years, then they die. Wow.

It's Not Always Paradise

                  We had a surprise storm last night that even seemed to impress the locals. None that we talked to had ever seen anything like it. If it was a typhoon (we're still not sure because we're cut off from the outside), it sure felt like it. As we lay in bed, we worried that our roof could go above us. The lightning outside was continuous. If I had been adventurous enough to go outside, I wouldn't have needed a flashlight.

We were originally planning to go to the big island this weekend and had the alarm set for 3 am to get to the airport. But the weather was too scary, and if we had tried to go, we would have found the road closed due to mudslides.

 

 This 40x30 tin roof  flew over the post office and the bank and landed in the "mall" center.

The Hana Bay Beach is usually clean and pristine

Trees and roads were ripped up
 I guess we'll try to get away to Hawaii again next weekend !