Beautiful Maui...Sunday, October 3, 2010

We awake to a beautiful shore….Maui! We will be on this island two days. Our plan is to grab something to eat and depart the ship. We have a car rental reservation and hope to tour the island on our own. We also got smart this cruise. Since we won’t be on the ship any day and won’t get a chance to indulge in the incredible feasts, we grabbed some food for lunch and packed it in an insulated cooler. We can eat whenever we want during the day. Hopefully, we will find a great lunch spot along the coast.

Everything goes so smoothly as far as the car rental goes it is scary. We laughed as we saw some chickens outside the rental location at the airport, but we really did get a regular car (Jeep Compass) and not a farm tractor. lol

As we exited the rental area, we see an incredible rainbow. This one is so vivid and sharp; we had to stop for a photo. I broke out into a Judy Garland routine and Dennis quickly begged me to stop. Just jealous. lol

Off we go. Our first destination is Haleakala National Park, home of a million year old dormant volcano. It stands 10,000 feet. As we begin the ascent to the volcano, we face two problems: low hanging clouds full of rain and a road that twists and turns constantly. In fact, as we are driving, I looked at the GPS on the dash and saw the car icon doing a constant 360-degree spin. It didn’t show a road, just the little car and a continual spin. That is an indication of how twisty the road was. As we drove up the road we kept debating whether we should continue. Below us it appears to be sunny. As we go higher in elevation the weather deteriorates. We learned when we got to the summit that the temperature is generally 32 degrees lower than at ocean level. At the summit, we could see lava rock and a barren landscape. In the distance, we see the Haleakala Observatories. These remarkable units have been placed here for defense and environmental studies. This location has been found to be the fourth best air quality spot on the planet! The telescopes in the observatories could see a basketball 20,000 miles away. It is said that ancient Hawaiians would bring young people to this summit to study the stars and constellations. We weren’t sure about the air quality. With the rain and the prevailing wind, it was soooo cold that we couldn’t wait to get our pictures and scoot.

We were able to descend more quickly than we ascended. Thank goodness. We have places to see today.

We are now headed towards the Hana Highway. It is reputed to be one of the “must see” spots on Maui. We plan to take this road to the town of Kipahulu. Charles Lindbergh is buried there. It must be a beautiful place, right? We know that we will face a less than straight road along the way. The map shows some twisting and turning but the drive should be gorgeous. We’ll find a spot to enjoy that delicious lunch we packed.

It is quickly evident that this ride will not be a relaxing jaunt. Rather, it is full of switchbacks, hairpin turns and nail biting cliffs. Without exaggeration, we crossed at least 150 single lane bridges. We are NOT exaggerating. We were not able to drive more than 20 miles an hour at any point. A 50-mile trip took us three hours. Gulp. We have to be back by dark, don’t we? We saw some really neat vistas but we couldn’t pull over because there were never turnouts! We did find a primitive park setting where we did enjoy our sumptuous lunch (in our car). We finally located Lindbergh’s burial place, located on the grounds of a small church. Near the grave was a beautiful view of the ocean. Lindbergh (born in Detroit) was 74 when he passed away.

Near Lindbergh’s resting place was the Oheo Gulch area. Here is a beautiful and gentle waterfall, which falls into a pool. There are a total of four pools and a crowd of visitors is enjoying them. It is an idyllic setting. To be in Hawaii, on Maui on a beautiful day is truly a gift.

We know that we need to get moving if we are going to get back to the ship before nightfall. We dread the three-hour return and the tedious drive. We spoke with the ranger at the Oheo Gulch area, asking her about alternative routes. The only one that we see possible is one that traverses areas where lava flows once moved to the ocean. The rental car company provides the map we are using and it clearly states that we are not to drive in these areas. The ranger however assures us that the road is very safe, albeit slow and unpaved. She tells us that it is a much easier return route and that it will be a comparatively piece of cake. Okay, we’ll take a chance.

We quickly realize why the rental car company advises against this route. Not only is it unpaved; it makes the hairpin turn drive we described earlier look like a super highway. We trudge along at a 10 to 15 mile an hour pace. This is a better route??? Hmmmm

At one point, we see black sheep (not kidding) with horns cross the road at a spot where it is marked “cattle crossing”. They are heading towards the ocean.
Finally, we reach a point where the road is smoothly paved. Yes it is smooth, but straight? Not a chance. In fact, even areas where the road could be straight, it is the most crooked “straight” road we have ever seen. It looks like a drunken construction crew put this one together. It is the poster child for all things uneven, irregular, non-straight. Maybe there will be a math textbook looking for an illustration depicting a non-straight line. lol

The map showed that should be a spot where petroglyphs are located. We didn’t see the petroglyphs, but Dennis photographed a painted rock that he says is a Hawaiian petroglyph. Not sure about that.

We successfully made it back to the ship twenty minutes before sunset. Not quite the day we expected, but interesting nonetheless.