Thursday morning dawned bright and clear with not a cloud to spoil the view of Haleakala so we decided to drive to the summit. We’ve already done the dawn thing a couple of times so no need to freeze out okoles off this time. We’ll wait until 8:30 to leave and take advantage of the sun’s heat. It’s only about forty miles from our condo (mostly uphill with numerous switchbacks) so we arrived at the summit (10023 feet elevation) shortly after 10. The views were great. About twenty minutes after we arrived, the clouds started to roll in and, within ten minutes, we were engulfed. It was like watching the fog creep in over the South Side Hills.
We ate lunch at the park campground where we had a Hawaiian honey-creeper for company. After lunch, we decided to try to drive to Alelele Falls but no go. Last year, there was a strong (7.2) earthquake on the Big Island and it caused landslides on Maui and closed the road. They’re still working on it. Alelele Falls sits in the middle of the area which has been closed to the public. Apparently, the geologists have flown over the area and feel there are many more rocks ready to come tumbling down. Doreen was okay while the road meandered along the coast but she balked when the road snaked between some deep cuts and we’re looking up at some (maybe unstable) boulders. So, we retreated to the Maui Winery and sampled their wares.
This is definitely not the best time to visit the Hawaiian Islands. The weather people keep talking about ‘light trades’ in the 10-20 range. I’m not sure I buy ‘light’ when, while hiking back from the Fishbowl or the Aquarium, the wind is almost enough to blow you off the trail. Or, when, after dinner, you take your mug of tea to the balcony, put the mug down on the table, and watch the wind create white caps in your mug. You definitely need to start your day early because the morning hours are the best for wind and water visibility. The wind picks up shortly after noon and doesn’t die down again until about eight. Incidentally, the other side of the island is the ‘windy side’ where all the kite surfers congregate.
We were surprised last night when we went to the luau at the Wailea Marriott and found the wind much lighter than here in Kihei. Maybe we were just lucky. When we walked the beaches there this afternoon, it was as windy as elsewhere. The luau was a nice affair (not quite the rave we’d been told). The food was excellent, the drinks mediocre. The show was long on dramatics and pageantry but short on dancing (there was even a little Cirque de Soleil for some reason). The Samoan fire dance finale was spectacular. We had an interesting chat with the performer afterwards. Turns out he grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and only moved back to Samoa a few years ago when his mother died and wanted to be buried in her homeland. Also, he had spent five years in Edmonton after he went there to perform at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 (?).
We ate lunch at the park campground where we had a Hawaiian honey-creeper for company. After lunch, we decided to try to drive to Alelele Falls but no go. Last year, there was a strong (7.2) earthquake on the Big Island and it caused landslides on Maui and closed the road. They’re still working on it. Alelele Falls sits in the middle of the area which has been closed to the public. Apparently, the geologists have flown over the area and feel there are many more rocks ready to come tumbling down. Doreen was okay while the road meandered along the coast but she balked when the road snaked between some deep cuts and we’re looking up at some (maybe unstable) boulders. So, we retreated to the Maui Winery and sampled their wares.
This is definitely not the best time to visit the Hawaiian Islands. The weather people keep talking about ‘light trades’ in the 10-20 range. I’m not sure I buy ‘light’ when, while hiking back from the Fishbowl or the Aquarium, the wind is almost enough to blow you off the trail. Or, when, after dinner, you take your mug of tea to the balcony, put the mug down on the table, and watch the wind create white caps in your mug. You definitely need to start your day early because the morning hours are the best for wind and water visibility. The wind picks up shortly after noon and doesn’t die down again until about eight. Incidentally, the other side of the island is the ‘windy side’ where all the kite surfers congregate.
We were surprised last night when we went to the luau at the Wailea Marriott and found the wind much lighter than here in Kihei. Maybe we were just lucky. When we walked the beaches there this afternoon, it was as windy as elsewhere. The luau was a nice affair (not quite the rave we’d been told). The food was excellent, the drinks mediocre. The show was long on dramatics and pageantry but short on dancing (there was even a little Cirque de Soleil for some reason). The Samoan fire dance finale was spectacular. We had an interesting chat with the performer afterwards. Turns out he grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and only moved back to Samoa a few years ago when his mother died and wanted to be buried in her homeland. Also, he had spent five years in Edmonton after he went there to perform at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 (?).
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