We're back

With little thanks to Air Canada. They managed to mess up the opening day of this trip (see my earlier rant) so I guess they figured it was their corporate duty to mess up the finale. I’ll give them the credit due them–they did a fine job of messing up our return trip. This time we didn’t even get onto the first plane before the troubles began. We had an 8:45 pm flight from Honolulu to Vancouver so we got to the airport shortly after 6, turned in the rental car and proceeded to check-in. By the time we got through security and grabbed some supper, it was time to head for the departure lounge. There, we discovered that the flight had been pushed back to 9 o’clock. No big deal.
After sitting around for half an hour as the departure lounge slowly filled with passengers, an Air Canada rep came on the PA and told us they had an incoming flight and needed the space so we would have to wait in the hall. Have you ever had to do this in an international airport? When they finally re-admitted us, about forty-five minutes later, we were screened at the door and had to show both a boarding pass and ID to get into the lounge area. Talk about setting a pleasant mood for traveling. No explanation. No apology. Just the attitude of business as usual.
The flight did get off just 30 minutes behind schedule and, with a good tailwind, we landed in Vancouver shortly before 5:30 am. Our flight to Toronto was a different airplane at a different gate. We had to pick up our bags and clear through Customs and Immigration before traversing the airport to find our new departure gate. No real problems but the airport is kind of dead at that hour of the morning and there weren’t a lot of shops open. We didn’t see any where to have breakfast but, not to worry. With a 7 am departure, Air Canada is sure to offer breakfast. Right. Think again. By the time we arrived in Toronto at 2 pm, we were tired, grumpy and hungry. So much for all the “aloha” we had soaked up in the Islands.
So, let’s see. We check in with Air Canada at 8:15 pm in Honolulu and walk off the plane in Toronto at 2:15 pm the following day. Allowing for the time zones (6 hours), we’ve been in transit for 12 hours. In that time, Air Canada has provided one meal (an hour or so out of Honolulu), two glasses of orange juice and two glasses of water. I’m glad we weren’t flying one of those ‘no frills’ airlines.
We’d spent our last weekend on Oahu checking out some of the lesser known beaches on the North Shore and Windward coast. We discovered why the Turtle Bay Resort is aptly named and crossed some trails off our list of worthwhile activities. Our final visit was to Waimanalo Beach Park and we walked from there to Bellows Beach and back. The tide was in so the walk wasn’t as nice as earlier but any day on Bellows is a good day. After we checked out of the condo, we stopped by the Wailua Bakery for a final shave ice before heading into Honolulu traffic for the drive to the airport.
Toronto wasn’t quite as warm as when we left. And the mornings have really been dreary. I miss sitting on the balcony watching the kayaks and outrigger canoes on the Ala Wai. I wonder if my tan will last until I find another beach.

And the days dwindle down

To a precious few. So, we’ve been trying to see everything (unsuccessfully). We’ve been searching out some of our favorite beaches (especially Waimea Bay) and hiking to see some waterfalls. On Thursday, we did the Manoa Falls Trail. It’s been improved somewhat (read less natural) since we last walked it in 1991 but it’s still a great trail within the city. Sorry, Travis, but we weren’t able to find the vine where you had your Tarzan moment. There was a rock slide near the falls in 2002 and liability worries have resulted in warning signs and roped-off areas at the base of the falls.

Our Friday hike was to Maunawili Falls on the other side of the Ko’olau Mountains. The hike is about 1.3 miles each way and takes you through some beautiful scenery with no sand in sight. It ends in a small, pretty waterfall with an inviting pool. It’s a very popular spot so you don’t have the trail or the pool to yourself very long. Just after we arrived at the falls, tow local kids showed up and started jumping off the rocks. Between picture taking stints, the schoolteachers peeked out with a question about “how come you’re not in school this Friday morning?” I guess it was a teachers’ workshop day. At any rate, we left them happily enjoying the waterfall and the pool.

Earlier the week, we hiked up to the top of Diamond Head to see the views of Waikiki, Honolulu and surrounding area. We found ourselves wondering how many feet had climbed those steps inside the crater since the last time we’d come to watch a sunrise. No early morning for us this time, just a slow, afternoon stroll. It would be a great place for sunsets except that it’s a military installation and they lock the gates at six o’clock. We also found some time for shopping and shave ice and Doreen took Thursday morning to check out the quilting scene.

Hard to believe that this time tomorrow night we’ll be sitting in the airport waiting for our Air Canada flight to Vancouver. In some ways, we’re ready to go home and get back into our regular routines. But, how regular can it get with Doreen’s quilt weekend starting on Friday and Halloween in Atlanta scheduled next. And then there’s Tammy’s wedding.

Familiarity breeds . . .

Certainly not contempt. Maybe ennui. Maybe something on the order of “been there, done that” but the t-shirts have long since worn out. Hawaii remains one of our favorite spots for a trip. But you may have noticed a dearth of scenic pictures in our earlier postings (snorkel pictures don’t count). We were driving to the North Shore yesterday along the Kamehameha Highway with the Wai’anae Mountains off to our left when it struck me how we take the vistas for granted this trip. I remember when we first did this drive with Bonnie in 1971 and we were constantly stopping to take pictures. Now we zip along from point A to point B and wonder why the tourist cars have pulled over at certain spots.
Of course, the views have changed over the years as have the road systems. I miss the sprawling sugar cane and pineapple fields. I found the same thing on Maui. There’s a beautiful walkway in the Wailea area between the hotels and the shoreline which meanders past five or six beaches. I took my camera with me one day and walked the entire path (and back). The end result–not a single picture. I found myself thinking “I already have a terrific picture of that beach”. I also have pictures of most of the tourist attractions around Oahu–Iolani Palace, Punchbowl, Diamond Head, the Polynesian Cultural Center, Waimea Bay, etc.
We’ve done some snorkeling on Oahu. Of course, that was after the obligatory, initial lie-down on Waikiki Beach. Our first visit was to Hanauma Bay and it’s still a beautiful spot that deserves a picture every time. It’s slowly recovering after being almost loved to death from the late ‘70's on but, with still 1.5 million visitors yearly, it will be a long process, particularly for the corals. Our second stop was at Ko Olina. There’s been a lot of development since our last visit and the number of lounges around the lagoons offers silent testimony. The second lagoon is still relatively untouched but that will change when the Marriott is completed. Both were fun but nothing spectacular and not a patch on Maui. The surf’s been up on the North Shore so Shark’s Cove, Three Tables and Waimea have not been doable. We did have a sun-filled day at Waimea and Sunset Beaches, topped by a shave ice at Aoki’s in Hale’iwa.
Without snorkeling to fill our days, we’ve fallen back to walking or our senior version of hiking. On the weekend, we went out to the Windward side and walked the beaches from Bellows to Waimanalo. Bellows is still open to the public only from Friday noon to Sunday as military training takes precedence during the week. It’s a great beach to walk with wide stretches of firm, soft, golden sand, softly lapping waves with enough break for the boogie boarders and a background of ironwood trees and the Ko’olau Mountains. When we’d had our fill of sand and sun, we backtracked to Makapu’u Head and hiked to the top to enjoy the sweeping views. Doreen discovered some large patches of cactus with ripening cactus pears. Instead of paying for them at the supermarket, they were free for the taking. All she had to do was avoid the thorns (unsuccessfully for the most part).
Yesterday, we hiked some deserted beaches at the northern tip of the island. Unlike Bellows, this was a slog. The only things that saved a mostly uninteresting walk were the discovery of a small, dead shark along the shoreline (the only shark we’ve seen on this trip) and a sleeping eel in one of the tide pools. After lunch, we drove to the end of the Farrington Highway and hiked in to Ka’ena Point. Another long, hot, dusty walk with little reward–no albatrosses, no Hawaiian monk seals. (In the ‘wouldn’t you know it’ category, a pair of monk seals have been showing up on Waikiki Beach over the past few days.) To save the day, we drove into Hale’iwa and had another shave ice (Matsumoto’s this time).
The other problem I’ve been noticing is a lack of time. Evenings on Maui were much quieter and I had time to play with our pictures and work on this blog. Here on Oahu, we’re staying in a condo in Waikiki and our nights are much more crowded. It’s fun to just wander along Kalakaua or Kuhio and watch the crowds, both tourists and performers. And let’s not forget basketball. The whistle may have been retired but the fan still lives. Last week, I spent two nights at the University gym. On Thursday, we had tickets for an NBA pre-season game between the Lakers and the Warriors. This was one of two events we had arranged before we left home. (The other being the Maui 5K.) On Friday, I went back for the university’s “Twilight ‘Ohana”, an evening where the university introduces its basketball teams to the community. It was an interesting experience with lots of local kids and families on hand and came complete with three-point and dunk contests and intra-squad scrimmages. There is still a Canadian connection as both the men’s and women’s teams have a player from Ontario (Paul Campbell of Toronto and Katie Wilson of St. Catherines).

Not everything goes perfectly

Our sojourn on Maui ended with a whimper. On Sunday morning, we decided to hike out to Keawanaku Beach, a spot we hadn’t visited in the past. The hike begins at the end of the road in La Perousse Bay and follows a four-wheel drive track for about a mile. Then we detour onto ‘The King’s Highway’, the remnants of the old Hawaiian trail through the lave fields, for another mile or so. Finally, we see the grove of trees at the shoreline and make our way across the lava to the beach. It’s taken us so long to get here that we’ve lost the benefits of the early morning ocean. Waves are crashing and there’s such a surge that we decide it’s not a good time to snorkel. The trip back takes only 55 minutes. Maybe next time.
Since we’re out this way, we decide to try Ahihi and see if the rays will again show. The wave action isn’t too bad so in we go. Doreen no sooner puts her face in the water than she’s got a mouthful of salt water. Her snorkel isn’t working properly and she can’t figure out why. After several more fruitless attempts, we’re forced to abort. We’ve managed to spend five minutes in the water and get no more than ten feet off the beach. Not much of a return for four hours of activity. By now the morning’s gone, the wind’s picking up and snorkel time is done. After a quick lunch at a roadside stand, I catch some sun at the condo pool and then begin packing.
Our Monday morning flight to Honolulu is uneventful but doesn’t present the picture opportunities of our earlier Go! flight. We pick up our rental car at Enterprise (no more older models) and head for the condo in Waikiki. We check in, find our parking spot and prepare to settle in for the next two weeks. One problem. I can’t get the key out of the ignition. After we grab lunch, it’s back to the rental company for a replacement. (They can’t get the key out either!)
It’s a nice condo, if a little small. We’re on the tenth floor with a view of the Ali Wai canal and the municipal golf course (maybe that’s why this place is called Fairway Villas). There’s a pool on the 29th floor with sun loungers and sauna. I’d be happier if the dishwasher wasn’t broken. Doreen told the lady at check-in that it wasn’t a problem because she’d brought her own. Great! We had a few small glitches at the condo in Maui as well. The second day we showered Doreen noticed that the shower’s side wall was loose so we called the caretaker. The repair guy came in, looked at the problem, decided they’d done a poor job when they’d installed the enclosure. He said they’d run a bead for now and repair it after we’d left. A few weeks later, the television went on the fritz. What’s Doreen going to do without “Dancing With The Stars” and “Survivor”? The set is replaced with a smaller TV for which they can’t find the remote. Not much switching between channels 3 and 59 now!
Any problems we’ve had have been put in perspective by events that have happened to others on Maui while we were there. Two days after we’d been to Haleakala, they had a fatality in the downhill bike activity. A lady lost control, put her bike on the ground but slid across the road into the path of an oncoming tour bus. A few days later, as we were leaving Mokapu Beach after snorkeling and sun, we noticed a gaggle of EMO respondents. We later learned that a lady had been carried into the shallow, rocky area while snorkeling and had panicked. They were unable to revive her. As we waited at the airport for our flight to Honolulu, we read in the paper about a 27-year old resident of Kihei who had gone with two buddies to swim in the infinity pool at the top of Makahiku Falls. Told by the park rangers that the pool was still closed because of high water levels, they’d hiked in to see for themselves. As they turned to leave, he either fell or jumped into the pool. He did not surface and his body had not yet been recovered.

Difficult choices

We’re down to our last week on Maui and we’ll have to make some tough choices as to where we’ll snorkel. Will it be the coral, the fish, the turtles, the eels, the octopuses, the rays or all of the above?
On Wednesday, we head for the black sand beach at Oneuli. Even before we put on our snorkel gear, we’re treated to a turtle display. Clearly visible from shore, there are several turtles feeding on the sea grass at the edge of the beach. The visibility isn’t great here as the breaking waves are stirring up the bottom sand so we head for deeper water to the left. As the water clarity improves, we see more and more turtles–a dozen or more during our out-and-back. The corals pretty good also. On the way back, we spot a couple of octopuses but can’t get any decent pictures. Another site to add to our list of favorites. If only we had time for a return trip.
Thursday finds us headed to West Maui for another crack at Honolua Bay. This time the river is back to its normal trickle and the visibility is much better. The coral has been taking a beating though since our last visit in 2003 and there’s a lot of debris on the bottom of the bay. Still, lots of big fish and some nice coral. Then Doreen spots a large moray eel who puts on a show for us. He’s swimming from one coral outcrop to another until he finds one that is riddled with holes. Then he proceeds to show off his flexibility by playing hide-and-seek through the coral head. There are times when we can see pieces of the eel in three or four gaps in the coral. There are even times when the eel runs into a dead end and has to back up. We backtrack to Kahekili and enjoy another snorkel before lunch. After lunch, we spend some time browsing the shops in Lahaina and Doreen finally finds her blue bed cover. (Now all she has to do is quilt it.)
We don’t get to snorkel on Friday as the water is too rough at the spots we visit so we settle for some sun time on the beach at Mokapu. This beach is virtually deserted since the Renaissance hotel is closed and being replaced. Doreen doesn’t have much energy so she spends the morning reading on the beach while I take a stroll along the pathway that meanders between the hotels and the beaches along this stretch of Wailea.
Saturday, we finally get to snorkel at Chang’s Beach and head to the right which puts us right back in the same area we’d visited from Po’olenalena a couple of weeks ago. The turtle convention is still in full swing but Doreen finds the surge a little disconcerting and we cut our session short. We talk to another couple on the beach and learn that the left side may be even better. Another place to put on our re-visit list. Because we got an early start this morning, we have time to make another trek to the Fishbowl to top up our fish quota.
All that’s left now are the rays. We’ve been back to Ahihi II a couple of times since our first visit but water conditions haven’t been conducive to snorkeling. Tomorrow is our last chance. We fly to Oahu on Monday morning and won’t be doing nearly as much snorkeling there.

The long and winding road

The Beatles may have sung about it but people who visit Maui (or who live here) drive it. Or should I say, them. The most famous is ‘the road to Hana’ but there are a number of others–the drive up to Haleakala, the road out to Makena and La Perouse, the road to Honolua, the drive around the West Maui mountains, even the road to Lahaina. Under the best conditions, each is a terrific driving adventure but rarely can you expect the best conditions. Then, stuck in convoy behind some ‘Nervous Nellie’ riding his brake anytime his speed rises above 15 mph, or a sight-seeing tourist who thinks he has the right to stop on the road to take pictures and who wouldn’t dream of pulling over lest others get past him, it becomes a different experience.
The centerpiece of ‘the road to Hana’ is a thirty-five mile stretch of Highway 360. It’s one lane in each direction with very little (or no) shoulder, very few passing areas, dozens of one-lane bridges where you have to yield to oncoming traffic, and more than 600 curves. We’ve driven this road each time we’ve visited Maui and we’ve stopped at all the usual spots to check out overlooks, visit waterfalls, swim in pools, etc. Usually, we continue on past the normal tourist end points and do a complete loop around Haleakala and back through the Upcountry area. However, that isn’t possible this time because of the earthquake on the Big Island last year and the subsequent landslides on Maui. The road won’t be re-opened for a while so we’ll be doing a down-and-back trip. Our goal is to hike the Pipiwai Trail and check out the waterfalls. Our intent is to drive straight through to the ‘Ohe’o Gulch parking lot without any side trips. Hopefully, we’ll be ahead of the crowd and this should ensure a smooth ride.
We started out on Monday morning but didn’t like the looks of the sky. Lots of cloud everywhere. By the time we’re passing through Pa’ia, I’ve got the windshield wipers on intermittently. With no sign of improving weather (my wipers are now going full time), we pull a U-turn at Ho’okipa Beach and head back for the Wailea area. Incidentally, the weather doesn’t seem a deterrent to the surfers and wind-surfers at Ho’okipa. We settle for snorkeling Mokapu/Ulua again and then catching some rays and walking the beaches. It’s great until the wind picks up shortly before two o’clock and the sand starts blowing. Talk about a mass evacuation.
Tuesday morning looks better so we try again. We’re on the road by seven-thirty but it looks like everybody else has started at six, or else they slept in their cars along the road. I don’t have much traffic in front of me but every waterfall we pass has a full complement of cars and tour buses and, when we reach the parking lot at Haleakala National Park, it’s almost full. And none of these people have passed me as we drove straight through. Maybe they’re all staying in the Hana area.
At least the trail isn’t crowded though there are a surprising number of hikers. The trail’s a little muddy and, therefore, slippery but we have our walking sticks for support and our backpack for our lunch and insect repellent. It’s just over a half-mile to 200 foot Makahiku Falls and just over a mile further to Waimoku Falls, twice as high but less water flow. We cross the river four times, twice on man-made bridges and twice rock-hopping. There’s a lot of water running so there are a number of small waterfalls on both sides of the main falls. We sit at the bottom of Waimoku Falls and eat the first half of our lunch.
Then we backtrack to the ‘infinity pool’ which sits at the top of Makahiku Falls. The park rangers have closed off all pools because of the danger posed by the volume of water so we can only sit at the side of the infinity pool and look out over the lip of the waterfall and listen to its roar. It’s a great setting for the rest of our lunch.
Before leaving the park, we decide to check out the pools at ‘Ohe’o Gulch. When we first saw them in 1971, they were being promoted as “The Seven Sacred Pools” in an attempt to attract tourists. It seems to have worked and the area is now a very popular destination. Of course, there are more than seven pools and there’s nothing sacred about them. But they are very photogenic. Just as we started on the trail, the weather changed for the worst and, within a short time, we were soaked. We’d avoided most of the rainfall while on the Pipiwai Trail because it occurred while we were hiking through the bamboo forest where the overhead foliage is so dense it acts as an umbrella. Not this trail. Nowhere to hide. Doreen was able to change into a dry set of clothing that she’d brought but I lacked her foresight.
Because of the deteriorating weather, we decided to forego further exploration and head back to Kihei. It’s about seventy miles from the Gulch to the condo we’re renting and we were able to drive it in less than three hours. I’m getting too old for this. Thank God for power steering and power brakes. I’m sick of looking at the single brake light on the rear of a rented Mustang. Nobody who drives that slowly should be allowed to rent a Mustang. (I’m driving a 2005 Nissan Sentra.)

Welcome to my Lanai

That’s what Captain Dave seems to say to the people who take his excursion. The feeling is of someone showing some of his favorite places to a few of his friends. There were twenty-six of us on the cruise but the boat did not feel crowded at all and everybody seemed to have a wonderful time. It certainly was a full day.
It didn’t feel all that wonderful when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. but that’s what happens when you’re staying in Kihei and the boat leaves from Lahaina at 7 a.m. The trip is advertised as a 6 ½ hour snorkel trip that goes all the way around the island of Lanai. It was all that and more. The ride was very smooth for the most part though there were some roller coaster moments (deliberate in many cases). We had gorgeous weather and the ocean was amazingly cooperative.
Our first noteworthy stop was off Shipwreck Beach on the north shore of Lanai. The concrete hulk of the World War II Liberty ship was an awesome sight. From there, we were rewarded with an unscheduled stop to walk on a completely deserted white sand beach. Then, it was snorkel, caves, cliffs, snorkel, caves, cliffs, etc. Captain Dave likes to try to get his boat as far into some of the caves as possible. For those rotating to the bow, it feels like he’s about to beach the boat (or, more accurately, pile it onto the rocks). I saw a lot of passenger hands reaching to fend off the encroaching cliffs.
Our second unscheduled diversion occurred when we found ourselves surrounded by Lanai’s pod of spinner dolphins. You know how it goes–dolphins to the right of me, dolphins to the left of me, in front, behind, dolphins, dolphins, dolphins. They seemed to be playing with the boat and having as much fun as we were having watching them. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in the water with them because they are a protected species. It’s all right if you’re in the water and they appear (that’s what happened to us a few years ago on an earlier visit to Hulopo’e Beach on Lanai and at Honolua Bay on Maui).
The snorkeling sites were very reminiscent of Virgin Gorda with lots of boulders and big rocks rather than extensive coral fields. Lots of large fish, some nice coral but, overall, the water was too deep for surface snorkeling. It’s hard to feel connected to the fish when they’re twenty to thirty feet below you. The other drawback was that snorkel time coincided with meal time so there’s a choice to be made. Trade-offs never seem to satisfy. I guess part of the problem was the extra time taken up with our beach walk and dolphin encounter.
We got back to the harbor at Lahaina at 2:30 p.m., gathered our gear, disembarked the boat, picked up our car and drove back to the condo in Kihei. Then we crashed. Talk about running out of energy. But tomorrow’s a new day, the beginning of our last week on Maui. There are still lots of places to see and snorkel. So, an early night tonight.
As an update to my earlier comments about on-line communications, the adventure continues. I downloaded a new version of Firefox for U3 so my stick works fine. Now the problem is permission to use it. Each time I visit iZone I get a different story. When I had my initial discussions with the owner before I purchased my temporary membership, I was told I could use my own laptop or the U3 stick plugged into their system. The first couple of nights I showed up with the U3 stick, the night manager set me up and things went fine. The third night the owner is there and he won’t let me onto the system with the U3. He says I can use a plain vanilla USB memory stick to copy files but not the programmable U3. Back to the drawing board.
The next night, I load my files onto a memory stick and drive down to their location. A new night manager tells me I can’t copy files from my memory stick because of their firewall. I can only copy files to the memory stick. However, he allows me to use the administrator computer which is outside the firewall so I do get my postings done. In the meantime, I’ve had much more success with the Hawaii Public Library where I took out a temporary membership so I could have access to some Hawaiian music. My membership allows me to use the library computers to access the Internet on an ad hoc basis. It also allows me to reserve one hour a week to ensure computer time. I got more accomplished at the library (including figuring out how to insert pictures into this blog) than I ever did at iZone. And, my library membership is also valid on Oahu.