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September 29
Intro & Arriving in Maui
September 30
Beaches & A Lava Flow
October 1
Iao Valley
October 2
A Helicopter Ride
October 3 & 4
A Bird, A Dog, Work & Drinking
October 5
Haleakala & A Luau
October 6
Lahaina & Heading Home
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October 1, 2005
Iao Valley
Saturday morning's view of West Maui
| We went to breakfast a the Five Palms,
a restaurant owned by a friend of Paul's. It's right on the beach so after a fantastic breakfast of eggs, Portuguese
sausage and Banana Fosters Pancakes, we went down to the shore to take some pictures. |
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The restaurant has an even better view of West Maui than Paul's apartment. |
| There's a pretty good view looking south, too. |
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I grew up with rocky shores back in New England, but these rocks are completely different.
They look like black sponges, with lots of holes and sharp edges. Little gray and black striped fish swam in the pools.
Whales visit this bay in the winter time, and you can go on
whale watching tours
from December to May. |
| Still buddies all these years later.... |
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We went back to Paul's place to take Zeus for a walk. He loves his walks almost as much as
playing ball in the park.
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Then we drove north to Wailuku. Paul showed me where he works and drove me through a cool, older
section of town with small shops and the Iao Theater.
Wailuku and Kahului have grown into one big town, though Kahului is mostly at sea level and Wailuku lays on the lower
slope of the West Maui Volcano. This picture shows the drive uphill into Iao Valley. Driving up to a valley seems
counterintuitive, but volcanoes aren't your typical mountains. |
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It wasn't raining while we were there, but West Maui is almost always covered in clouds. It gets
500 inches of rain a year. We drove up through the valley on a narrow winding road until we made it up to the parking lot
at the end. The valley was narrow and shaped like a Y where two streams come together to form one. |
| The valley is known for the Iao Needle,
a spire of rock that rises 2250 feet nearly straight up. It was known as the phallic stone of Kanaloa, Hawaiian god of the
ocean. Others say it's what's left after softer stone eroded away. Whichever you believe, it's an astounding sight. |
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After leaving the valley, we drove east up the coast to Paia.
We walked through a couple art galleries and shops and had a drink at an indoor bar that became an outdoor bar as
soon as they rolled back the roof.
After dark, we went up the mountain to Makawao,
a town with a bit of a cowboy feel too it. You can lash your horse to a rail outside the store. We had dinner at
a great Italian place and stayed to hear a bit of a local band,
Lahaina Grown. Current
local music is a cross between traditional Hawaiian music and Jamaican reggae. They call it "Jawaiian."
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