Maui is number 1!

We pulled into Maui yesterday morning for a 2 day stay on the island. This is the first time that we have experienced this on a cruise ship….typically, the ship is in port for just one night. I don’t know if it was just convenient to the carrier or if Carnival thought that Maui warranted a second day. In my opinion it did. Maui is one of the few islands that we have not visited before and I think we have been missing out. This could be our new favorite!

Maui Harbor at Kahalui

Maui, like all the others is a volcanic island. Haleakala, the volcano on Maui is still classified as an “active” volcano although the last eruption was thought to occur around 1790. This differs from the big Island as it still has an active volcano and continues to grow. Maui is the second largest island at approximately 2,400 square miles ( 4 times the size of Kauai). Like the big island, there is a dry and wet side. The eastern side (Hana) is very wet taking about 400 inches of rain a year (although the southeast US may approach that this year ). The Lahaina side is dry, much like Kona. Unlike Kona, Lahina is more well-established and more mature than Kona. A big number of restaurants and shops are all over…..lots of premium brands but not as much “power partying” bars as I saw at Kona. At my advanced age I appreciate the feel of Lahaina more.

I just can’t help myself….more history. I’m a car guy with a “teaching” problem. Anyway, Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820- 1845 under King Kamehameha III until it was permanently moved to Honolulu. Lahaina was also the world wide whaling (first use of the moniker “WWW” to my knowledge ) capital until whaling was prohibited. Lahaina looks exactly like a whaling village as many of the shops and buildings are clearly preserved buildings from that era. Our favorite attraction (aside from shopping which is probably second best to Honolulu) is the wharf area and the giant Banyan tree at the old courthouse. The first picture below looks like several trees but is just one tree and covers an entire city block. Planted in 1873 by William Owen Smith to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the Christian missionaries, this tree is just stunning. Pat visited years ago when the tree was actually larger. It was so thick, that you could not see the courthouse through the trees. Banyans are unusual…as branches spread; they drop small feelers towards the ground to pick up water. Once they take root, they grow and support the branch allowing the tree to spread ever wider. These trees are all over the Hawaiian Islands (and other islands in the South Pacific, I believe) but this is the largest I have seen.


One entire Banyan Tree....can't get all of it in the frame



These are the "feelers" that the brranches will drop down.
Later they will thicken to several feet wide supporting the tree.

As one must do in Hawaii, we spent more time at a beach in the afternoon….returned to the ship exhausted and hungry.

The next day, we got up early to make the drive up to Haleakala volcano. After thinking about it, I wasn’t really interested in coasting down the volcano but I did see several intrepid (Pat says “crazy” ) riders going up to the top…..that is something I would love to try….next trip, maybe. Haleakala is often obscured by clouds according to the locals; good fortune smiled on us again and we had another beautiful day as you can see from the pictures below. Read the captions….in one you will note that the Big Island is off in the distance. Some of the other pictures show the cinder cones in the crater. You will also note that we were significantly above the scattered clouds. The summit elevation is 10,023 feet. I figure the clouds were about 2,500 feet below us.

View from the Summit

Cold up here!  Science City in the distance

Notice the cloud layer below us

One of the several cinder cones in the Giant Caldera

Science City.....Big Brother is definitely listening!

"Silver Sword"...only found here.  Blooms once every
15 years then dies.

According to geologists, the last major eruption was about 3,000 years ago and has determined the shape of the island today. Scientists believe that more minor eruptions have occurred in the last 500 years….the last one around 1790. This was determined by comparing geologic surveys by explorers before and after that show a slight change of shape in the island. As a side note, it amazes me how accurate maps and surveys were even several hundred years ago and how little modern equipment has refined these earlier surveys.

Haleakala is also home to about every agency that operates either a listening station or some sort of observatory. “Science City” as it is known has facilities operated by the Department of Defense, the FAA, the University of Hawaii, the Air Force, the Smithsonian Institution…..and, according to the news yesterday, Apple may have a listening post to track all of you I-phone users out there (just kidding…..I hope).

We look for views everywhere we travel and I would have to rate this one in the top 5.

Maui seems to have a perfect combination of qualities that we favor on one island. For example, we like the size and differentiation of the Big Island, we like the beauty of Kauai and we like the metropolitan feel of Honolulu. Maui seems to have some, if not all, of these qualities. We will certainly visit here again.

Tomorrow, it’s Honolulu until the 26th when we come home….hopefully our power will have been restored by then.



Regards,



Pat and Chris