Ok - its been a while since I posted last and that is mainly because I have been insanely busy and have also had the wonderful opportunity to go to Hawaii. So - without further adue here is the break down...
Holiakala (8.5 / 10)The first touristy thing that we did was bike down a volcano on Maui named, you guessed it, Holiakala. It hasn't erupted since 1719 so don't worry too much. We got up at 1:30 AM(way too early on a vacation) and headed to Sunrise Riders to get the bikes and gear and head out on the 1.5 hour drive up the volcano. We arrived at around 5 AM and at an elevation of about 10 thousand feet. We waited for about 30 minutes and the sun finally started coming up.
The sunrise was, in the words of the local surfer, the most epic sunrise I had ever seen. It was truly spectacular. The smoke from Mount Kilauea and the sun added to the colors and brilliance of the sun rise.
The volcano itself was huge and magnificent in its own right. Inside the volcano were tons of cynder cones, they are areas where the volcano had erupted leaving a a miniature looking volcano behind. Inside there are miles of hiking trails and even cabins to sleep in, so you could easily spend days in the volcano.
But we went down the volcano on bikes, and we stayed to the outside of the volcano on a paved road and gauked at the scenery and enjoyed the warm air. All in all it took about 2 hours to get down the volcano and return our gear.
Snorkeling (10 / 10)We did a lot of snorkeling while in Hawaii, and I must say that this was my favorite thing to do down there. It was a amazingly relaxing and satisfying all at the same time.
We went to three places while on Maui: Molikini, Turtle Town, and Black Rock. The first we went to was Turtle Town, it was very clear and had 2 turtles from what we could see, and hundreds of fish. Molikini, is one of the top 10 snorkeling stops in the world but we didn't get good weather while at the sunken volcano so there wasn't much sea life and the water was pretty choppy.
The second to last day on Maui we went to Kaanapali and went to a snorkeling destination known as Black Rock. The sun was shining, there were hundreds of people, and the local could not be better. We dove in and the water was crystal clear. About 100 yards from the beach Karen and I came face to face with 3 sea turtles, and a plethora of colorful sea life. This was by far the best place for us for multiple reasons: tons of wildlife, gorgeous weather, and really cheap (all you have to do is rent the gear ($10), you don't have to be shuttled out to the location like the other two).
Surfing (7 / 10)This was fun in its own right but was quite difficult to master. What am I saying, I definitely haven't mastered it. From the beginning our instructor informed us that we would be worn out at the end of the session and he was right. We paddled and paddled, and paddled, and paddled. Then rode a wave. Then paddled, and paddled, and paddled, and I think that you get the picture. Karen was amazing and took to surfing really quick.
My instructor informed me that that is usually how it goes though since women are usually smaller and their center of gravity is lower, but my pride was still hurt. That isn't to say that I didn't surf, I did get up on every wave I just could only stay on the board for a little while and then fell off. Anyways, worth the money to do, but I look forward to doing it more and practicing so that I'm not as embarrassed next time.
Well that is all this time around - I will write next time on the shopping and the other stuff we did. So talk to you guys later. LOVE YA.
--
Greg
