Maui

Maui is shaped like a fish. We arrived in Lahaina, which is on the fish’s tail.  Lahaina doesn’t have a pier, so we had to take tenders to shore. Being “parked” in the middle of the bay, we had the advantage of being in the center of humpback whale activity. No matter which way we looked, we saw whales spouting or waving their flippers. Usually they were in pairs—mother and baby.  Like the Gulf of California, whales also give birth in the Hawaiian Islands. Once the babies are born, the mother stays with the baby in relatively shallow water, like that where we were “parked”. In a couple months they will move north to Alaska to their summer home.

We drove around the fish’s “tail” on Maui. The drive took us past some of the most beautiful rocky coast scenery in the world. Waves are much larger on the north side of the island (this is also true in Oahu), so erosion from the waves has created some great rocky cliffs. Picture 1 shows the cliffs and beach at the village of Kahakuloa., which is located on the upper east side of the tail. Picture 2 shows the blowhole at Nakalele Point, which is right on the top of the tail. We saw blowholes on 3 islands. They’re created by water rushing into a lava tube..

Of course big surf brings surfers as shown in picture 3. This picture was taken near Kapalua, near the world-famous golf course. Today’s cocktail party trivia: When was surfing invented? Answer: Don’t know. Captain Cook recorded that he saw natives surfing in his journal, when he visited the island in the 18^th century. Original boards were planks of wood without a rudder. To go right or left you had to drag your foot in the water. So surfing is way older than the Beach Boys in California.

Also on the east side of the fish tail, you find the Iao Valley, a lush green valley, where picture 4 was taken. The needle is called Kuka’emok—a phallic stone of Kanaloa, the God of the ocean.

We didn’t have time to drive through the body of the fish, which is really one large mountain: Haleakala, the volcano, which formed this part of the island.  The fish tail was formed by a smaller, extinct volcano: Puu  Kukui.

The final picture was taken as we sailed toward Oahu, over the island of Lanai.