Early morning dive trip to Lanai. It was cool seeing a new island, even if we didn’t actually go on it.
Something about this fish made me immediately associate it with Molly, our cat
The “Molly” fish followed us around quite a bit
More views of Lanai
The cool part about diving Lanai is that you get to dive through underwater lava tubes. This one is called the “cathedrals
This lobster was hanging out in the middle of the lava tube
We were happy to be back at Maui Brewing Company
It rained the night we arrived, but the second sunset made up for it!
More sunset views…
Our friends were kind enough to invite us (and give us tickets!) to Maui Brew Fest. It was really fun to sample things from all the local breweries and restaurants. All festivals like this should have free food like this one.
Flat Jackson playing the Brew Fest.
Our first of many hikes turned out to have some really great views, and just the right level of challenge.
This forest on the way up was really cool
Clouds started rolling in as we neared the top. We ended up timing it perfectly.
Views on the way up the trail
It was really foggy at certain points
The view from the top
Views for days…
More trail views
Clouds really started to roll in on our way back down. This was a good sign… we really lucked out with weather this whole trip
The views we had coming up were quickly covered up with fog, but it made the weather much more tolerable
We kept reading about Mama’s fish house in Paia and decided to try it. It was amazing! Finally got to try axis deer
The one part of Maui we had never been was around the northwestern side, around highway 340. We decided to drive back that way, and it reminded us a lot of the back road to Hana (but better road conditions)
We were driving along and noticed a car stopped. They were feeding a peacock! They were nice enough to give us some of the seeds they were feeding it.
Lisa feeding the peacock. It was very gentle.
Views from the road
These cattle are living the best life.
Maui Brewing was on our way back, so of course we went there and got the banana’s foster bread dessert
We woke up the next morning for a hike with Christina and Aaron at Haleakala. It was really cool seeing different areas of the park. We were lucky and got a ride hitching to the top from an employee at the observatory.
The view from just inside the crater.
Hiking in the crater felt like we were on Mars.
It started off fairly cool at the top, but quickly warmed up as we made our way down into the crater.
Hiking in the crater felt like we were on Mars.
Some of the vegetation in the crater.
Our first rest stop
We were soooo glad we had Aaron and Christina as guides. This was a 12.5 mile hike… not sure we would have gotten all the turns correctly otherwise!
Near our second rest stop, right where the scenery begins to change
A long lava tube a bit off the trail. It admitedly felt a bit precarious going in, but of course it was ok. This is near the end
Inside the lava tube. It was completely dark
Nearing the end of the lava tube
There are 3 miles of switchbacks near the end of the trail. They were pretty brutal, but the views were fantastic
Views from the trail on the switchbacks
Lisa’s favorite tree… the rainbow eucalpytus. This is on the way to Hana
Views along the way to Hana
We had time to kill around Hana since we were camping for the night. This was at Hamoa Beach, a few miles past Hana.
We camped overnight at Waianapanapa State Park, famous for its black sand beach. This is a lava tube on the beach, just below our campsite.
Most of the sand is fine, but there are pebbles. It is very black.
The blowhole just past the black sand beach
The trail that leads to the main beach keeps going past the blowhole. There is another smaller black sand beach
Views along the trail
The smaller black sand beach, without the crowds
The sun starting to set behind Haleakala
Our last sunset in Maui (this time)! It was pretty awesome camping out next to the black sand beach, right next to the ocean.
The moon coming out. It was hard knowing this was our last night in Maui, but it made it much easier knowing we’d be flying to Kauai the next day!
We checked out other portions of the trail the next morning.
More rainbow eucalptus trees! We spent most of our journey to Hana stopping at waterfalls and swimming. On our way back, we checked out this Arboretum
