2012-5-31  to the up country:

The next day we decided to head up Haleakala with a stop at the beautiful gardens of Ali`i (Chang) Kula Lavender.  It looked like all we were going to see would be clouds.

But it cleared up somewhat by the time we got there.  It is home to about 55,000 lavender plants and 45 different varieties of lavender, olive trees, hydrangea and protea on 10.5 acres.  In addition to the free garden to wander around in, there's a gift shop with lots of lavendar items like lavendar tea and lavendar chocolates.

Lavender flourishes in the chronic drought conditions of Kula, which has an average annual rainfall of less than 25 inches. It sips most of the moisture it needs from the mist that often settles over the Kula mountainside in the late afternoon.  At 4000' elevation, it's a cool respit from the tropical sun.

There are even beautiful views down to the valley from the gardens.

There are plenty of chairs and benches around the garden for just sitting and enjoying the cool scenic grounds.  I understand it's a popular place for weddings.  I can see why.

Just another gorgeous view.

After spending so much time in Kauai where chickens are so common that I hardly notice them anymore, here on Maui they got my attention since I didn't see many.  Had to include this picture for the Kauai lover in me.

I believe this is a variety of protea.

There were other beautiful flowers everywhere, too.  Here's just one of them.

On our way out I took one last picture of the lower gardens.

From there, we continued on up Haleakala.  From the Visitors Center, we saw what many call the crater, but it's really just an eroded depression some 7 mi across, 2 mi wide, and nearly 2,600 ft deep with some interesting looking volcanic cones in it.  It is definitely an other worldly landscape.

A short ride from the Haleakala Visitor Center is Pu'u'ula'ula summit.  At 10,023 feet elevation, the oxygen levels up there were noticeably thinner.   We could even see the Big Island off in the distance.  But probably the neatest thing here is the Silversword garden.  They're an interesting plant that is native to the island of Maui and grow at an elevation of 2,100-10,000 ft.  

On the way back down we stopped at a couple pull offs and I hiked a short distance for another view inside the "crater".

Another view of the cinder cones.

 

Love the variety of photographic oppurtunities around Maui!