2012-5-29--to Iao Valley and riding around S. Maui

 I was surprised to see all the sugar cane growing all over the island.  I had totally forgotten about that from my other trip to Maui with my Dad in 2006.  In addition to being Hawaii's only producer of raw and specialty sugar, today  Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company  generates enough electrical power to handle all its plantation needs and provide 7-8% of all the electric power used annually on Maui.  Probably would have been fun to tour the factory, but we didn't get around to it.  Maybe next Feb. when Ken and I return for a little over 2 weeks instead of our usual Kauai trip.
                              
 One of the places Dad and I did go to and I thought Carolyn would enjoy was the Ioa Valley.  Located in Central Maui just west of Wailuku. It is a 4,000-acre, 10-mile long park and is home to one of Maui's most recognizable landmarks, the 1,200-foot Iao Needle. The Needle overlooks Iao stream and the park has paths for easy hiking and sightseeing.  At least I thought the hiking was easy--Carolyn had a different opinion.

There were other parts of the park that I actually found more interesting then the "needle", such as this little garden.

 This is a view back toward the parking lot from about half way into our "hike".   I also don't remember there being a charge for parking before, but there was a young man there collecting $5/car.  Hope he wasn't just a clever entrepreneur!

 Aside from its natural tropical beautiful, sacred Iao Valley has great historical significance. It was here in 1790 at the Battle of Kepaniwai that King Kamehameha I clashed with Maui's army in his quest to unite the islands. Even with Iao Needle serving as a lookout point, Kamehameha defeated Maui's forces.

 More of the lush foliage.

     The Puʻu Kukui summit area at the valley's head receives an average 386 inches of rainfall per year, making it the state's second wettest location after Mount Waialeale on  Kauai. Much of this rainfall ends up flowing into the Iao Stream.

After wandering around Iao Valley for awhile, we headed back to the south side and drove down past Wailea to check out that area. 

At one spot, we even stopped and dragged out the beach chairs and watched the ocean for awhile. Not sure what the name of this "beach" is, but it was a quiet peaceful place.

 As we were driving around, we came across this cute little church in Kakena---Keawalai Congregational Church.  It was founded in 1832.  The land it's on was purchased in 1864 for $80.  In the 50's, the climate of the area changed from fertile lands to the parched land it is now (global warming back then?) so many of the congregation left for easier living.  Renovations began on the church in the 70's and continued little by little even today.  Hawaiian tradition and culture are carried on here by using Hawaiian language, music, and dance in it's services.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is next to the church, but I thought it's flowers are really unique.

As we continued south, we came to vast lava beds.  An interesting change of scenery that reminded me of the landscape of much of The Big Island.

Heading back towards Kihei, we stopped at a few more places.  Here I was intrigued by the 2 types of Cardinals hanging out together.

We also saw 2 little critters run across the street in front of us.  So I followed them to try and get a better view.  We decided they must be yellow mongooses.  Here one is keeping an eye on me from a distance before it took off into the brush.

I don't even remember where we stopped to catch this sunset, but it was one of the better ones we saw this trip.

Looks like one of the Kameoli Beaches

Just another view of the changing cloud colors of the sunset.Not a bad start to our trip!

2006-Nov. 3---South Side, Iao Valley, Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens, and the NE side of Maui:

Time to go exploring some more.  First we headed South to the lava fields.  Love the ride along the ocean.

 We stopped and admired some of the beaches.

 It was a bit rough today---and still cloudy.

 Dad waiting for me as I wandered longingly along the beach.

 Farther South.

 Some flora along the way.

 Into the Ahihi Preserve and more and more lava and snarled trees.

 

 Molokini off in the distance.

 Love all the snarly looking trees.

 looking towards Haleakala as we drove through the lava fields.

 When we crossed this bay---I made a mental note that I had to get back here to snorkel!  I had no idea what the place was, but later found out it is a Ahihi nature preserve and an excellent place to snorkel.

 Not much parking for the place, though.

 We also marveled at all the cactus in the South.

 After checking out the South side, we headed East---to the 6.2 acres Iao Valley State Park. This is a free park which is well worth seeing..

 The park is free, but to park was $5!  But we paid it and walked along the trail.

 Lots of great scenery there!

 Wasn't the best day for viewing The Needle, but it was still a nice walk.

 looking back towards the parking lot.

 Dad laying back a bit.

 another view towards the parking lot and park entrance.

 zoomed in view of "the Needle"

 another view of the iconic needle.

 Nice size river running through the park.

 another view of Dad with The Needle in the back ground.

 love the greenery around the river.

 In the valley was a little garden area.

 one last picture of the river.

 Just outside of Iao Valley State Park is Kepaniwai Park Heritage Gardens. It was created in 1952 to memorialized the multicultural history of Maui. Scale models of ethnic buildings and gardens representing the immigration of Hawaiian, American missionaries, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, and Filipino cultures are the highlight of the park. This, too, is free and a photographer's delight.

 beautiful setting for the heritage garden.

 After spending a couple hours at Iao Valley and Kepaniwai Park Heritage Gardens, we continued on our way North around the East side of the island on Kahekili Highway. "Highway" is a very misleading name for part of the road!  It quickly became a 1 lane road with blind curves, steep drop offs, and no guard rails.  As the driver, I say it was a lot more dangerous then the road to Hana.  Fortunately not many people travel this part of the island, but we still had a few times where we had to stop and back up or wait for someone going the other way to back up before we could continue on. But the few pull-offs had amazing views.  By the time we reached somewhere we could turn around, we figured we were about halfway through, so we continued along that way.

 Another totally different landscape and very beautiful

 It was also very winding. 

 Love the wooden guardrails.

 from one of the few pull offs.

 A lot of this drive was along sheer cliffs.

 There were a few spots where you could actually walk a few trails.

 Our rental car.  I had actually reserved a Standard sized car originally, but about a week before we went, the mini van price had dropped to about $90 for the week!  I couldn't pass up that price.  I normally book with Budget since I'm a Fastbreak member, but went with Alamo on this rental.  I had read their cars are dirty, so I actually called the Maui Alamo rental place and asked them.  Much to my surprise, they actually admitted their vehicles weren't cleaned well between rentals since they had to turn them around so quickly.  We took the gamble anyway.  Over all, it wasn't bad.  There were some little roaches under the floor mats, but they stayed hidden when we were in the car.  We just didn't leave any food or drinks in the car.

 Back to views along the NE side of Maui.

 Finally got to the other side.  Stopped for dinner at the brewery in Kahana.  Then continued on South from the West side.  Got back to Kihei after dark.  Another long day, but a fun one for me.  Hope Dad enjoyed it, too.