2012-6-1  Ulua beach and Lahaina:

Today it was time to hit the beach again.  This time we stayed south and went to Ulua Beach.  It was also listed as good for beginners.  Again Carolyn stayed on shore and read her book.  But that's ok, I had a great time snorkeling.  I didn't find the snorkeling as good as Kapalua, but it was still enjoyable.

I was expecting to see the long nosed butterfly fish in Maui and I finally did.  I've never seen one of these guys around Kauai.  The snorkel area here didn't seem as large as other places we went to, but the beach was certainly nice and there was plenty of shade and plenty of parking.

Here's the shady area my sister parked herself under while I snorkeled the rocky area to the left.

More of the rocky area by the beach.  Could be a little tricky for a beginner snorkeler.

As I was snorkeling around, I was greeted by this guy.  Poor guy was missing his right front flipper, but he seemed to swim ok.

Another triggerfish I've not seen on Kauai---the Pinktail Triggerfish.

After spending a couple hours at Ulua, we headed back to the condo to clean up and get ready to head up to Lahaina for the afternoon/evening.  We bought tickets to the live performance of Ulalena for that evening.  But first we figured we'd wander around Lahaina and get a bite to eat.  My sister had never been to a Bubba Gumps and we were in the mood for fish, so we went there.  Our meals of fish and chips were very good.

The views from Bubba's was really good.  We were seated by a window and even got to watch a cruise ship get ready to cruise away.  Would love to be on it someday!

And we found a Na Hoku jewelers.  Love their jewelry!  But had to pass on any of it this time.

We shopped the many shops along the way.  Even enjoyed an art gallery.  Almost made it to the marina and the big banyon tree, but we were afraid we'd be late for the show if we continued any farther.

Another view just before we turned around and headed back.

Ulalena is a Maui Theatre production about Hawaiian legend and history blending acrobatic feats, hula and modern dance, costumes and lighting.  It lasted about 90 minutes and the "cheap" seats that we were in were about $60@.  It was entertaining and I especially loved watching the small band perform in their "cage".  I'm glad we went, but I probably wouldn't go again.  Not that I was disappointed in any of it, just that I'm cheap (except when it comes to NaHoku!).

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!

2012-5-30  Kapalua:

Today we attended the island orientation/excursions talk by the pool. As we walked there, we were treated to a good view of the 2 islands off the Southern coast---Molokini (the middle island) and Maui county's unpopulated island of Kaho'olawe behind Molokini.  Kaho'olawe is the smallest of the 8 main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands at about 11 miles long and 6 miles wide and already has quite a history.  Kaho'olawe gets almost no rainfall and most of it's vegetation that had been cut down years ago when early Hawaiians used it for firewood and agriculture.  Later wars between Hawaiian rulers led to more destruction there.  In the 1830s it became a penal colony but many prisoners starved or tried to swim across to Maui to find food.  Then it became a cattle ranch for a few years and finally suplet to the USArmy in 1941 where it was used for military training and bombing practice.  The bombing continued until 1990 even though in 1981 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.   In 1994 it was finally given over to the state of Hawaii who turned it into a reserve and are now trying to restore it.

It was our 3rd day here; time to hit the water!  I had picked up a great Snorkel Maui, Lanai and Molokai book from Walmart and scoured it to decide where we should go.  We decided to head up to Kapalua Bay.  The ride up to the northwest side of the island was interesting.  Even got to go through a tunnel.

I chose Kapalua Bay because it was listed as a perfect place for beginner snorkelers and has lots of sandy beach.  Carolyn had said she was going to try snorkeling so I chose accordingly.  She ended up just sitting on the beach reading, but the bay didn't disappoint the experienced snorkeler in me!  I will be going back here next Feb.!

Just to the left of the above picture was my first snorkeling discovery---this sea turtle very close to shore. 

I'm thinking this guy is a cigar fish. 

There were several varieties of triggerfish here!  Here's one I've never seen before.  I think it is a Gilded Triggerfish or possibly a filefish. 

I would guess this to be a blue-eye Damselfish.  Never seen one of these guys before, either.

These convict tangs seem to be popular on all the islands.  This school was right by the shore.

We found a little shady spot at the far left of the beach.  I took a break from snorkeling long enough to check on Carolyn.  The water was a very comfortable 78 degrees or so.

Then I headed out a 2nd time--heading back to the far right side of the beach which had much better snorkeling then the left side.  One of the first critters I saw this time was this red day octopus.

Another view of the octopus from the other side.  I hung around awhile hoping it would swim again, but it just did it's camouflage act.

So I was off to find more interesting sea life.  Here I found a Multiband Butterflyfish.

 

Here's another Kind of triggerfish I've never seen before.  I'm pretty sure this one is a Lei Triggerfish.

Although I've seen trumpetfish several places, not just around Hawaii, this one definately had some of the prettiest markings.

Another new species to me.  I'm guessing it would be another type of filefish?

 

Here's a little guy I saw for the first time last Feb. on Kauai and didn't know what it was.  My snorkel book says it's an Arc-eye Hawkfish.

I believe this is a whitemouth moray eel, but it didn't open it's mouth for me to know for sure.

And one last picture at Kapalua Beach as the sun dropped lower in the sky.

By 6 or so, we decided it was time to start heading back.   Even got treated to this tiny bit of a rainbow.  We didn't encounter any rain our whole trip (another big plus after always going to rainy Kauai in Feb./March!).  Figures, we go to Kauai when there's lots of rain and don't see many rainbows and go to Maui when there's no rain and see a rainbow!

We got into Kihei in time to head to the beach and wait for sunset.  This time we stopped at  Kamaole Beach Park I.

We noticed this outdoor roller rink by the park.  Made me want to relive my younger days and go skating.  But we just watched awhile then went and ate.

One last sunset picture from Kamaole Park I.

Another beautiful way to end the day.