MAUI SUMMARY
December • January • February • March • April
Day 77 - I did my waterfall hike in the rain and was completely sopping wet by the time I returned. Fortunately there was a fire going in the fireplace so I could warm up. After the weather cleared up, we headed into Hana then spent some time wandering Koki and Hamoa beaches.
Day 78 - During an evening walk, I met Olivia, who was in need of a new place to stay. So I brought her to the house and it was agreed she could earn her keep by doing some house cleaning. I went with her to Hale Mano, a secluded retreat resort where she had been staying, to get her small bag of things.
Day 79 - It rained again on my morning hike, but that simply meant the streams were flowing again, including Waimoku Falls. Lunch consisted of a salad (of lettuce and spinach from the garden and our home-grown sprouts), fried bread and tempe. It was super windy during the day so I waited and ended up doing an evening hike with clouded-over full moon.
Day 80 -There was non-stop heavy rain all night and day. Since we were on solar, this meant no power. This is why it wasn't wise to have too much food in the fridge at any one given time.
Day 81 - The roof had started leaking so we emptied water buckets in the living room, swept the floors, and helped with other chores. In the evening, I had a spectacular stroll along the coastal section of the national park.
Day 82 - I did my usually morning hike and evening stroll, but it was overcast and very windy most of the day.
Day 83 - I spent some quiet time reading at my favorite graves (sometimes it's necessary to escape the chaos of so many people living together on the property... some indoors in rooms, others on couches, some outdoors in tents). I discovered an inscription on one of them but it was too weathered to fully decipher.
Day 84 - It really is amazing... as many times as I've done my morning hike, I keep discovering new things. Today was the remains of an old bridge. Apparently someone upset a huge bee nest somewhere next to the garage (possibly living in the ceiling). The little critters swarmed all over for quite a while.
Day 85 - Today my discovery was various mushrooms. I decided to do a second hike in the afternoon only to discover it was overrun with tourists. Lesson learned. For dinner, we cooked some breadfruit in the fireplace. It tasted like potato but with a chicken texture.
Day 86 - I repeated our previous hike along the coastal section of Haleakala National Park, taking more time to explore the lava tide pools (which now had much more water in them) and numerous inlets.
Day 87 - In spite of the heavy rain, my whale watching tour was still on at Maalaea Harbor near Kihei. I boarded the Frogman II and off we went. It was cold and wet for us humans but that's just the norm for the whales! The humpbacks came very close to the boat. They spy hopped, tail slapped, called, snorted and put on a good show. Because of the chilly weather, I was able to talk the staff into giving me a free mai tai! We parked for the night at Makena, but so did many others. The loud partying forced us to move at 2 am down the road to a quieter spot.
Day 88 - My camera had gotten so wet from the rain during the boat ride that it fogged over. I trusted that it just needed a few day to dry back out. We ran our errands and I also got a haircut. It had simply become too difficult doing the solar showers (with inconsistent amounts of warm water) with long hair. There was torrential rain on our drive back to Kipahulu.
Day 89 - I did my morning waterfall hike then hacked open my daily coconut with the machete. I enjoyed the ease of my new hair!
Day 90 - In the afternoon, Darren's friend, Sue, came to visit for a couple days. The whales provided a show and I took her on a stroll around the tide pools. In the evening, we went to Donny's open mic at Laulima, the nearby coffee shop.
Day 91 - In the afternoon we went to Hana. We enjoyed some food then swung by Hamoa and Koki beaches. Eventually it was time for Sue to head home.
Day 92 - I wandered around the section of the national park that had lots of hala trees (or screwpines). The fruit looks like a pineapple but the two aren't closely related (pineapples grow in the ground, not on trees).
Day 93 - On our way into Hana, we stopped at a small stand called the Hana Ranch and tried some amazing pineapple bread! We swung by the local airport and watched a helicopter take off for a tour. At Wai'anapanapa State Park, we did some more exploring of the lava caves. Back in Hana, we hiked up to the giant cross on the hill. On the way home, we made a quick stop at Waioka Pond (aka Venus Pool).
Day 94 - My morning hike was gorgeous but wet. I then rediscovered a gully hike under a bridge with a small waterfall. Mostly it's too steep to explore either side of the road. This wasn't much of an exception and I didn't get very far, especially with all the slippery rocks and mud from the rain.
Day 95 - More beauty on my waterfall hike, this time in terms of a shimmering spider web. By the pools, a man stood on one leg playing his flute in the rain. Earlier I had seen him easily scampering up tall palm trees! During my evening walk, I decided to join the masses of tourists near one of the park entrances. Here, there was a hale (traditional house) on display as well as a massive banyan tree. This is where I met Marco playing his guitar. All the other tourists simply walked right by but I sat and listened to his beautiful music for a while. Afterwards, we talked and walked around the pools and then I filmed him playing a song on his phone so he could post it online.
Day 96 - It was super windy today! I had tried to do laundry but the wind kept plowing down the line I had tied between the tries. On my wanders today, I discovered a small, unmarked trail that seemed to be a section of the national park along the upper part of 'Ohe'o Gulch. There were pools and bridges but everything was highly overgrown. I named it my 'hidden hike'.
Day 98 - The sun was out long enough so that there was finally warm water for the shower. I explored my 'hidden trail' much farther this time, eventually arriving at a set of pools and small waterfall.
Day 99 - Flowers and young cows were the delights today on the morning Pipiwai Trail. Then I enjoyed some shore-area national park time.
Day 100 - I went to Laulima with one of our housemates who had a workshop there. While he worked a bit on our van, I was fascinated with all the graphic warning signs on the various pieces of large, old machinery scattered about.
Day 101 - We had to get some errands done today so we took the Hana-side route towards Kahului. For fun, we spent a bit of time at Kanaha Beach Park (in Spreckelsville next to the airport) and also grabbed some ice cream (rum raisin and banana pineapple) at Coconut Glen's in Pa'ia.
Day 102 - It poured all night but was lovely by morning. Water flowed from everything! This made for spectacular falls but extremely muddy trails.
Day 103 - I had pulled a leg muscle so didn't do my early morning waterfall hike. Instead I just walked along road for about 2.5 miles until the steep downhill to Kaupo. The guavas seemed to no longer be in season... but mangos were! I passed old abandoned cars, St. Paul Catholic Church and many entertaining signs and properties.
Day 104 - I was still a bit too tired for a waterfall hike so I set out to explore the far side of the national park, past the campground. I would take shelter under a hala tree during the intermittent rain. It was fun exploring that lava tide pools that were continually being refreshed by the sea. I met more slug friends too.
Day 105 - I only went about halfway up to the waterfall but I made up for it with an evening stroll. Someone at the house had bought mangosteens to share! Mostly, living here is chaos, with plenty of arguments and discord and lots of turnover (different people contantly coming and going). But there are also plenty of interesting conversations, new discoveries, incredible views and delicious food.
Day 106 - I finally completed a full waterfall hike again. My afternoon was spent wandering among the hala trees and tide pools. A full rainbow arced across the sky and smacked right into the sea. An old buoy had washed up onto the shore, covered with interesting barnacles.
Day 107 - One of my favorite sections of the waterfall hike is the large bamboo forest. In the wind, the tall stalks clack together, creating an eerie, supernatural atmosphere.
