Friday, November 9, 2012

Haleakala Saturday




Up early before my “rooster” and alarm getting ready for our all day trip with Polynesian Day Tours.  I had booked our excursion online through viator.  After another magnificent sunrise with red clouds, we waited out front by the road for our van. 

Van of 24 after going by airport and picking up 9.  Back seat in a packed van.

Switchbacks up to the top of 10,000 ft with a brisk breeze.  Glad I wore my long pants and wind bracket.  Four people hadn’t read the voucher that noted long pants and warm clothing would be helpful.  Cloud cover all the way up and the observatory continued to appear and disappear.  Heard load squeals and figured it had to be the bicyclists going down the mountain.

Was wearing my Tar Heel cap and two people asked me if I was from NC.  One young woman who worked at the visitor’s center and was going to visit NC next spring.  The other was a guy named Dan who had lived on the Outer Banks and now in Asheville.  Nice guy,

Lunch at an Italian restaurant named Cassanova’s in Wachoma then on the Io (pronounced E-o) Valley and the Io Needle.  Rain forest area where we actually had rain.  Everything was lush and green.  Then a drive to drop people off back at their hotels.  Our driver/guide, Cheryl, who was very knowledgeable, skipped right past Maalaela and on toward Lahaina, with long stretches of slow and bumper to bumper traffic.  Finally reaching Lanaina, we were told to get off and enjoy the town for an hour.  This was not listed in my itinerary.  Talked with a nice NZ couple who had flown in from Honolulu.  They were travelling with another couple and had kept busy traveling to different islands and had had a bad experience on a dinner cruise the night before. 

Dinner on our lanai was a tomato cucumber salad with Maui onion dressing, chips and guacamole, fresh papaya, passion fruit and guava with a bottle of Beaujolais. 

Tomorrow… not one thing scheduled!

No comments:

Post a Comment