Maui Trip Report contd...

Monday 16th January

Today was break day, we decided to sleep in and laze around, check out some beaches and try some snorkeling.
Rex and I went out to rent some snorkeling gear. Rex looked really doubtful when he saw the gear and started having second thoughts. We took some advice from the Snorkel Bob’s and headed out to the beach which had shallow but excellent snorkel views. I tested the water, tried the gear on and helped Rex with his. Then we went into the water till it was waist high. I was a bit apprehensive about his being so deep in water especially without the safety jacket. But Rex turned out to be a regular water baby. He jumped right in and got the snorkel bit of it right in the very first go! Later he even managed to start floating after watching me do it a few times. I was quiet impressed. The snorkel itself was great. There was a small fish school and some really beautiful fishes near the reef. The water was amazingly clear and wonderful. Rex was having a great time. We sort of hijacked the corner which had good views and refused to budge! We stayed there for an hour or so and then headed back home for a good shower and dinner.

Later that day we went to the Iao Needle point. This was another awesome valley. We couldnt go to the peak of this mountain since the road was close, but we got some pretty breathtaking views.







Tuesday 17th January

There are two attractions on the Haleakala Crater. The sunrise and the hike down the crater. Unfortunately we couldn’t do both.
The road was winding all the way and we saw lots of people doing the bike ride down from the top. This activity is described as dangerous and we could see why. The bikers were well dressed, but the winds were blowing hard and we could feel it every time we got out of the car to take pictures.
We stopped at one particular spot mentioned in the guide book called the Leleiwi Lookout. This is a great place to get a completely different view of the crater valley. The winds were blowing so hard here that Rex had a tough time just holding the camera to shoot. We would have loved to stay, but I just couldn’t stand the cold winds. Up ahead near the summit, it was even worse. We had read about it being windy (and cold) but hadn’t expected the severity.
Some unique things to know about the crater, is that it has some unique vegetation like the “Silverswords”. This plant like the salmon reproduces only when it dies. The name comes from the silver colored hair coverings on the plant. Also the crater itself isn’t exactly the crater. It’s a valley formed by erosion rather than the actual epicenter of the volcano. It was a magnificent view from the summit and I could imagine that the trek down would have been even more spectacular. But we had to let this go since we were barely prepared for the windy climate.
Since, we didn’t do the hike; we decided to drive around the upcountry area of the island. Two places that we wanted to visit were the towns Haiku and Makawao. We drove through Haiku which was quiet, green and wet. It was a beautiful serene place. We just drove around and enjoyed the peace and quiet along with the scenery. Makawao was a quaint little town which had a small downtown area. The local bakery shop had some delicious goodies and we stopped for a snack, before making our way back home.

Maui Trip Report contd...

Sunday 15th January

Today we had decided to do the Hana Highway tour. This is the highlight, much written about and talked and hyped of all the tours in Maui. But, we hadn’t really gone with any expectations, and hence, were genuinely amazed at the sights of Hana Highway.
We started a bit later than expected, and by the time we hit the road, we were wondering how much of the whole trip we would be able to cover in a day’s time. The entire journey was around 3-4 hours drive, mainly along narrow extremely winding roads. We thought we had hit the highway by 8.30 and started looking out for all the markings / pointers given in our guide book for the sightings. However, we were shocked and disappointed in not finding even a single marker mentioned in the book. We had already passed 3 such “sightings” and we didn’t see anyone of these! We even stopped by what seemed to closely match a spot mentioned in the book, and tried walking through a huge sugar field looking for a waterfall! Obviously, there wasn’t one in sight for miles. Finally, exasperated and wondering how the book could be so wrong, we decided to ask an old lady for directions and not follow the book at all. The lady greeted us in the usual Hawaiian aloha spirit and asked where we had come from and wished us a great vacation on the island. She explained to us, that we hadn’t approached the actual highway as described in the book and we had to go a mile further down the highway on which we were to find the all the locations! That’s why we hadn’t found even one of the sights! She exchanged some more warnings of taking care of our belongings and wished us again. She was our angel in disguise and helped us to get on the right path to the much awaited Hana highway. Thank you angel.
Well, having lifted our spirits we set our odometer back to zero and started again from the first highlight given in the book, the Lower Puohokmoa Falls. These falls could be seen from above unlike what we would normally expect. They were in an amazing setting and we were quite scared of the height at which we had perched to get this particular view. Next were the Upper Puohokmoa Falls, which are popular tourist attraction. We had to by pass this one since we didn’t get parking, and the book promised better sights further up ahead.

We headed towards our next attraction; a small waterfall with a pond below called the Chings Pond by the locals. The Chings pond was indeed a remarkable sight, setting was picture perfect with the idyllic pond glistening in the sun and the lovely waterfall forming a stream before ending up in the pond. We spend some time there taking pictures, not wanting to leave just yet…. We set out feeling guilty of spending so little time in such a lovely place.


All along the way were some extra-ordinary views of the valley and the bay with the ocean backdrop. The views were just stunning and Rex kept stopping at every opportunity to get some pictures.




As we drove onwards, we came across numerous stalls selling fresh fruits, banana bread and Hawaiian flowers. We picked up some tasty banana bread at a stall called “halfway to hana” and devoured it. At the spot where we stopped for this snack was a nice spot were the sea came right onto a driveway and we stopped here to take the pictures. The view was simply wonderful.


Onwards we came across the nice Three Bear Falls where more photos were taken. We hit a private road on the side of the highway u near the 24 mile marker. This road needed a 10 minute upward hike to a lovely absolutely private spot where a waterfall made a small pond before falling off into a stream. The view also had a stunning valley view. We parked at the side and hiked up. We had some great views on the way, but that was nothing compared to the awesome view of the waterfall and the pond. It was absolutely perfect. We were amazed at the perfection of this place. We spend some more idyllic moments just taking in everything that insight, before we started off back down to the next site.


The book described some good waterfalls up ahead which had to be reached though some adventurous hike and we were quite excited after our last experience. This was the Waikamu Falls, which was pretty crowded, and many people seemed to know of this particular hike unlike other places which didn’t seemed to be visited by many. We headed up the squishy path after jumping across a brook of water and got good amount of mud onto our shoes, only to come across bridge which was more of a water duct. This was 10 feet above the ground, and the minute I saw it I got the goose bumps. I am normally courageous and don’t chicken out of strenuous hikes or other such physical challenges. But at the sight ahead I simply chickened out!
Back on the road, we came across many small waterfalls on the mountains surrounding us.
Next diversion was the road to Nahiku which the book described as the heaven for plants who died. Who could pass over such an opportunity? Rex and I were not disappointed. We were completely mesmerized by the beauty of this village. The tiny road which wound downwards to meet the ocean was surrounded by forests straight out of Jurassic park and we kept stopping at every turn and corner for pictures. We came across yet another waterfall and pond setting which only completed the setting. The detour was well worth all the sights that we had just seen. Again with a very heavy heart we left Nahiku.


The next stop was a waterfall and pool called the Blue pool. The book promised it to be a “Real Gem”. We had to take another detour and head down an unpaved path, park on the corner and hike out half a mile across a rocky beach towards a fresh water waterfall right opposite the beach. The picture in the book had heightened our expectation. However, we were quite disappointed because the waterfall was at a trickle, but I am pretty sure that during monsoons, it had the potential to be quite breath-taking.
Back on the Hana Highway, we made our way towards Hana Bay, which was a small beach setting. We didn’t spend too much time there since the Hamoa Beach was another “Gem” not to be missed. Indeed the Hamoa Beach was spectacular and we were quite happy that we had come all the way and hadn’t missed this one. By this time we had started to regret not having taken the decision to spend a night in Hana and spend more time around this side of the island.

Further ahead were two major spots not to be missed called the Venus Pools and 7 Sacred Pools. These were beyond Hana, but we knew that coming all the way was going to be difficult. The Venus Pools required a mile hike and we were running out of time. So we headed straight for the 7 Sacred pools. These pools were formed by the waterfall which fell from a height and formed smaller mini waterfalls falling off ponds made by the last one. These were quite beautiful. The water was perfect and we were tempted to just jump in. Rex and I were just amazed at the beauty of the island. We couldn’t believe that till now every site that we saw was just as much if not more spectacular than the earlier one. Each one unique in its own way, and yet absolutely breathtaking!

We headed out to one spot which we missed on our way called the Black Sand Beach. Having seen so many of them over the last 2 days, we were not quite sure why we took the decision to go anyways. But our question was answered the minute the beach came into view. The bay was surrounded by volcanic mountains black and red in color, some of them with vegetation. There were these occasional rocks jutting out of the ocean a few feet from the beach. The beach itself was black gravel and sand; the waves came gushing and raging towards the shore. The water was a beautiful and striking blue and shone so bright in the sunlight. We couldn’t take our eyes off this view. We spend some time on the beach hoping that the sun wouldn’t go down… not just yet….


With that last stunning visit of the ocean, we made our way back home. Indeed the drive was long and strenuous for Rex especially, but we couldn’t help wondering if the Gods themselves hadn’t chosen this island as a display of what They could create!
We like to call today as an adventure. It truly felt like one, with the guide book pointing to some really exotic scenery, and Rex and me hiking, jumping and literally stumbling onto some fantastic sights that we had never seen before.

Maui Trip Report contd...

Saturday 14th January

Got up real early, at 6.30 am. We grabbed a few necessities and jumped into the convertible and hit the road to West Maui.
The highlights of West Maui were the Olivine Pools, Nakalele Blowholes, some scenic points like the McGregor point and the Mushroom rock, and of course more beaches. We were really excited.
Rex and me stopped at our first point which was the Ma’alea Bay were the beach was terrific, but crowded. The entire drive was quite wonderful, since it was mostly along the shoreline. We hit Lahaina and took a walk in the downtown.
We headed to the Kapalua Beach which was rated as a “Real Gem” in the Maui Revealed book. This beach was also located on an exotic resort area, and hence was crowded. But we stopped for a quick meal at McDonalds and then headed to the Mc Gregor point. This was yet another scenic lookout off the main highway. There was light beacon (small lighthouse) from were we had a spectacular view of the bay. I tried searching for some whales, but didn’t see any. Next stop was the Naipili beach, but we decided to move on, because we had a lot of ground to cover, and we weren’t planning on getting into the water today.
We set off in search of the Dragon’s teeth. This was another formation of lava the most recent one, and boy, what a view. The sea water raged alongside a beautiful golf course, which had this lava formation right on the coastline. The sea raged and the water splashed right off the cliff onto these rocks. The view was breathtaking. We were quite reluctant to leave.





Next stop Nakalele blowhole. We had to cross some really nasty bends and curves to get to this one. And then, there was a long stretch of trek down the lava cliff’s to get to this particular spot where the ocean currents flow from under one hole in the ground of this lava rock and blows it high above the ground. It was such fun! Rex and me stood right next to it and got completely drenched in matter of seconds. There were few people there and everyone was enjoying it so much. We even took a video of ourselves there to give the view justice. Again reluctantly we headed back to the car.



The description of the Olivine pools was so exotic, that we couldn’t wait to get there. We were hoping that like all the other places, this one would be quite and we can enjoy the peace and serenity all by ourselves. Well, we weren’t that lucky, but the view was just spectacular. This little stretch of lava had made a shallow plateau just before becoming a cliff which dropped into the ocean; most of the sides of the plateau were nicely protected by the lava walls. The ocean was furious here and she blew the ocean water into this valley making it like some private pool right next to the raging sea. It was indeed a natural pool where the water shone in so many colors, the name Olivine was so aptly given. Rex took courage and took a quick dip into the pool and I had to literally drag him out of there to start back on our long journey home. The hike down this pool was quite awesome, but also a bit challenging because there wasn’t really a trail, it was more like searching for a path through this rocky lava towards the ocean. It could be quite treacherous, if one wasn’t as careful.



We enjoyed the day thoroughly. Had a quick dinner at Taco Bell, and crashed!

Back from Maui!
Hello folks!
We are back from Maui and what a vacation! Its probably the very definition of the word "vacation".
We are so glad that we made this decision to go to Maui and especially trusting this fabulous book "Maui Revealed" without which our journey would know no adventures.
I have so much to share.. so I have decided to write a day of our journey from today everyday. Hope you enjoy reading and make the next trip to Hawaii! Do post your comments for the blog.

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Friday 13th Jan 2006

Started from home at 4.30 am, got to redwood station caltrain by 5.00 and took the 5.15 to Millbrae. At Millbrae, changed to BART and got off at SF Intl airport. Got some breakfast and relaxed till we were asked to board. They served some cracker and nuts snacks, but we weren’t complaining, since we had anticipated this and had a good breakfast. Flight was uneventful, it wasn’t full, and so we had some space to relax. We arrived on time at 1.00 and got going to get our rental convertible. The weather was around 84 and quite hot!

First stop at Nona Lani, our residence for the next few days. The little room in the corner was heavenly, and our hostess was very friendly. We like it already! Off we went to get some grub, and we were really famished. The nearest was the Chinese Panda express and we devoured the food.
With a full stomach we set out towards the South of the island. The highlights were the beaches along the Wailea and the La Perouse Bay. The Wailea town was more like an extended exotic resort, but the beaches were heavenly. Some were pretty crowded, but we did find some smaller stretches which were really private. The views were terrific. We already had our first taste of Maui beaches.





Later we headed out to the La Perouse Bay. We had heard of a trail which went through some 500 year old lava rock formations and led to wondrous views of beaches and some ancient Hawaiian ruins. We hiked the mile and half along this trail of rocks, surrounded on both sides with lava, which was quite a sight. The trail ran parallel to the ocean, so we saw some really quite stretches of beach where we could actually say “hey, we are all alone in this corner of the world!”. The beaches were unique because of the black and white lava gravel. Rex found some ancient Hawaiian ruins along the way and stopped to take pictures. We were so happy with our first day excursion, but equally tired, so we headed back home. But first we did some shopping to stock up on some breakfast items and quick meals.

First Birthday!
Happy birthday baby Eshan. Its your first Birthday today. Wishing you many many more fun birthdays from all of us.
We are off to Hawaii tomorrow :) and shall see you exactly one week later. Here's a glimpse of what we might be seeing on the Maui island.
So here's an Aloha! from us for now.

What does Steve has up his sleve?
Steve Jobs adresses hundreds of fans in Macworld 2006 at San Francisco.
Get all the coverage at Cnet.com. Here are a few highlights:
1. The Intel processor based Mac laptops are out from today, they are faster, better and have an award winning design, called the MacBook Pro. They are thinner and have a built in webCam called the iSight.
2. Another interesting feature add is the new program for publishing Web sites, called iWeb which will includes templates to build the web site, a blog and podcast tools and also one-click publishing.
3. Having sold 14 million iPods last quarter, Jobs is now adding a new accessory to the iPod, a remote control cum FM tuner. On the video iPod front, more shows like the SNL are added.
With total of 42 million iPods sold and 850 million songs via iTunes store sold, Apple has brought in revenue of $5.7 billion reported as of December end.
Personally, I am waiting to see the Mac laptop and maybe entice my husband to buy me one! :)

Babies
Last year was "Baby" year for many of our friends and family. Our Congratulations to all and wish you many joyous moments in the year to come.
Kavitha and Pradeep from Bangalore had a healthy baby boy, Akshay.

Sandeep and Priya also from Bangalore, have a beautiful baby girl, Malavika.

CES 2006
Some of the technology innovations and latest gadgetries can be seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With gadgets getting smaller (or larger in case of TV's), and the technology merging seamlessly in today's consumer electronics, one can see some real innovation happening, like the HP's Advanced Media Series.
Its all happening at CES. You can also check out some live coverage and reviews at CNET.
Some of my favourites are:
1. Sony's Keynote with Tom Hanks
2. Microsoft's Vista introduction
3. ClickStar gives a new meaning to "On Demand".
There is so much more...
Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!
.. to Anuradha and Murli! Here's wishing you both a great year with lots of togetherness and love.
Anu and Murli are based in Bangalore. They have a dashing 5 year old, Nikhil.
Murli is an avid Comic book collector. Murli check out the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum here. Anu loves to socialize and is a regular party animal!
Folks, anyone of you wanting to dedicate this space for birthdays, anniversaries, and other such events, do send me an email, and I shall do the needful. One purpose of this blog is to stay connected.