Happy birthday, Terry!
As I mentioned before, the peak on the western side of the island is not reachable by car. But the peak on the eastern side, Haleakala (w), is. So that's where we went this day.
Actually, after spending the first two days of our trip driving all around the island, I promised Terry that we wouldn't do any more driving, especially not on her birthday. But she know that I wanted to drive up to Haleakala, and so insisted that we do it, birthday or no birthday. Which was very nice of her.
After getting the car washed - the drive to Hana and back had left the car quite muddy - we hit the road for the mountain. It's a long hard haul up to the peak. I tried to count the switchbacks, but I lost count somewhere north of twenty. And in any case, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between a switchback and a sharp curve. So I gave up. This map will give you an idea:
Up at the top, it's a whole different world from the tropical paradise below. After you get up high enough, the lush greenery is replaced by black lava rock:
...which gives way to red lava rock when you get all the way to the top:
Here's a picture looking down into the crater:
...and a picture looking down at the central valley, where you can see the ocean on both sides:
Looking in the other direction, you can just make out the peaks of the big island of Hawaii, away to the southeast:
There's also an astronomical observatory at the top:
On the drive up, I noticed several groups of bicyclists cycling down the mountain, but none riding up. Then I spotted a van towing a trailer, and I figured it out - these were tour groups. They get driven up to the top, with the bikes in the trailer, and then they ride down. I've got to try that sometime.
After we drove down - in low gear all the way; that's a steep downhill drive - we had lunch, and then went back to the room to relax until that evening's adventure, the last one of the trip - a luau.
When you go to Hawaii, you have to go to a luau. There are lots of them to choose from, some more cheesy and touristy than others. We went to one recommended by the guidebook (of course), the Old Lahaina Luau. And of course, I dressed for the occasion, in my new Aloha shirt:
Like I said, the most brightly colored one I could find. I wore it to work the day after we got back.
At the entrance, we were greeted by this charming fellow:
I wonder what was under that loincloth...
Before the actual meal and show began, while people were still milling about, and enjoying the open bar, there were a variety of entertainments happening around the periphery of the main stage. A band was playing Hawaiian music:
A group of people were being instructed in the use of bamboo sticks, or pu'ili, which are used as a rhythm accompaniment to hula dancing (w):
Another young woman was giving lessons in a variety of Hawaiian percussion instruments:
Notice the wooden cylinders under the woman's left arm. Just before the show started, as the woman was packing up, I was amused to notice that a young boy, maybe two or three years old, had gotten hold of one of those instruments, and could not be persuaded to let it go!
There were also some men demonstrating wood carving, and selling their creations:
In the top left corner of the first picture, you can see a man working on a carving. I was about to take his picture, when he informed me, in a rather surly voice, that it would cost me five dollars! So I refrained.
Several of the tables featured Hawaiian style seating, on pillows at low tables. Terry and I agreed that our old bones weren't up to that, so we requested to be seated at a table with chairs. Here's a picture of one of the low tables, with the main stage in the background:
After dinner, at which the food was plentiful and delicious, the show began. It consisted of a variety of Hawaiian dances,
songs and chants, and a brief overview of Hawaiian history. The show started just at sunset, and as it got dark, I gave up
taking pictures, because my cheap inexpensive digital camera doesn't do well in low light situations. But then I tried
using my iPhone camera, and discovered that it works very well in low light. So here are the pictures:
And that was pretty much it for the trip. The next morning we got up, packed up, checked out, and caught our flight home. And then we drove from San Diego back to L.A., fell into bed, and staggered off to work the next day. Welcome back to reality.