Down in "the Dumps"

We arrived on Maui late last night, so no lovely scenic drive to welcome us to Hawaii.  We drove down to Kiheh and checked into our lovely condo, started a load of laundry (since we had been in Montana for a few days prior to Hawaii) and turned in.

Morning greeted us with a lovely view of the condo complex’s gardens, awash with fuscia, magenta and purple blooms, and the ocean barely visible beyond it.  We headed to the grocery store a few blocks down to grab stuff to make breakfast, then after breakfast back at the condo we went back into town to get Gavin a UPF swim shirt; he had forgotten his at home, and sunscreen damages coral reefs.  We had planned to snorkel on the recommended north side of the island at Honolua Bay, but the check-out guy at the snorkel place said there are too many waves in the winter for snorkeling on the north side of the island.  He told us to try Malu’aka Beach, which is known for sea turtles and might be calmer.

Gavin on the balcony of our condo, lovely gardens below!

Malu’aka beach was lovely, but still very rough surf. It was windy and a perfect day for lazing on the beach, but not so hot I wanted to get into the rough and chilly water.  Gavin checked it out for me while I read a book in the shade.  :) When he got back, he said you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face in the water, and he also lost his mask and snorkel when a wave knocked them off!  But the trip to the beach was totally worth it anyway when we got to see 3-4 humpback whales breaching off shore!

Malu'aka beach.

After Malu’aka, we headed a little farther south and had lunch at Jawz Fish Tacos food truck.  I had really tasty fish tacos and Gavin had a nice pork burrito.   We also got to try Hawaiian Shaved Ice, which is basically a snowcone, but bigger and more syrupy-sweet.  I had piña colada, pineapple and strawberry flavors mixed together.  It was so sweet that I couldn’t finish it, and after Gavin finished his, his teeth hurt from all the sugar.  :)

Jawz Fish Tacos, and my Hawaiian shaved ice.

After lunch, we decided to head farther south for another recommended snorkeling spot called “The Dumps” in the Ahihi-Kina’u Natural Reserve.  We drove through the desolation of Maui’s youngest lava flow from somewhere between 1480 and 1600, and then parked and walked a path along the coast to the black sand beach called “The Dumps.”  The water was still way too choppy and dangerous for snorkeling, especially among all the sharp lava rocks jutting out of the ocean, so we opted for a bit of a hike instead.  We hiked past fascinating parts of the shoreline that were a combination of jet black and snow white rocks and sand; black were lava and white were dead coral, and also through seemingly endless stretches of the old lava flow.

Lava landscape from 1480-1600! You can see the trail of the flow going
up Haleakala (the volcano).

Ready to hike the southern coast of Maui in the Ahihi-Kina'u Nature Reserve.

 

White sand, black rocks, blue ocean.

Dead wood bleached by the ocean.

Farther down the path.

Hiking in the lava rocks.

Landscape of the Ahihi-Kina'u Nature Reserve.

Path through the lava flow.

Beach of lava rocks and dead coral.

After our hike we drove a couple hours up to the summit of the Haleakala volcano crater to watch the sunset.  The summit is a little over 10,000 feet above sea level, so we drove through the cloud layer and ended up way above it!  We weren’t exactly prepared with proper gear for this elevation; we were pretty cold!!  But the sun setting above the clouds was incredible!

Just above the clouds, maybe about 2/3 of the way up the volcano.

The road to the summit.

Lots of people gathered to watch the sunset.

Freezing my tail off up at 10,000 feet.  :) 

Sunset above the clouds.

Yoga in the clouds.  :)

Gavin and I at sunset.

Sunset is blocked a bit by the observatory.

Sunset over the observatory.

The last moments.

After watching the sun set, we headed down the mountain and stopped in the town of Kula for dinner.  I ordered their “bistro special,” which was a version of Hawaiian pizza with pineapple and pulled pork – amazing!!!  Plus I can now say I have eaten Hawaiian pizza in Hawaii.  :)

Since we were tired from all the driving, we grabbed a piece of coconut cake to go from the Kula bistro and headed back to our condo to relax and turn in.  Tomorrow will be a long day of road tripping the Road to Hana!