Honeymoon Part VI - The Long Anticipated Day

Friday finally came around and it was met with much anticipation, not because it was a Friday but because of what the day had in store for us. For the entire week, Richel had been telling me how we couldn't go kayaking because she didn't bring the proper shoes. Well, the thing is you don't need shoes for kayaking and I'm not sure why you would because everything gets wet. But oh well. Again, the day would start at some painfully early hour and we would begin in Lahaina, which meant we had to get up super early, again. Some vacation.

So we met our guide along the road to Lahaina. It was a small beachy area just off the busy road to Lahaina. There was no building or establishment, but just a small clearing amidst some sparse trees, next to the ocean. Our guide, Jerimiah, gave us some basics on how to get in and out of a kayak, how to paddle, and how to steer. These kayaks were open kayaks, almost like small canoes or rafts. Oh well, so much for doing the eskimo roll.

So we climbed in our rafts and off we went, paddling out towards the ocean. It was a beautiful day and the waters were calm.



That's actually a sea urchin Richel is holding...up to my face.



Richel and I were the only Asians on our tour during this excursion. Funny how we got the yellow raft. Coincidence?

In any case, we geared up and plunged in the water. Richel was much more comfortable snorkeling this time, as she wasn't flailing her arms and legs around in every direction; it was apparent she was much more calm. I was hoping to see something larger than the small schools of fish we encountered numerous times on our first excursion, and so my wish was granted. We must have seen 8-10 giant sea turtles. Of course not all at once, and they didn't swim together. We saw a handful at a time. This was so exciting because up until that day I hadn't seen one. And not only did we see them off in the distance, but the turtles swam up to the surface for air so close to us, and then would dive back down to the sea floor. I tried to take pictures of them but I guess most of the photos didn't come out because of the dim lighting under water (which makes me wonder somewhat about the validity of the Loch Ness Monster - maybe it is real, but it's not something that can be captured on film because of the cruddy water).




Believe it or not, these are actually pictures of sea turtles. They're there somewhere, but unfortunately the underwater camera couldn't pick them up. That's such a disappointment.

Now, getting out of the kayak was one thing; getting back in was another. Without sounding like a physics professor, getting back in a kayak is a lot lot harder because when you try to pull yourself back in the kayak, there's no counter-force for you to pull against because the kayak isn't anchored securely in one place - it's just floating in water. So if you try to pull yourself up in to the kayak, you'll likely capsize the boat. Or if you tried to pull yourself towards the kayak, instead what would happen is that you'd pull the kayak towards you and knock yourself in the head. Thankfully, Jerimiah taught us how to get back in the kayak, and the technique was to try and pull the kayak underneath your body as you lifted yourself out and laid across it with your body. That way the boat wouldn't capsize. And it was a good thing one of us was paying attention when he was explaining this because I had no trouble doing this. Richel, on the other hand, was struggling almost to the point where I thought it might be a good idea to film it. Nah. She nearly capsized the kayak while I was in it twice. Better not risk wetting the camcorder. I was wondering if we might have to continue our journey the rest of the way like this with me in the back paddling and Richel hanging alongside the kayak because she couldn't get back in. But she finally made it after a few tries.

We did this a few times, going in and out of the water after paddling to a new location and each time we saw numerous sea turtles. And of course I knew our luck would run out sooner or later, as someone actually spotted a shark. According to Jerimiah, it was a "harmless" shark, whatever that meant. In either case, this thing was swimming around and it looked to be 8 feet long. We actually swam to its general location and spotted it. I tried to stay behind it, and then I stopped moving altogether and just hovered. Then I actually tried to discretly swim away from it as it swam underneath a large rock. But as my luck would have it, the tide kept drawing me closer and closer and CLOSER until I was directly over the bloody thing and I thought, great. Just what I wanted - to be hovering directly over an 8 ft. shark. Thank God the thing swam away on its own, and after that Richel and I headed straight for the kayak. We got out, and agreed that we were done snorkeling for the rest of our lives. Which worked out well, because our kayak tour had come to and end and it was time to head back to shore to begin the second half of our adventure.

After paddling back to shore, we turned in our kayaking and snorkeling gear and met Dan, our hiking guide and driver. He was a nice guy and quite knowledgeable about what was going on on the island in terms of the ecology and sociologicaly. He told us so many interesting things I don't even know where to begin. He almost reminded me of Ewi, our driver for the trip to Haleakala, except Dan was cognizant of the fact that we had just completed 2.5 hours of kayaking and snorkeling and so kept quiet to let us rest at times.
We reached our destination just north of Wailuku high up in the mountains. Again, the roads were quite winding and dangerous, moreso than the road to Mt. Haleakala for these roads were only wide enough for one car. If we encountered another car coming down, we would have to wait until they passed or vice versa before proceding. When we reached the parking lot, the 7 of us climbed out of the van, packed up supplies of food, water, and bug spray in our packs and headed out.

After hiking for a few minutes I realized one very important thing: the shoe sales lady at the Keen store lied. Keen shoe/sandles are great for city walking or rock-climbing or what-have-you. But they're horrid for hiking because small pieces of dirt and rock get caught in there and they don't come out as easily as they do with regular sandals. So I hiked the entire trip with small rocks, dirt, and sand getting caught in my sandal-shoes. It became so uncomfortable to the point where I didn't care what the guide was talking about, anymore.

Our first stop was by a small waterfall that emptied in to a small pool, not stagnant like a pond although it was about the same size as one. It was here Richel and I decided to take some pictures.




The higher part of the waterfall actually emptied in to a small but deep pool. The guide encouraged us to get in the pool, but I was the only one daring or stupid enough to try it. In any case, let me tell you that that water is extremely cold, colder than the coldest faucet water in winter.



SHRINKAGE!



Definitely shrinkage.

I was so caught up in the excitement of wading in to a waterfall that I had forgotten to take off my wrist watch. More importantly, I had forgotten to take the car keys and alarm remote out of my pocket before getting in to the water. But just in case anyone is interested, those remote car alarm devices actually do work after being submerged in ice cold mountain water. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience.

Anyway, Dan proceded to tell us as we resumed our journey that the natives of Hawaii would call going in to the icy cold waterfall water a cleansing experience. And as strange as it may sound there was actually some truth to that, for not only did I really feel cleansed and envigorated with the pure mountain water, but my sandals were cleaned out when I waded in! Ahhhh!

And so onward we hiked, encountering different terrains, plant species, tree species, and trails. Although, most of the trails were once again, dirty, sandy, and/or muddy. Our final destination required us to climb down the side of a small cliff and in to a clearing with a pool and waterfall.



Proof that we were here by the waterfalls.

Since my first experience with the waterfalls, everytime I saw a pool or water or waterfall it's almost like I had some insane obligation to jump in the water and get wet. Maybe the 80 degree weather had something to do with it.



Richel and I making our way to the waterfall.



Yes, we're actually not smiling but grimacing from the ice cold water beating down on us. I can't imagine how those people stand directly underneath the waterfalls to pose for pictures. They must be freezing.

This waterfall and pool area was beautiful and I wish we could have stayed longer. But our guide allowed us to rest for about 10 minutes and before I knew it we were up and hiking our way back to the van, again. We took a slightly different route and our pace had quickened. I wasn't sure what the emergency was, though. Maybe Dan had to go to the bathroom.




Despite our haste, there's always time to stop for a picture. And if you don't have the time, you make time. Actually, I was just dragging my feet to torture Dan. j/k

After hiking the rest of the way (uphill) we finally made it to the van, but not unscathed. Despite having bug spray on, I sufferred 7 mosquito bites. I think the spray didn't do anything for the bugs, and if anything the only thing that kept me from getting eaten alive was the long-sleeve wet shirt I wore. But I'm sure all those toxic chemicals killed off countless wildlife as it washed off my legs in the waterfall. Dan proceded to drive us back to the kayak site where we had all left our cars.

So now it was about 2:30 in the afternoon and we were between Makena and Lahaina, closer to Lahaina. And we've been told mutliple times how bad traffic was to Lahaina in the afternoon coming from Makena, so we decided to head up to Lahaina, again and hang out until sunset.

FLASHBACK - For the past week I had been looking for a culturally rich Hawaiian show to watch. I wanted to learn something about Hawaii and Hawaiian culture; Ulalena was okay, but somewhat weird and the Luau we went to on Oahu wasn't that satisfying in terms of learning something new or interesting about the Hawaiian culture. On our trip to Haleakala, we rode with this one couple who had gone to a Luau and spoke very highly of its cultural richness. It wasn't commercialized as badly as many of the other Luaus. In any case, it was called the Old Lahaina Luau and it was voted best Luau by Maui residents. I had seen that all over the magazines and travel brochures but never paid any attention to it and when we had originally planned out our trip early that week the travel lady, Jennifer had offerred to get us set up to see it, but I turned it down initially. Later, I changed my mind and found that it was hard to get tickets. Disappointment crept upon me as the week went on and it seemed as though we would never get tickets to the Old Lahaina Luau. The one chance we did have was when they called me back to tell me of extra tickets they had but that's the day we went on a helicopter ride. But by some stroke of luck, the day Richel and I went to the Ocean Center I called the luau place up and they put me on a wait list and we got accepted! So we would be able to attend the luau before leaving Maui after all. And it would be on Friday night, after our hiking/kayaking excursion.

BACK TO PRESENT -
Driving towards Lahaina, we had to stop off at a gas station to change out of our snorkel/hiking gear and in to normal clothes. For me, that meant putting on another dry-fit shirt (but hey, this one was clean!). We ate a sandwich at the gas station, and I'm still not sure what posessed Richel to buy a sandwich from a gas station. Delerious from hunger and hypoglycemia, perhaps. Anyway, it was one of the worst sandwiches I had ever tasted. But that was okay, because we were going to the luau.

We arrived at the place, which was easily hidden away and anyone not driving 3 miles/hr would have missed the sign to turn in. Upon entering the place, Richel and I were leied, and then got in line to enter. While we waited, a couple serenaded us while waiters dressed in traditional grass skirt garb and head wreaths served us drinks. VERY NICE!

Now, looking at this place from across the street, one would never think much of this luau. But after coming through the entrance, the area opened up in to a wide area of the beach with palm trees with a center stage surrounded by a semi-circle arrangement of chairs and tables that faced towards the ocean so that the ocean lapped upon the shore behind the stage. Between the stage and the ocean was a line of vendors selling their wares of hand-carved rocks, photos, pins, etc.






Anyway, the show was fantastic: it was very well presented with culturally relevant dances and historical background that was given before each dance. Needless to say, the dancers were fantastic, both men and women. I was more amazed at how the women could swivel their hips like that without having severe back pain. But they did it and did it with skilled artistry.

One thing that did detract from our enjoyment of the evening was the company we kept at our table during the luau. There were two couples, each in about their 50's. Both wives seemed to be friendly or at least convesational, but the husbands were rather quiet towards Richel and me, almost as if we weren't good enough for them to talk to. Apparently, the two men struck up an interesting conversation with each other. But eventually the question came around,

"So what do you do for work?" and I answered them truthfully. Suddenly, it was as if we had gained a new level of respect from them. The husbands still didn't speak to us, but I could tell from the look in their eyes that we were looked down upon with a condescending eye, anymore. And so I responded in kind,

"So what do YOU do for work?" Both women were housewives, I believe, and one of the husbands did some sort of engineering thing. The other husband didn't even bother answering. Nothing to brag about, I would guess.

Anyway, as the show went on, our surly dinner partners disappeared and Richel and I were brought closer to the stage to watch. After the luau was over and we had eaten our fill we left for home, once again driving the winding dark road back to Makena. So although we never did get a chance to go zip-lining, we had the opportunity to watch an awesome luau. And we had a good time.

Actually, we had a GREAT time!

Honeymoon Part V - Up in the Air/ Down in the Sea

Thursday morning was something I'd been looking forward to. Not that I wasn't looking forward to everything else so far, but this day came with great anticipation. Today, Richel and I were to drive to the helicopter pad and fly around Maui via helicopter. Cool! Is it like TV where everyone is hunched over and running over to the chopper? Well, we would soon find out.

Driving to the helipad was interesting. We were surprised how far away it was from the airport. We made a couple of wrong turns here and there even though there are only so many roads in Maui; we were bound to get the right one sooner or later. But I knew we would be driving around cluelessly trying to find out destination, so it was a good thing we left an hour and a half early.

We managed to find the place eventually, but had so much free time that the girl at the front desk told us to come back at 11:15am or so. It was 10:30. Okay. So we drove back to K-mart because Richel wanted to use the bathroom there. I would wait in the car and eat Cheetos. For anyone who has ever eaten Cheetos, you know how everything turns in to an orange mess afterwards, so I had asked Richel to pick up some paper towels while she was going to the bathroom. I thought she was just going to grab a couple of extra paper towels in the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom, but she came back with this big huge role of Brawny (what the....? I didn't make THAT big of a mess, did I?)

Anyway, being the anal person that I am about being on time I thought we should head back a few minutes early. So we got to the helipad, again, at 11:05 or so and the same girl was in the process of rounding everyone up to take over to the helicopters. By 11:15, we were riding in a little shuttle over to the helicopters (didn't that girl say meet back at the desk at 11:15, and not 'we'll be in mid-transport to the helicopters at 11:15'?).

So we got to the landing pad. No helicopters. I guess they were in the process of landing. But while they were doing so, I suddenly felt like I was back in the 3rd grade. The guide/girl had us line up by size and stand on a line while we waited. Reminded me of lining up in the yard during the end of recess. I have to say that our boarding on to the helicopter was quite disappointing because it wasn't at all as exciting as it is on TV; people are crouched half-way down, scrambling over to the helicopter and jumping in just as the helicopter takes off. No, in fact it was quite slow and quite orderly. Our guide broke us up in to 2 groups, depending on which package we bought. Obviously, the 1 hour package (Group A) was more expensive than the 30 minute trip (Group B).

"Those of you in Group A, you'll be flying with Joe. He has the MOST flying experience of anyone on this island, he's been flying for about 30 years."

"Those of you in Group B, you'll be flying with Frank. He has the LEAST flying experience of anyone on this island."

Uh...you're joking, right? Good thing we were in Group A.

So up we went, flying around the skies of Maui while our pilot gave us a nice smooth ride with entertaining bits of information and wisecracks. I had expected that it would be just a regular ride and that we would just fly around, but Joe proceeded to tell us all about the island, the people, the economy, a little of the history, etc., etc. It was every interesting, more interesting listening to him I think than the ride itself. But putting the two together made for a very interesting and fun experience overall.

And I found out that I'm not the only geek out there who buys soundtrack music. As Joe was giving us our tour, he had music playing in the background that changed depending on what he was talking about. And as he talked about a secret government project that was going on the top of Mt. Haleakala he started playing the X-files music! Hey, brother! Then later on, he started playing Jurassic Park! Alright! Another John Williams fan.


Somewhere over the rainbow...



Anyway, a big disappointment Richel and I both had was viewing of the waterfalls. We thought we would get up really close to these giant magnificent waterfalls, but no such luck. I guess having a helicopter flying really close to every one of these would be really disturbing to the residents and hikers and visitors, with helicopters buzzing by every few minutes. But, oh well. Thank God for that zoom function.






These would have been pretty good pictures had it not been for the reflection of my yellow life-jacket. And there we go, again. We're flying in the air and they give us floatation jackets. I'll never understand that. Wouldn't a parachute be more appropriate?

Anyway, just about at the end of the ride I was starting to feel sick. I'm not sure if it was from all the flying around or the fact that we were flying over some sacred grounds in the mountains. But either way we made our way back to the helipad before I had the urge to puke.



No, that's not a dress I'm wearing.

Next was a trip to the Maui Ocean Center that was located halfway to Lahaina. Richel and I had nothing else planned for the day so we decided to check it out. There were many stores and shops around the Ocean center itself, so we broused around, ate lunch, and finally went to the Ocean Center.

First thing I noticed about the Maui Ocean Center was how incredibly expensive it was. Now, I know I can be a cheapie at times, but 25 bucks/person for an aquarium is an awful lot. They better be serving cocktails in there or something.

I have to admit that it was pretty interesting. They had a good mix of indoor and outdoor aquariums filled with all sorts of interesting fish. It seemed like it started out with small fish and the species on exhibit became progressively bigger and bigger as we went along. It was quite interesting because unlike many aquariums where they just have tanks of fish swimming around and you have no idea what they are or why they're important, this one had very detailed descriptions of the types of marine life.




Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery by the time we got to the larger more interesting fish. But Richel's camera battery was still going strong, and she managed to take a number of pictures.

After the Ocean Center, we went shopping for bathing suits, again. We were actually preparing for the next day, which was snorkeling, again. But being that I was so badly burned that first day, I wanted to find a dry-fit shirt or wet suit/shirt so that I didn't have to expose myself to further sun damage. I found a good shirt, and Richel picked out some swimwear, too.

After buying swimwear, we had to go to Costco (of all places). She really wanted to get Macademia nuts there, so okay. I'm not sure what the difference between buying Macademia nuts from Costco in Maui vs. buying them in Indianapolis is, but okay.

We were all set for the next day.

Honeymoon Part IV - Rising Sun

The next day began earlier than most; at 2:30am. Richel and I had to wake up early for the shuttle service that was coming to get us at 3:15am. We had a trip to Mt. Haleakala to watch the sunrise. I had heard that the road to Haleakala was long and quite dangerous and so decided that I would rather not drive there myself, being unfamiliar with the roads. Richel was determinted to bring a blanket because that's what it said on the activities receipt: "bring blankets". Richel likes to be prepared, unlike me who likes to go on the fly and improvise (maybe that's why I'm always in trouble - but I had brought my ski-jacket. I looked ridiculous on the plane to Hawaii, but so what?). So we weren't leaving the room without a blanket. The problem was we didn't bring blankets with us on our trip, so Richel had to "borrow" the hotel blanket for the time being. That's okay, the maids wouldn't miss it at 3am and we would be back before housekeeping would get to the rooms.

So down to the lobby we went stealing the hotel blanket, and in the lobby we met Ewi, our driver and guide. He was a nice and friendly guy, conversational, and quite knowledgeable. We had to stop off at another hotel to pick up one other couple, and then we were on our way to the summit. It would have been nice to just enjoy the quite ride, but our driver kept talking and talking all the way to the mountain top. He wouldn't stop!

We finally made it to a point that was almost the summit. We were at about 10,000ft up, even above the clouds. At first, looking down from the mountain nothing could be seen except a vast and dark emptiness that swallowed everything up including the sounds of our voices.



Off on the horizon a sliver of orange light slowly appeared. It was still dark but at least there was something to look at, now. But the novelty soon wore off, as the same orange line on the horizon didn't change for the better part of an hour and the 39 degree temperature was a shock to our system.



I started taking pictures every ten minutes or so as it slowly became brighter and brighter. So slow in fact that I made snoring noises while we waited, and the couple beside us started laughing.





It finally got bright enough to see the mountain top with the clouds behind it. A lot of people thought it was the ocean at first. In any case, we continued to wait until...



The sun came up and it came up blazing fast (pun intended)! I almost missed it: it started as a reddish sliver and before I knew it it was half way above the horizon.




In any case, after taking pictures of the sunrise for the past hour, I concluded that perhaps all the theories of the sun and planetary bodies being spherical were all wrong. Apparently, we have a square sun.



Okay, time to go up even higher. We went another half mile up the road to the pinnacle and looked down. It was nice up there because the clouds covered all the buildings and development and all you could see was the ocean with the neighboring mountain and sky. It was then that I decided to carry on Goh's and Gah's tradition and have my picture taken. Without explanation, only Gah and Goh would understand these pictures.



As Gah and Goh had their photos taken while they were "creating the world" at Yosemite Park, I would continue that tradition and have my picture taken here creating the world at Mt. Haleakala.



And Richel would help with some creations, too. She put in all the butterflies.

Anyway, now that the world was sufficiently created, it was picture time.

After we had taken enough photos and our guide got bored and came looking for us, we rode back down the mountain to a small little cafe/diner to have breakfast. It had a beautiful view, and we had a prime spot right in the corner.

On our way, however, we saw a series of bunkers on the side of Mt. Haleakala. According to our guide, these bunkers were built back in the days of WWII to defend against the Japanese. So I presume those were built in the late 1940's-1950's. Ironic that 30 years later Japanese would take over just about all of the Hawaiian islands without firing a single shot. For those of you who've been to Hawaii, you know what I'm talking about - during the 80's when Japan's economy exploded they came in to Hawaii and bought and invested just about everything and dominated the islands until 9-11. But the influence of their presence and culture still remains, as there are still store signs and shops, street names, newspapers, restaurants, etc., etc. all in Japanese (in fact, I bought my sunglasses from a very nice Japanese lady named Misako).


There was actually a small community in the area, as well. Can you imagine living in this area? The view would be awesome; the commute would not.

After breakfast, we were dropped off at our hotel at 10:30am, just as our guide had promised. Richel and I hurried back to our room, not because we were exhausted and wanted to take a nap, but didn't want to get caught in the lobby with the hotel's blanket. If we did get caught, I was planning on denying any association or relationship with Richel.

"I don't know who she is, officer. We were just walking in the same direction. Honest!" After taking her away, I'd go to the beach and check out all the hotties - j/k

According to our guide, the drive from Makena to Lahaina was a pain in the butt and we would no doubt get caught in traffic if we left any later than 2:30pm. So after getting back to the Maui Prince and putting the blanket back, we...crap! I don't remember what we did! Uh...apparently we had a 4 hour memory lapse, brought on no doubt by our insane hour of revelry. I do remember that we did shopping stuff for a while, and then drove over to Lahaina.

The drive over wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We got there fairly quickly and had quite a bit of spare time. We had gone there for the show Ulalena, a musical/dance show which described the history of the Hawaiian islands through song and dance. Sort of like a musical, I guess. But we had gotten there with an hour-and-a-half to spare and since we hadn't eaten lunch, we decided to look for food.....at close to 3pm. I was doing okay without sustenance, having survived internship and residency without regular meals on a daily basis and working all day. But Richel wasn't accustomed to that form of torture, so we ate at this place called Cilantro, a Mexican/Hawaiian fast food place that was surprisingly good.

Afterwards we watched the show, which was entertaining and very different from any musical I had seen in the past. I guess that was because of all the theology, culture, and legend. Richel and I actually got front row seats, which was something I didn't want. I wanted to sit a few rows back so that I could see everything all at once. You know, the big picture. There was this one underwater "scene" where the actors/dancers had large sticks with large fish and sea animals attached at the top, and they would run around and wave the sticks to give the appearance of the fish swimming around. And I swear some girl almost took my head off flinging that thing around.

When we got out, we went to go eat at this restaurant that the people at the theatre recommended. The menu looked okay, but didn't realize it was a fancy-shmancy restaurant. I felt just a bit underdressed with the shorts, sandals, and T-shirt attire, even if the T-shirt was a Banana Republic dry-fit shirt. It was quite pricey, but Richel and I had the best seared Ahi tuna there I've ever tasted. It was like butter melting in your mouth.

With dinner's end, we drove the treacherous rode home. I didn't realize how dangerous the roads were in Hawaii because it's so dark, especially when they have areas with no street lights. The roads are winding and it's pitch black. But we made it back in one piece.

Another fun-filled day had gone by. Part V to come...(anyone out there actually reading all this? Besides Richel?)

Honeymoon Part III - The Adventure Begins

I'm not sure why all these activities start so friggin early in the morning, but they do. On Tuesday we had to be at the Kihei Boat Ramp at 7:15am. Which was fine, because our hotel was about 15 minutes away. When Richel and I were getting ready in the morning, she had convinced me to wear my swim trunks to the boat ramp, which I thought was ridiculous. Of course they would give us a place to change in to our swimming trunks later on, right? Well, whatever. I guess it couldn't hurt to wear the swim trunks to the boat ramp.


This was our mode of transportation: a water raft named the Kanaloa. It looked fairly benign.

After checking in, our guide and our captain both warned us that this raft ride was not for those with back or neck pain, or pregnant women. They also told us that we had to hold on to the raft's life-lines tightly. Yikes! What did I get us in to? But it was a raft, right? How fast could a mere raft go? Especially one that looked like that? It wasn't anything sleek and sporty like on Miami Vice.

Well, I had my answer. As soon as we cleared the docks we were flying along at 45 knots. Thank God the waters were relatively calm that day. I was even more thankful that Richel was sitting in front of me, shielding me from the wind and water in my face. We continued to zip along the water traveling faster and faster until we reached our max speed at Warp 9. In all manliness I hid down further behind Richel from the wind and water that splashed up upon us as we continued to bounce along.

"Captain! I think my head blew off about half a league back. Could we circle back and get it?"

Finally, we slowed down to the speed of sound so that I could hear myself screaming. We were now off the Southern coast of Maui, looking at old lava flow that had come down off the mountain and directly in to the ocean.














With the overflow of lava in to the ocean and with the ocean pounding away at the shore, many caves were created, called the Kanaio Sea Caves. There was even a cave large enough for the whole raft to go inside of.


Hey, proof that I was actually there for once. Cool shades, huh? Note: that ugly 70's hair part in the middle is the product of blasting across the ocean on the raft, not because of my poor fashion sense.


Some parts of the caves were large enough for the raft to go inside.


A rare picture together with the famous archway behind us.

After what seemed to be a couple of hours of looking at rocks and coastline (okay, this is getting kinda old) we sped away to La Perouse Bay for snorkeling. Richel and I, being the two snorkeling newbies on the raft, fumbled around with our equipment while everyone else suited up and jumped in the water. Thank God Richel insisted that I wear my trunks on the boat trip. I was going to wear my long sleeve Banana Republic dry fit shirt while I snorkeled so that I wouldn't get sunburned, but I wasn't sure how the dye would react with the salt water. Besides, we would only be in the water for a few minutes or so, right? So I took it off.

Ah yes, stick to the plan: pretend to be slow in getting the gear on, let everyone else jump in the water and if it's safe and no sharks are sighted and no one is attacked, then get in.

Everyone else was about 20 meters out and it was at that point I felt safe enough to get in the water. So in I went! Splash one. The first thing I noticed was how warm the water was. The second thing I noticed was how salty the water was. Hey! Did those 20 people relieve themselves around the boat before swimming off or something? I could only pray that the warm salty fluid I had inadvertently swallowed was ocean water and not our shipmates' pee.

The next task was getting Richel in to the water. Splash two (hmm...why is she flailing around in the water so much with her arms and legs? She has a floating belt on, flippers, and snorkel gear). With all that flailing around I was sure there was something out there that noticed us. I dunked my face in the water to look around for any blood-thirsty predators but didn't see any. Whew! Okay, let's swim a little more.




We went about 3 meters before Richel made a mad dash back to the boat side. What? Was there a shark or something?! I didn't see anything.



"I dont' want any more!"

Aw, you gotta be kidding me. Well, at least she got in the water. That's a big first step. But our tour guide and captain were very supportive. They continued to encourage her and reassure her that she was doing great, and that was enough to get her back out, again. I was treading about 3 meters off the side of the boat (no life-jacket, no float belt, just me with snorkel goggles and flippers) so I was unable to really cheer her on.



This time we went about 5 meters from the boat before Richel made a mad dash back to the boat. Shark? This time Richel was adamant about getting out of the water. I was obliged to follow, as the rules for snorkeling say always go in pairs and never leave your partner. And we all know about the valuable lesson that Maverick learned in Top Gun: Don't leave your wingman.

So I climbed aboard and dried off. I wanted to do more snorkeling, but oh well. Anyway, I was so proud of Richel for jumping in the ocean and snorkeling, even if it was for just 5 minutes. After about 20 minutes or so, our guide Dante called everyone back in and off we went to Molokini Bay at Warp 6. I actually thought the trip was over, but to my delight it wasn't. We were just going to another area to snorkel. Alright! We would have another chance.

Molokini Island is a partially submerged volcano crater that looks like a crescent moon. Anyway, we went there and this time Richel and I stayed in the water much longer. There were already other boats and snorkelers in the area, so it appeared safe. We swam around looking at all the schools of friendly colorful fish that swam mere inches away from us. I actually reached out to try and touch one, but couldn't; they wouldn't allow themselves to get any closer than 2 inches. While swimming around, I took pictures of some fish and Richel underwater - now we had proof that Richel was actually in the water swimming. I was hoping to see a sea turtle, and other people did see them including Richel. She also saw a manta ray. The only interesting thing I saw was a tube fish. Or at least I think it was a tube fish. I did see something about 30 meters away on the ocean floor crawling along but it was vague and it disappeared before I could catch up with it.

Anyway, we did the same thing a few more times: travel to a different spot at warp speed, stop, snorkel, look at the fish and coral, take pictures of Richel, and then get out of the water. We then came back aboard and were given a sandwhich lunch and drinks. It was about 2pm about this time, and we welcomed the nourishment after having gone the entire morning without food or drink.

Refreshed and envigorated from our meal, we now had enough strength to hang on for dear life as we blasted back to the Kihei Boat Ramp at Warp 9. We docked, disembarked, and kissed the ground. Amazing that Richel and I had gone snorkeling and had a good time without incident. With my luck, I was expecting to get mauled by a shark, impaled by a sting ray, or attacked by a sea turtle. But none of that happened. And now that Richel and I were safely back on dry land we both had one thing on our minds: shower. We climbed in the car and sped home, still damp from the ocean water (eh, it's okay. We had a rental).

After getting cleaned up, I was quite distraught to discover that I had been badly sunburned. Aw, not good. My back was strawberry red and tender. I should have kept the shirt on - who cares if the salt ate away the logo?

Anyway, Richel and I were so tired afterwards that we napped in the afternoon. After all, this was the most exercise we had had for months, and in her case, years. For the rest of the day, Richel repeatedly told me how she could not go kayaking on Friday because of my sunburn and because she didn't have the right shoes. Nevermind the fact that it was another snorkeling trip and that my sunburn and her shoes had absolutely nothing to do with kayaking.

Our evening was nothing special. We went to the Whaler's Store, another convenient store/chain in Hawaii and bought a nice cheap but tasty dinner which we ate in the hotel room. We then went to bed quite early, for we had to get up at 2:30am the next morning...

Stay tuned for Part IV