Maui Part 1 - Superferry and winding roads

We took a 5 day trip to Maui last week (Oct 1 - 5). We decided to give the superferry a try. It started last December (amid controversy) and runs from Honolulu to Kahului, Maui. It was shut down for a few months because of environmental and cultural concerns. It started with trips to Maui and Kaua'i, but has suspended trips to Kaua'i until the community (on Kaua'i) agrees to welcome the ferry.

The boat was scheduled to leave at 6:30 Wednesday morning and since we were bringing our car, we needed to arrive an hour and a half early. The boarding process was very smooth and the ferry left about a half hour early. We had nice views of Honolulu, Diamond Head, and Makapu'u Point on the way. After we passed Makapu'u, the seas picked up a bit (much to the chagrin of Danielle and Jacqui). The Alaka'i channel that separates O'ahu from Moloka'i can be one of the roughest in the world as the trade winds funnel waves between the islands. It was definitely rocking...

The view of Diamond Head from the ocean.

Sunrise over the Pacific.
So far, so good! (Rough seas await...)

Once we got to the leeward side of Moloka'i, the ride calmed considerably. We had nice views of the south side of Moloka'i and the north sides of Lana'i and Maui. Three and a half hours later, we pulled into the port in Kahului.

Getting some fresh air once we made it around Moloka'i.


East Moloka'i

During the ride, we decided to head about 12 miles west to check out the "Olivine Pools" that we read about in "Maui Revealed". The ride there was pretty incredible. The winding road reminded us of the ride to Yosemite, except that it was raely wide enough for 2 cars. We had to back up twice to let others pass. We definitely were not disappointed when we got there. The north coast is quite rocky and the waves (yes, the same ones that we had encountered on the other side of Moloka'i) were pounding the lava shores. There were some protected pools that actually had some fish in them that the girls just had to swim in. They didn't have their suits with them, so undies had to do... Ruth jumped in with her clothes on with them and I just couldn't resist the opportunity to strip down to my boxers and take a dip!


The view back along the north coast.


The path to the Olivine Pools had some great rock formations.

The surf was not inviting, but was really cool to watch!


Just 20 feet back from the surf in the previous picture...

Hey, those people actually brought bathing suits!

If it wasn't for those feet, I'd think I saw a mermaid!

Say cheese.

The rocks were a really neat mix of lava and minerals.

After a quick roadside stand stop for "The best banana bread in the world" (it was really good, and unbelievably moist). We geared up for the drive from sea-level to 7,000 feet for camping!