Hawaii 15 - days 8&9 Hana

On our last two days of cycling we approached Hana, on the east side of Maui from two different sides. First we came from the south. I was riding alongside the Haleakalaa, passing the Maui winery. They also produce a pineapple wine but this is not my favorite. The whole road was a nice up and down but as I started a bit higher up and the road was kind of going down towards the ocean, it was a bit more down. The more I came around from south towards the east the more I could feel the wind. No wonder did they place the wind farm there. I finally gave up cycling, when I even had to tread downhill and got into the car to enjoy the view. On this day we drove back before the road got too narrow. The mountainside and coast was quite impressive. Some lava fields from more recent eruptions. Not many trees and plants survive that constant wind.

On the next day we approached Hana via the road to Hana, which is a scenic route along a steep coastline with lots of curves, waterfalls and rivers, as the north side is the rainy side. As the forecast promised rain towards Hana, I decided to ride until the rain starts or it is getting too steep and then do the rest in the car. We wanted to go around the loop this time. And so we did. What a contrast to the dry windy south side.

After 10 miles of nice up and down I joined in the car.

 

Hawaii 15 - day 6&7 next island Molokai and a lot of flowers

On the next day we took the morning ferry to Molokai. The bike riding was a bit more leveled here at least for the part we did. Along beautiful beaches

In the afternoon we did some sightseeing, trying to get a glimpse on the backside of the island

(Yes, if you know, where, you can see the beach)

and checking out the abandoned resort at the west side of the island. Beautiful beaches but the islanders wanted to stay out of the tourist hype. 

For the way back we took Mokulele air, which translates into island hopper. 

10 seats and a very direct feeling. 

The next day, a rest day, I checked out an ice botanical garden. Lots of beautiful flowers. 

Hawaii 15 - day 5 - island hopping - Lanai'i

For our second day of biking we had to get up early. The ferry to Lana'i was leaving at 6:45. So we got some breakfast and bagged lunch and went on the ferry. After a smooth ride Blaine met us at the pier. Lana'i is a tiny island with one town kind of on top and from there all roads go down like a spiderweb. The plan was to do the three main roads all downhill but we didn't want to do so much down. So we decided to try, going up the least steep of the three, from shipwreck beach. After going down to the beach, watching the ship wreck, that was 'planted' there to scare ships away from the reef, 

we started the climb in the heat. Good, that our support van followed closely again, so, when we had enough, we could hop in and drive the rest. On the island you find pine trees, that were planted by a guy from New Zealand. The trees are taking the moisture out of the air, dripping it to the ground an by this irrigating themselves. With this they even created their own clouds or better pulled down cloud base. 

After lunch in town and a short visit to the museum we went out to the next beach until the road got too steep down. Nice view!

Via a dirt road we made it to some place where king Kameamea would go fishing and even earlier people must have been, according to the petroglyphs.

Some pretty high cliffs there.

Back to Maui

and again a nice sunset and a great dinner

Hawaii 15 - Days 3&4 - West Maui loop

We took the West Maui loop in two steps, first by car until we hit a one lane road, looking at the red rocks,

the blow hole

and other nice coast line.

In the afternoon we visited some petroglyphs 

and moved into our new hotel in Lahaina. 

We saw a wonderful sunset

On the next day we started the bike tour from the other side. We took off, rolling down from Iao valley

with a lot of up and down along the coast.

We finally ended up at the start/end of the one lane road from the other side. What a nice bike ride for the start.

Hawaii 15 - day 1&2 Maui, Haleakala, Molokini, Lanai

The long journey at the end of my Japanese assignment started. 

First part is two weeks of Hawaii with my friend Susan. This trip started wit a little time travel, as you cross the date line from Japan to Hawaii. So you arrive earlier in the day on the same date. In my case I started on Wednesday evening and arrived on Wednesday morning. Funny feeling. Not only my Jawbone is confused about this.

After both of us had made it to Maui, we got the car and reached our Hotel on the west coast.

On the next morning bright and early we got on our way to the top of the Volkano Haleakalaa (jet lag is not such a bad thing). Down at the coast it was drizzling as last remains of a Hurricane but we soon reached the area, where the clouds were almost gone or below us. Up at the visitor center we got a private tour with one of the rangers and learned a bit about the significance of this area. Not only did they find stones for tools here that made it up to Siam(?). This was also the place where the navigator apprentices where getting there lessons.

When we arrived, the crater area was almost clear.

A short distance into the crater already some clouds seeped  in

to shortly after fill the area.

Some interesting layers of lava, cinder and ashes along the way show the different stages

On the top of the mountain

we saw some flowers, that only exist here. They grow only here. It takes them 50 years to grow. They bloom once for two month before the die

On our way down we stopped at a lookout that was completely in the clouds but after our lunch break it had opened up again

On the lowest lookout we were not patient enough and only took pictures of a nice Halo

On our way back the toughie App mentioned a restaurant wher we stopped by, that had really delicious food. Good, that we listened to the guide 

On the second day we took a snorkeling tour to Molokini, a crater rim close to  Maui, where the water is very clear but the reef is a bit damaged unfortunately. 

Next stop was Lanai, where the water was not so clear but the corals where in much better shape and also more fish were seen (one school of 100-150) and even a turtle. On the way back we finally saw a lot of spinner dolphins and we could see, where they got their name from. The crew on the boat counted more than 100 dolphins in this group. Another great but exhausting day. No more picture so, as this is a bit difficult on the water.

Fireworks

In Japan August is the month of fireworks. Each weekend you can find several fireworks. Preferred location is at rivers, where the spectators can sit along the river benches. One of the big ones takes place in Itabashi/Toda above the Arakawa River. I have been at that place with my bicycle last year or so, at that time wondering, what all these steps at the river bench are. Now I know:

The fireworks takes about 90 Minutes with several highlights. The pictures only give a glimpse of the real thing.

And here some moving pictures