Maui 2013 March 18 to April 4

March 18
The day began very early, with a trip to the airport at 4AM to pick up our girls.  However, after yesterday's ordeal, we were just happy they were actually on their way.  We were home again by 6PM and everyone hit their beds for a few hours.  Since the girls would be tired after only a few hours sleep, we decided to stay here and they could lounge by the pool or go for a nap if they wanted.  Now that Joanie had some babysitters, I was freed up to go search for some exotic birds on Haleakala.  I went to a campground just inside the park where there was a .5 mile loop walk, noted as good place to see the 'i'iwi, a exotic red bird with a very curved bill.  It often appears on Hawaiian prints, shirts, etc.  The clouds hung in from the 4,00 foot level on up, so I was concerned with visibility, but this area was protected by the forest, and so the clouds that swept across the mountain seemed to go around this area, and it was fairly clear for the most part.  Stepping out of the car, I immediately heard a very loud, distinctive and shrill bird call I had never heard before.  It was not long before I spotted some 'i'iwi birds, but they were very flitty and never sat long enough to get a photo, or were on the other side of branches.  I spent over 90 minutes trying to get a decent photo so I had something to show for my efforts.  I found a flowering tree that the 'i'iwi seemed to like, and decided to just stand very still nearby and let them come to me, but every time one sat in the tree, either the angle was not right, I would take a step and it would fly away, or some other person would approach and scare it off.  I had just about given up , I heard the bird call near by.  I peered around a tree, and there were two 'i'iwi, nicely perched so I got several good shots in.  Proof of my escapades.  I also saw two other exotic birds, an Apapane, a smaller red bird, and a brown and yellow bird that could be any of about four different species, but never stopped for me to photograph. (There were several other bird photographers there so I was not alone in my efforts.)  It started to rain a little, signaling the end of my birding.  It was 51 degrees in this area, but the temperature climbed back up to 82 degrees by the time I got to Lahaina. 

After dinner, and coffee break, we wondered down to Kimos for a drink.  Joanie and I had mai tais and the girls had lava flows. 
      
March 19
First beach day for the girls today.  After picking up their snorkel gear, we went down to Makena Beach.  We did some snorkeling early, but the water got a little choppy after noon and we just went in the water to cool off.  We decided, or actually Joanie decided, that we would rotate tasks, with Leah leading devotions today, and Lauren cooking dinner.  We did go for ice cream in the evening.

My waterproof camera has not recovered and I am now considering renting a camera before our snorkeling trip to Lanai next week.  Tomorrow we return to Captain Steve's for another whale watching trip.

Tonight we were sitting around, and Lauren suddenly says, "I really like you guys."  Later she told me she liked me, and she did not even have alcohol.  I can't complain about that!

March 20
After lounging around the condo for the morning, we once again went on a whale watching trip with Captain Steve.  This was Joanie and my third time in a month.  Every trip was different, and on this trip, we were surrounding by a pod of about seven whales, and some seemed to be fighting with each other over a gorgeous female humpback.  There was a lot of action, but no breach.  That means Wade still has the best whale watching pictures.  Grrrrr.   After dinner we went to Kaanapali for a sunset walk along the beach and shopping in Whalers Village.  Actually, I found some coffee and sat on a bench while the rest shopped.  I kept thinking about how wonderful it was to sit outside on an evening in a t-shirt, shorts and sandals and feel comfortable.  I could handle that all year round!  We finished the day off with a stop at Leilani's, where Joanie had FUN.  We also saw a big bird, the size of a heron, standing at the edge of the water.  It was something I had not seen before, but I seemed to be the only one that was excited about that.  Go figure!

March 21
Today was forecast as a day with showers.  There was also a high surf advisory for the Kapalua area, so we again headed south, to Po'olenalena Beach in Wailea.  Didn't see any rain, but plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the mid 80's, although the accuweather web site said it would feel like mid 90's.  We also found some good snorkeling, and Leah and Lauren saw about five turtles, including one Lauren almost stepped on while boogieing.  I am afraid to touch any cameras.  While snorkeling with the girls, Lauren gave me her waterproof camera for a minute to take a turtle picture, and the screen went funny and stopped working.  I hope she does not have the same issues as my camera.  I wouldn't want to see two cameras go in a week.  I will leave Leah's camera alone. 

The girls went to a luau in Kaanapali in the evening and we played a game after that.  We still need to go on a gecko hunt one night. 

March 22
They got it right today!  It really was overcast.  First it was time to return the Subaru to Hertz and pick up a new car at Alamo.  Much to Joanie's disappointment, Alamo got it right too!  I ordered a standard size car, and that is what I got.  Joanie was hoping for a Mustang convertible.  She moped about it for a while but I think she is over it.  We got a Sonata instead.  I also did a pit stop at Krispie Kream to bribe the girls to come with me to the airport and reward Joanie for cleaning the condo while we were gone.  I ordered her a glazed, cream-filled one and a glazed raspberry filled one per her request, and two chocolate covered, cream-filled ones for myself.  The first thing Joanie does when we get back is go for the chocolate covered one!  The weatherman and Alamo got it right.  Why couldn't Joanie?

With the weather being off, although dry, we decided to head north.  We stopped at Honolua Bay, a top-rated bay for snorkeling.  The path from the road to the water was very interesting, with huge, vine-covered trees which was quite unique.  We also watched a local carving wood.  Leah eventually bought a ornamental surfboard, and he quickly and stealthily carved her name in it with a chisel and piece of wood he used as a hammer.  Quite amazing to watch.  We then stopped on a side road where the surfers go to surf at the mouth of the bay, where the waves are often high.  We watched the surfing for a while, and then moved on to the north side of the island to see the beautiful, rough coastline.  We also walked to see the blowhole, but despite what was clearly a rain storm sweeping over the water a few miles off shore, the spout was quite feeble compared to what we saw a few weeks ago with Robbin and Cora.  On our way back, we stopped at DT Fleming Beach to walk on the beach and on the rocky peninsula known as Dragon's Teeth.  We saw a giant turtle swimming along the edge of the rock face.  Here too, an opening that often sends water shooting in the air with the bigger waves, was very silent. 

For dinner we went to Lahaina Pizza Co., and then the women did some shopping while I slaved in the condo (taking the sheets from the dryer and making the bed, and emptying the dishwasher, and everything).  Overall, I think we made the most of an off day, that of course was still over 80 degrees hot.

March 23
It's beginning to sound like a broken record but the weather was off today again.  We all woke up several times over night because of the downpours.  It was still wet and threatening after breakfast, so we headed south again, in hopes of seeing at least a chance of dry weather.  The temperature of course was the usual 80 degrees.  We went to Big Beach for the day.  It was slightly overcast but warm, and there were black clouds hanging over Haleakela and the south side of the island, but they somehow stayed away.  The surf however was very high.  The lifeguard announced over his loudspeaker that anyone inexperienced or not a strong swimmer should avoid the water, and that they treat many severe back injuries due to the breaking waves.  This was enough to keep Joanie on the sidelines.  The rest of us did eventually go in, but had to be very careful to time it, because every now and then there would be a series of two or so waves that were extra high, and could slam you to the ground if you were not ready for them.  Once you got beyond the break point, it was OK, and you could bob with the swelling surf.  We were entertained all afternoon with skim boarders, who would throw their boards on the edge of the water and slide into the breaking waves, often being sent high in the air of slammed down by the force of them.  Some could do flips in the air over the waves.  On our drive home we hit rain in northern Kihei but it was dry in Lahaina.  However, based on the local gossip at the BBQ pit, I think we made the right decision to go south.  I BBQ'd steaks and met people from Williams Lake and Ottawa.  Where are the Americans?  At the beach we sat by people from Surrey and Langley.  The funniest thing I heard though was the fellow from Williams Lake tell the others about their whale watching trip and how much they learned about the grey whales.  In the evening we went for ice cream and I went to buy the shirt I picked out a few weeks ago, but thought I would wait to buy.  They did not have my size.

On a final moment of fun, we went grocery shopping at Safeway and Joanie was rummaging through our cart to find a lime, and suddenly she shrieked and jumped backwards.  There was a little lizard running around in our cart.  I assume he remained in the parking lot, because I was unable to get him out.

March 24
Today was a quiet day.  We went to church in Kapalua for Palm Sunday and then the Kirkhams came over for burgers and a swim.  After that, I had a quiet time, doing a Wade Oishi on the sofa between reading a book while the women went shopping.  They even found the shirt I had picked out but could not get in my size.  For dinner we went to Moose McGillicuttys for happy hour drinks for dinner.  I had kalua pig tacos and Joanie had fish tacos.  They were very good and the price was very reasonable.  Just a nice quiet day.

March 25
A red letter day.  Right after breakfast we picked up a waterproof camera which we rented for a week, as our two other ones remain in a bag of rice but may be beyond healing.  We went to Honolua Bay for snorkeling.  The rocky beach was full of people.  Getting in and out of the water was difficult because of the large, slippery boulders.  The first 100 yards or so was a bit murky, but then it clears up and the snorkeling was amazing.  In addition to some of the fish seen at other locations, we saw many other varieties including two foot chub fish, exotic colourful fish on the coral, and schools of larger fish of different colours hiding in the channels between the coral reefs.  I even saw a moray eel slither just below me and weave in and out of the holes in the coral.  Then, as I was making my way back to shore, I noticed the water was extremely dark to my right.  As I got closer, it looked like a black cloud.  I got nearer and discovered that it was a school of thousands of fish, each about a foot long, that moved in unison like some scene from the Lonely Planet.  I swan over it and saw in the middle of the cloud some large fish with florescent blue spines that must have been feeding on the smaller fish, and the cloud ebbed and flowed, opened up and closed around these fish.  It truly was like watching some nature film and was awesome to be in the midst of.  Of course, in TV I also saw something like this where the predators were sharks, so that thought crossed my mind as well.  When we dried off a little, we headed back to Kaanapali, but first stopped at the lookout above Honolua Bay.  Looking down at the bay, with its beautiful tropical water colour, as well as the breaking waves and surfers at the outer edge of the bay, you could actually see a large black spot in the water.  It moved and changed shape.  This was clearly the school of fish I had swam through. 

We then went to Black Rock for more sun baking and snorkeling, and topped it off with happy hour mai tais and beach nacho chips with kalua pork at Leilanis.  OK, two mai tais.  Joanie was having FUN.  After dinner I took the girls on our traditional gecko hunt, but this was not as successful.  The women then went for an evening dip in the pool.  All agreed that this was a super wonderful day, and a trip back to Honolua is in the cards.  We did book a snorkel trip to Lanai, but have to wait until Thursday because an earlier time was sold out.  

March 26
Another good day today.  We went to Kapalua Bay where Joanie, Lauren and Leah rented paddleboards.  I was not interested and instead became the photographer, trying to capture that exact moment when one of them would lose their balance and topple over.  After some time, Joanie managed to get up and stay up for a while.  Leah took much longer.  Lauren took over for Joanie, and on her first attempt, stood up and stayed up.  Kind of hard to shift your weight wrong when there is no weight to shift.  I did capture one great moment, getting a whale breaching in the background and Lauren on her board.  We also did some snorkeling and saw some different fish.  The weather was perfect, despite the gloomy forecast. It predicts showers every day this week, but we have yet to see any.

After the beach we dropped off our stuff in the car and went for a walk along the path towards Fleming Beach.  Part way there is a lava rock outcrop which is protected for the shearwater seabirds that next there in little tunnels near the end of March.  We checked around and only found one hole in the ground with a shearwater in it.  Neat to see though. Not much went on at night except walking to the grocery store and Boss Frogs to get our rental camera recharged and download the snorkel pictures we took so far. 

The last few days I have noticed a new trend in tattoos.  Apart from the tattoos of barbed wire, maniacal skeletons, and non-Asian people with Asian writing they do not understand, I have noticed many people with whole paragraphs written on various parts of their body.  It is a little embarrassing needing to hover over them at the beach for a few minutes trying to read their tat.  Perhaps this is a reversal of the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Very odd. 

March 27
This was to be a more slow paced day, resting up for our six hour Lanai excursion tomorrow.  We hung around the condo in the morning and even had lunch, which was a real novelty.  Yesterday lunch consisted of a few Maui chips on the beach.  After lunch we drove down to Polo Beach, which is just past the shopping mall in Wailea.  We tried out the beach umbrella we found in the condo, but soon gave up on that when the wind picked up and turned it inside out.  We played in the surf a little and spent a few hours there.  Like almost every other day, this was supposed to be an unsettled day weather-wise, and the black cloud we have come to know and hate, was hanging over the slopes of Haleakala, always threatening to descend on us.  By 4 PM it got socked in and the winds had picked up.  We got changed and went to the Shops of Wailea for dinner at the Burgers in Paradise there.  Then we had to rush back home because Lauren had to pick up a camera rental by 7PM.  Approaching the highway north of Kehei, the clouds were almost down to the ground, and it poured.  However, this only lasted until we were down to the flat stretch along the beaches south of Lahaina, and we did not see any rain again.  It does cause some concern about our trip tomorrow, in addition to the lack of bathroom facilities for six hours.  In the evening we played a game of Quiddlers together and went for an early sleep, for us that is.

March 28
It was up early today, 6AM!  Who gets up at 6AM?  We met at the dock for registration and a hearty breakfast of apple fritters and granola bars.  Some had fruit too.  The weather was good for our Lanai trip with Captain Steve, except for the rough seas.  Usually Capt. Steve does the whale watching trips and his assistant Carl does the Lanai deluxe trip.  However, for some reason, Steve did the Lanai trip.  We saw a couple of whales breach, although I was never in position to get a picture.  Then we went to a few quiet bays for snorkeling.  The Lanai cliffs were very picturesque and the water was the colour you dream about when you think of exotic locations. The snorkeling was great.  The first location was very nice with lots of yellow tangs and various fish we had seen before.  The second location, snorkeling around Shark fin rock, was amazing.  The rock forms a shelf under water, and there is a sudden drop off and then just open ocean.  The water was extremely clear, and we swam through large schools of colourful reef fish.  It was beautiful.  After this we were given lunch, which consisted of bread, meats, cheeses, tomatoes, lettuce, other toppings, veggies and dip and water or soda pop, as they say here.  We also did see a flying fish being chased by a barracuda, but that went quickly and again, no photo to show for it.  The trip back was rather wild, with high swells and the raft bouncing and sometimes getting airborne.  I have to admit that as much as I enjoyed the snorkeling, I was a little let down by the excursion.  Robbin and Cora raved about their experience with Captain Carl.  Carl explained a lot of things and offered to show snorkelers where he knew some octopi often hid, showed them some brown booby (birds) and was excited about where one could find reef sharks in Lahaina.  Steve was much less involved.  While the website says that dolphin sightings occur on 95% of their trips, with the raft surrounded by one or two hundred dolphins at times, we did not see a thing.  I have to admit that seeing dolphins up close was one of the main things that attracted me to this particular snorkel trip rather than a cheaper trip to Molokini.  Nevertheless, the snorkeling was great and the wild ride was fun.

The evening was spent checking out the sunset from the front of Lahaina, checking out a few stores including Hilo Hatties, and trying shave ice, a popular treat here.  That was very good and refreshing.

March 29, Good Friday
This was a day of challenges, concerns and disappointments.  It started when I reviewed my Hertz car rental receipt from when I returned my car a week ago, and discovered that over and above the $300 upgrade charge they quoted me, and a estimated other fee of $27 for who knows what, Hertz snuck through an actual "ACC" fee of over $177, more than half the upgrade fee!  I had no idea what this is nor was it discussed with me.  I felt totally ripped off and will need to pursue this further when I get home.  Then, we headed up to Honolua Bay for another snorkel in the bay.  We went to the lookout to see if the dark spot was there, indicating a large school of fish.  What we found was that the normally clear, aqua coloured water was brown.  Leah read that when the water looks brown from above, snorkeling is extremely poor.  So, we decided to head for Kapalua where the women planned to rent another paddle board and do some snorkeling.  There were dark clouds around, and before we got a few miles, the rain started.  The temperature, which was 78 degrees when we left, was now 72 and dropping.  We abandoned plan 2 and headed for the southern coast, and went to Chang Beach, which is just north of Poolenalena Beach.  There was some sun, but the dark clouds we had seen over Haleakala were there again, threateningly.  The beach was not very busy, and was windy.  I walked with the girls down the beach to check on the next beach over that we had visited together on our last trip.  The north end of Chang Beach seemed to attract a few nudists.  The image of a 65 year old man in a hot red banana thong is still etched in my mind, and he was far more dressed than his old wife.  We sat at the beach (south end!) but no one was overly interested in going in the water.  After only a few of us were left on the beach, and the black clouds were now overhead, the wind began to get wet.  I raised the question, "Is there really any point to us being here?"  The answer was no, so we left and consoled ourselves by going to Krispy Kreme.  We then drove through some showers back home, where it was still 80 degrees, and cloudy.  After a swim in our pool, we went to Kapalua to go to the Good Friday church service.  It poured from the time we reach Kaanapali until Kapalua, and rained throughout the service.  The temperature was now 68 degree when we left Kapalua at 6:15PM, but the weather and temperature improved as we headed home.  It was back to 78 degrees in Lahaina.  We went to Bubba Gumps for dinner.  We had a coupon for a free appetizer, and tried to decide which appetizer to choose.  The waiter then came, and told us that the appetizer for the coupon was for a spinach dip and chips.  There was no mention of any restrictions on the coupon.  I guess in Hawaii, do not accept anything at face value.  The dip was good and we did not make a fuss, although Joanie ordered a drink that was supposed to be one of their most potent drinks, but was very light coloured and tasted like a fruit drink.  I think the glass was so full of ice, that the drink was totally watered down and a little bland.  We mentioned it to the waiter, who we understood later runs the place, and he assured us that it was OK because the bar tender was one of their best.  Whatever.  The food was very good as usual.  The forecast for tomorrow looked like more unsettled weather, with a high surf warning for Kapalua, creating a high concern for how this vacation is ending.  The waiter at Bubbas blamed it on gobal warming. 

March 30
I woke up today to another cloudy sky.  I am still getting up between 7 and 7:30AM each morning, which is an hour earlier than at home.  We will see if that keeps up when we get back.  We decided that the forecast was not that great today, but the afternoon looked better than the morning, so we decided to stay around the condo in the morning, swimming in the saline pool for the first time (very nice, and actually warm).  After lunch we went to Kaanapali.  The girls snorkeled but by the time they got back, a black band of cloud that had hovered over Lanai and dumped rain there, was moving across Kaanapali.  It started to spit a little and somehow my desire to go in the water faded quickly, despite the 80 degree temperature.  We had now completed almost everything on the girls' bucket list, except a few things they added as repeat items.  One of those was happy hour and beach nachos at Leilanis at Whaler's Village.  Leilanis had great live music with a couple of guys singing Beatles, Eagles and other similar mellow old rock tunes that the whole place got into.  We went two rounds of mai tais and nachos with pork and Joanie was having FUN!  Lauren was enjoying herself so much that at one point she just started laughing until there were tears in her eyes, for no particular reason other than she was enjoying herself so much.  Having pretty much spoiled out appetite for dinner, we "feasted" on leftovers for dinner, including yummy leftover jambalaya from Bubbas for me, and apparently stale buns and chicken and hamburgers from Sunday afternoon.  Joanie skipped dinner all together.  I think the nachos did her in.  Later, we took and evening dip in the saline pool and Lauren and I finally made it into the hot tub, which was filled with people from the Lower Mainland.  After showering, it was off for drinks at Fleetwoods. (On the girls' bucket list)  We arrived just before 10PM and it took almost half an hour to get service.  We listened to the salsa band so that helped, but the waitresses ignored us.  Finally Joanie asked the bar tender, who gave us bar menus, but then left us for another ten minutes.  Finally a waitress came over and asked if we had been served.  She informed us that they do not take on new tables after 10PM, and you need to go to the bar and order your own drinks.  It would have been nice if someone told us that instead of ignoring us while others got service. 

What has been really surprising is how dead Lahaina is at night.  Walking home at 11:15, the streets were deserted.  Fleetwoods was not busy at all, even with a small wedding party joining in and somehow getting the band to play well beyond their 10:30 quitting time.  A few places with bars had some people in them, but for the most part, once the stores closed, the town went to sleep.  I guess party animals go to Waikiki, or, like us, go home and have a drink there. Actually, we are becoming more and more like our friends.  Going to bed at 11:30PM was not an unusual event these past several weeks.

March 31 Easter Sunday, and Leah and Lauren's last day
Finally, a sunny day with no showers in the forecast for days!  We went to Kapalua for Easter service.  There were an estimated 700 people there and they had people directing traffic for the overflow parking lot.  The service started with a blowing of the conch, followed by two hula dancers dancing to a praise song.  A reggae band who tours the world led worship, giving a reggae flavour to several familiar songs.  Joanie was quite into this.  I enjoyed it as a novelty, but would not necessarily want to hear more, although I know I will after Joanie bought their DVD.  Not only was the service different, but I also went to church for the first time in my swimming trunks, with shorts over top.  Afterwards, they had boxes and boxes of fancy Krispy Kreme donuts.  We got changed and head right to Honolua Bay to get in snorkeling one more time in this awesome location.  Unfortunately, due to the recent rain, the bay was still not very clear, making the snorkeling less than spectacular. 

After this, we went to Napili Bay, a nice medium-sized beach, which was very crowded today.  Unlike neighbouring Kapalua Bay, where the coral is very near the water's edge, this beach had a sandier swimming area, with a coral reef further out.  Joanie and Lauren rented a paddleboard for an hour, while I did some snorkeling.  The water was not that clear, and the fish were sparse, but I nearly ran into a giant turtle and saw several others here.  For dinner we went back to Lahaina Pizza Co. and we visited Boss Frogs for the last time, returning the girls' snorkel gear and my rented camera.  We have been here many, many times with our friends and the girls for various reasons.  Home made rum punch ended the day.  tomorrow morning the girls fly back at 9:15AM, but who knows.  Allegiant Air has had a terrible of record of flight delays, and we hope we will not see a repeat of the flight here.

April 1
It was good to wake up and find that the one hour delay Allegiant Air posted on their website last night was still in effect. A check of their flight advisories indicated that for the past several days they had three or more flights with delays of over a day.  I will never travel with them again!  We got the girls to the airport by 8AM.  Allegiant had a very strict 40 pound weight restriction and Lauren ended up paying a $50 overwieght penalty.  I check our luggage restrictions later, and it would have been cheaper to check in a second bag for $35.  After the airport, Joanie and I went to Sugar Beach and had a nice hour walk down the beach towards Maalaea Harbour.  We noticed that the structure at the end of the boardwalk for the bird sanctuary beside the beach that we walked on in week one was burnt down. 

We spent the rest of the day in the condo, where Joanie was doing laundry, or at the saline pool.  There was a marked decrease in the number of children around due to the end of Spring Break for many of them.  It began as a sunny day, but by the mid afternoon, dark clouds moved in.  It cleared again later but the evening was certainly cooler than it had been up to now.  After dinner we took another walk down Front Street and Joanie got a shave ice.

April 2
Today was to be our last day going to the beach, since we don't want to have wet clothes with us, and we need to be out of the condo by 11AM.  It was to be a tough day.  We had at least six rum punches to drink, a "slushie", a Maui beer, and most of a bottle of wine.  Could be a FUN day.  We had a rum punch and were off.  Joanie wanted to go to Kapalua for one last snorkel and I thought it would be nice to go to the beach on the north side of Black Rock in Kaanapali.  It is a very long, sandy beach that we had not visited yet, and best of all, it had a free parking lot.  The weather was sunny, but the temperature had dropped a little the last few days, with highs only reaching 79 or maybe 80, and lows being a cool 16 degrees.  We arrived at the beach, and as we settled in, a fellow came running by announcing that no one should go into the water because a shark had been spotted in the area.  We learned later that about 8:30 this morning, a surfer was attacked by a shark, which took a bite out of his thigh and leg.  He will recover.  We decided to walk down the beach, since we couldn't swim, and perhaps we might see this shark.  We of course did not really expect to though.  All of a sudden I noticed a long shadow in the second ridge of waves coming ashore and I watched for a minute, thinking perhaps it was just a long rock just under the surface.  A minute later we saw a dark object swimming only about ten feet of shore right where we were standing.  Sure enough, as the waves crashed over him we could clearly see that it was a dark shark, with a fin even sticking out of the water.  It swam by and then headed towards deeper water.  We made sure to tell some of the hotel staff that were stationed along the beach keeping an eye on their customers.  A while later a policeman came from around Black Rock on a skidoo and cruised up and down the beach for a good mile or more, warning anyone who tried to venture into the water.  It was all very exciting, even if we did not get to swim.  We had lunch there, eating leftovers of spam and chicken burgers, and then headed to Kapalua, a few miles to the north.  We were a little cautious about going in the water but there was no one warning any of the swimmers, so we assumed the shark had not come this far.  We did some snorkeling, but somehow I found it different without a camera.  I saw several fish I wanted pictures of but all I could do is look.

We came home and had a beer and slushie, and later enjoyed a rum punch.  After dinner we packed out suitcases, which was a challenge due to the weight restrictions.  I had a four inch square opening in my suitcase so we went and bought a little something that would fit there.  Then it was home to finish up the wine.  A long, tough day.  Not looking forward to going home tomorrow.  If the weather cooperates we will drive up Haleakala because we can wear our warm clothes that we will travel home in and save space in our suitcase.
 
April 3
A beautiful day today, but we spent the morning cleaning up a little, getting rid of garbage, etc.  It would have been a perfect beach day but we must leave the condo by 11AM and don't want to deal with changing clothes, wet towels, etc. so putting on pants and going up Haleakala one last time seemed to make sense.  Beside, we heard later that the beach north of Kaanapali was still closed all day and was being patrolled by two police on skidoos because of the shark sighting.  Alamo had a deal where you could return the car empty so I figured I had more than enough on 3/8th of a tank of gas so it would be near empty when we returned the rental car.  When we got south, we could see that the clouds were half way down the mountain, but we decided to go anyway, having no plan B.  We stopped at the first site just inside the park, the short loop walk by a campground where I saw the exotic red i'iwi birds with the curved beaks a few weeks ago.  This area has a number exotic bird that are endemic to Hawaii.  Sure enough, we saw quite a few of them, but it was difficult to take good pictures because they were so flighty.  Also, the cloud started just before the park entrance, so clouds would sweep in and out, making sharp photography more difficult.  After a while, we returned to the car, where we ate the lunch we made from the leftovers in the condo.  Joanie decided to stay in the car and read a book, because it also drizzled a little from time to time, while I did part of the loop again to see if I could get a better shot at the birds.  For the longest time, I parked myself near a few trees that the i'iwis frequented, but they always seemed to go on the opposite side of the tree from where I was.  I did see another smaller exotic bird and got a nice picture.  Finally I was ready to give up and go, because Joanie would probably get impatient.  Suddenly, one of the i'iwis perched in a tree right in front of me.  I got off a good few photos.  And then another bird landed in the tree.  It was of similar size but with green colouring.  I got quite excited to see a new exotic species, and started clicking away.  When they left, I started further on the trail back to the car, when a number of other bright red birds, not i'iwis, landed in a tree beside the trail.  Out came the camera again.  It was as if God was saying, OK, you wanted to see some exotic birds, well here they are!  Needless to say, my return to the car was delayed, to Joanie's dismay.  I don't know why she was worried.  She knew I was only a short distance away, and everyone else including the park ranger left, so there was no boogyman around.  We decided to try driving a little higher even though we were in the clouds now.  We were at about 4500 feet and the summit was at 10,00 feet.  The temperature here was about 50 degrees, but as we reached about 7000 feet, we got above the clouds and it was perfectly clear the rest of the way up.  The temperature actually climbed as we got higher, up to 60 degrees at the top.  The most pleasant the weather has every been for us here.  We enjoyed our afternoon and then headed down the mountain to return our car and go to the airport for dinner and checkin.  The climb had taken a greater toll on the gas than I thought, and half way down the mountain, the fuel light went on.  Fortunately I was almost coasting all the way down to Kahalui, so the gas consumption was very low, but Joanie was not amused, making outrageous and violent threats if we got stuck.  I soldiered on and we made it to the gas station by Costco with fumes to spare.  I bought $2 worth of gas just to be sure we did not get stuck a block from our destination. 
Checkin went very smoothly and we left on time, at 9:25PM, for San Fransisco.  However, neither of us got more than a few minutes sleep at a time.  We left San Fran at 7:40AM, 4:40AM Hawaii time, and again had no success getting any significant shut eye.  We arrived home to sprinkles, the first rain in some time here.  And this is why we were so sad yesterday to say goodbye to Maui.  Even after six weeks, leaving that climate was hard to do.