Friday, June 28, 2013

Exploring the West side of Maui

View from the top
Recently, we went to explore the West tip of the island. We drove through the center, and then up the coast and around the tip. The road was very bumpy, narrow, and high up in the mountains. This road was not well paved and the car was moving back and forth like trees swaying in the wind. There were sharp turns, and we never knew if another car was coming around the corner. It turned out to be a dangerous road, but we drove carefully and really enjoyed the gorgeous views of the mountains and oceans.
We drove by a Taro field


Hsnging from a tree branch

 As we drove on, we kept getting closer to the beach, and saw a small parking lot that had many cars. It turned out to be one of the best places to snorkel on the island. The beach was called Honolua Bay. It is a protected reserve so fishing is not allowed, which means more fish for us to see. We took out all of our snorkeling gear, and started walking. We had to walk 1 mile and a half to get to a secluded beach. The walk was  through a thick, green rainforest, and we saw many beautiful trees and flowers. We also saw many avocados, apple bananas, guava, and papaya trees.































Honolua Bay
When we finally got to the beach, we didn't dawdle, but quickly put on our snorkeling gear. There were many rocks, and we had to swim past them befor reaching the beautiful coral reef. While snorkeling, we saw many fish such as trumpet fish,, parrot fish, the humuhumunookunookuappua'a with its blue lips, an eel, and of coures the best part, a turlte. As we swam deeper in the ocean, we nearly bumped into this huge turtle. It swam so gracefully, and many people were crowding around it pushing to see it. We had never seen such a big turtle. Hannah, our little sister, was so close to it, she could touch it. Of course, touching wild life is not allowed, and we let it swim by us. 



I'ini bird
After a nice refreshing swim, we sat down for lunch on the rocks. As we sat down, numerous birds began to surround us. Most of them were chickens and roosters making loud noises, nearly taking the sandwiches from our hands. We gave them pieces of bread, so they would move away. We even saw one Red-rested Cardinal. It had a red face, a yellow beak, and a grey and white body. We quickly ate our lunch, and while eating, one lady that was sitting next to us, told us that she saw a small shark. It was a White Tip about 3 feet long!




Red-crested Cardinal

Fleming Beach
After snorkeling, we started to look for a sandy beach to play in the water. We stopped at Fleming Beach park. It had small waves, and very soft sand. We built big sand castles and deep holes. We also went surfing and rode the waves. 




























Kaanapali Bay
When we finished our lunch, we continued our drive to explore the island. We came to another beach called Kaanapali Bay. It was surrounded by expensive resorts and the water was very calm. We just relaxed in the water and played Monkey in the Middle with a football. It was very fun. The teams were my Dad, Mom and brother in one team, and Miriam, Hannah and I in the other team. Our team was the one that was mostly in the middle because my Mom and Dad through the ball over our heads.



We were then ready to head back home but we first stopped in the historic town of Lahaina for dinner, and to watch the sunset. This city used to be the capital city of Hawaii during the period of King Kamehameha. The capital was later moved to Honolulu. In Lahaina, we found a nice restaurant that had a spectacular view of the ocean. We were seated and served quickly, and the food was delicious. When we left, our stomachs were full, and we were very hiper. We walked around a little, and went to a famous 137 year old banyan tree that was planted in 1873  . It was a huge tree with many branches for us to climb. 



Banyan Tree in Lahaina


















Finally, the sun was almost down and all the people lined the street along the ocean to watch the sunset. Each second, the sun went lower and lower until it disapeared into the clouds. It was a clear day, so there was a beautiful sunset. We took some family photos until it was finally dark. We had a long day, and while driving home, we all fell asleep.




Have you ever been to so many places in one day?
Have you ever climbed a tree?

5 comments:

  1. Aloha Sarah!

    How funny that your post should be about things to see on Maui. Look at what I just wrote on Miriam's blog:


    It looks like you and your family are having a fabulous time in Maui. I love Maui because of the size, activities, and snorkeling opportunities. The size of Maui is perfect. You can visit many parts of the island in a day, as long as you have a rental car. There are lots of activities to do like hiking, shopping, and swimming. Finally, the snorkeling is the best! Mr. Yollis and I headed up to Honolua Bay as often as we could. In fact, all of my snorkeling video was filmed there.

    Here is a link to my snorkeling video if you want to see it again:

    http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/snorkel-with-mrs-yollis.html


    You did exactly what I wrote about! When I read your post to Mr. Yollis, we both smiled and thought about our good times on Maui.

    We like to make the most of our time, so we do a lot of activities during the day and into the evening. Although it can be exhausting, it is worth the effort.

    What types of fish have you been eating for dinner?


    Your proud former teacher,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

      Thank you so much for spending your time to leave me such a lovely comment! I really appreciate all the time you spend to leave a quality comment.

      We definitely love snorkeling.Even if it can be a little exhausting, we still make the most of our snorkeling, as we only have our gear for a week.

      For dinner, we have been eating the Mahi Mahi. We didn't even know we were eating this fish until you asked the question and our dad, who has been cooking told us the answer.

      Sincerely,
      Sarah

      P.S. We all saw your video! When I told them you have an underwater camera and you took a video of the fish you saw, all my brothers and sisters crowded around the computer.

      Delete
  2. Dear Sarah,
    It's looks like you all have a wonderful time, We been in Hawaii many times, I love Hawaii and would like to travel again. We never been in Maui, may be next time we will also visit Maui.
    You seen a lot and it's interesting for me to see the birds, how colorful they are it's amazing.
    I miss you and wish you to see you and hug you,
    Love,
    Grandma Tanya and Grandpa Eugene

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Grandma Tanya and Grandpa Eugene,

      Thank you so much for leaving me such a lovely comment. I appreciate all the time you spend to leave me all these quality comments.

      I agree about how colorful the birds could be. I have never seen that plain red bird.

      Love from you granddaughter,
      Sarah

      P.S. I miss you very much a look forward to seeing you when our trip ends.

      Delete
  3. Dear Sarah,

    Wow what a super holiday you are having with your family.
    I have really enjoyed reading this post and your photos are just awesome.

    I really need to plan a holiday and after reading this post I think I will.

    When our family went to Port Douglas last year we sure did a heaps of thing in one day. Doing as much as you can for example sighting and visiting different locations while you are on holidays is a must.

    Well happy holidays Sarah.

    Cheers AA :)_

    ReplyDelete

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