Took off for SFO around 6pm on Monday. The flight was not packed
at all. In fact, everyone on the plane had several rows to themselves. I listened to a couple of mixed tapes I made for the trip on my recording walkman, and read
a football magazine to pass the time on the four and a half hour flight. The plane landed about 10:00pm Hawaii time and I called for my speedi shuttle that I had
arranged earlier in the month. It's about 30 miles from Kahalui airport to Lahaina and the driver had to drop off one of the
two newlywed couples, which were also on the shuttle. The ride didn't seem too speedy, but they did get me to my hotel a little after eleven. I went out for a walk around eleven, and the temperture was probably close to eighty degrees, but no one was out, and I couldn't really find much open.
 On Thursday morning, Maui Mountain Cruisers, a bike tour company on Maui, picked me up at my hotel at 2:30am. There were about five couples that had already been picked up in the van, and all of us were going to ride down the southern volcano on Maui, Haleakela - the world's largest dorment volcano. The driver, who kept saying his name, and suggested that everyone call him 'K' for short, drove us to their base in Kahului to pick up the bikes. They offered us coffee, water, and muffins. Mind you, this was three am. There were a few pictures on the wall of famous people who had done the ride, notably Tom Hanks, Gene Hackman, and Janet Jackson - who said that it was one of the best experiences of her life. We were there for about ten minutes before we got back in the van and headed on the hour and twenty minute ride up the winding hillside. I tried to sleep, but it was futile. I've never had much luck sleeping in anything other than a bed. Several people in the van did seem to catch some more shut eye. As we drove up, I could see down into the valley of Maui. The lights of the most industrial city on Maui, Kahului, and sugar cane fires lit up the night of early a.m. Someone later wondered if the fires they saw were lava. The driver said that if that was lava, he'd be driving us back down the hillside, fast - "the tour's over", he said he would say. They burn the sugar cane as a fast way of killing off any insects, rodents, and hippies that might be in the sugar cane fields. We arrived at the top of the volcano sometime around 4:30am. The sky was clear and several stars were out, including the constellation of Orion, and a couple of planets, probably Jupiter, Saturn and/or Mars. They gave us all windbreaker suits, which we would all need on top of the volcano while watching the sun come up. I had only brought a pair of sweats, a jacket, and a t-shirt. Boy, was I cold! Even with the windbreakers, the cold was such a change from the eighty-plus degree daytime weather that everyone experiences on Maui. I think it was in the low forties. After about five minutes, fog swept over the volcano top. I could barely make out any stars, and the wind picked up. I remember saying to someone that I'm from San Francisco, and they said, 'oh, you must feel right at home'. I asked one of the guys on the tour, where I should go to check out the sunrise over the crater. He pointed off towards the bathrooms, near the ranger station, with his laser pointer and then suggested that he would walk me over to "the best spot" to watch. Although it was still too dark and foggy to see anything, I could tell we were on the edge of the crater. I sure wished I had brought a hat. Man, it was cold! As the predawn colors began to appear, many of the other people on the bike tours began to huddle around the area I was in. It was just to the east of the rangers station (in the picture above, it's the furthest ledge, as the road goes on towards the left), and right were the ranger would be opening the door, when the time came - just before sunrise. The combination of light and fog weaved and danced around the volcanic cones of the crater below us. As it got lighter and lighter, the wind, the clouds, and the crater played a game of shape and form. I shot a whole roll of film, and wished that I had brought a second, disposable camera - as I didn't get any shots of Maui, on the bike ride down.  After the sun came up, we had about a hour before it was our time to ride down. While we waited, they pointed out the "Silversword" plant, which only grows on the top of Haleakela, and at the top of the big Island of Hawaii. A very strange looking plant, I didn't get any pictures of it, but there are some in a book I bought about Maui. There were many other bike tours, some of the staff, apparently more experienced than others. The two guys running our tour were Kama'ina, native of Maui, and they were very good. If you ever do this tour, take my advise - call Maui Mountain Cruisers, and ask for little K and Edmund. The bikes we rode were specially designed for this volcano ride. The cement in the winding road which we were about to ride down was thirty percent volcanic rock, so the bike tires need to be of a certain type, and very wide. They were definately wider than a regular mountain bike's tires. The frame is heavier, and most of your turns are facilitated by leaning, one direction or another. They stressed holding on to the break handle bars, and never to squeeze only the left break (as that's only for the front wheel - and would send you flying over the handlebars). The least experienced rider went first, directly behind the tour leader, 'K', which meant that the first fourteen miles of the ride, I was eight in a line of bike riders - not traveling very fast. After we stopped at a point to take pictures above the valley, we swapped places, and I got to go to the front of the line, following the obviously, very experienced, K, who at times got over a hundred feet in front of me as we traveled down the winding roads, and traveling up to forty miles per hour. Being an experienced bike rider, this was the most fun, as I was able to just let go, and didn't have to worry about crashing into the guy in front of me. After 18 miles of winding road (which went by way too fast for me), we headed into the residential neighborhoods of the volcanoside. This area is known as "upcountry" and reminding me alot of Marin in California. Later, on our way back to Lahaina, I asked one of the guys on the tour, Edmund, where was the best place to live on Maui. His answer was upcountry. The air wasn't too cold, and it wasn't too hot. It was just right. There were lots of trees, and horse ranches all along the roadside. The next several miles of the ride was down through the sugar cane fields and a "cowboy" town: Makawao, leading us to the oceanside town of Pa'ia, where we put the bikes back in the van, and headed back to the company's headquarters. It had taken us two and a half hours to ride down. They took us to a little grease joint for breakfast around eleven.  The rest of the time I was in Maui, I mostly stayed near the hotel during the day, using the pool - and wandered out, down the lively, Front Street in Lahaina during the evening hours. There are alot of newlyweds and vacationers, as well as natives, driving and walking around. Some of the cruise liners stop just outside of the harbor and come in during the day. Most of the shops have the same knicknacks, but there are also many art galleries, all with original art, some of which was still there from when I was last on Maui, in 1999. There is even one head shop, "David's of Hawaii", hidden behind some art vendors, right on Front Street. They have a Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gumps, Burger King, KFC, BJ's Chicago Style Pizza, and Moose McGuillicuty's (a sports bar). Bubba Gumps, actually had the best Margarita's there. I spoke with one art dealer about some paintings that looked exactly like mine, and gave him my website address to check them out. Of course he was trying to sell me on something, but I didn't even want to look as the paintings were out of any budget of mine. I spoke to another dealer about a painting he was trying to sell me on. This one, I really liked. It was called Aloha Dreams, by James Coleman. It was really cool, but it was only a gisell, and not the original painting. Still, it was $990 for a smaller version of it, and $1400 for the one I was looking at. Ridiculous. I wonder how much the original went for?  So, on Friday afternoon, I get the idea in my head that I should try and go snorkeling out at Molokini (an old half of a crater off the west coast of Maui). I called the activities desk and a guy named Frank answers, he tells me that I should come down right away. I don't, but within the hour, I go down there and talk to him. He sells me on a $64.00 cruise on the Lahaina Princess which would go to two snorkeling spots, Molokini, and an area where sea turtles usually hang out. The next morning, I had to get up early and be at the harbor by 7:30 to check in. They provided all the snorkeling gear and "noodles" for us to swim around in the water. I coated myself with sunscreen, and enjoyed the forty-five minute ride out where we encountered dolphins about three fourths of the way to Molokini. The boat stopped for a few minutes, and all the kids on board went nuts, "Dolphins! Dolphins!" I tried to get a shot of one in the water. They swam with the boat, alongside the bow, as it broke the water. We arrived at the volcanic upwelling, Molokini, and listened to safety instructions. They even said, that there was a chance we'd see Oscar, the local shark that makes his home there. Molokini was created long ago by an upwelling from the then erupting Haleakala, and was round at some point, but has been beaten by the wind and current for millenia, and is now a little less than half a circle (see picture above)s. The bottom is only 35 to 100 feet below the water in the middle, and even more shallow towards the edges of the crater. The actual land of Molokini has been designated a marine bird sanctuary. No people allowed. Not that there would be very much to walk on. It's mostly cliff side. We all got in the water, and I headed for the cliffside. It's quite strange. You're basically out of your element; you're in someone else's world - and it's important to respect and understand that. My mom said that friends of hers were swept into the current on Molokini many years ago, and were swept out to sea. They did survive, I think. I had an underwater camera, which really helps me. I have a bit of fear when it comes to looking down into the water. The first time I did it, three years ago, I freaked out, and almost hyperventilated. The next time I did it, I had a great time. I found that having a camera with me really helped. It gave me something to do. If I was working on something, I wouldn't have time to be afraid of what was down in the water. Mostly fish and coral. Lots of different colored coral, not as much fish as I'd hoped. I think that continued human presense in that area has driven some animals away. The folks running the cruise ship said that we might also see small octopus, and moray eels - but I didn't. I had my face in the water for a half an hour when - there he was Oscar the shart. He was distinct in that the top of his fin was white. Now most people, when they see a shark, would want to get away from it. Well, I went swimming after it, trying to get a picture. I think I got two shots of him, but I don't know if they'll turn out. He was pretty far away. Probably about four feet long, and a quick swimmer. He took off towards the west, away from me. I looked up, and saw that I was beyond the boundry set by the cruise ship's people and turned back. Someone else on the cruise said that they saw moray eels. We got back in the boat, had lunch and headed for turtle town. The ride took about thirty minutes and there was a beautiful view of Maui's northwest crater. We got back in the water and immediately saw some sea turtles. They put out a trampoline for the kids to play on. There were not very many turtles out, but I saw three or four and took some photos. There was one resting on the sand in the coral- it was covered with sand. I also saw a ribbon fish of some sort, I think. Very strange looking, and just stayed in one place for awhile. I took a few shots of it, but it was real far away. I had re-applied sunscreen before I got in the water, but I did manage to get sunburned. We got back to Lahaina around 2pm, and I went back to the hotel. While walking back, I had just entered the walkway on the wharf area (they have lots of shops, restaurants, a movie theater, an atm, an internet machine, and even, a Subway sandwich), someone driving down Front street, crashed into a light pole. Then I hear someone yell "not again!" Sounds like this lightpole has been hit before. As the rest of the day went on, I realized how badly burned my back was. I took a shower getting ready to leave, and in doing so, I accidentily turned the wrong faucet off first, and scalding hot water shot over my back. I thought nothing of it, other than that my back was burned. Unfortunately, this was not good - as I would find out later. I got ready and waited for my shuttle to the airport. Arriving two hours early was a mistake I'll admit, but I did have time to have a margarita at a restarant right near the gate. The flight was jammed, and the movie was "big giant fat ass greek wedding". I watched a bit of it, but I didn't listen. I tried to sleep, but couldn't. My back was burning. We arrived at SFO at five a.m. I was not feeling too hot, having not slept much, and my back was still burning. After I got home, I slept till one or so, but unfortunately, my back was severly blistered. I spent the next few days, in bed sleeping on my stomach. I think I'm gonna be alright, but it'll probably take a couple of weeks to fully heal. I did have a great time in Maui, and definately recommend it to anyone. You should really ride down a volcano once in your life. Pictures Here are some links: Maui Mountain Cruisers Maui Online |