Aloha~! A Photo Trip Report of the POA - 10/11/14

[Miicah]

Day 9 – 10/12/14 – Maui, Day 1

 

Maui, the one island that was on my original list of places to go, haha. We had different things planned for the day but they started around the same time, so we went to breakfast together. Before that, though, I took some pictures from our balcony and from deck 5. We’re still heading into Maui at that point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

For breakfast, we ate at Cagney’s. They had cool images carved into watermelon! There is like a table of fruits, breads, and boxes of cereal if you need something quick to just grab and go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CruisermanVA]

I love those watermelon images!

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Oh my gosh, great review and awesome pictures!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

 

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[Miicah]

I love those watermelon images!

 

I know, right? My mom didn't even notice them until I pointed them out, haha.

 

Oh my gosh, great review and awesome pictures!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you so much for reading! ^__^

[Miicah]

I didn’t end up finishing my pancakes—just too many!

 

 

After that we took a few more pictures around now that we were docked, then headed down to deck 3 to leave. I can’t remember what time they said they’d open the gangway, but I do remember that we were able to leave earlier than that by at least 10-15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

[Miicah]

There are some little shops in the area where you have to pass by security to head back to the ship, but most were still closed when we left.

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

My mom had the “Lahaina On Your Own’ excursion through NCL. From what she told me it dropped them off at the outlet mall (which she said wasn’t all the great), and then picked them off from there later around 4 I think. I’m not sure how close or far the mall was from like the actual town, but she told me she didn’t even see the iconic Banyan Tree in town…which is pretty impossible, since it’s like the biggest tree ever haha I was bummed about that—another place I’ll just have to go see myself some day!

 

We came back around the same time, which was odd because her excursion should’ve finisihed at least an hour before mine. She told me when they were coming back their bus didn’t have AC so apparently they stopped at some store (she got free something, I can’t remember haha) and then another bus came to pick them up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

Never watched Forrest Gump, but my friend told me this place is mentioned in there or something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

I booked a private Road to Hana tour with Valley Isle, as their small group size and price really appealed to me. There were about three vans that came to pick some of us up. Our tour guide had said that the locals had stopped counting the number of twists and turns after 730-something, and I’m surprised they got that high! I would’ve lost count long before that, haha.

 

 

 

 

These trees were unique because of their bark but I can’t for the life of me remember, haha.

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

The first stop was somewhere you can have a bathroom break, as well as take a couple pictures from the small lookout there.

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

Our next stop was at Malama Keanae.

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

Lava used to flow here.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Miicah

[Miicah]

Wailua Overlook.

 

 

 

 

We passed by a few waterfalls on the way, and while some were only a drive-by others we stopped to get a closer look at.

 

 

 

[Miicah]

Next we stopped at Waianapanapa State Park. This is also where we had lunch that was provided by the tour company (that I totally forgot to take a picture of). A nice family of five from Australia sorta adopted me since I was solo, and their son was adorable (if not nosy, haha). Definitely makes me think that despite my shyness and social awkwardness, I might survive a solo vacation if I decide to do one sometime!

 

 

 

You can go camping here. I’m not a huge camper, but this is one place that despite all the time we had here, just wasn’t enough to really explore. I’d love to come back here again.

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

There was a group of kids (who I am going to assume were local...though I've seen tourists do crazy things before) that had climbed some of the rocks and were jumping off into the water.

 

 

[Miicah]

 

A black sand beach! Definitely not something you see every day. These are formed when lava touches water, where it cools rapidly and shatters into sand. They’re said not to last very long because naturally the water currents would just wash it all away—which is probably why the State of Hawaii has made it illegal to remove black sand from their beaches. Though, from the ‘stories’ I heard, you’ll bring great misfortunate and bad luck on yourself if you take black sand home.

 

 

 

Beside this beach there’s this cave you could crawl into which was pretty neat.

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

Haleakalā National Park was next. The park is divided into two sections—the summit part of which we actually go to tomorrow, and the Kipahulu section we visited today. This is another place where there was just more to see than time to do it. I was only able to go on the Kuloa Point Trail (and that didn’t even include a dip in the water!)

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

Sunbathers!

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

Ohe’o Gulch—though it’s probably more known as the Seven Sacred Pools (a marketing tool that seemed to work out pretty well by the owner of Hotel Hana Maui, haha).

 

 

 

The water is said to be the most pure around—and it certainly looks it! It’s too bad I didn’t have time to take a dip, especially since I brought my swimsuit just for the occasion, haha.

 

 

Instead I decided to try and make my way over to the end of the waterfall that you see behind the guy with the hat taking a picture. If you decide you want to be crazy like me, be aware that it is quite the climb and hike over there, especially since there isn’t an actual trail.

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

A view from behind.

 

 

Since it was literally a journey getting here, I had to get a picture of myself here for proof, haha.

 

 

[Miicah]

After that, we began our way towards the backside of Haleakala, past Hana.

 

 

 

St. Joseph’s Church. It’s old and even though it’s been restored it’s definitely not what it used to be. Despite that, I hear they still hold services here time to time.

 

 

 

You can sorta make out the gap here—the Kaupo Gap, formed from thousands of years of erosion that was later filled in by lava flows.