Made the big mistake after breakfast to drive the road around the north side of West Maui. Two thirds of the road is good two lane road with a center stripe.

But about 10 miles of the 30 mile drive is narrow road with no lines, and of that, about 6 miles are a hair raising single+ lane road with sharp hairpin turns up and down and in and out of all the volcanic valleys.

We met several vehicles going the other way, but since I had 3-5 vehicles behind me most of the time, we got the right of way with the other car backing up to the closest wide spot at times to let us pass.

I thought it was an “interesting” and exhilarating drive with just a couple stressful events. However, about 5 minutes into the one land road, Marianne stopped taking pictures and by the time we were done, her nerves were frayed. So much for relieving stress today….

So, to make up for it, I stopped at Ross Stores to let her shop for deals…

I guess the road to Hana and around the back side of East Maui are off the plans for this trip, partly due to the weather before today and I would rather head up Pu’u Haleakala and explore the upcountry regions tomorrow, our last full day on Maui…

Pictures to follow tonight…

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We finally have a nice day with nice views of Molokai and Lana’i from our balcony:

Molokai

Lana’i

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It looks like conditions are improving on Maui at last. The windy, showery weather of the past few days is finally beginning to break. This morning, the winds are almost calm, and for the first morning since we arrived on Maui, the clouds are light & fluffy and being illuminated by the rising sun….

Plus, we can now find Molokai across the ocean to the west, which ha been completely hidden in clouds most of the time…

Hopefully, as the morning progresses, things will continue to improve. Then we can explore some of the recently rain soaked north shore or even the heights of Pu’u Haleakala…

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As t was navigating the narrow road out to LaParouse Bay from Makena Beach, Marianne took some great shots with her camera, starting just east of Makena Beach:

The road crosses a few miles of broken lava fields from what was probably the last volcanic eruption on Maui, well over a thousand years ago.  But, it is still a barren landscape because this area is extremely dry:

The area around LaParouse Bay is a bit more green, but only where the 3-4 residences are located. The rest is pretty barren:

On the return towards Makena Beach, we got a good view of the beach and also Molokini Island:

Did any of you watch the last couple seasons of Stargate SG-1? (After Jack O’Neill was promoted to General). To me, this profile view of Molokini Island could have been used as the source for the side profile view of the Auri invasion vessels. Just put a big glowing blue orb on the cavity on the left end…  I wonder…..

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After leaving the Maui Ocean Center in Ma’alaea, we headed down the west shore of South Maui, starting with Kihei all the way to the end of the road across the lava fields well past Makena to LaPerouse Bay, as far as you can drive east from Kihei.

Views from the upper Kihei beach area, just south of Kenolio Park:

Looking North

Looking South

Parasurfer along the coast:

Views from LaPerouse Bay:

More pictures later, as some are on Marianne’s camera and I need to download them to the tablet…

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