Fleur de Aleta

Puna continued: After the black sand beach, we went to the black cliffs. I loved watching the water. I caught the water on video going into the lava tube under the cliffs and the water shooting back out of the tube. (you can see the video at the end of this post) Next stop of the tour was the Macadamia nut farm. The owners of the farm had a nice sitting area where we sampled all sorts of macadamia nuts – honey, chocolate, dark chocolate, etc. I liked the ones that Greg cracked open – just natural macadamia. Ema and the other tour guides cooked the meals and it was all very good. I didn’t participate in the next stop – the lagoon. This sign explains it best. Mom and R&R went into the lagoon, but I think if Mom was able to read the sign, she might have reconsidered. The tour ended with going to the garden. It was nice, but I guess it just can’t compare to the lava rocks. Lol. At least, not for me. Still was nice though. It was neat to walk o...

Big Island of Hawaii Secrets of Puna I have to really thank my Dad. Originally we had another ship excursion to go on, but when I mentioned to Dad that I wanted to see the black beach and walk on lava rocks, he changed the excursion to the “Secrets of Puna.” I loved, loved, loved it! Puna is on the big island of Hawaii and the landscape is formed from volcanic rock and soils from Mauna Loa and Kilauea eruptions. The island has an extensive network of subterranean lava tubes and the VOG from the lava flow was visible from when we walked on the lava rocks. SO COOL! But before our tour guide brought us to the lava field, we stopped at the Painted Church. This church had to be moved 3 times, because it was in the pathway of the lava flow. Inside the church, it is hand painted and stained glass. This next picture is Greg with our tour guide, Ema. She is native Hawaiian and called everyone “Cuz” because we’re all family. She said Cuz a LOT.. “You know, Cuz….” “Cuz… you are right ab...

Lahaina – Maui The cruise ship stayed overnight in Maui. The next day, we took a tour bus into Lahaina (located on the “head” of the island of Maui map). Lahaina is a quaint town, filled with shops and restaurants. We had an excellent tour guide on the bus. She told us that we were in for a treat today, because the sugar plant was burning the green leaves on the sugar cane. This is done monthly and typically only at nighttime, so that it doesn’t affect traffic. She said it has to be windy for the plant to burn the sugar cane leaves during the day, for the wind to blow the smoke away quickly, because of the flights that come in. Along the way to Lahaina, the tour guide pointed out the chain link fence on the cliff walls. She said it’s the most effective way to keep lava rock in place, as they do get earthquakes. I was curious about the discs on the poles. They can be yellow, white and green. Come to find out, they give off a WWII air raid siren type of sound. These are tsunami ...

Welcome to Maui Haleakala National Park and Booze Cruise Our First day in Maui took us to Haleakala National Park. Haleakala stands for the House of the Sun. It was a steep drive from sea level to an elevation of 970, all in less than 2 hours. The tour guide said the majority of the mountain is underwater and from the base to the summit is 5 miles. It's the biggest mass of material in the world with 2/3rds of it underwater. Our guide said, "Maui is known for 3 W's - Wind, Waves and Wings (birds)" The tour guide then directed our attention to the map that was given to us when we got on the bus. He said, "Maui is an island created by two volcanoes with a valley between them. The valley is Kahului, where your ship is. The top volcano looks like the shape of a woman's head, a profile and the bottom volcano looks like her body with the valley as the neck." I don't think I can look at a map of Maui and not see the woman from now on. Below is a picture wher...