THURSDAY, YAY-DAY!!! (BEST DAY EVER)

<------- THE SHAKA

On Thursday, March 21, we woke up and were excited for something. We got into our bathing suits and left the hotel room with cereal in our stomachs. We were going to go surfing. Anna was super excited for it, but I was just average, I still hadn't really decided if I was actually going to surf, or just sit out and watch with Mom, Molly, and Mrs. Kercher. My dad was still deciding too. We got to Goofy Foot (the place where we went surfing) and we were asked to sign our names if we were surfing. Anna guilt-ed me into going so I did, and we sort of begged my dad to go. Mr. Kercher went as well. We put on (tight!!) long-sleeved black rash guards and water shoes. We then went down to the beach. The teachers, Michael and John (who were total surfer dudes) had already lain the surfboards down on the sand. We learned our "game plan" then John taught us the basics (paddling, standing up, steering, wipe outs etc.). Directly following that, we got into the water and got right onto our boards because of the water on the ocean floor. We paddled out to a small white booey and John and Michael called whoever wanted to go first up. Everyone suggested Anna and I go up, so we did. John and Michael didn't say anything to us, they just told us when to go. It was a little bit scary, but once you got up, it was AWESOME!! We each surfed five times. Dad was really good, but he fell a couple times. Anna was five for five. I wiped out once, but John told me I was going to because it was a bad wave. So I got to go again. Mr. Kercher did one ride and wiped out because his back was bugging him, so he went back to shore. Mom sat on shore and watched us. Once in a while she would wave to us when we were looking (or not surfing). It was super fun, and now Anna and I are obsessed with the shaka.
Later that night, we went to a luau. It was called the Old Lahaina Luau. We were greeted and given a flower for our. hair. If you put it on the left, it meant you were taken. If it was on the right, it meant you were available (the men didn't get one). Then we got pretty purple leis and were given a drink. After that, a really energetic man named Kai took us to our table which was the traditional, front row mat seating. Kai was really funny. He always sang out our orders, or said them funnily. He was awesome. We ordered drinks, then walked around. The drinks were fantastic. I had lots of virgin drinks. Then we got our food. The food was amazing! Everything was traditional Hawaiian food, and all of it was delicious. It was a buffet, so I got what I wanted. Including the best mango I have ever tasted! We went back to our seats and ate dinner. As we finished, Kai took out plates. Once everyone was done eating, Kai brought out dessert. There were many different options, and all of it tasted amazing! Following dessert, the show started. It was fantastic!! The dancers were really, really, good and I learned about the history of hula, and Hawai'i. Hula dances tell stories, and I loved the stories!! The dancers were really good at telling the story too. Once the dancers were done, it was time to go home. We took a picture with Kai because he was the best waiter ever, and then we left. It was the best day ever, though!!
-Sarah

Road to Hana

So, yesterday we took the long Road to Hana.  I am guessing the trip was roughly 120 miles - which doesn't seem too long.  But took just about 12 hours.  It was exhilarating, tiring and fun.  We left fairly early (around 7:15AM), picked up lunch at a little hippie sandwich joint in Paia and got on our way.

We saw some amazing sites - waterfalls, black sand beaches that contrasted with the turquoise water, rock formations and massive blue-water waves.  The girls were troopers.  The road is a slow drive up the mountains and down toward the water, over narrow roads, around harrowing hairpin turns.

While we enjoyed the road to Hana, the best part came after Hana.  Many of the guidebooks and others recommend turning around at Hana or shortly thereafter so that you head back the way you came.  However, there is a way to go all the way around the island.  Here the roads are not well-paved (if paved at all).  The road narrows so that 2-way traffic is nearly impossible.  It is supposedly not for the feint-of-heart.  Well, we were feeling adventurous in our AWD vehicle, so we kept going past Hana, past O'heo Gulch and toward the south side of the island.  We knew that there was approximately 7 miles of road that was unpaved.

The views from this side of the island were spectacular.  Around one of the bends we arrived at a part of the island that was completely different than anything else we had seen on Maui.  It was almost desert-like.  The vegetation was amazing.  There was nothing like the lush, rain-forest we had seen throughout the rest of the island.  The plants were almost silver in color.   It was awe-inspiring.

We made it back around 7PM (after picking up some takeout Thai and Mexican) and just crashed for the evening.

Snorkeling at Black Rock 2

Since I am the person who swam the farthest at Black Rock, I have been elected to write the post.
We drove over to black rock and walked onto the beach, where the first thing I saw was PEOPLE. People on the sand, people in the water, people on the rock! Hundreds of people. I am not a huge fan of large crowds, especially at beaches, so I was a bit wary at first. We found a tiny spot at the very top of the beach, one of the only we could find, and geared up with our snorkel equipment. The first thing that happened was that my dad got a very strange cut on his forehead right between his eyes. He has no idea how he got it, and it bled quite a lot! Everyone was even more wary about going in the water after that, but eventually we all got in.
The water was incredibly warm and clear, and pretty calm as well! Next to the rock was a reef. Swimming over the reef, (and avoiding people,) you could see many, many fish! There were fish of different colors, like red, blue, green, yellow, black, brown! There were fish with stripes, spots, and odd shaped heads. I swam around the rock alone (which my parents did not approve of) and saw even prettier reefs. The fish were abundant around here, and my favorites that I saw were these two plain yellow fish. Every time I looked back at them and went back, they were together. I decided that they were best friends. There was a giant fish that had a horn on its head, and many little colorful fish! It really was an amazing sight. The rocks were beautiful, as well. There were a lot of people jumping off of the rocks! I would have done that, however I did not feel like climbing onto them. My mom and sister saw a bride and groom walk down onto the rock! I wish I had seen that, but I was busy looking at fish. All in all, it was a fantastic snorkeling experience!
-Anna

Kayaking and Snorkeling

So it's been a while since I've posted, and I've left most of the posting to my dad. Sorry, dad!
Anyway, yesterday was so much fun! My family and I drove up to Makena, a cute little secluded town, and parked on the side of the road at this woodsy little area next to the shore. Cars were lined up single file in a looooong line on the side of the road, all the way up to where the trees and bushes parted to reveal a small beach. This beach was gorgeous! Kayaks were all over the beach in various shades of mostly yellow and red. When we walked up to the front of the beach, we were met by a man who told us that our tour guide's name was Steve. He pointed Steve out and left us to wait for him.
After around 30 minutes of waiting, Steve introduced himself, and we introduced ourselves. Steve, impressively, immediately remembered all of our names! He got us geared up with our life vests, a true fashion statement, and we all grabbed paddles. We had to wait another 30-something minutes for the other couple who would be accompanying us on our journey, and once they arrived and were geared up, we chose our kayaks. Sarah and dad took a yellow one, mom and I took a yellow one, and the other couple took a red one. Steve went over the safety procedures, how to get in and out, etc. Once we were all ready, Steve launched us into the warm water.
Kayaking was tiring, and my mom and I, for the most part, were in the back of the group. This was probably because my dad is stronger than both of us combined, and he was pulling most of the weight on his and Sarah's boat. The other couple, of course, were both adults, so they were usually in the front. We kayaked a pretty short distance, and the sun beat down on us, making us even more tired and eager to get into the water. Steve eventually stopped us in front of a reef, anchored us, we put on our snorkel gear, and excitedly dropped into the water.
The snorkeling was AMAZING!!! The scenery was a mixture of browns, reds, yellows, and neutrals. The fish were brightly colored, and there were various sizes of fish. There were large groups of small black fish crowding around the sides of the reefs, and there were a lot of fish who swam aimlessly, alone. I saw a lot of blue and yellow fish, and even a few elongated, eel-looking fish! At one point, Steve, who was also in the water, called everyone over and we all swam to him. He was holding a small octopus! It was so cute, and the colors were beautiful; it was a deep red with vein-like orange and dark yellow "stripes". Steve told each of us to hold our arms out. I went first, and Steve put the octopus on my arm. It felt slimy and cold and really cool! The octopus used it suckers to suck onto my arm and it was one of the weirdest things ever. The rest of my family followed, and even my mom, who was scared of it, tried it! It was so cool.
Throughout this whole experience, there were lots of sea turtles surfacing. They were absolutely huge, and really beautiful. When they surfaced, their heads came out of the water and they looked so elegant. They also sat at the bottom of the ocean on the sand, and barely stirred. We got so close to them, and it was one of the most exciting things we have done!
Once everyone was finished snorkeling, we set off for another snorkeling area. Unfortunately, my mom and I started to feel seasick from the rocking of the kayak. We decided that we had seen everything we needed to see, and informed Steve of our unfortunate problem. Steve did not hesitate, and promised to bring us back to shore immediately. He reassured us that we were not the first or only people, even that DAY to have felt sick. People had been throwing up earlier that morning, and he understood totally. He took us back, we had a nice smooth ride in, and we ventured down to the car to get towels for Sarah and dad. We waited for a while, drinking juice, and finally everyone arrived. They all got ungeared, we said our goodbyes, and we drove off to have lunch at a cute little place called Joy's Place. The snorkeling and kayaking was so much fun! I am disappointed in myself that I could not fully complete the journey, and my mom is even more disappointed in herself that she failed to take her trusty ginger pills before going, but we still got to see amazing fish, sea urchins, turtles, and a really cute octopus! Yesterday was such a fun day! :) I'm excited for today now, though, because we get to go SURFING!!!!!
-Anna

The Crater

Today was a great day.  We got up pretty early (although we are all getting up earlier than usual because we are still pretty much on east coast time).  We drove about an hour to the town of Haiku (no poetry here!) and took an hour and a half van ride up 10,000 feet to the highest crater on Maui.  It was a gorgeous view.  It was extremely windy.  It was pretty cold.  Luckily we had some windbreakers and pants, but it really didn't help that much.  The view inside the crater was amazing.  It was massive - and the colors were gorgeous - not lush green colors usually associated with Hawaii.  The colors were deep dark browns, rust and blacks.  There was virtually no vegetation in sight.  We spent an hour at the top of the mountain looking down into the crater.  However, the best was yet to come.

We biked the 23 miles down the mountain (at speeds up to 30 miles an hour) for the next few hours.  It was thrilling and scary at the same time.  I must admit, as we were ascending the hill I thought that our plan to descend the mountain on bikes was not a good idea.  The road is filled with hairpin turns, very steep drops and - in places - very little room for bikes.  It didn't seem like the best thing for an 11 year old (or me)!!  But the kids did great.   Jackie calmly led us down the hill.  Anna kept pace with her, and Sarah followed Anna.  I took up the rear.  Sarah didn't try to be a daredevil.  She kept her own pace, took the hairpin turns like a pro and made us proud.  Oh, and did I mention that for about 2/3 of the trip it rained, so the road was slick, there were puddles throughout and it made it even more treacherous than it would have been even without the rain.

At the end, I thought the kids were going to say they hated it, but they both said it was the most fun they have ever had... it's hard to believe that... but it was fun.

Snorkeling at Black Rock

Here is a picture I took while snorkeling.  Anna will fill you in on the rest of our day later.

Sunset

I wanted to post the picture of sunset last night but I fell asleep.  We took this from our table at dinner at the Hula Grill.  We had a great dinner and it was an awesome sunset.