Today we were scheduled to arrive in port at 7 am. That should have provided ample time to meet up with our independent excursion at 8:15 am. But alas, there were difficulties with the port staff being onsite at 7 am. We called Hike Maui, the company with whom we booked our hike to explore the Haleakala Crater. We explained that we weren’t allowed to get off the ship yet. Interestingly, they were under the impression that our ship was not scheduled to arrive in port until 8:30 am. That might explain why port staff weren’t onsite for us at 7 am! Kim at the office suggested a closer meeting point, and she was in contact with Jacob, our driver and hiking guide today. So as soon as Holland America announced we were cleared to get off the ship at 8:25 am, we rushed outside to walk to meet our tour!
The road from the port to the crater rises 10,000 feet over 40 miles and is the shortest paved road in the world, climbing 10,000 feet. The drive began going through orchards in areas, previously used to grow sugar cane. As we drove up we saw the Bike Maui excursions and we were so glad that we were not successfully booked that cycling excursion, which we originally wanted to do. The many tight corners and steep drop-offs held little appeal to cycle at high speeds!
Our excursion included the Haleakala National Park admission of $15 per person. At the very top, there is a huge observatory that is used by the military and academics - and it is not open to the public - but cool to see just the same!
From the Haleakala Visitor Centre, we hiked the Sliding Sands Trail (Keonehe’ehe’e Trail) which was about .8 miles with 450 feet of elevation gain on the return. It offers stunning views of the Haleakala crater - but was obscured at times with clouds.
Upon returning to the van, Jacob offered us our lunches - turkey sandwiches for J and I, but our snacks included lovely oranges, apple bananas, bags of cheese puffs & crunchies as well as macademia nuts.
We then descended 2,000 feet to the Halemau’u Trail where we hoped to get a close up view of the crater. The hike travelled through vegetation lower down on the volcano where precipitation levels supported shrubs. We saw the plants that natives call sandalwood growing! Our descent further took us to the edge of the crater, offering spectacular views of clouds! While our earlier hike felt quite warm, this hike felt a bit cooler as the clouds totally blanketed the sun. Somehow, I still managed to get a sunburn on the back of my knees! I know where I need to be more careful when applying sunscreen next time!
Jacob was good tell us stories and history of the area, and to allow a little quiet time on the 50 minute drive back to the city at the end of the tour.
J and I decided to go for a swim on the terrace back pool - to clean up, and then went for a real shower after that.
Supper was lovely (caesar salad and salmon with a great chocolate cake tonight!). The mainstage was a BBC Earth film called Seven Planets with the Zuiderdam orchestra performing live.
Tomorrow we will visit our last Hawaiian port of Kona, back on the big island!
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