Sydney

We left Hawaii at noon on Friday and arrived in Sydney 10 hours later, Saturday night at 7pm. Confused? That's what the international dateline does to you.

The next morning we headed out into central Sydney on a pretty Spring day. Confused? That's what being in the southern hemisphere does to you. Central Sydney is crowded with things to see in a rather small area. And you don't have to hike in an urban environment, because it's in and around Hyde Park, a lovely green-space that passes the old parliament building, the mint, and a bunch of Anglican churches (one of which looks suspiciously like Westminster Abbey but not made of white marble and soot).

 

This is the ANZAC war memorial. I wonder what the Japanese tourists think of it?

 

 

I was in the town of Captain Cook in Hawaii a couple of days ago. Now there's his statue...Dude gets around...

 

At the end of Hyde Park is the botanical garden, a lovely collection of trees, flowers, and chattering birds.

 

 

 

At the end of the botanical garden is the Sydney Opera House - a center of culture, art and improbable angles.

 

 

Goodbye Hawaii, Hello Australia!

Time to say Aloha to Hawaii... we are leaving for Australia, but we will be back in Honolulu in just over a week.

Here's a recap of the last few days:

On day 3 of our trip, we went for a day long hike at Haleakala.  We rented two cars so that we could start at the visitor center, hike to the trailhead, and drive back up the crater to the visitor center.  Greg had hiked Haleakala twice before, and had made the mistake of hiking halfway down the crater and back up the steepest side.  His idea about the cars surely saved us the pain of a steep climb at high elevation.  Or did it? ;-)

The start of our hike at the rim of the crater was cold but sunny.  Temperatures rose as we approached the bottom of the Shifting Sands Trail - aptly named for the blowing red, gold and black sands featured in the cones that rose from the center of the crater and piled up on the trail.  I had slathered my legs and feet with sunscreen. Wind blew sand into the sunscreen, making a thick paste of mud from my knees to the tops of my feet.

(continued after the jump... click on "Read More" below!)

The Big Island

The island of Hawaii is enormous and empty compared to Maui. It's also more volcanic. I wonder if there's a relationship there...Kilauea is a little intimidating. But the wildflowers nearby are pretty. We didn't feel a sense of danger at Volcanoes National Park, except from the crush of Japanese tourists. So we made our way back to the hotel, just in time for a sunset walk on the beach.

Haleakala

Want to freeze on Maui? Go to the top of Haleakala, 8000+ feet above sea level. Haleakala is a collapsed mountain, and inside the crater are bizarre geologic formations and wildlife. It's always sunny at the summit, because you're above the clouds, and inside the crater it's a desert.

At the bottom of the crater it's quite a bit warmer than the summit, and dry. As you move to the far side of the crater, though, things change. It gets colder, and wetter. Pretty soon, you're in a fog. Actually, you're in a cloud...And it's hard to believe that 30 minutes ago you were in a desert.

 

We saw Nene birds in the fog - a welcome sight. Nene birds are the state bird of Hawaii, and endangered.

 

To get out of the crater, you have to climb up a cliff with switch-backs and wet rocks. As we crested the summit the wife exclaimed into the fog, "this would be an incredible view, if you could see anything." 

 

Today we moved on to the big island of Hawaii, where it's sunny and warm and we did nothing more strenuous than lift a glass of wine to the lips. Good thing, since we're still sore from our epic hike.

At Hana's black-sand beaches I got to watch a first. My wife has lived her whole life within an hour's drive of the pacific ocean, but has never gone swimming in it...because it's COLD in the pacific NW. But in Hawaii it's a different story.

The road to Hana winds, winds, winds along a cliff. It's like a botanical garden highway, with wild ginger, bread fruit, and orchids at every turn. There are also feral chickens, feral cats, and of course, dumpster diving mongooses - mongeese? Anyway, the Hana Highway might be one of the most scenic state highways in existence. It's certainly the most fragrant.

Day 2 - Around Maui in Half a Day

Greetings! 

Day 2 of our visit was lovely.  We woke up early, grabbed two big coffees and jumped in the car for a trip around the island. 

First thing: the beach.  We stopped to enjoy Punahoa Beach near Olowalu. Being born and raised adjacent to the frigid Northern California coastline, I have never been more than knee deep in the ocean.  Surfing on the PNW coast doesn't happen without wetsuits.  The water here is warm and the sand is....well, sand and not rocks.  I couldn't wait to take off my shoes and get dip my toes in!  Greg and I enjoyed the beach for a while, observed the kids surfing in the early morning sun, and watched beach campers drift from their tents to the waterline.  I will surely swim in the ocean when we have our beach day on Monday!  I appreciated the cleanliness of the beach, and was impressed by the local organizations who were out early on a Saturday performing volunteer clean up services.  Oregon could benefit from a similar dedication to stewardship of natural resources. 

Next stop was Lahaina, where we picked up some sunscreen and bottled water for our hike.  We drove out to the northern part of the island and hiked a short interpretive loop along the rolling hills of the coastline.  Amazing views, no people in sight, and perfect weather!  The geologic features of the cut-away cliffs were sinewy with sand, volcanic rock, and oxidization.  Greg told me about the native plants and his adventures whale watching in the area.  We took breathtaking pictures of Cathedral Rock and hiked back to the car.

Driving on the one-lane roads was difficult at times, but the steep green valleys with tiny villages at the bottom were worth seeing.  Cows grazed along the green plateaus, and locals sold smoothies, shaved ice and souvenirs from roadside stands in the pullouts along the highway.  Greg and I stopped often to photograph the dramatic coastline, boats and scuba groups in the pristine blue water. 

Once back on the two-lane highway, we stopped for plate lunch (BBQ chicken, garlic pork in a banana leaf, macaroni salad, and white rice with cabbage) and enjoyed the sounds of a local band and choir that was celebrating World Peace Day.  We took a brief siesta to recover, then hit the town for a delicious meal at a local, family-owned and run Thai restaurant called Bangkok Cuisine (http://www.bangkokcuisinemaui.com/).  Greg and I enjoyed summer rolls, wonton soup, evil jungle prince fish, and pinot grigio.  The atmosphere was delightful, and the food was yummy... we have plans to eat there again before we leave. 

We returned to the hotel for a drink and the college football highlights.  I had been craving something savory and spicy since that afternoon - a bloody mary with bacon. While popular at home in Salem, the hotel bar staff had not heard of bacon in a bloody mary before my order and looked at me like I had two heads.  They conceded that, although strange, it sounded pretty good.  On my next trip to Maui I expect to see it on the menu.  ;-)

Over the next couple of days, Greg and I will be taking a sunset hike at Haleakala, driving to Hana for a day trip, and we have reservations for dinner and a show on Monday night.

Mahalo for reading our blog! 

Maui is shaped like a peanut. We drove around the northern bulge, where the road goes one-lane for quite a stretch. Can't be in a hurry.

Maui can be white sand beaches and palm trees, but it has windswept cliffs like the pacific NW.

Day 2. On the beach I pass a massive Polynesian man. "Howdy," I said using my native greeting; "Aloha," he said in his native greeting. And the we moved on.