Here are the photos I took on my trip to Hawaii in June of 2003. As you can see I've grouped them by day. Unfortunately, the final day was lost to a catastrophic hard drive crash, because it was the only day that had not been burned to CD. To organize the pictures on this site, I used the ever-so-nifty HTML Slide Show Wizard from the Windows XP Powertoy collection of neato-keen utilities.
- Arrived in Maui in the late afternoon.
- These pictures are just a couple of views from the balcony of our condo.
- Started off at the beach in front of our condo.
- Later we went to Big Beach in Makena. The quality of this beach is noticeably better in the pictures. Note the relatively fresh signs of volcanic activity in the cliffs behind the beach, which were probably from the last eruption of Haleakala in the late 18th century.
- Had dinner at the Hula Moon Restaurant in Wailea.
- This entire day was spent traversing The Road to Hana. The road is approximately two feet wide, and goes from Kahului all the way around the eastern half of Maui, through the small town of Hana, and into Haleakala National Park, where the paved road ends, and the dirt road continues on to Makena. Along the way, there are many one lane bridges, hairpin turns, and blind curves. There are also many scenic overlooks, beaches, cascades, and other miscellaneous roadside attractions. The photography covers just about everything that was pictureworthy. It ends with the most ridiculous sunset I've ever seen.
- Note the plentiful cows enkoying the ocean view. Cattle is big business in Maui.
- I also snagged a number of movies along the road.
- Flew to Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Started in Pearl Harbor at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. Note the oil still bubbling to the surface in some photos.
- Later, we went to Hanauma Bay. Completely amazing beach. Note the extensiveive coral formations in the bay. This area was an ancient volcanic crater that has been carved into by the ocean over many years.
- Our last stop on Oahu was Waikiki Beach. It's a pretty cluttered place. Reminds me of Wildwood or Atlantic City, but without the crass or ghettoness. The beach was small, but the sand was nice, and the water was crystal clear.
- Day five started painfully early, 90 minutes before sunrise. We were towed to the top of Haleakala to witness the sunrise above the clouds before riding our rented bicycles 40 miles down the side of the volcano to Paia, where our trek ended.
- Note the massive crater, which was created by erosion, not volcanic activity. The most recent volcanic activity, which occurred well over 200 years ago, created the cinder cones seen inside the crater. The martian landscape scenes from Total Recall were filmed here.
- The weird looking plant is called a Silver Sword. This is the only location in the world where these things grow.
- The white globes are part of the Haleakala observatory, and the Shiny structure contains a ridiculous laser which was built as part of the SDI missile defense project.
- The day ends in Lahaina, where I caught the priceless sunset from our dinner table.
- Spent the day exploring Hawaiian marine life. Sting rays are cool, and suprisingly friendly. I pet one the nose.
- More photos taken at Big Beach of sea creatures and geological formations.
- Enjoyed the sunset from our balcony. Not too shabby.
Day 7
- When hard drive recovery becomes more realistic and affordable, I'll post the breathtaking views of western Maui, the Iao Needle and surrounding valley, the most ridiculous waterfall I've ever seen, jaw-dropping hula dancers, and me posing with them. But maybe by the time this happens, I will have gone back there.