Rosemary and Carol's Most Excellent Adventure.: October 6, 2011, Maui Thursday Part 1 "The Road to Hana"

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

October 6, 2011, Maui Thursday Part 1 "The Road to Hana"

Got up at 4:30 am this morning. See what the time difference of 6 hours does? That's okay, we were bright eyed and bushie tailed, all excited about our Pleasant Holiday road trip to Hana today.

The bus picked us up at our lodging at 7:30 am. We were very lucky to get tour guide "Larry". He was so knowledgable, names, dates and stories of the island. I don't think anyone could have done a better.

The bus was air conditioned, the seats were pretty comfortable and the windows were huge.

10-6-2011 6:47 am We woke up to the view of another cruise ship!

10-6-2011 8:35 am The Pleasant Holiday bus picked us up and we are on our way to the Road to Hana Maui.

10-6-2010 8:36 am On our way to Kahului Maui we see where they are buning the sugar cane fields. When a cane field is ready to harvest they cut off water for several weeks, then set the whole field on fire. After the fire, they gather the canes and take it to be processed. The fire burns the part they don't use and helps crystalize the sugar. The sugar cane will come back for 5 years. Then it is replanted.

10-6-2011 Our first comfort stop.

10-6-2011 Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree.

10-6-2011 Close up of the Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree. This is exactly it's true color.

10-6-2011 On the Road to Hana with is Hwy. 36 and then 360.

10-6-2011 The Road to Hana.

10-6-2011 The Road to Hana.

10-6-2011 When Larry could stop the tour bus, he would let us out to take pictures. All the people you see are not from our bus, there where was another bus plus random cars. It was sometimes difficult to get a shot with out any people in the photo, which is what you really want.

10-6-2011 The Road to Hana

10-6-2011 Part of the system of fresh water from the mountains.

10-6-2011 This is Larry on the left. He was such a good tour guide.

10-6-2011

10-6-2011

10-6-2011 Kaenae Church built in 1856, it survived the Tsunami of 1946. It has 2 foot walls. Wailua Maui. (Thanks for remembering Carol)

10-6-2011

10-6-2011 On the Road to Hana

10-6-2010 10:15 am On the Road to Hana.

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Kama Pua'a The Pig Child

A long time ago on the Island of Oahu, lived a powerful king whose son was named Kama Pua'a. This child was difficult, to say the least. He was always chasing away his father's livestock and tearing up the royal taro patches. His father swore that if he ever caught him, he would kill him. To save himself, Kama Pua'a fled Oahu and moved to Maui and married Madame Pele, the fiery goddess. They were in love and soon had a son.
A sad event occurred; the son died. Madame Pele, as fiery as she was, went into a rage and started chasing Kama Pua'a. To escape, he started running down the slopes of Haleakala, towards the sea. When he did this, he turned into a giant hog. With Madame Pele gaining, Kama Pua'a called to his grandmother on Oahu, "Grandma, Grandma,what should I do?"
His grandmother answered his call, "Leap into the ocean and you shall save yourself." When he got to the bottom at Pa'uwela, he leaped into the ocean and changed into a fish. This ended his emotional experience with Madame Pele. Thus Pa'uwela, which means "calming of emotions", was named. The fish that Kama Pua'a turned into was a Humuhumunukunukuapua'a; a fish with a pig snout. And today,that fish is the Hawaiian state fish.

Legend of Black Rock

Story of Maui

Eons ago, there was born the Demigod Maui. His father was the holder of the heavens and his mother was the guardian of the path to the Netherworld. Maui was the only one of the children who possessed the powers of magic and miracles.
Maui was the smallest of the family. He had the quickest of mind and had an extremely rascally nature about him. Maui would take any advantage of both his friends and the gods in his quest to fulfill his schemes.
It is said that Maui was not a god fisherman. His brothers were much more skilled. They would often laugh at him for his poor success. In revenge, Maui used his cunning to fill his boat with catch at his brothers expense. Maui would position his boat so that when one of his brothers began to pull in a fish, he would distract them so that he could pull his line across theirs stealing their fish.
Maui's brothers could only marvel at their younger brother. However they soon caught on and refused to take him fishing with them. Maui's fortune turned against him. His mother then sent him to his father to obtain a magic hook.
"Go to your father. There you will recive the hook called Manaiakalani, the hook fastened to the heavens. When the hook catches land, it will raise the old seas together."
Maui returned with his hook. He joined his brothers in another fishing expedition. They jeered him and threw him out of the boat. When they returned, they were empty handed. Maui berated them. He stated that if they had allowed him to join them, they would have had better success. The brothers decided to allow him to join them in their canoe for another chance.
They paddled far into the deep ocean and threw their lines overboard. To their dismay, they only caught sharks. The brothers ridiculed Maui asking "Where are the fish you promnised?"
Maui then rose and threw his magical hook into the ocean.Chanting a spell of power, he commanded the hook to catch the Great Fish.
At once the sea began to move. Great waves rose around the canoe. Maui commanded his brothers to paddle with all their might and to not look back. For two days, Maui held taut the magic line and hook while his brothers kept paddling furiously. Suddenly from below the depths arose the tops of great mountains in a series of peaks that broke the surface of the ocean. Maui reminded his brothers to keep paddling mightly. Maui pulled mightly against the line and forced the peaks even farther out of the water.
One of his brothers then broke the command and gazed back in awe at the sight of the rising land. He stopped paddling and quickly the magic line began to slacken in Maui's hands. Before he could call out to his brothers, the line snapped and the magic hook was lost forever beneath the sea.
Maui chastised his brothers for their failure to paddle as he had commanded. "I had endeavoured to raise a great continent but because of your weakness I have only these islands to show for all my efforts."
And this is how the Islands of Hawai'i came to be...

Naupaka & Anemone Flowers

Naupaka and Anemone Flower Pele, who was the Hawaiian goddess of fire, loved a man who was a commoner, named Kaui, but he did not return her love; he loved her sister, Naupaka, instead.
In a fit of anger, rage, and envy, Pele sent boiling, hot lava to torment the man and her sister. Kaui ran down to the beach, but the lava killed him before he could enter the water. Meanwhile, Naupaka ran up the mountain, thinking that the lava could not flow upwards. But, she was mistaken, and where she was killed, a flower began to grow strangely--it was only half of a flower. Down by the beach, where Kaui lay dead, another half of a flower began to grow.
The Hawaiians say when you put these half-flowers together, the man and Pele's sister are reunited.

Maui

"The Valley Isle"

County Flower: "Lokelani" - Heavenly Rose

Population: Approximately 100,000 permanent residents.
3rd largest population in Hawaii

21 Degrees North of the Equator.

Most isolated land in the world.

Closest land mass to Hawaii is San Francisco, 2,400 miles.

100 Hawaiian Islands, Eight considered major:
Ni' i hau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai, Kaho'olawe,
and Big Island of Hawaii.

Highest peaks:
Puu Ulanla at the summit of Haleakala10,023 feet.
Second is Puu Kukui in West Maui 5788 feet.

More Interesting Pieces of Hawaii

Ni'ihan: The "forbidden" island known for exquisite shell jewelry.

Kaua'i: Magnificent sea cliffs and canyons distinquish the garden isle.

O'ahu: Waikiki Beach, State Capital, shopping and Pearl Harbor.

Moloka'i: Old charm, mule rides and famous Moloka'i bread.

Lana'i: Manele Bay, posh resorts and pine studded uplands.

Maui: Whales, art, Mt. Haleakala and 54 one lane bridge Hana Highway.

Kaho'olawe: Once Navy firing range, now dedicated to preservation of culture.

Hawai'i: The Big Island has an active volcano and wonderfully deverse scenery.

The Hawaiian Language

The Hawaiian alphabet, created by the New England missionaries, has only 12 letters; 5 vowels and 7 consonants.

alii - Hawaiian royalty
aloha - greeting or farewell
halau - school
hale - house or building
heiau - Hawaiian temple or place of worship
kahuna - priest or expert
kamaaina - old-timer
kapa - tapa, bark cloth
kapu - taboo, forbidden
keiki - child
lanai - porch or veranda
lamilomi - massage
mahalo - thank you
makai - a direction, toward the sea
mana - spirit power
mauka - a direction, toward the mountains
muumuu - loose-fitting gown or dress
ono - delicious
pali - cliff
paniolo - Hawaiian cowboy
wiki - quick