Iao Valley

Happy Birthday Tom!

   Today is Tom’s birthday. Dylan celebrated by taking the day off from school. (Actually it was because of Hurricane Sandy.) It is also our last full day on the island.

 

    We are off to the Iao Valley. It is another extremely scenic site on Maui. Located just to the west of Kahului, a meandering road follows the Iao stream, which cut a gash in the wall of the West Maui crater, up to the State Park. It is a drive through a lush tropical rainforest. This is the area which receives the greatest amount of rain on the island.

 

 

 

 

 In the park is an Earth Cache of the “Needle”. This feature is a tall rock spire which can best be seen from a viewing platform up a short steep path from the parking lot. It was 90 degrees but I huffed and puffed my way up there and took the required picture. The needle is said to be the phallic symbol of the God Kanola, the God of the Underworld and teacher of magic. There was a battle here when King Kamehameha I was unifying all the islands under his rule. The battle was so bloody that is is reported that the bodies of the dead damned up the stream.

   It is Friday, my day to talk to Doug at 5. But let’s see. If Monday night football comes on at 2, then 5 is at 11, right? We drove to the Maui Plantation so Nancy could snoop and shop while I gabbed. In the process of sliding into a parking slot in the lot, I thunked the bumper of a gigantic puck up. I got out and checked the damage, the truck was fine, our car had some dirt/abrasion on the bumper and some body work exposed over the side trim. A sharp rap with the heel of my hand and it popped back into place. I talked to Doug for about 45 minutes while Nan bought some presents for the daughts.

   We then went after a few caches and looked for lunch. Nuvi was less than no help! We got lost and drove around in circles but finally spotted the mall we ate at yesterday. We picked a different place, enjoyed our meal and then drove back over to Ho'okipa Iki for one last look at the surfers. The action was much better today, higher waves which were breaking much farther out. A fitting farewell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caching in a hillside park in Kahului

 

 

 

Kahului with the ocean in the background.

 

 

   Back to #6 to use the laptops. I made sure the GPS had batteries and walked up the beach for one last cache. This time I made my return trip along the beach as well.



I wanted to remember the color of these flowers near our condo - wow!