Life is an Adventure: Maui

Today was my first day on Maui. After waiting an excessively long time for my rental car (the woman in front of me insisted on inspecting 3 cars and picking the cleanest), I set out towards Wailea and the South Maui coast. Coming from the Big Island, Maui feels so small and everything feels super close. It took me about 30 minutes to get to La Perouse Bay, at end of 31 past Makena. There is just rocky shore here, but supposedly the snorkeling is good. I took a few pics then headed off to a sandy beach a few miles back up the road. Big Beach is about a mile long, with life guards, and overlooks Kaho'olawe island (uninhabited) and Molokini crater (snorkeling area). It wasn't super crowded when I got there, but the waves were crashing right on the shore so I didn't go in the water. However, some surfers showed up to surf the breaks and I got a couple pretty sweet pictures! After a long period of clouds, I decided to move north again. As I was leaving the beach, two lifeguard vehicles and an ambulance came screaming down the road, so I hope no one got hurt at the beach. Next stop was Po'olenalena Beach, which was quieter, calmer, and offered a view of Lanai. It was a perfect mix of sun, clouds and warm water. I napped a bit, swam a bit and tanned a lot. Then I headed back across the island to check into my hotel, which is right on a little sandy beach, next to a popular windsurfing spot (we are on the windward side). Didn't see any windsurfers today though. After unpacking my things (which felt amazing), I headed to Safeway to grab some Ahi Poke (raw tuna with seaweed, sea salt and green onions), passion-orange-guava juice, and potato wedges for dinner. I drove back to the west side of the island in hopes of catching a sunset. I stopped at Kihei harbor and watched the sun go down over the windfarm on the west maui mountains. The rays of sunshine made for some beautiful pictures. Hopefully from Lahaina on Tuesday I will witness a beautiful ocean sunset! And now I am going to sleep early, because I'm getting up at 3am tomorrow. Why? Not just to begin my transition back to PST, or because fog prevented sunrise on Cadillac Mountain, but to witness the sun rising from the summit of Haleakala mountain, at 10,000ft. Pictures below!

Haleakala from plane