It was much different than I'd expected. Much more laid back and rural. Not very developed (like Oahu).
This is the 40 mile/3 hour drive to Hana on the far east point of the island. It was an amazing drive. Unbelievably green, rainforest, hills covered in African Tulip trees, with red flowers, hair-pin curves in the road (you can see the road carved into the hill in this picture.
Then of course, the beaches. I was surpised at the variety. Where we went surfing, it was fairly shallow and mellow. This beach (big beach) is on the far west side of the island. The waves were really strong, but the water was amazing. (sorry for the spots!)
We had to go whale watching. When else do you get to see the biggest creatures alive in the world, just hanging out with their babies? We went with the Pacific Whale Foundation because their profits go back into research and protection. We got up at 4:30 am to do the sunrise tour, and it was totally worth it. (I fell in love with the black and white prints various photographers sold of the whales - so lovely!)
Here is Georgina on the beach, on our last day. Luckily, we stayed at an awesome place, Peace of Maui, where the owner let us come back and use the room before we had to get on the plane. (Its a great place to stay and one of the cheaper - but nice - places on Maui.)
This was the most amazing flower I saw. Its called a Jade Vine. I love the colours - aqua and purple.
The Islands have a colourful history, most of the post-colonisation based around sugar plantations. There are some beautiful old buildings. I could spent a lot more time photographing than I did.
Whenever I am with my sister, she has grand adventures planned out. This is the Haleakala Crater. We walked into it for about a mile and a half, before I said I needed to go back up. Never-the-less, I had to stop 10 times on the way back up. I'm blaming it on the altitude.
Sunset, and Georgina on the phone. It makes me feel really old when I am amazed that you can be half way around the world in 8 hours, and still pick up a telephone to call home. That's a long way from when I first travelled, and phone calls took several operators and a lot of money.
I'll put a bunch more up on Facebook, if you want to check them out.
