July 1 Haleakala Crater and Ziplining

Happy Canada Day!
We had a fun day for sure. We put up the Canadian flag at our front door to the condo with a sign wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day and then invited them to have a maple leaf cookie. I think there was only a few left by the end of the day.

We drove up to Haleakaha in the morning and arrived at the 10,023 foot level around 9:00. You can see by the pictures that it had some pretty HOT times. Lava flowed there many years ago and wind and ice (yes ice, since it is up so high) changes the landscape today. Plus I overheard a guide say something about 12,000 years ago the world was in a mini ice age and there use to be glaciers up there. Anyway it was pretty amazing spot. We went for a little walk but it was hard. The O2 level is pretty low at that height... we walked down the crater for a bit but that was down hill, so on the way up we almost gave up :) Not really but hey you need some drama in this blog or you won't come back.
The other picture you see with the white domes are basically telescopes and other things to look to the heavens. It seems that this area is one of the top 4 best places to see things on our planet.
You will also see the picture of this plant... pretty amazing and only grows on this crater/mountain.

We came down from the mountain and had lunch in Kula at the lodge there. The view and gardens are amazing! I have put a picture of one of the gardens.

After that we headed off to our zip-lining adventure. The pictures pretty much explain themselves. The height runs from 75 to 300 ft or so down. The first one was the low one and just waiting for our turn... well lets just say I'm glad we had those harnesses on or we would be going for a pee every 5 minutes. But after the first one the nerves were pretty much gone and we just sat back and enjoyed the ride... well with a few hoops and wows.

Well this is our last night on Maui. We will return again for one day on our way back from the big Island.

Maui is for sure a wonderful spot and we are grateful that we could experience the Aloha of this wonderful Island. Mahalo Maui for a great time! (mahalo = thank you)