Ahh, another day in paradise to enjoy our coffee and breakfast on the lanai. At this point, I think I need a lanai at home, although I would miss the warm breeze and the sound of tropical chirping birds. I suppose I should save some luxuries for vacations only! After getting ready we packed a picnic lunch and drove to the Olivine Pools. The drive to the Olivine Pools was quite interesting. We were on the Kahekili Highway which is known for its narrow, one lane sections of road. Linda was in the passenger seat and was freaking out because of the narrow road with no guard rails and the complete cliff drop off down the steep mountain. We pulled over, or should I say we just stopped in the middle of the road, so she could switch seats with Jennie for the rest of the drive to the Olivine Pools. The Olivine pools were beautiful lava rock encrusted with Olivine, a semi-precious gem. We walked to the lookout and saw the heart shaped pool on the lava bench. We followed the rocky trail down to the pools to enjoy the deep blue ocean up close. Jennie, Linda and I went into the pools while Julie stayed up a bit to read and take pictures. The lava rock was rough but okay to walk on with bare feet, however I would have preferred to be wearing water shoes as some parts were a little slimy. We saw a lot of colorful fish in the pools. One pool was so deep you could not see or touch the bottom. While the pools were calm the raging sea is just feet away on the other side of the lava bench. The crashing waves would spray us while sitting in the pool. I did not swim but Jennie and Linda did. Some of the lava pools had dried up and were filled with sea salt. You could literally pick up handfuls of sea salt. While we were in the pools, about 10 lifeguards came down the trail to jump in. We felt safe at that point. They said they were there to study the ocean and determine the best way to rescue someone if they fell in. I'm sorry to say this but I think if you fell in the raging ocean you would be slammed up against that lava rock and there would be no rescue effort. They were also looking at a blow hole that some people have been sucked into while trying to get to close to the ocean. With all that information, it was time of us to hit the road! We hiked back up the trail and headed west on the highway to see the Nakalele Blowhole. Depending on the tide and size of the surf the blowhole will vary tremendously. Today it was not as impressive as our guide book said it can be but it was still fun to see water spraying up in the air. Farther on down the road in the town of Kahakuloa (these towns are starting to all sound alike arnt they?) we supported some locals and purchased some of Julia's homemade banana bread. It hit the spot after our hike. We also stopped alongside the road to check out the many surfers at Honolua Bay. We then drove all the way back to Kihei, decided to stop at McDonald's to get some smoothies then headed to the beach to get some sun for a few hours. Tonight we ate dinner at Maui Thai then relaxed in the condo till bed time. Today was much better than yesterday and we did not complain about our pain...we only made statements about it!
The Kahekili Highway was beautiful
We stopped at a little craft/jewelry store about half
way to the Olivine Pools.
Yes, this is a highway!
The highway along the mountain side
The "Danger" warning sign that we just walked on
past to hike down to the Olivine Pools. No worries,
we were following the directions in our
Maui Revealed guide book!
Hiking down to the pools.
From the top of the cliff you can see
the heart shaped Olivine Pool
Linda, Jennie and I at the pool
All the lifeguards!
You can see Linda and Jennie's heads in the pool!
The ocean crashing into the lava bench of the
Olivine Pool.
Lava Rock
Sorry you can't see the shiny gems in it.
More of the Lava. You can see the orange water
ring near the bottom of the photo.
The warning sign on the hike down to the
Nakalele Blowhole. It says: Warning Stay clear of the
blowhole. You can be sucked in and killed.
This is Not a Water Park.
The blowhole
Big water spray
There was no place to park to get our banana bread
so we dropped Linda off and just slowly drove down the road.
Here she is walking to catch up with us! About
three or four cars squeezed passed us before she made it back
to the car.
The surfers at Honolua Bay
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