Day four was the day Dave picked to relive. Like all the other days, it held quite the mix of remarkable sights. We started in the morning with our second big hike, "Acid War Zone to Blowhole." This trail name sounds strange, but it pretty well sums up the landscape we walked through. Along the northern coast there is about a mile of lava rock that has become so eroded from wind and saltwater, it looks like an alien land, like an acid war was fought there. Dave said it reminded him of the Badlands in South Dakota.
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We hiked through this for about an hour, astonished at the eerie shapes of weathered rocks on one side and the hungry ocean on the other.
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The destination for this hike was the Nakalele Blowhole. We had no idea what to expect from this blowhole. It was awesome! Every few seconds water from the violent sea got trapped in an underwater lava cave and was forced up through a perfectly round hole. The force of it sounded like thunder and shook the ground. Depending on the wave sizes and wind, the shoot could go as high as 70 feet! From some angles we got sprayed, from others we saw the rainbow that formed each time it errupted. All around the blowhole were tide pools just teeming with life, we saw crabs and lung fish and all sorts of cool things. Again, because we got there early and were a bit off the beaten path, we had the place to ourselves for the whole morning!
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Heading back, we found this too-perfect rock. It was eroded into an exact heart shape. This may be my favorite picture of the trip.
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Back at the hotel, we made lunch and changed into swimsuits. An afternoon of snorkeling and beaching awaited. Our first afternoon stop was at Honolua Bay, supposedly one of the best snorkel spots in all of Hawaii. Its giant reef and marine wildlife sanctuary house and protect a whole world of underwater tropical life. Dave and I paddled around the bay, holding hands and pointing out one Finding Nemo character after the next. We swam through schools of fish, saw huge blue ones that were "this big!" and even a large spotted blow fish.
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Next we drove up the road just a bit to relax at Maui's number one rated beach, the ritzy Kapalua. Here I did my tanning and reading, while Dave hopped right back into the water for more snorkeling. We had fun swimming and bobbing around in the waves too.
More than one person, as well as our all-knowing guidebook, told us we had to eat at Kimo's. What a neat restaurant! Our view was SO good, I could have jumped off our table right into the ocean. Our 6:30 reservation allowed us to see another sunset as we ate dinner. Day four was perfect.
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