Dec 19, 2010
Today we went on a field trip to see some sights besides the ocean in Hawaii. The weather was starting to look questionable, and the forecast said rain for sure but since it hadn’t started to rain yet, we decided to venture out and see some sights. First we paid a visit to Maui Tropical Plantation. There was a trolley ride around to all the gardens, but it was not a large area and we gave ourselves a little tour by walking around it. We saw different fruit trees, coffee trees, and a lot of beautiful flowers. There was also an open market set up, which we browsed through. We bought a variety of different fruits there to try, as well as a coconut. The ladies chopped the coconut open with their machete for us, we drank the milk, then they chopped it in half for us to take home.
Our next stop on our day trip was lunch at Gionnotto’s Pizza (2050 Main St # 1A Wailuku, HI 96793-1685). Josh and I had a Greek Salad, a slice of White Pizza, and a Calzone. It was very good. One person came up to us while we were there, telling us that we had found the best place to eat in town. That make me sad for the people in town because as good as this was, it is still just another pizza place.
We then headed to Iao Valley. At the Iao Valley State Park we walked up to the observation tower and down several of the small walking trails. It was a spectacularly beautiful place, I think especially in the overcast weather. The clouds hanging at the top of the mountains made it look ancient and mysterious. I loved it there.
Down the road a little bit from the state park was another park area. It had different monuments and gardens dedicated to the different cultures that immigrated to Hawaii. It was neat, and gave everyone something to look at for a while.
Our next adventure was to try to find the first waterfall on the road to Hana because Jeff really wanted to see an amazing waterfall. We got stuck in traffic for a long time, and eventually gave up. We were getting tired of driving. We turned around and stopped for a few minutes at the top of a cliff where there were a lot of surfers out braving the enormous waves. The spot was called Hookipa Bay and it was beautiful, complete with a seaside minstrel who was listened to by Cherish and Ariel while the rest of the group explored and took pictures. Even though we didn’t make it to the waterfall, we all had a fun day.