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Last day in Maui :
* Big Beach in the morning
* Wailea Beach Walk in the afternon
* Sunset in the evening
Relaxing day.
We enjoy the south beaches, especially "Big Beach". It's supposed to be the longest and most beautiful beach of Maui, with it's turquoise water.
The Wailea Beach Walk is a coastal paved trail which allows us to walk on the beach front along the 5 stars hôtels.
Afternoon on the beach with it's highlight : we swam with a turtle !
And guess what ! Sunset in the evening.
Today is a long drive on the south east coast.
We take the famous "Hana Highway", a long and winding road, crossing waterfalls, secret beaches, exotic forests and beautiful panoramas.
It goes from Paia ( another surfer's paradise) to Hana.
It then goes on to the very south of the island through desert lava landscape.
The road is partly unpaved, not easy to drive on and mostly one lane road.
Good for us, most tourists drive in the same direction.
To be honest, we were expecting a more scenic route.; most of the waterfalls are either very small or hardly visible, as there is not enough space to stop on the parking lots to admire them.
On the other hand, we loved the superb beaches and the wild ocean.
Late arrival at home, but on time for ...the Sunset...
We head South today.
We start at "La Perouse Bay", a beach fringed by lava fields.
A little trail leads us to a small lighthouse.
A great show of braking waves over brown and black cliffs.
Afternoon on the beach and ... Sunset...
We decide to visit the north part of the island.
Our first step is Lahaina.
This animated town has been the first Capital City of the Hawaiian Kingdom and a very lively whale fishing harbour.
There are no more whalers now, but the town has kept it's 19th century atmosphere with it's coloured colonial houses.
From january to may, giant whales play, mate and give birth before migrating north.
We keep driving on our loop, passing along a number of beaches, surfer's paradises and luxuriant vegetation.
We then drive on the very north road. which snakes in a very desolate but picturesque landscape. This road is incredibly steep on sheer cliffs and has no safety rail !
We're a "little" bit scared as there is absolutely no visibility and we keep praying that no car comes from the opposite side. Never again !!!
We're back just on time for the sunset. ( We're getting addict).
We spend part of the day exploring the Halakala National Parc.
We drive up to the summit of the Halakala volcano reaching an altitude of 3055 m. on a steep and winding 61 km road.
We leave the tropical heat for a much cooler temperature.
This dormant volcano ( House of the Sun in Hawaiian) covers 2/3 of the island.
At the top, a huge crater lays down at our feet, showing a rough beauty.
We feell we could be on the moon.
The landscape varies from red to yellow, orange, grey, violet and pink.
We hike for 2 hours on the " Sliding Sand Trail" whih goes down into a supernatural universe of lava and permanently changing clouds.
We spend the rest of the afternoon walking along the beach, waiting for the sunset.
Waking up at 5:30 AM !
After a fast check-in and a good breakfast at the airport, we fly on Hawaiian Airlines to Kahului on Maui island.
The island, whose name comes from the semi-God Maui,is the 2nd largest one of the Hawaii archipelago, offering superb beaches, four marine sanctuaries and a huge dormant volcano.
We reach our destination after 5 hours 30 min of a very comfortable flight, but have to queue for 1 h 30 min to get our car.
A short drive takes us to our RCI residency in Kihei.
This little coastal town attracts sunset lovers. A lot of beaches offer this spectacular show every evening.