Our first day, we sat around sipping fancy drinks with tiny umbrellas and laid out on the beach. Gotcha! Actually, we drove north along the coast: destination the Dragons Teeth. Also, the Kapalua Coastal Trail and viewing humpback whales, since they visit this season.

Stunning! Are these jagged pieces of rock the result of an eruptive fissure or hydrothermal activity along a fracture? The structures in the solidified lava are fascinating to our geological eyes.

We stomped all over these erosional and original flow structures, discussing possible explanations. Best fun ever!

The flora is also magnificent. Many almost familiar plants (invasive?) mix beautifully with exotic (to our eyes) species. Lots of color, especially the shades of green.

We haven’t yet walked along the sandy beaches here. Is the white sand native carbonate, imported quartz or something else? We’ll find out. Stay tuned!

Whales! So far away, elusive, but when seen give us great joy. Brian caught this one spouting, and we also saw a giant tail slap the water, and a mama showing her baby how to be cool, you know blowing water into the air for the tourists.

We also saw sea turtles, which are even more difficult to photograph. They were playing in the waves, in channels between reef rock. A little surprising, since the waves are fairly rough.

Going to Hawaii in Winter is a fairly typical trip for retired people. Now, Brian and Clare know why it is worth the long plane flight!

We flew to Maui on Wednesday, February 9, 2022.

We’ve visited two other islands in this famous chain, but not this one. The flight was smooth, almost boring, as going over oceans usually is. But when we got close to our destination – wow!

We saw these again the next day, and they were still not turning. I hope they are in working order.

Brian got one, with seeds instead of flowers. Hmm, I like seeing Brian’s shadow on Clare’s shirt!