In Lahaina, Maui tenders were used to bring us ashore from where the ship was anchored. The tenders have benches with areas marked where each person is to sit. Ernie was sitting with Dale on one side and this large man on the other side of him. The man not only lapped over the area in which he was sitting into Ernie's area, but spread his knees apart widening the gap between his knees the longer we sat on the tender. As if this was not uncomfortable enough for Ernie, the tender had to sit outside the docking area for at least 20 minutes waiting for a berth at which to tie up. So Ernie was really glad when they finally tied up and he was able to get off.
We were booked on the "Valley to Ocean Discovery" excursion.
This tour was on a full size very comfortable bus. It was fortunate as the excursion was 4.5 hours of which we spent at least 2.5 hours on the bus. The bus driver talked about where we were, but most of her talking was complaining about the other drivers on the road. We do not recall this ever happening before, when we got off the bus the driver was busy talking to someone else and did not even look at Ernie when he went over to give her a tip. We just walked away without even giving her the small tip we had intended to give her, which as small as it was was still more than we thought she deserved.
When we had done an all-inclusive vacation in Honolulu, several people had told us we should go to Maui because it is so beautiful. Riding in the bus we saw some very nice scenery, but it did not seem any more beautiful than the rest of the Hawaiian Islands once you are away from the most populated areas. One thing we did get to see was Halaeakalā Volcano rising above the clouds, we were told this is a rare view of the volcano. Though most of the Volcano National Park is on Hawaii, Halaeakalā Volcano on Maui is part of the park.
We made stops at:
'Īao Valley State Monument
Maui Ocean Center
After a long bus ride we stopped at Iao Valley. We were given 20 minutes to view the valley and take pictures. There was a trail that forked one side going to a garden and low view point of the valley the other going up to a higher view point of the valley. We went to the garden first which was really nice, when we left the garden and started up the trail to the higher view point there was only about 5 minutes left. We decided that it was more important to visit the rest rooms than run up to the high view point and turn right back around.
Our second and last stop on the excursion was at the Maui Ocean Center. This is a small aquarium with outside pools, inside windows looking into different sections of the large tank, and a short, 59 ft, glass tube through the lowest point of the big tank. We enjoyed looking at the sea creatures in the outside pools and touching the ones in the pool where touching is allowed. We then entered the inside part of the aquarium, through a giant shark's mouth. There are several areas with windows looking into the tank as you progress through the aquarium the windows look into progressively deeper parts of the tank, so we saw different fish at each window. At one point there was a scuba diver in the tank, with a mask that allowed him to talk through a sound system, explaining what we were looking at. At the end of the building was the glass tunnel. We walked through the tunnel enjoying have the fish swimming all around us. We especially enjoyed watching the rays swimming over our heads and through the depths. We found a bench in the tunnel where we sat to watch them until we thought it was getting towards time to go back to the bus.
Dale thinks that since the aquarium is small the stop at the garden should have been longer, with less time required at the aquarium. Ernie agrees that it would have been nice to have more time at the garden, but since he could spend hours in the tube at an aquarium he would not have wanted any less time there. Excursion Pictures.
When returning to the port the driver pointed out Banyon Park which has a banyon tree that covers about ¼ acre. We got off the bus and decided to visit the park, especially when we saw the length of the line waiting to go through security to get on a tender. Before going to the park we walked out to a breakwater at the opposite end of the port area from where we would board the tender. We spent a little time on the breakwater then walked to the park noting the line for the tender was no short than it had been. We walked in the park for a while then found a bench to sit on. Since the tree basically covers the park we were in the shade anywhere in the park, which was good because out of the shade was very bright and hot.
After relaxing for a while we checked the line for the shuttle, if anything it was longer. The length of the line was in the bright sun, so we decided not to get in line yet. Dale wanted to get some ice cream so we found a place selling it, one small scoop costs about $5.00. We found another place selling ice cream at similar prices, Dale decided she could wait to get a free cone on the ship. We walked through a mall type area of little shops, then checked the progress of the tender line, which was getting longer each time we checked.
After sitting in the park for a little while we decided to see if we could find a restaurant that would not max out our credit card. After being shocked at prices where we checked, we finally found Down The Hatch, where we each got a large order of chicken tenders with two sides and bottomless soft drinks for less than $35 including tip. They had a variety of dipping sauces for the tenders including one of Ernie's favorite hot sauces.
We sat in the park until the sun had started to go down then went to get in line for the tender. The line was still very long, but it was not very hot. We had some nice discussions with the people around us in line. When we finally got to security, they were wanding everyone because there was no metal detector machine. Ernie went right through, but because Dale had a bag with her they took her to the side. Ernie waited for Dale then we walked to the boarding area. They had just finished loading one tender so we had a few minute wait before they could start loading another one.
There was a loud man telling off the security personnel about it being ridiculous that it took so long. He continued complaining to everyone about how ridiculous this was. Just before we got on the tender he started berating the officer in charge of the tender loading crew. Dale heard him tell the officer he was going to report it to the captain, the officer calmly informed him that was his right. Then he must have started complaining about not having time to prepare for dinner, because Dale heard the officer calmly tell him that he could wear his shorts to dinner tonight.
We were amongst the first to board the tender, so we went to the far front corner and sat down. This was a good choice as no one sat in the same row so we had plenty of room and the complaining man was nowhere near us, though Dale said she occasionally heard him complaining to anyone near him. Pictures.
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