After just less than a week in New York I flew back to Oakland on September 1st, 2006, and Joan and I flew the next day to Hawaii. This was the first there for both of us and we had a good time. The place was what we expected, except that the cost of living was higher than we expected, largely because of the high cost of housing. It was even pricier than the Bay area, believe it or not. Here are pictures and movies from the trip back from New York, along with the Maui jaunt, taken with Joan's digital camera. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the camcorder, which would've really worked well for the luau and the trip to Hana. Ah well, next time for sure ...

I flew to Oakland on an Airbus A320 and got a window seat on the port side on the way over. This is a picture of a cloudbank with a rising thunderhead.

Another cloud island on the way to Oakland. The thin objects sticking out of the pods on the wings are likely lightning conductors to draw charges away from the wing.

In the middle of the picture you can barely see another jet that had crossed below us. The camera wasn't on at the time so it took some time to get the picture, by then it had all but disappeared.

Last picture of a boiling cloudbank. I was rather taken by the structures, which seemed rather odd, given the relatively flat appearance of the surrounding clouds. Why did THIS section pop up like that?

What seems to be an old crater, somewhere in Nevada, as we approach the remaining half-hour of the flight to Oakland.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but this seems to be an mineral lake of some sort. It was light beige, reminiscent of very milky coffee.

Picture of the first landmass we saw on approach to Maui, after nearly 5 hours in the air. Based on the profile my guess is it's Honolulu.

Farmland and mountains on Maui as we come in on our final descent into Maui. On the left you can see the pilot has deployed the flaps to keep lift high as we slow down.

Cloud-shadow dappled landscape from a few thousand feet up. Difficult to say if this is canefield or pineapple but I'd guess the former, as the pineapple "leaves" are a darker brown.

The Pacific ocean, with the turqouise of the shallower shore areas. The Kahului-Maui airport is in the northern part of the island, so beyond the wing on the left is the north western coast of the island.

Sugar processing plant on the left as we taxi up to the jetway.

Another Aloha Airlines 737 preparing to land at Maui. At this point we were still rolling into the jetway. It was about 10:30 a.m. local time; Hawaii is 3 hours behind California.

Closer shot of the sugar processing plant as we pull up to the jetway.

Yes, we ARE in Hawaii. Perhaps we couldn't believe it ourselves, but since the camera never lies ...

Smoke billowing over the west Maui hills from a fire that started on Friday afternoon that we later learnt wreaked havoc on the island, severely disrupting travel and causing lots of problems for hotels and their guests.

Picture of HFD chopper on duty, with a bucket to scoop up sea water to dump on the blaze. It took about 3 days to bring it under control and in that time it had burnt about 2,000 acres of land.

Picture of the shoreline in the brillinat morning sunshine as we drive to the hotel along route 30 west.

Boats at play in the ocean. The bit of island you see jutting out on the left is Molokai, the so-called Leper Isle.

Picture of the hotel where we stayed; the Ka'anapali Shores. We initially stayed in a room with a view of the garden but for the last 2 nights changed to a room with an ocean view.

We couldn't check in when we got there so spent some time roaming around until check-in time. This is a picture of Joan taken on the hotel grounds.

There was a storm trench near the hotel, and there were several small fish, and a few bigger ones, swimming around. The bigger ones stayed out of effective camera range but they were about 4 to 6 inches long; good enough for a snack :-).

Fruiting banana (or plantain) plant in the garden at Ka'anapali Shores.

Picture of Molokai, about 8 miles off the coast of Maui, with Joan in the foreground.

Molokai on the left, and the north western tip of Maui on the right.

Movie of the mynah birds that nest in the trees in the garden at Ka'anapali Shores. They usually start their day at about 5 a.m. local time. They were brought to Hawaii during the migration of Chinese to work in the cane fields. This followed the Portuguese migration and preceeded the Spanish and Mexican waves.

The sky is visibly clearing in this sequence though the birds are still nothing more than noisy silhouettes at best.

Still clearer skies as the seemingly endless mynah birds continue to make their way noisily to their daytime foraging grounds.

More of the same from the mynah birds. We actually saw many of them all over the island.

Early morning view of the west Maui hills from the hotel room. The clouds are driven by a northwestern breeze.

A view of the garden, with a little waterfall that empties into a pool with koi carp.

Some of the koi carp in the garden pond at Ka'anapali Shores.

On Sunday morning we decided to take a drive up the western coast. This is a shot of the western coast in the foreground and the southwestern area, which we didn't visit, in the background.

Closer shot of the rocky western coast. The area was full of volcanic rocks, some of which were light weight and had a pockmarked appearance (due to gas bubbles?). Other rocks, however, were rather dense and lacked the pockmarked look.

Shot of an unnamed beach from the top of the cliffs at a turn-in. We were about 100 feet above the ocean.

Picture of a pensive-looking Joan looking out to sea.

Eye-catching pattern of some lichen on a rock. While trying to decide if it actually was lichen I learnt from the web that lichen is actually a new entity formed by a very close symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. Pretty eye opening. See http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-lichen.htm for more information.

Joan alongside the car, with the license plate saying "Aloha State" clearly visible. Just in case there's doubt that she actually was in Hawaii (Which assumes that all cars with Hawaii plates are actually found only in Hawaii...)

If you can figure out what this picture is about, you'll win a prize :-). It's actually a picture of a mongoose, which we came across on the drive to Hana, which is on the south-eastern side of the island. Mongooses were introduced to Hawaii (except Kauai) to kill the rats in the cane fields. It turned out to be an ecological disaster, as described here: http://www.susanscott.net/Oceanwatch2002/apr19-02.html.

Another shot of the coast on the way to Hana. By the time the drive was over, I was SO glad we took a tour to do that. The road was very winding, along the face of the cliffs, and sometimes it was so narrow that 2 cars couldn't drive side by side so one had to backup. There were about 650 turns and 50 single-lane bridges. We were as high as 3,000 feet at points and sometime had to slow to 10 mph to negotiate the turns properly. We had to backup a couple of times to allow other vehicles to pass.

Shot of a volcanic spur and a small sheltered bay on the drive to Hana.

Short video clip of an inlet. The sound is caused by the wind whistling over the mic on the camera.

Picture of a resort set back from the beach on the drive to Hana.

Armed forces Chinook helicopter helping out with the remnants of the big fire on Tuesday.

Picture of the southern face of the west Maui hills showing the devastation of the fire.

Another picture showing how badly the fire has stripped the vegetation from the landscape. In the background on the right you can see an HFD chopper flying over a hot spot.

The Pacific from a wayside with southwestern Maui in the background.

The Molokini crater, which is a good site for snorkeling and diving to watch life on the reef.

I believe this is a shot of Kahoolawe, an island that Hawaii loaned to the federal government during WWII for target practice. The island is offlimits as there is still unexploded ordnance on the island.

A tiny foothold of alternative energy, in the form of some wind turbines, one of which can be seen in the distance in the middle. The development was put online about 2 months ago and there is another planned for about 2 years down the road at the Tedesci Winery area inland from the south western coast.

HFD chopper circling to pickup a load of water during the fight against Friday's fire.

Maalaea Harbor, where the Maui Ocean Center is located. There are also several tours departing daily to Molokini and La'nai..

Another shot of Maalaea Harbor.

Closer shot of an HFD chopper landing, apparently to spell the current pilot.

Picture of Joan at the entrance to the historic Lahaina courthouse. We went to Lahaina in search of the famuos Banyan tree in the town square.

Picture of a mynah bird.

Hawaiian ground dove. There were surprisingly many of these birds and they were quite tame. I suppose they filled the niche that the pigeons normally would in the mainland cities. I did not miss the pigeons at all.

The Banyan tree at Lahaina. It is the 3rd biggest Banyan tree, with the two bigger ones being in India and Florida. For more information on this tree, and Banyans in general, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan

A sunken boat in Lahaina harbor. The owner had come over to Maui for a night on the town, neglected to anchor the ship properly, and it beached itself on the protected reef. They were so heavily fined that they eventually declared bankruptcy and gave up the boat, which has to await a special crane to remove it from the reef.

Shot of the west Maui mountains from the tour bus on the way to Hana.

A closer shot of the sugar cane processing plant near the Kahului-Maui airport, which we passed on the way to Hana.

The red flowers on the tree represent an African Violet. There were a lot of these trees, but they were generally down the slopes from the road, so getting close pictures was quite difficult.

Picture through the window of a section of the road to Hana.

Picture of an inlet along the Hana highway. We're a few hundred feet above the ocean at this point.

Another picture of the inlet from the side of the road, with the morning sun glinting off the Pacific.

Shot across a gorge of the north Maui mountains.

Movie at one of the rest stops along the way, showing the Pacific. One of our companions actually got a good picture of an eel in one of the tidal pools.

Remnants of a lava plug jutting out into the ocean.

Closer picture of the north Maui coastline.

Picture of me taken by Joan at the rest stop, against the backdrop of a lava outcrop and the feisty Pacific.

Tide pool with volcanic rocks and various kinds of algae and ocean plants.

Joan among the tidepools looking out to sea.

Another shot of the Maui coast, with the branches of a moya tree, which bears fruit much like pineapple in looks but is more like a soursop in design.

A natural mushroom cloud with the .

A fern taking root on top of a gatepost, with a large mango tree in the background. The island is FULL of mango trees.

A Norfolk pine tree, which generally grows straight up. They were bought to Hawaii - then the Sandwich Islands - by Captain Cook in the late 1700s as replacements for broken masts if necessary.

Heads of 3 wild boars, which adorned the walls of a house on the route to Hana. We stopped at a store nearby to get some refreshments.

We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant off the Hana highway. They also did flower arrangements, using the torchlight ginger seen here. Squeeze them and get the scent of ginger. The flower rebounds from the squeeze none the worse for wear.

One of the many waterfalls, a few of which are visible from the road to Hana. Going there in the summer, during the dry season, didn't help our cause either. Not that either of us would be comfortable traveling on the Hana Highway during the rainy season anyway.

Video of the waterfall's path.

Picture of Joan on one of the one-lane bridges, this one with a waterfall.

Joan and me with the waterfall visible in the background on the right.

Two descendants of the mongooses imported from Jamaica several hundred years ago. We were at a picnic/campground near the Seven Sacred Falls.

Picture of the noni fruit tree, about which you can find more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noni.

Another picture of a mongoose, this one scurring away with something in its mouth.

Picture of a plant with a very large flower stalk. Really wish I could see what it looked like when blooming.

Picture of a cave that leads to the ocean. The sun was shining right onto the sea at the mouth, giving it that washed-out appearance.

Joan posing in the cave. I really didn't expect her to venture into the cave, as we had to duck pretty low to get in.

Joan in front of the cave, no doubt glad to be out in the open again, notwithstanding her rather insouciant pose.

Movie showing the inlet and small black sand/rock beach near the cave.

Another picture of the noni tree.

Slightly out-of-focus picture of several fruiting breadfruit trees.

Some very expensive seaside condos. The tour guide said some of the villas go for $2,000 for a night. Spectacular view, though, and the waves crashing on the shore must be very restful at night.

Picture from the tour bus of the Big Island, Honolulu, in the distance.

The Nutrogena House, which sits on about 6 acres of land. Every year, the 10 or so top-rated Nutrogena employees get a 2-week expenses paid vacation here.

A centerpiece in the lawn of the restaurant where we had lunch.

More flowers in the garden of the restaurant where we lunched.

The moya tree bears fruit that looks a lot like a pineapple. It can be eaten when the inedible skin is yellow. You eat it in the same way you would a soursop or monkey apple, as it's the same family.

First shot of the Seven Sacred Pools, where we stopped on the trip to Hana. The pools are not actually sacred to Hawaiians, and there are not seven of them either. Many locals prefer the name Kipahulu or Ohe'o Gulch.

Joan psyching herself up to put her foot in the water at the Seven Sacred Pools. Because it was summer the flow of water was a mere trickle. It is probably breathtaking in the winter when it rains tons. Maybe next time ...

Shot of the Pacific as we race down to Hana on one of the few fast stretches we encountered. It was also quite back from the edge, which was the exception for a large part of the trip.

The rugged shoreline, well-hidden by the verdant growth on the windward (northern) side of Maui.

The Pacific, from about a couple of hundred feet above, at the edge of the Hana highway.

Picture for a blue day. If this doesn't cheer you up ...

Black sand beach on the road to Hana. If you look carefully in the middle of the picture you'll see the slender sliver of asphalt that represents the Hana highway at this point. This was taken from inside the tour bus and you can appreciate the sheer drop to the ocean on the left.

Movie of the descent to the flat that was shown in the previous picture. The movie didn't really do it justice.

Continuation of the previous movie, somewhat stymied by the relatively slow recovery time of the memory card. That'll be fixed when I buy another one (the current one is 256MB; I'll probably get a 1 or 2GB card, though power consumption will be a key consideration).

The oldest church on Maui, which was built in 1827, and still holds services every week.

A lonely African Violet tree on the eastern side of the island. Note how sparse the vegetation is relative to the lush greenery of the north of the island.

The east Maui hills in the distance, becoming cloud covered as the day wears on. It can become quite cold on the top of the mountain peaks at night.

The almost-desertlike appearance of the terrain, with the Pacific in the background and a couple of our tour colleagues in the foreground.

A lava spur from the last eruption on Maui.

The solitary marker in remembrance of a shellfish diver who recently drowned while retrieving limpets. They are a traditional island food though overharvesting has lead to a 2006 bill banning commercial sale in the hopes the population will rebound.

Maui's version of the Grand Canyon. We quickly descended to the bridge in the foreground to continue on our way.

A mound that to my eyes looks like it might be a new volcanic growth. Since it wasn't smoking or anything it's probably just a flight of fancy :-).

A closer shot of the mound. Thank goodness for a telephoto lens.

Sugar processing plant on the eastern side of the island.

Movie of the west Maui hills at daybreak. You can see a tour van making its way in to pick up passengers, likely for the Hana tour.

Movie from our first day in the room with an ocean view. The west Maui mountains are in the background at the start. The red-roofed buildings are an adjacent set of villas. The island in the background is Molokai.

One of the pictures from inside the Atlantis, a sub we took a ride on. Unfortunately, flash photography didn't work within the sub and because we were at a depth of about 130 feet and the sunlight was quite dimmed, the pictures are not that good.

School of goat fish, with what seem to be a couple of black surgeonfish for company.

A sample of fish, some of which we saw on the dive of the Atlantis.

.If you can spot the moray eel in the picture there's a special prize awaiting you ... Drop me an e-mail and I'll send it off to you :-).

Most of one of the reef's more predatory fish, a blue cravalle. I think it's also called jack fish.

More, but smaller, blue cravalles. They are swimming near a sunken ship, done deliberately to help the coral establish a colony. The ship was bought for the princely sum of $1, but cost $250,000 to locate on the reef. Though it's been there for only about 9 months it's already been colonized by several kinds of fish. The corals are slowly beginning to build up on some parts of it.

Part of the superstructure of the ship; looks like winching gear, perhaps for the anchor.

You can just make out a school of small yellow-striped goatfish.

A better look at a school of small yellow-striped goatfish..

The maximum depth we attained on the dive was 135 feet, as the depth indicator shows.

The west Maui mountains from out in the ocean. We were preparing to return to land at this point on the transfer vessel, which took about 10 minutes to get to the dive site.

The Atlantis, accompanied by the spotter boat Roxie, fade away astern as we return to Lahaina Harbor.

The Atlantis dives.

On Tuesday evening, we decided to have dinner at a well-regarded Maui restaurant, Mama's Fish House, in the town of Paia. This is Joan sitting at our table, adorned with the now familiar torchlight ginger flower. Note the giant clamshell over her left shoulder.

Joan and I at Mama's Fish House. The decor was quite Hawaiian and the food and drinks were tasty, though a tad overpriced, normal for Hawaii at any rate.

Once the sun begins to set, torches are normally lit at the beaches to provide an additional exotic look. Here is Joan under 2 such torches on the beach in front of Mama's Fish House.

Joan on the beach at Mama's Fish House after dinner.

Me with the setting sun in the background. The camera was shooting into the sun so the exposure meter was fooled, hence the dark look.

Mama's Fish House.

The truck that originally delivered fish to Mama's Fish House back when it first started in 1973. It is actually a converted beach house and has several separate inns for vacationers. The menu is done daily, depending on what the fisherman catch that day.

The north Maui coastline in the fading sun, from Mama's Fish House.

Joan at the entrance to the Hyatt's luau on Ka'anapali Beach, Drums of the Pacific, which we attended on Wednesday evening, a fitting end to the trip.

Joan occasionally remarked that she'd not seen a single lizard, so she was quite surprised to see this one as we waited to enter the luau.

The stage at the Hyatt's luau.

Would you believe it?! While waiting for the festivities to start we were rained on! There had been a short, sharp shower earlier in the afternoon, as there were sizeable puddles on the ground when we took our seats. Fortunately, we were issued blue ponchos and the rain was quite light. Nonetheless, it did put a bit of a damper on things for a while.

Roasted whole pig, which was cooked in an earthen oven for several hours.

The master of ceremonies, Pa'ha Ei (phonetic spelling) as he utters a traditional Hawaiian welcoming prayer. He actually sang a number during the night's festivities.

Some of the dancers modeling traditional island wear. The single wrap can be twisted and turned into a surprising number of looks, from sexy to elegant. When we go back we'll have to get something that shows the variations.

The dancers at work. They all put their heart into it, especially two guys on the right and the 3 girls in the middle. Though we were a bit antsy because of the delay caused by the rain, once the show started we were swept away.

Another picture of the dancers at work.

Movie excerpt of one of the dances. They did dances from various Polynesian islands; Togo, Fiji, New Zealand's Maori, and traditional Hawaiian.

Continuation of the dance.

Last movie segment of a Polynesian dance.

Picture showing the focus on the dancer's face as she goes through her moves.

I am sure the Western explorers were scandalized when this dance was performed for them. Gyrating hips do not necessarily have the same sexual overtones, however.

Content "lifted" from the Internet depicting the fire dancer at the luau, Chief Fa'a, presented as a genuine Polynesian chief. He was one of the two that really got into it.

Needless to say, now that we know the lie of the land, we're itching to get back to Hawaii. We'll probably do that when I'm finished with school next year summer (if I get the classes I need).