We had a 7.30am start for our half day tour to the Haleakala National Park. For this trip, our driver was Dwayne. The Visitor Centre is in the park at 7,000 feet, but the summit is nearer 10,000 feet. We passed the HCS Mill again, on our way there, though we were nearer this time. Only 180,000 tons of raw sugar and 50,000 tons of molasses are processed at the factory each year. 80% is shipped to California for further refining into white and brown sugar. Now California refines the sugar, Hawaii have to re-import it, at a high price!
As we climbed up the hillside we got some great views. Dwayne said that the road we were on offered the fastest ride from sea level to 10,000 feet on paved road, hence there were a lot of bikes on the road.
We made a short stop in a layby to admire the view and get some photos. It was blue sky and sunny downhill, but higher up we could see the clouds.
The road up the hillside was pretty windy (curvy, not blowy) with no guard rails making it pretty precarious, even though it's paved.
We made a fifteen minute stop at the Visitor Centre. Apparently, they have Silver Sword plants here in pots - it is only one of four places they can be found - trouble is, we didn't know what they are so we didn't get a picture. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned, but you might want to know. They also had restrooms and a small gift shop. To be fair, there wasn't much of a view.
They had pictures up of the summit and the path we would be able to walk. They even had a stuffed Nene (the State Bird), he said life wasn't so bad as he was in a case and didn't get mauled by the visitors.
As we set off back up the hill, Pam asked if I wanted to take to the microphone - being a Professional Tour Guide colleague. So, I did - I had fun telling them about the sights (some of which, I'll admit I had to make up, but that's the job of a tour guide - to make stuff up, convincingly!) Heehee. That's a trade secret. Don't tell anyone! If you look closely in the ravine, bottom right, you'll see a car. This landed there a couple of weeks earlier - apparently everyone got out okay but they hadn't figured out how to get the car out yet. There's even a sign in the Visitor Centre, to the effect of "Yes, we know."
As we rose up we entered the cloud level, making it wet and very misty. At this high eleveation there's an Observatory with telescopes (used when the sky is clearer). The telescope tracks space debris and activity.
At 9,740 feet, we reached the car park - the cloud cover was all around and it was raining! (Well, there was a lot of moisture in the air anyway!) It was pretty annoying because the first 7,000 feet had had beautiful views then, once we neared the top it was gone! Still, it was only a 0.2 mile path to the summit so we set off, just so we could say we were there.
I have to admit the view was pretty rubbish - well, while we were there at least. It reminded me of a trip to Snowdon in North Wales I took once - couldn't see a thing there, either. You'll also note that - despite the wet conditions - poor Colin nor I had on a raincoat. Pesky forgetful humans! They'd remembered theirs!
For you, I took a look around, sat on some rocks. Could be anywhere! Below left is, I think, supposed to be me sitting in front of the crater!
Colin and I found what looked to be the highest rock at the peak and we each scaled the summit!
We came back down the path and took a look in the small gift shop (very similar to the one in the Visitor's Centre). They had a couple of models of what we were supposed to see. Once again, it was uncanny that the model knew exactly where I was!
We came back down the moutainside and for a while the weather was similar to the top of the mountain - bad. It was a good job I got some great photos on the way up. I did take a few on the way back - an aeroplane coming in to land at the airport, a wind farm and the only tunnel on the island! Once we hit sea level the sun was back out and the weather was sunny again. A couple from our party were taking an optional excursion - a trip to the top of the same mountain to see the sunrise - I hope they have better weather for it! If they can't guarantee a great view - I'd rather sleep! Overall, I dropped 'em a Ted for the bad weather - do they not know who I am? Hmph!
On the way up the mountain, we'd been trying to figure out if the Sugar Cane Train
was running - it only runs Monday to Friday (and today was a Monday) but it was a holiday (Labor Day). Eventually, they answered the phone and it turned out that, fortunately for us, it was running. So we got Pam (and Dwayne) to drop us in Lahaina, at Hilo Hatties. We weren't the only ones to get off the bus, but only fellow passenger and train enthusiast Bob (whose guide book had told us about the train's existence in the first place!) and me (and the entourage) headed for the train. Whether or not people knew (or even cared) there was a steam train in town, we'll never know.
We had about 45 minutes to kill before the train was due at 2.30pm so we hit a few more stores before heading out to the Station. Once there, the Sugar Cane Train Store was open so we bought the humans some t-shirts (nope, no bear shirts as usual) and found out we could get a one-way ticket to Kaanapali, where our hotel is! The route is pretty simple - eight miles of track that goes from Lahaina, to Puukolii at the other end and then back again to Lahaina for $22.95. The train then moves from the former front of the train to the new front of the train (formerly the back) by use of a railway three-point-turn, to head back to Lahaina. However, on the return trip, the train stops off for water at the station in Kaanapali. Fortunately for us they offered a 'one-way' fare, even though it is more than half way. A single ticket to either of these two stations (Puukolii or Kaanapali) will only cost $14.95. We decided we would do that - Bob included - as it meant we could walk the half mile or so to our hotel from the station and save us some time doing the reverse ride along the same track.
The train arrived on time at about 2.30pm so we watched the locomotive decouple from the carriages and roll onto the turntable.
Turned around, the loco passed the carriages that were parked until it was able to back up and rejoin the carriages to lead the train from the front.
You could sit in any of the carriages, which had open sides and a roof, so they were all shaded. We took our seats towards the back, so if there were any curves, we could take pictures of the engine pulling the train. The bench seats had some lovely whales cast into the arms. If you were wondering, that's Bob at the front, in the photo below centre. You'll see more of him (mostly his arm) in the movie!
An "All aboard!" was called and our ride got underway. We didn't really know what to expect - it wasn't a long run and Pam had said it wasn't very scenic but how bad could it be? And it beat shopping...again.
To be honest, we thought it was great. With Bob, we had the carriage almost totally to ourselves on the ride out, so we could hop from side to side, taking pictures as we went. I took stills and a movie.
We passed alongside the ocean, golf courses, lots of greenery as well as some housing and light industrial places. At one stage we saw some folks parasailing.
Some of the land we went by was less scenic. Oh, and the black smoke is from the engine! We even saw the area of the hotels by where we were staying.
We crossed a wooden trestle bridge and alongside a golf course.
We rode through Kaanapali Station (below left) and continued through Puukolii, without stopping.
Near the end of the line we spotted some carriages on some sidings next to some sheds.
The train came to a stop and we watched as the locomotive decoupled from the front of the train and headed off into the distance. It then backed up along a curved piece of track and pulled forwards such that it was facing the opposite way. It moved past us on our carriages before re-joining the train to head off in the opposite direction.
With a whistle the train set off again, heading back to Puukolii Station. There were a few market stalls there but it was pretty quiet, most of them weren't selling anything, though I did see some fruit, and a kiosk selling icees/slushies.
Several people got on board and we had to shove up a bit to make room. We didn't have long so just grabbed a few more photos.
Once the train stopped at Kaanapali Station, we hopped off and managed to get a few photographs while they were filling up with water for the ride home.
Once the train had left, we took a look around the station. They had some billboards on the wall explaining some of the history of the Sugar Cane Train so we took a look around. Our group were the only folks who left the train at Kaanapali.
So, do you want to see more? I made a movie of our train ride, but it's a bit long cos I know train fans like this stuff - you can always quit when you can't take anymore.
We had to walk to our hotel, the Sheraton. We crossed a bridge and could see our Hotel across the golf course, but the sign (below left) deterred us from just wandering across, like we planned. Instead, we had to follow the footpath around the edge of the course, which was quite a bit longer! We were back at the hotel by 5.15pm.
Our group had arranged for one last get-together at 6pm where we could give our gratuities to the Tour Director. As we hadn't had the same driver from day to day, we'd tipped them individually. We met at the Cliff Dive Bar and caught the ceremony one more time.
It started to rain so we headed to the eighth floor of a nearby building, overlooking the courtyard. We stayed for about an hour, saying goodbyes and taking photographs.
They had been a great bunch - not a whiner amongst them, which makes for an enjoyable tour.
People slowly drifted away although we bumped into some again at the Cliff Dive Bar. We went because it was close to the hotel, but it was a bit pricey at $17 for a veggie sandwich or $15 for burger and kettle chips. They had no fryer to make fries! In America! I ordered a pulled pork sandwich. What made it worse was there were no lights on at the bar - Di had to get her torch out so we could read the menu! Apparently the singer had his amp plugged in so they couldn't have lights as well. Seriously? Come on Sheraton! Sort this out!
The food was okay when it arrived, but we could barely see it. With the ludicrous plastic utensils and pricey drinks it was a very overpriced, over-rated experience. The "live" music was a bit feeble too - when the guy playing guitar (who wasn't very enthused anyway) stopped playing the music continued - Di saw! So, even the live music wasn't live. Musician Paul said he was playing the wrong chords to Over The Rainbow too (or the guy on the CD was!)
I guess the problem is the Hotel has a captive audience and with the restaurant charging $12 for soup and $50 for a steak, where else are you going to go? There is the Whaler's Village but, having been the night before we thought it would likely be very busy anyway. The Cliff Dive Bar wasn't value for money and it wasn't particularly good but it was handy, so it scraped by on a couple of Teds.
It wasn't too late when we said our goodbyes - again - and headed back to our rooms to finish packing. We had to check out early, but would leave our bags in the hotel for the day as our flight wasn't until the evening. We were on the 11am submarine so couldn't take the free shuttle to Lahaina, as that didn't leave until 10.30am, which wouldn't get us there in time.
