Luckily, our flight out wasn't until 10 pm, so we had almost a full day to enjoy. We slept right through the sunrise this morning, for a change, and were awakened by full sun on our faces. Ahh.
Michael's snorkeling injuries are looking much better today, although we'll have to be careful about keeping them clean and free of sand, especially the one on his foot. On the other hand, my cough has not improved and if anything has gotten worse. Also, my neck is still from holding my head up while snorkeling yesterday. But otherwise, everything was great.
There was still a lot of wind, but not as much as when we first arrived --- or maybe we just got used to it? But it was quite sunny, and we were keen to take advantage of the break in the clouds to do a little last bit of exploring.
After getting packed and feeding the last of our compost to the worms, we packed our camera and heading back to the trail down to the ocean. It seemed much easier this time, probably because we knew what to expect, and the views were stunning.
The trail started off at the bottom of the lawn below our cabin:
It continued from there into a bit of light woods...
...and let out at a little Thai meditation hut overlooking the ocean. A very peaceful spot.
Below the meditation hut, the trail grew narrower and wilder, with a few strategically-placed ropes along the way to prevent slipping.
Oh, and lots of these guys:
I don't know exactly what kind of spider they were, but they were enormous and they were everywhere. They liked to spin their webs across the trail, so we had to cut quite a few of them down to allow us to pass. I got one on my arm at one point, but managed to fling it off into the bushes --- without screaming like a small child.
And speaking of gross insects, we also spotted a Hawaiian centipede crawling across the trail from under a pile of dead palm leaves. These are the sorts of things that the guidebooks warn you about in big, bright letters: They bite. They sting. They're hideous. Also, they're usually at least six inches long, and the one that we saw did not disappoint in the size department. I swear the thing had muscles. Judge for yourselves:
Eeeeeeewww. Give me a cockroach any day.
Apart from that, the upper trail proceeded without incident, until we got to the marker for the lower part of the trail:
Yeah, no kidding. The rest of the trail was a steep scramble over the rocks, down the cliff to the ocean, aided occasionally by ropes:
We reached the rocky beach just fine and spent a good long while gazing at the water and soaking in the stillness and peace.
There were some great tide pools along the rocks too, inhabited by lots of gray-silver crabs and some mudskipper-looking fish that had their fins at the bottom, so it looked like they were doing pushups in the water.
After breathing the sea air for a while, we explored the pools at the foot of the waterfall:
They weren't quite deep enough for proper swimming, but we waded a bit and enjoyed the feel of the sunshine on the warm rocks.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and with one eye on the clock, we said farewell to the ocean and climbed back up the trail.
We took our last outdoor shower, ate some lunch, and did our last bit of relaxing in the Bamboo Temple before departing up the "magic driveway." On our way out, we stopped for one last drinking coconut at the same stand where we'd gotten our first, just outside of Pa'ia. At this point, it clouded over and started to rain, so we spent a little time talking to the woman who ran the stand: She and her husband were from El Salvador, but they'd fallen in love with Maui and had moved a few years ago to raise tropical fruit.
We were hoping that the rain would subside before we had to get back on the road, but no such luck. So we kept going anyway, driving towards Kahului, and our reward for doing so was the brightest and most brilliant rainbow I've ever seen --- and a double, too.
The conditions must have been just perfect, because it lasted for the entire hour-long drive between Kahului and Lahaina, and even beyond. I've never seen anything like it.
When we got to Lahaina, we parked on the outskirts of town, to avoid the crowds, and walked in. It was just 5:30 at this point and we hadn't made any firm plans about dinner, so we decided to try our luck at Cheeseburger in Paradise --- a cheesy tourist-trap serving mostly burgers (duh) and deep-fried deliciousness right on the water. Yesterday there was an hour-long wait, so we didn't think we'd be able to make it in, but to our surprise they were able to seat us immediately.
As mentioned, it was ridiculously touristy, with all the waitstaff (even the men) wearing grass skirts and loud Hawaiian shirts, cutesy names for everything on the menu, and little cocktail umbrellas stuck into all the burger buns. It was the sort of place that just begged me to order a pina colada, so I did.
It was expensive, but whatever, the drinks were strong, and the food was tasty, and our waiter was really chill, despite the obnoxious crowd.
After dinner, we strolled along the waterfront and watched the sun set, one last time:
Then it was goodbye to the banyan tree and hello to the microscopic Maui airport.
The trip is over, my 20s are over, and soon I'll be back at work, immersed in stress. It's going to be hard to remember the peace and happiness that we found on the island in the weeks ahead, but I will certainly try.
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