More on Maui

I finally got to put my tent into action last night, just as the sun was going down. Actually, there was a lot of cloud cover, so the sky just got darker and darker without the glorious reds, oranges and yellows associated with a sunset. But my tent went up, even though the support poles looked a little too arched, and it took me a couple of times until I realized the rain fly was facing the right direction.

It felt a little too early to go to sleep, so I snugged my headlamp on and went wandering. The darkness afforded me a different kind of sight, one where the details of the terrain weren't too visible but where the moon stood out as a round shock of light against the black sky, roaring waves, and swaying palm trees. I remember leaning against the railing that separated traversers from an untimely death, and thinking, I've finally experienced a perfect moment in life, and it came to me not by planning, but just by being.

And it really was, perfection I mean. My mind's usually plugged into half a different sources at once, crazily trying to connect every which way, and there was none of that last night. I was more than content to just stare at the waves crashing on the black sand beach (and in the dark, the colours almost looked inverted), marvel at the full moon and think about how it was the same moon that Toronto saw six hours ago, and just be content in the moment.

That was last night.

This morning, I woke up and discovered the blowholes. There were two of them on the sharp volcanic rocks, and they made the Halona Blowhole look like child's play. Not to minimize the power of the ocean, but the one at Halona looked like someone had been blowing water out of a straw, and the two at Waianapapa were like Tim the Toolman Taylor had come along and rejigged the power throttle all the way to full force. And when a really big gush of water came along, the spout that came out of the blowholes was about three times my height.

Oh, and yesterday I also tried ziplining for the first time. I was aimlessly driving around the island, thinking I'd just pop in to see whatever caught my eye, and the first thing was Haleakala National Park (summit elevation: 10,000ft). I'd never been that far up in the air on foot, so I made a quick turn in and started driving up. And up. And up and up and up.

And then another sign caught my eye: ziplining. So I made another turn and found out the next tour was in 15 minutes. Jackpot! It was a pretty mild course, although the fifth line was pretty neat. One of the guides, Kevin, said that we'd be passing over the middle point at 50mph. I don't think I've even been able to go that fast in a car on this island, the roads are so twisty turny.

Speaking of roads...I finally got a chance to take the Road to Hana. No matter how Wikipedia tries to explain it, the 40-some odd miles I drove included about five dozen one-lane bridges, and several hundred hairpin curves. There was not a single stretch on this highway, just one sharp curve after another, forcing me to hit 25mph as my top speed. It was a pretty neat highway, but after an hour or so, I was just ready to set up camp and walk around. It was raining steadily, too, but not so much that I couldn't have my window open for most of the time.

I'd hope to hike the crater at Haleakala today, but woke up with a headache that's still lingering now, nine hours later. I may try and do it first thing tomorrow morning, but I think that may be cutting things a little tight with my mid-afternoon flight to the Big Island. But Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are two of the biggest items on my list, so I'd rather sacrifice the Haleakala hike to make sure I'm in fighting shape for the bigger mountains.

Small point: my rental car has a USB port, which means that my phone hasn't gotten lower than 20% on this trip. And just by talking to locals, I've learned where just about all the wifi spots in Hana are. Score!