Weekend in Merimbula
< Alex on the beach
We (David, his brother Christopher, sister-in-law Sharon, their son Alex, and I) spent the weekend at David's house in Merimbula. Merimbula is on the 'Sapphire Coast' of New South Wales, and has a salt water lake is famous for its oyster beds. You can see them in one of the photos in the new gallery.
That's Alex in the photo on the left, drawing the first bar of Haydn's cello concerto in the sand of the beach (a first ever?), where we decided to work off our Saturday feast of fish & chips made with flathead caught by local fishermen. The beach sand is clean, creamy white in color when dry, and squeaks when you walk on it. There is a shore break good for swimming and easy body surfing, and a sandbar break good for board surfing. We watched a kite surfer taking advantage of the strong, cross-shore wind.
The boardwalk that meanders along the lake into town helped us work off another fish dinner. 
The house has a balcony wrapped halfway around it offering stunning views of the garden, Merimbula Lake, and the Pacific Ocean.
Heaven.
A Room with a View
< The view from my office
D: Well, I've started on the next adventure - the doctorate at Mount Stromlo (RSAA). So far, all I've been doing is the usual bureaucratic stuff like forms, keys, telephone numbers, email addresses, etc. And an office. With quite a remarkable view. I shall have to resist the temptation to gaze out at the mountains all day!
Royal Melbourne Scones - Makes 16
< Royal Melbourne Scones
I baked some scones to go with tea this morning. They turned out well, so I'm posting the recipe here. (See photo of some we haven't eaten yet).
Plain flour for dusting
3 cups unbleached, self rising flour
3 ounces (80g) cold butter, cut into cubes
1/8 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 390F (200C).
Lightly dust a cookie sheet with plain flour. Sift self-rising flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Add butter cubes and cut in with pastry blender (or two knives) until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk. Stir with a flat-bladed knife until mixture forms a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and knead gently until smooth. (Don't knead too much or the scones will be tough.)
Pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick circle. Using a 2 inch diameter round cutter, cut dough into 12 rounds. Place rounds onto flour dusted cookie sheet. Press remaining dough together and cut out four more rounds. Place on cookie sheet with others.
Sprinkle tops with a little plain flour, or for a sweeter variety, brush tops with milk and sprinkle with a bit of sugar.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden and well risen. Transfer to wire rack.
Serve warm with Jam and clotted cream (or butter).
Note: for a special treat, add a third cup of currants or chopped dates to the recipe.
Finally, for the pedants: in the US they're pronounced to rhyme with "hones", whereas in Oz the word rhymes with "Fonz".
Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, Orchids, Christmas presents, PhD's, and it's official!
A trip to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
< Pelican and Australian Ibis at Tidbinbilla
Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a 40 minute drive from the center of Canberra city center. It covers an area of about 55 square km and consists of a large valley floor, the Tidbinbilla Mountain and the Gibraltar range. The scenic drive through the reserve includes a lookout with panoramic views of the Tidbinbilla Valley. A hike along a Bush trail led to a small lake where David took the picture of the Pelican and Australian Ibis on the left. We also had a close encounter with a Red-bellied Black Snake (Linda was not happy), and saw two platypuses swimming (Linda was happy).
Black Mountain Reserve and orchids
< Sun Orchid on Black Mountain
The Black Mountain Reserve is nearly impossible to get into, now that the ACT Government has built the world's stupidest road interchange around it (it almost rivals Auckland's bridge for user-unfriendliness). However, we spent a couple of hours there on 25 October, a nice sunny spring day. The first thing we noticed was a group of orchid enthusiasts crouching over some small ground orchids, photographing them. So David photographed a couple too – see illustration at left of (probably) a Spotted Sun Orchid (Thelymitra species). Over 57 species of ground Orchids grow in the reserve. It's an orchid-spotter's heaven.
Christmas Goodies
Christmas baskets full of Australian goodies like TimTams, Venetians, Violet Crumble bars, Beerenberg blackberry jam, Christmas crackers, and tiny plush koalas are winging their way toward South Carolina. Christmas crackers are a party favor rather than a nosh. They look like a cylinder of wrapping paper tied at both ends. One person grabs one end. A second person grabs the other end. At the count of three, both pull hard. The cylinder breaks emitting a loud cracking noise. The person who ends up with the longer end has to wear the silly hat contained therein to the dinner table. A physicist has come up with a formula for the perfect way to pull a Christmas cracker.
http://www.physorg.com/news9192.html
David's doing a PhD
David has been just been accepted (today) into the PhD program at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at ANU/Mt. Stromlo. Wahooo!!!!
The Cosmic Smiley
< The Cosmic Smiley
On the 1st of December David also managed to snap a photo of the "cosmic smiley" - a rare conjunction of the crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter (left).
A bigger image is available here.
And guess what...
Yeeeehaaaawwwww!!!!!, David proposed to me at dinner on November 13, and I accepted.
Oakey Hill
We went for a mile and a half walk up Oakey Hill today. Oakey Hill Nature Reserve occupies the ridge between Lyons and Weston Creek in south Canberra. There's a trig point (survey marker) at the top at 684 metres (2244 feet).
On a whim David took a series of hand held panoramic shots while walking around the trig point (a large metal structure). Some hours later, the result is quite a nice panorama. It may take a little while to load. When you see the photo, click on it, hold and drag, to scan the full panorama, or just use the control buttons. You can zoom using your mouse wheel, too, in some browsers.
The views are excellent.
The National Gallery of Australia and Floriade
< Heads in the water - National Gallery sculpture garden
Last Monday was a rainy day in Canberra. Rather than giving up on exercise altogether, we decided to hike the corridors of the National Gallery. The imposing building was designed in the twentieth century "Brutalist" style, and houses some wonderful collections. But! The gallery is not, to quote an elderly woman following us down the steep exit ramp, very user friendly. Favorite works were the Aboriginal Memorial, paintings by Australian artists Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, and Margaret Preston, and Jackson Pollock's "Blue Poles."
See our National Gallery and environs photo gallery and the National Gallery Home page.
Floriade is a flower and entertainment festival held annually in Commonwealth Park featuring massive displays of flowering bulbs with integrated sculptures. It takes place from September to mid October, and attracts more tourists to the Australian Capital Territory than any other event.
Tuesday's weather turned out to be better by far than Monday's - cool and sunny. We headed out to Floriade reasonably early but as usual the parking lot was jammed. Our luck held, however, and a parking spot opened up in front of us. David was a bit jaded ('oh, no, not another Floriade') but this year the flowers are very pretty and present a better than usual opportunity for some 'abstract' floral photos. We both carried cameras.
See the new photo gallery page by David. More to come.
P.S. Are you having Christmas this year, Judy? If yes, we'll be there.
BBQ, stirfry, Vanilla Slice, and 'round Canberra
< Black Mountain Tower from Mt AinslieL: Those of you who know me well understand that if I'm writing about food, I'm dieting. It turns out that David is an excellent BBQ chef. YAY!! That makes dieting a treat. On tonight's menu, pushing summer by a couple of months, was Porterhouse steak, corn on the cob, tossed salad, and an excellent DeBortoli Windy Peak Sangiovese. I'm at my best at the saute station, so we've been having lots of stirfrys. Yesterday's was pork. Here's the quick version:
1 & 1/2 pounds of pork loin, cut into thin strips
1/2 pound of fresh snow peas, cut diagonally into 1" wide pieces
1 medium carrot cut into 1/4" strips
1/4 to 1/2 green pepper (or red, or yellow) cut into 1/4" strips
1 small bunch of green onions, cut diagonally into 1/2" bits
1 stalk of celery, sliced thin
any other veggies you have on hand, mushrooms are good, sliced or cut into bits
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts (or cashews) crushed
3 tbsp sweet chili sauce with ginger
3 tbsp oyster sauce
a couple of splashes of dry sherry
Salt & pepper to taste
Peanut oil
Heat oil to the smoking point and add the pork. Saute until nicely browned. Add the sherry and burn off the alcohol. Add the garlic and carrot strips. Cook until the carrots are slightly softened. Add the rest of the veggies and saute until tender/crisp. Add the chili and oyster sauces. Taste. Add S&P if necessary. Serve over steamed Jasmine rice. Garnish with the crushed peanuts.
Today's photo gallery includes images from another trip to the Botanical gardens, a walk along the beautiful esplanade across the street from the National Library, views of the city from Black Mountain, Red hill, and Mt. Ainslie.
Oh yes... Vanilla slices. They are a heavenly concoction of layered puff pastry, and rich, vanilla flavored pastry cream. The best in the city are found at Deakin's Cafe d'Lish. Heavenly! Not for dieters.
Reminder to myself to get David's brother Christopher's recipe for Meat pie.
Embracing my inner tourist
< Drynaria fern 'nest leaves'Living with a native Canberran means I can be as curious as I like about Canberra without feeling nosy or intrusive. My Web design work takes up only a few hours a day, leaving the rest for day trips to places like the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG), the Mount Stromlo Observatory, and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla.
The Botanic Gardens, a wonderful collection of unique Australian flora, is on nearby Black Mountain. About 99,000 plants representing more than 6,800 species are cultivated. Each section of the garden is based on a theme, like Rainforest Gully, the Rock Garden, the Eucalypt Lawn and the Mallee Shrublands. There is a hot house with native orchid species and rare ferns that's open to the public, and a nice patio cafe at which to sip coffee and eat pies or pastry when you need a break from the hike around the gardens.
The birds in the ANBG are oblivious to visitors, and it's a haven for bird watchers. The Choughs (pronounced "chuffs") and Red Wattlebirds are very cheeky and practically demand to be fed. The day was overcast, but David took some photos anyway. We plan to return for more photos when the weather's a bit warmer and sunnier. See the latest gallery.
< The main dish at Tidbinbilla
Mount Stromlo Observatory is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU). The site of the observatory offers a spectacular view of the city. On January 18, 2003 a firestorm hit Mount Stromlo destroying five telescopes, workshops, seven homes, a priceless library, and the administration building. The ruins of the 50 inch Great Melbourne telescope are visible from the visitors parking lot.
We ran into a friend of David's, radio astronomer Dr. David Jauncey, who shared some fascinating stories about the fire. Dr Jauncey mentioned that the employees at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, our next destination (twenty miles away) were trapped by the fire there and battled it themselves. Amazingly, no one was injured and no damage was done to the facility.
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is part of the Deep Space Network run by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It is commonly referred to as the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station. It is the only NASA tracking station in Australia still in operation, and is the largest antenna complex in the southern hemisphere. The four large antennas receive data from spacecraft, like the Mars rover, exploring our Solar System and beyond. The visitor center offers an excellent view of the largest dish, a piece of the Moon that's over 3.8 billion years old, the latest images from Mars, spacecraft models, and real, flown space hardware. The cafe and gift shop is open everyday for meals. There is a playground for children, and picnic areas from which to enjoy magnificent views of the Tidbinbilla valley.
The day we drove up Mount Stromlo (visible from David's house, in the distance) was quite cold, so we didn't take any photos there. The more sheltered Tidbinbilla valley offered better photographic opportunities (see the photo gallery).
Walking, massages, and PilatesAs good as his word, David has kept me focused on diet and exercise. I was in the habit of walking two miles, four days a week, in the Sumter mall. I'm learning to love hiking the hills of Canberra instead. It hasn't been easy, but we have a wonderful masseuse named Wilma to sooth any persistent aches. I've also begun training in the Pilates method. Robyn Barker, my coach, has a figure most eighteen year old's would envy. I hope Pilates will do that for me too.
UGH Boots and another shopping center
< Linda's new Ugh (Ugg) BootsAs of yesterday, I'm the proud owner of a pair of genuine Australian Ugh boots. Ugh (or Ugg) boots are a type of sheepskin boot with a fleece inner lining and a tanned outer surface. The fleece allows air to circulate and keeps your feet toasty warm. They are worn without socks in order to maximize their thermal properties. Ugh boots have been made in Oz for well over a hundred years. Family members can expect to receive them as presents, along with Tim Tams and Arnotts Venetian biscuits.
Biscuits are what cookies are called here. What we Americans call biscuits, quick bread made with baking powder as a leavening agent, is unknown in Australia. The closest thing to them are scones.
[DN adds: Here we make large loaves from flour and baking powder called damper - usually cooked in a pan over an open fire out in the Bush, but not the smaller US-style 'biscuits'.]
After purchasing the boots and another package of Venetians (excellent with tea) we paid a visit to another of Canberra's large malls, called Woden Plaza. Woden Plaza is located in the Phillip suburb of Canberra and encompasses 250 stores. Tenants include Woolworths (no relation to the American company of the same name), Coles, David Jones, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith Electronics, 8 cinemas, McDonald's, The Coffee Club, and Hungry Jack's (known as Burger King in the states).
We've re-jigged the blog HTML to customise the layout (thanks to Susan for pointing out how to add images within posts). We've embedded the images in the posts so they stay with their descriptions and archive proplerly. We've now added image titles, and have attempted to clean up the dubious code generated by blogger. David's AusAID experience came in quite handy! We have yet to validate things, but that may prove impossible 
D&L
The Canberra Centre - Shop till you dropMom, Judy, Beth - you'd love this place. Imagine a mall about two miles around and three levels high, featuring over 310 speciality stores, numerous food outlets and several major retailers including Myer (linked to Target), David Jones (a premium department store a la Lord & Taylor), and Borders. The centre also features a Cinema complex with 9 theatres and 2 premium lounges. There's a full size merry-go-round outside in the plaza, and a wonderful view of the mountains. Wheee!
Australia's Crown Jewel
< Sydney skyline from the Eastern Suburbs
L says:
What do I say about Sydney? There's so much to say about Sydney I don't know where to start. Homes shimmer like jewels on sandstone cliffs. The soaring glass towers of the central business district compete for your attention with grand Victorian structures, like The Strand Arcade, filled with the Sydney's most fashionable boutiques. It's proud, and squeaky clean, and love at first sight. You could find new things to see and do here forever.
< War memorial, Hyde Park, from our hotel
D says:
I've managed to introduce Linda to (proper) tea, Aussie meat pies and vegemite - L likes tea and pies but is not overly keen on vegemite :) However, the secret weapon is dark chocolate Tim-tams. There is no defence against against Tim-tams. Resistance is futile
...
We're staying at the Hyde Park Inn in central Sydney. Central and comfortable and not expensive. Recommended.
One thing that came as a surprise was the huge number of fruit bats ('flying foxes') that roost in the large Morton Bay Fig trees in Hyde Park. These two-foot wingspan bats fly out in their hundreds after dusk, and back again at dawn.
< Sandstone cliffs that fridge the city's east
We spent today (Thursday) taking bus tours around Sydney. An excellent way to see the sights quickly, including all the usual suspects - the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Bondi beach etc.
D Bought a new point-and-shoot camera as an easy carry around camera (a Canon G9). Excellent little gadget. There's a new photo gallery online taken with the G9. Nothing special, mainly intended to test out the new camera, but you get the idea. See also some of the test photos above: the city skyline from the Eastern Suburbs, the War memorial in Hyde Park (outside our hotel window) and the sandstone cliffs along Sydney's eastern edge.
To SydneyExcept the the Häagen Dazs chocolate ice cream, the ten and a half hour flight to Sydney was not a highlight of the trip. Enough said. We left Honolulu on Monday morning and arrived in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon - the same day except for the dateline.
Return to Honolulu
< Palm-fringed shores of the blue PacificWe arrived back in Honolulu on Sunday via the Hawaii Superferry, which this time sailed around the amazing cliffs north of Molokai rather than across the channel between the islands.
Our room at the Ala Moana hotel in Honolulu was upgraded to a three room suite on the 35th floor, with a spectacular view of the Yacht club and beach at Ala Moana park (see photo left, showing the beautiful palm-fringed blue Pacific). While the room on our first stay was nothing extraordinary, this room was the sort of luxury we'd like to become accustomed to!
Dinner at Aaron's topped the evening. We had an early flight to Sydney the next morning, so dessert was a hippity hop to bed.
Starry night at sea(Friday) After a lazy day (they're getting increasingly lazy) we went for one of the night time stargazing cruises run out of Lahaina Harbor by the Pacific Whale Foundation. The purpose of the cruise is to get you out to sea a bit away from city lights, to see dark starry skies. It works well, and the cruise itself in the balmy tropical night is great. Paradoxically we've seen even better dark skies where we're staying east of Pa'ia. The skies away from the city lights are very dark in Maui.
< Starry night: Scorpio, Sagittarius and JupiterThe astronomy part of the cruise was narrated by local Maui astronomy teacher, Harriet Witt. As D also teaches astronomy he found it interesting to hear the approach taken to the diverse audience aboard ship. A very good introduction to the night sky. Definitely worthwhile. See adjacent image (not a photo, but a screen grab showing exactly what the sky looked like, from the Starry Night program). It shows the Milky Way, Scorpius, Sagittarius ('the Teapot') and Jupiter (top left).
Aquarium today
< Surgeon Fish at the Maui Ocean CenterWe took a trip to the Maui Ocean Center aquarium at Ma'alaea (West Maui) this morning. Definitely worth the effort. The highlight is the walk through exhibit where the sharks, rays and other fish swim over top of the perspex tube you walk though. The other large aquarium exhibits are beautiful, too. See photo of a Surgeon Fish at the aquarium, left.
We'd not recommend the fish and chips at the restaurant attached to the aquarium, though. Not fresh, overcooked.
Dinner was another matter. Barbecued hot dogs, followed by a fresh home made fruit salad of strawberries, pineapple, watermelon and orange. And we watched Venus set in the twilight over West Maui.
The Road to Hana - all the way this time (Tuesday)
< Waterfall near Hana, after rainLinda's contribution...
The road to Hana (we drove half way the other day but decided to take the full trip by coach tour) includes 617 curves, dozens of one lane bridges, and changes in elevation of a thousand or more feet. It's no wonder the locals sell T-shirts emblazoned with, "I survived the road to Hana!"
When you leave the driving to a pro, like Alex from Valley Isle Excursions, you can relax and appreciate spectacular views of waterfalls, ocean, tropical rain forest, and local fauna, such as the occasional mongoose running across the road in front of the van.
The tour started with breakfast at 7:00 AM in Kahului - bagels, pineapple, watermelon, profiteroles filled with coconut flavored cream, cornbread, poppy seed cake, lots of hot coffee - and being introduced to our traveling companions. We were ten adults and two very well behaved children, all primed to have a great time. Alex, half Hawaiian, half Portuguese, narrated the trip with fascinating bits of local history and traditions associated with each site. David took great advantage of all the photo stops. See the latest photo gallery. The photos here show one of the taller waterfalls near Hana after the recent rain, a view through a lava tube sea cave at the Black Beach, and some of the stones on that beach.
< Lava tube cave through to the seaWe stopped for lunch at a private flower garden just past the town of Hana (as I write this I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm focusing on food. ). BBQ Chicken, macaroni salad, veggie salad, sautéed fresh veggies, a Hawaiian dinner roll. Yum!
David's contribution...
The thing about going on a conducted tour is that you see stuff you miss when driving your own vehicle. Both because you have a better view (higher above the road) and because the driver knows where the best things are. And - of course - when you're not driving you get to look at something besides the road! The downside is that you don't get to stop at every interesting photo opportunity.
< Stones on the Black BeachThe other difference between the trips was that yesterday it rained intermittently (and had been doing so for two days) so the waterfalls had plenty of water in them (see gallery for the obligatory waterfall photos). Much more photogenic!
The trip took us as far as the Seven Sacred Pools (actually there are 24, but Seven sounds better), a black beach and lava tube.
All told, an excellent trip. We came back to the cottage for dinner. Linda introduced David to proper monster Nathan's American hot dogs! Things are looking bad... he likes Twinkies too
On the Road to Hana
< Pandanus on the shore at Ke'anaeToday we headed out on the road to Hana, located on the extreme eastern end of Maui. It's a long drive on narrow winding roads, with numerous switchbacks and one lane bridges. We didn't plan on going all the way to Hana, and in fact we turned around after reaching Ke'anae, a little over half way.
On the way to and from Ke'anae, we stoped at a number of places, particularly the Waikamoi Ridge trail, the Garden of Eden arboretum, a sort of private botanical gardens, and at Ke'anae itself.
The vegetation changes as you progress along the coast, from sugar cane country, through bamboo thickets, to (bizarrely) groves of large Eucalypts, and then to forest that starts to resemble rainforest. Ferns abound.
< Torch Ginger flower on Waikamoi RidgeThe roads - apart from being narrow and winding - are almost totally lacking in signage - so it's very difficult indeed to find the features (waterfalls etc) that are shown on the maps. One strange phenomenon that this generates is that if someone stops along the roadside for any reason, other cars also stop, in the hope the the first car knows where to find one of the attractions on the map. Parking spots are extremely scarce, too. It's not an easy drive!
But the scenery is worth the effort. We stopped at the Waikamoi Ridge trail, and went for a wander along the shorter part of the trail (about a mile overall). The vegetation verges on rainforest, with Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) and giant Melaleuca trees, introduced from Australia, as well as the native trees, shrubs and ferns. Banana and ginger plants occupy most of the understory, along with a dozen or more fern species. A very worthwhile stopping off point. See photo of a ginger plant, at left. An amazing bloom, nearly 6 inches across.
We then headed to Ke'anae, a small coastal village with gorgeous scenery, waves crashing onto black volcanic rock. (see photo, above left).
< Palms at the Garden of EdenWe've put up a new gallery of the day's photos. The ones included here show the wonderful coastline at Ke'anae, with Pandanus palm (top), a Torch Ginger flower we saw on the Waikamoi Ridge trail (middle); and Palms at the Garden of Eden arboretum (bottom).
Lunch was a large chunk of Banana Cake and some wild Strawberry Guavas, from a small roadside stall. Delicious. It didn't satisfy L's need for protein, though...
Then on the way back we stopped at the Garden of Eden - a small private arboretum. It did finally give us a view of one of the waterfalls we had failed to find while driving along the road!
For dinner we went into Pa'ia, but as usual, parking was nearly impossible, so the restaurant we wanted to go to had filled up by the time we had walked back from the car park. Maui is infested with cars. Everyone seems to have at least two of them...
Lahaina and cricket
< Cricket at Pa'ia, Haleakala in the distanceYesterday (Friday) we drove out to Lahaina - a bit of a tourist trap but quite quaint. Today was hot and so not a day of high activity - supermarket shopping in Kahului, and a short drive to one of the local beaches. Quite nice though nothing exceptional. Except for a game of cricket being played on the sportsfield adjacent to the beach. Shades of the West Indies... See photo at left - the huge massif of Haleakala rises in the distance. Maui is nothing if not unexpected.
Volcanoes!
< Haleakala craterYesterday (Wednesday) we drove round to the south west coast of Maui, south of Kihei. The road runs out where it meets the lava flows that entered Laperouse Bay around 1790. The landscape turns from beautifully manicured resort gardens to dry scrub land to bare lava clinker fields in a few miles. The lava is a a mad jumble of jagged rocks from the size of a pebble to the size of a truck. Almost nothing has yet begun to grow on it. Amazing stuff.
Then this morning we decided to drive up to the top of the Haleakala volcano field, 10,000 feet up at the highest point on Maui. The drive was arduous, with dozens of switchback/hairpin bends on a very narrow road with numerous alarming drops - rather like the Tour de France! L, who doesn't like heights, was not a happy camper. The views from the top were breathtaking, however. We've put up a photo gallery elsewhere to show some of the sights.
< Silversword (Ahinahina) at 10,000 feetUnlike the Big Island, the volcanoes on Maui haven't been active for hundreds of years, but the scenery is unearthly. Like something from Total Recall.
The first photo (above) shows a view into the Haleakala crater from near the summit.
The second photo shows a Silversword (Ahinahina), an attractive fleshy leaved down covered plant, a foot or so in diameter, that only grows at the highest parts of Haleakala. This one was at around 10,000 feet. It's making a comeback after nearly being eaten into extinction by grazing cattle.
Iao Valley
< Iao Valley west of KahuluiYesterday (Tuesday) we drove up to the Iao Valley. It's about a 15 mile drive west of Pa'ia. The Iao Valley is an erosion valley on the western part of Maui, important in the history and culture of the Hawaiian people. The terrain is amazing - and nearly impossible to capture by camera. See photo, left. The valley is now a national park, and the walks are very easy. Several fern species new to DN were spotted.
Maui by the Sea
< Pink Franjipani (Plumeria)There is an electrical outlet conveniently located a couple of feet behind the table I'm sitting at. The table is located just behind the railing of a lanai. The lanai is at the front of the cottage we have rented in Maui, guarded by an enormous Frangipani tree, to the right of a stand of clumping bamboo. The perfume of the pink flowers drifts in through the open windows, every night, as we fall asleep to the cradle song of waves crashing on the beach, and trade winds combing through the leaves of coconut palms. Heaven!
Our cottage is a few miles down the road from the town of Paia. Paia's main strip is an eclectic mixture of brightly painted wooden structures housing arts and crafts galleries, surfer shops, Hawaiian clothing outlets, and restaurants, like Charlie's, owned by Willie Nelson.Dinner with JerryOur friend Jerry R., aka FatCat, took us to dinner at a place called the Pa'ia Fish Market. The food was wonderful, and Jerry, who has obviously discovered the secret to a long and happy life, was even cooler than he seems in the forums. Thanks Jerry! We hope we see you again soon.
To Maui...
< Rain showers off MolokaiOn Saturday morning (at a criminally early hour) we headed out on the Hawaii Superferry to Maui. Definitely the way to get to Maui - a smooth 3-hour trip though the islands (Oahu, Molokai, Lanai to Maui). The photo at left shows the coast of Molokai in a rain shower, from the Superferry.
We've spent the first two nights of our 15-night stay at Maui-by-the-Sea - a cottage attached to a home near Pa'ia on the Hana Highway, on the north coast.
More later. We're heading into the Big Smoke - Kahului - for some shopping.
We've arrived!Well, finally our blog is going online. It's been four days since we both reached Hawaii, but we've been a bit distracted, shall we say.
David arrived in Honolulu on Thursday morning from Sydney around 9am and had to wait five hours before Linda arrived from South Carolina.
The first two nights we spent at the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu - clean, modern but a bit short on conveniences (no room service).
< Aubrey the Bear in HonoluluAubrey, our team chaperon, was a bit overwhelmed by it all (photo of Aubrey with lei, with Honolulu skyline in the background).
The two co-located restaurants we tried were, however, outstanding - Aaron's and Tsukasa.
Aaron's is on the 36th floor (at the top of the building) and the views of Honolulu and Diamond Head are spectacular. Watching the Full Moon rise over Diamond Head, in particular, was a magic moment. The steaks were superb, too. Along with a nice St. Supery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Tsukasa is a friendly Japanese restaurant. Good food, good service, good prices.
