Day 7 Monday 3 November

Another beautiful day in Maui & today is our “Best of Maui – Iao Valley, Plantation & Ocean Centre” tour that departs the ship at 8am. We stopped at the Maui multicultural gardens to start with, a collection of different types of gardens reflecting the different six significant cultural groups that make up the current Maui population, including Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese & British etc. After a comfort break & a short wander around the gardens from where we could see some of the magnificent mountains in the distance, we continued up the Iao valley. We stopped at the Iao Needle, a prominent volcanic dyke that stands out from the steep mountains surrounding it. The Hawaiian warriors used it as a lookout. It would have been an amazing feat for them to be able to climb, it is so dramatically steep. It is very beautiful scenery here with the extremely steep mountainsides, the vegetation that clings to it & the greenness of it all. Apparently we were very fortunate to be there when it was dry as it rains most of the time. We took a nice walk down to the fast running creeks, reading stories about the tribal wars that took place & the many warriors killed there. Apparently in one battle when the tribe from Oahu were battling the local Maui tribe during the 1800s the creek was dammed by the sheer quantity of bodies blocking the flow.

Our next stop was at a tropical garden plantation that had been set up to entertain & feed tourists. We had a look through the visitor centre that also had a very large collection of antique coffee grinders right around the inside walls. There was also a very nicely restored antique Ford truck on display. Outside they are in the process of rejuvenating the garden & have done a magnificent job of incorporating old sugar mill machinery into the water garden design, it is really quite innovative. Another quirky thing they are doing in the new bar is displaying a collection of antique outboard motors above the new bar. Also in the room is the original steam engine that pulled the sugar wagons plus the railway carriage that was owned by King Kamehameha . Outside near the tram station is another lovely restored Ford “woody” car. The gardens also have a collection of local craftspeople displaying & selling their handicrafts, from glassblowing to jewellery to wood carving to painting, etc. They really are very talented. We met one of the owners & had a chat with him about what he was doing, telling him how impressed by what he had achieved so far. He told us he felt embarrassed about the quality of the tram ride we were about to undertake.

Two young women were the drivers of our trams & they gave a running commentary on the plantation which had different plots of plants, such as bananas, coffee, mangos, etc. They were interesting to listen to & very informative. Half way round they stopped & gave us a demonstration on how to husk then crack a coconut. They made it look ease & simple. We also saw some unusual looking red-headed birds that we had never seen before, including one that was all red. After the tram ride we had cold buffet lunch inside the new visitor’s reception centre that is not yet complete, then another look through the gift shop before our next bus stop.

The Maui Ocean Centre was not too far away & we were impressed by the quality of the display, the information boards explaining what the fish were & the magnificent variety of fish they had on display. There were many fish we had never seen before, ranging from the smallest of coral reef fish to a large tiger shark. Some of the fish were really beautiful with a stunning array of colours & designs. The display culminated in a walk through Perspex tunnel where we were surrounded by all sorts of fish, including giant stingrays & sharks. The American’s are still fascinated by our Steve Irwin’s death, asking/telling the guide about. They still have Bindi’s show on T.V.

Again we lounged on our balcony & rested after the tour & watched the ship depart port. We had another great dinner in the Liberty dining room. While listening to a wonderful guitar player & singer called Tim Dion in the Napa Bar I discovered Fire Rock beer that is a local Hawaiian beer that I like, however the local Maui beer was not that special.

We really don’t know what to do with our butler. We don’t want our shoes polished or breakfast in bed or anything else he supposed to do for us – so we leave him alone. Jose being a good butler makes sure that our coffee machine is always topped up (Ron drinks about 1 cup a day). Brings us canapé, fresh fruit dipped in chocolate, tiny tarts, chocolates & makes sure that our room is tidied up again at night, bed turned down (there is a quirky little fold up towel animal on the bed every night), next day’s news letter, invitations etc. are there for us to see. TV turned on with the different restaurant information. Life is a bugger on this cruise – we have to work out what & where we will eat & which entertainment we want to go to. How will I go back to doing the cooking, washing, gardening, shopping etc.?