The Northwest Coast

Here are some photos from our drive around the northwest tip of Maui, along the Kahekili Highway.



This highway winds around the coastline, back and forth along gulches and becomes incredibly narrow in places. Many blind corners were accompanied by beautiful views, but we tried to stay focused on the road until we came to the overlooks. . .













At one overlook, we had a very expansive view of the ocean behind these two pu'u, or hills (above).







There were lots of misty mountain and valley views (of the West Maui Mountains) as well.







You can see the road across the gulch in this photo.
















At one overlook we came upon these small pu'u covered in large rocks.





As we walked down towards the ocean, we started to see all the red earth and spring green grass covered hills. It made both of us think a little bit of the rolling hills of Scotland.




I spotted this small semi-hidden cave as Russell was taking in the view. A good shelter from the strong winds for someone or something.


The red earth was a great contrast with the blue ocean adn sky. Earth, water and sky!











Our drive eventually took us to Honolua Bay for some snorkeling, (sorry, no underwater camera).

DRAGON'S Teeth

Yesterday, we went on a hike along a beach near the northwest coast of Maui.













The rock along this beach was a lot different than the dark brownish- black lava rock in other areas of Maui.





There were a couple of small caves near the ocean that had very distinguished changes in the layers of rock. You can see that here with the color change from a terracotta color into a brownish red and then onto a light brown.






After the beach, we climbed up onto the rocks and along the coast of Honokahua Bay, passing many beautiful tidepools along the way. The water was crystal clear, the rocks a deep gray and the algae on the rocks a splendid rose pink.








As we were nearing the top of the rock cliffs at Makaluapuna Point, we started to see sharp and jagged gray rocks, jutting up into the sky.









Once we reached the top of the cliffs, we could see the "dragon's teeth" that give this location it's nickname.


There was a great array of textures and shapes in these rocks, like these slightly rippling ones.




The colors were also varied. These rocks were a part of the second period of volcanism on the West side of Maui. They appear lighter in color because they contain less iron than the first lava rock (basalt) that formed this side of the island.






More ripples:









Eventually, we walked out to the end of the point, where the ocean rushes powerfully back into the rock.








Somewhere out there is the neighboring island of Molokai.






The rock at the end of the point was darker and more iron rich.











If you look closely, you can see a small, naturally formed arch just above the white water in this photo.







More tide pools amongst the rocks:







The picturesque view of the very, very gray landscape when looking back inwards at the West Maui Mountains.