How have we been keeping ourselves entertained you might ask?

• Went and checked out the sharks, turtles, and other fish at the Maui Ocean Center . They also put on a bit of a show where they put a diver into a big old tank to feed the fish and allow you to do a bit of a Q&A with the marine biologists.
• Drove though Kihei down south to check out the lava fields and do a bit of snorkeling, ended up doubling back and spending the afternoon at the delightful Big Beach .
• Saw a fantastic magic show over at Warren & Annabelle’s .
• Went on an nice day hike up the Waile’e Valley, along a river and over a couple of suspension bridges, up to a waterfall. Apparently Lost filmed some scenes up here.
• Had a late lunch in Paia and ended up spending the afternoon at the Paia Bay Beach .

After seeing the weather reports from back home I am *not* looking forward to going home tomorrow.

Picture on Flickr as usual.

Yep, total downpour, pretty much all day long. O’ahu took the brunt of the storm, getting 14(!) inches of rain in less than 24 hours. Maui didn’t get it as bad, but it got a whole bunch of rain. The 5 day forecast isn’t looking too hot either – laugh it up all you haters, bitter that I’m in Hawaii and you’re not . We’re not letting it hold us back though. Today we took the drive out to Hana anyways and we have more plans for the rest of the time here. Yesterday was actually really nice, perfect to drive up to over 10,000 ft and check out Haleakala.

More photos over on flickr.

Even more over on Jason’s Blog.

• I’ll take 80-85 degree weather over 30-40 degree weather anyday, cloudy or not.
• Things in Maui are pricey – gas is about $1 more a gallon than back home, food ranges from slightly to extremely more expensive.
• Some areas of Hawaii remind me of pictures I’ve seen of the moon, or ones sent back by the Mars lander, others remind me more of eastern washington. I’ve only seen a bit of land so far that reminds me of Jurassic Park
• Walking through Lahaina, most of it seems really touristy. I’ve never seen so many people trying to sell you time shares clustered together in like a 5 block radius before.
• Little kids like to get up early. really early.

Bored? First round of photos can be found here.

• The people who live here are just about the nicest people I have ever met. Of course, this is a gross generalization however I was overwhelmed at how many friendly and generous people I encountered, French and Polynesian both. If you do go be sure to pick up some tahitian phrases, I got the impression the indigenous people really appreciated the effort when you try and speak their language. French is also spoken, but from talking to locals there still are some undercurrents of hostility towards the French amongst some.
• I like sailing, however I’m not so sure open ocean sailing is my thing – I just like a bit more to look at and calmer seas. Turns out big waves, strong wind, and water crashing over the deck isn’t as scary as it sounds after a while and really makes one appreciate the fact that they don’t get sea sick.
• Cruisers are a pretty tight knit community of people of all ages and backgrounds not just a bunch of rich old folks like you might suspect. Everywhere we went I swear Jason knew nearly all the other boaters we encountered and people were always lending each other a hand and giving others the 411 on the local scene. We had a great time hanging out with with Greg and Bonnie, Eric and Ivonna, Ben and Matt, Brett and Naomi, and many many more.
• Due to the declining dollar and the fact that so many goods must be imported into this tiny economy, French Polynesia can be pretty expensive for Americans. I found that prices for some of the basic staples to be more expensive than even what things cost when I visited Tokyo.
• Food here can be, well, interesting. You get a fusion of the three main ethnics groups (Polynesian, French, and Chinese) that I don’t think you see else where. For instance, they make these baguette sandwiches you can get for only 180-300 CFP ($2-4) stuffed with ingredients like deep fried fish and chips, meatloaf and french fries, or chow mein. At night there are these food trucks (much like taco trucks) that roll in where you can get dishes like steak frites (just what it sounds, usually several pieces of grilled meat on a giant plate of french fries) or poisson cru for around 1000 CFP, well in the range of cheap skates like us to eat out now and then.
• Snorkeling in French Polynesia is just like what I would imagine it would be like to swim through largest aquarium you have ever visited. I saw literally hundreds of different kinds of fish, sometimes in school of thousands and thousands, and often in crazy shapes and colors we just don’t get here in the pacific northwest. The water temperature is in the 80s and the seas so clear that in some areas you can clearly make out the bottom while standing on the boat from depths as much as 30 feet.

Pictures are up over on my Flickr account…

After a rocky night in the harbor, we pulled out and headed over to Moorea. It was wet and windy sail in the largest seas I’ve ever been in, but then again I’ve never done much sailing outside of puget sound before.

Moorea has been great. Where we are moored we can swim right out to the reefs where the snorkelling is incredible. I can’t believe the variety of fish I’ve seen, from big ol sting rays to little fish that look like tetras – its like swimming through a well stocked aquarium display. Yesterday I joined up with some of Jason’s friends and went hiking up to a viewpoint where we could overlook both of the bays on this side of the island. It was a long trek even when you factor in the couple of rides we were able to hitch and the kind stranger who lent us his car (!) to get to the top, but it was well worth it.

Today we are probably going to pull anchor and head over to Huahine – its a 90 mile sail, a good deal of which we’ll do overnight, so this should be interesting.

Pictures and more information over at Jason’s blog.