Hawaii Diary
Maui and Molokai, 1999.Tuesday:
We flew from Orlando to LA, and then straight to Maui. Rental car pickup went smoothly, and we were off to find our B&B in the mountains. Had good directions from the owner, so we checked in at the Hula Kula Inn. Our room was in the main house, upstairs, with a fantastic view of the ocean and valley. Maui's kind of hourglass shaped, and we were looking over the narrow part, so we could see ocean on both sides. We found the nearest town for dinner (Makawao, if you're interested) which had a way too good Italian restaurant for two travel weary mainlanders. Went back to our room and had a good night's sleep.
Wednesday:
There was only 1 other person staying at the Inn, an artist from Vancouver working on research of proteas for a painting she was doing. She was very nice, and breakfasts were pleasant. We grabbed our maps and went to a botanical garden, a protea farm, and then up to the top of Haleakala.
The view was great, although the altitude was a bit much for us sea level folks. We opted to mosey around the observation area and not do any hiking. We also hadn't planned to go all the way to the top, so we weren't dressed especially well for hiking. On the way down the mountain, we stopped at Hosmer's Grove and did a nature walk. By now it was about 3 pm, so we opted for a trip back to town for an early supper rather than a late lunch. We went to the Mexican restaurant in Makawao and understood why muu-muus were so popular in Hawaii. We ordered mahi mahi fajitas for two. The waitress said that since they didn't come with any sides, perhaps we'd like to order a side of beans & rice (Mexican restaurant, remember). I passed, but Dan said ok. The 'side' was a platter that would have fed the two of us as a full meal by itself. The fajitas were just as generous. We wandered through the town and looked at the art galleries and gift shops for a while, went to the general store and bought a bottle of wine, and then returned to the B&B to enjoy the hot tub under the stars.
Thursday: Thanksgiving.
Not much was open today. We drove to the one winery on Maui, but it was closed. The drive was well worth the time. Gorgeous scenery. The 'upcountry' area of Maui is certainly not what you'd think of when you think of the Hawaiian Islands. Looked a lot more like Africa, with its red dirt and wind-blown acacia trees. Next, we took the back roads through the sugar cane fields to the other mountain, the Iao valley. We climbed up to see the needle and enjoyed the lower altitude there. Being Thanksgiving, there weren't any cafe type restaurants open for lunch, so we found a grocery store and bought some snacks to eat on the porch at the B&B. We had reservations at the Kula Lodge up a bit higher on the mountain for dinner, and we had a Thanksgiving dinner with a view that could not be beat.
Friday: The Biennial Conference begins - or what can go wrong, will go wrong.
Took our time checking out after breakfast, and headed down to Lahaina before going to the Outrigger for our pre-conference meeting. There was a narrow gauge train, so of course we had to ride it. Strolled down Front Street and found the appropriate bauble souvenir at a jewelry shop. We drove to Wailea to the conference hotel and were given a proper welcome, complete with leis. Since Dan's the President Elect of SMM, we got an upgraded room with a lanai that overlooked the ocean. This was much more of the tropical island look, with palm trees and waves breaking over the lava rocks.
The Conference Committee had puu-puus and drinks with the hotel sales manager, and the conference was more or less underway. Actually, less is the operative word here.
This was the 13th Biennial, and although I've never been very superstitious, I think it's time to start. The Abstract Books containing the synopses of all the work presented had not yet shown up, and nobody knew where they were. They had been printed on the mainland, and being Thanksgiving weekend, nothing was open, so we wouldn't have a clue as to their whereabouts until Monday. Of course, registration for the meeting opened Sunday afternoon. Also, the canvas totebags that everyone was to receive had been impounded by customs at the Honolulu airport because of a glitch with the import paperwork. (Don't ask why they had the bags printed in India-- I learned that the Hawaiians do things much differently from us mainlanders.) The airline was facing a $10,000 fine, but we had no bags to stuff. Backup bags were being printed in Honolulu, but wouldn't arrive until Sunday at the earliest. The hotel graciously provided us with 1500 plastic laundry bags so that we could get the materials packed. With luck, the canvas bags would arrive in time so that the attendees might never know the difference.
From the start, I had told the committee that my needs for the registration office were two computers with Office 97, at least 1 with a zip drive, and two laser printers. They assured me that the Maui High Performance Computer Center, which was donating a bunch of computers for a computer room where people could check email, would have it covered. When the computers finally arrived, it was not quite what I had ordered. One computer wouldn't start at all, and the second had no operating system. There was just one printer. By now, the committee members were getting good at finding Office Max in Kahului, where they bought a printer and a zip drive. Laptops were borrowed. While Herb was buying the printer and zip drive, we managed to borrow a printer from the Humpback whale sanctuary office, which was also hosting the meeting, so we didn't need the new one. Also, since I would now be using our laptop with the database on it, I didn't need the zip drive, although I was a bit uneasy about not having a good backup system.
At this point, it was time for the sunset cruise that a local tour operator had offered to the Board and Committee members, so we got on a bus back to Lahaina and tried to forget what awaited us the next day.
Sunday: We quickly printed up some vouchers for the abstract books and put them in the 1200 envelopes of the pre-registered delegates. The canvas totes (second printing -- the first are still in Honolulu to my knowledge) arrived, and each had its stuffed laundry bag inserted. Two of the people I hired from a temp agency to take registration and type badges didn't show, and the agency is closed on the weekend. We had student assistants who were working off some of their expenses, so I filled in with those, and we were ready to roll at the appointed hour. Things actually went pretty well, and all the pre-planning I'd done before we left was worth it. I was ensconced in my "Kakui Room" for the duration of the meeting. No windows, so I really don't know much about what was happening for the next week. I did my thing, and people seemed satisfied with the overall meeting.
The Next Saturday:
We had a breakfast meeting to wrap up the conference, which lasted until just after noon. I volunteered to work for the next meeting in Vancouver in 2001, but no details have been decided about how much I'll do, and what compensation I'll get. I think it's time for me to make a bit rather than work as a volunteer for expenses. We'll see how the Society wants to handle it. Checked out of the hotel around 3, and went to the airport for our 5:30 flight to Molokai. Work done, back to vacation.
We were met at the airport on Molokai by the very loquacious Rudy who told us everything we could possibly want to know about the island and the Molokai Ranch on the 30-40 minute drive to the check-in point. We checked in, and then spent the next 30 minutes over a bumpy dirt road heading for our Kaupoa Beach site. Molokai Ranch is, for the most part, an eco-tourist spot. There are 3 camps: one designed for horseback and ranching activities, one for hiking, rock climbing and other 'adventure' activities, and the beach camp. We arrived at the beach camp and were driven to the pavilion where all meals are served. Dinner was underway. We had some grilled salmon and bought a bottle of wine to finish in our 'room' after dinner. All meals are included, and are buffet 'all you can eat' style. You can eat any meal at any of the three camps. Facilities are 'tentalows' -- framed canvas rooms with a deck outside, and a semi-bathroom. There are 2 tents at each deck, but they don't use both unless it's a single family. So, we had our tent, which had a queen sized bed, a couple of night tables, an ice chest replenished with fresh ice daily, a couple of shelves and some pegs for hanging things. The deck had two nice deck chairs. The bathroom had a self composting toilet system (uses just 1 pint of water per flush), a hot water shower, navy style, where you only get water while you're pulling on a rope, and a sink. Towels and plush robes provided. Also flashlights. There are solar battery powered lights in the tents and bathrooms, and a paddle fan in the tent as well. All run on solar battery power. No outlets. So, no radio, tv, computer, hair dryer -- total getaway from it all. And it was great, especially after the hectic week. With nothing nearby, there are no city lights, and the stars are amazing, especially at 3 am. The bathroom didn't have a full ceiling, so you could look up at the stars while you peed! Spectacular.
Weather at that time of year can be rough, but since we didn't really have any desire to go out in a kayak or zodiak, we enjoyed watching the surf pound the beach. The pavilion, which we could now see in daylight, was on the beach, and we could watch the 10 foot waves as we ate breakfast. We walked along the beach, and the trails, and just relaxed. The next day we took one of the camp shuttles to the Kolo camp, which is the one on the cliffs, and had lunch there. There's a beach there, too, although you have to hike a bit to get to it. We walked there for about an hour, and then returned to our place, where I sat on the beach, and Dan snorkeled, until it was time to get ready for dinner. Since the ranch was pretty low occupancy at this time of year (I think there were 5 tents being used), we asked for late checkout and I enjoyed the beach one more morning. After lunch, we repeated the journey to the check in point and then to the airport. We had about 4 hours in Maui before our flight to the mainland left, so we took a cab to the mall and ate at Sam Choy's place. It more than met the expectations after seeing him on the Food Network.
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