We were encouraged to explore and use the facilities to wash up while Wayne used one of the picnic tables to set up the provided lunch. There was a small fast food style stand and Wayne gave us the option of getting something from there if we didn't like his food or we wanted something other than water. Adam and Amy are big Pepsi drinkers so they stopped there to sodas before we sat down to eat. I must say though, this was the fanciest bag lunch I've ever had on an excursion. Wayne had brought two wraps per person with the option of either chicken strips or fish mixed up with lettuce, beans, corn, and some sort of sauce. I think only I and the tall man from the back row couple were willing to try the fish wrap. Honestly, as cliché as it sounds, it tasted like chicken. There was still plenty for everyone else to get two chicken wraps if they wanted. On the side there was cold pasta salad with broccoli and bell peppers. In addition there was fresh pineapple and macadamia nut brownies for dessert. I of course gave my brownie allotment to Dad. Wayne pushed us to keep eating as he "didn't want to have to take this home."
While we ate and chatted, we soon became aware of an added guest - a black dog had taken up residence under our picnic table laying on her side against our feet. She stayed there the whole time we were eating and it wasn't until we got up and she came out to say hi that we could see she was a nursing mom. Never saw any pups around though.
Wayne had joked before we even started eating that his one request is that no one help him clean up afterwards. He banished us all to explore with a time to meet back at the van while he cleaned up. Dad hung back in the shade while Adam, Amy, and I walked the beach in hopes of spotting turtles Wayne had mentioned sometimes come up along the shoreline. Unfortunately no turtles but the view was gorgeous. We all returned to the van to continue our journey.
With full bellies we all were mostly subdued as we continued on our journey. The next stop was at a family owned orchid farm. The woman with the cane opted to stay in the van. We were guided around the few greenhouse spaces by a young woman and she pointed out the various types of orchids. At one point while she preached the health powers of Moringa and how we could conveniently pick some up while we were there, she reached up to grab a sample only to send a little lizard scurrying up the side of the door. She apologized to the lizard (honestly I probably would have apologized to it too) and for a second I almost expected to hear the lizard reply "It's alright."
Our next stop was a chance to work off lunch at Waianapanapa State Park, one of perhaps the most famous black sand beaches in Maui. After parking in the lot at the entrance, Wayne pointed out the black sand beach, the blow hole on the far side of the beach, and if we were willing to climb down 82 steps, the lava tube we could explore right off the steps on this side of the beach. He joked that before making that decision, we needed to keep in mind that 82 steps down is also 82 steps back up. To get to the steps, you had to walk past the Roberts Hawaii buses that were currently unloading their provided bag lunches which looked like a small sub and bag of chips. Wayne told everyone to check out what the other groups are "stuck with for their lunch" compared to ours as we walked by. Both Dad and I said later that we would rather have had that lunch. Dad opted to stay at the top of the steps and admire the view while Adam, Amy, and I headed down the steps to explore. This was definitely not an area for wheelchair access but the steps were wide across enough with hand rails all the way so you could manage with any other disability if you felt up to the effort. I don't believe our tour mate with her cane made the trek. Getting down the steps was relatively easy and there was enough room to pass the people who were coming back up. Adam led the way into the lava tube and we both followed along until we came to a narrowing of the sides and roof requiring one to duck walk while hunched over to get past it. Once you were past it, the rest of the tube was wide open and you could not only stand upright but stand side by side at least 4 people across.
Adam and Amy venture through the narrow spot and head right for the magnificent view at the opening where the tube meets the ocean. What does my talented self do? If you are a return reader, you'll recall my personal game of "Where'd that bruise come from?" I hunch over and start my duck walk through. My back scrapes against the top so I try to crouch down a little further to clear the area. My body decides to no longer work as a unit and the next thing I know, I'm down on my right knee in the lava with my left hand out in front of my bent left knee to keep myself from falling forward onto my face. To picture this in your mind, if you've ever seen how superheroes on TV come to a stop after flying into an area like they're smacking the ground in greeting, that was me. Just as my ears register the gasps from the crowd of people I hop up with the fearless attitude that I've come down here to get a picture of the view and I'm getting it regardless.
Thankfully I didn't do any further damage than taking a chunk out of my knee. Adam was completely oblivious and focused on the view while Amy turned around and quickly announced our need to retreat when she saw how the new divot in my knee was sending blood running down my leg. The only way out though was to turn around and duck walk back through the narrow passage and then back up the 82 steps. Adam and Amy were kind enough to hold my camera at various points while Amy and I stopped at the 1 sink long line restroom facility at the top of the stairs. I didn't feel right about cutting the line so I just kept dabbing at my knee with the tissue I'd randomly thought to stick in my pocket on the way out this morning. Once I got close enough to walk in I nearly collided with a young girl who'd come to wash her hands after stepping out of the stall. Unfortunately there wasn't any paper towels in this restroom either so I was stuck trying to wet and rinse my one tissue until I at least got my leg wiped up and stemmed the bleeding.
We trekked back across the field where a small group had opted for pitching tents and camping at the park and made it back to the parking lot where I asked Wayne for a first aid kit. He had one in the back of the van and was able to give me a cleansing wipe and two Band-Aids to cover the chunk and subsequent scrapes above it. Wayne couldn't have been more considerate about it and routinely asked how my knee was when we'd get in and out of the van. Due to the placement of the injury, any time I had to bend my knee, walk, or kneel it was quite sore. I made the mistake of forgetting that later this day and kneeled to get out of my sofa bed reopening the wound. I made great use of our travel first aid kit the rest of the week. Because of such a deep cut, this day and for several afterward, I had bits of lava rock stuck in there no matter how well I washed. It made for a fun joke with my tour mates on the ride back that I got to take home a little piece of the island with me. I don't recommend this method for getting around the rule of not taking black sand home with you.
Now making our way back to the ship along the same road we traveled, Wayne pulled over to stop at a stand and pick up a few flowers for his wife. A little bit later up the road he stopped to retrieve small bananas for everyone right off the tree so we could experience how much firmer and different tasting these bananas were than the ones you get in the store.
He'd routinely pull off to the side and let personal cars go ahead as they were getting anxious stuck behind his careful driving. No one really seemed to be driving too reckless but there were a couple that made all of us cringe when they zoomed past. Our last stop was at the Halfway to Hana stand. They had candy, drinks, and a small assortment of meds capitalizing on those who might be nauseous by this point. Their biggest selling items were ice cream, banana macadamia nut bread, and shaved ice. Amy spotted some goats behind a fence nearby and ran over to greet them while Adam waited in line with both their orders. Adam tried to order the banana bread sundae (basically two small squares of banana bread instead of a brownie under a couple scoops of ice cream) but they insisted it had to be macadamia nut ice cream used in the sundae. He agreed and ordered Amy a regular watermelon shaved ice. I had heard that having the ice cream in the bottom of the shaved ice was the way to go so I got mine with pina colada, grape, and watermelon flavorings. Tasted like a weird popsicle until I got to the ice cream and by then it turned into one grape ice cream blob. Not to mention the huge plastic flower shaped cup they gave it to me in.
We had to take our treats back into the van so Wayne could keep us on schedule driving back. Not so easy to balance that cup and eat with a tiny wooden spoon like they used to give you in grade school cafeteria line ice cream cups. Wayne passed back a trashcan to collect everything and somehow I got to be the keeper of the can too. Plus side - when a bump in the road knocked the plastic cup from my hand, it fell right into the trash can.
I think by this point everyone was tired and we didn't talk much for the rest of the ride back. Thankfully no one in our group got motion sickness. As we waited for our turn to pass back through security, another cruiser saw my flower and asked if we'd been on some garden tour. I told her about being given flowers at the orchid farm and she was impressed. If I'd thought of it at the time I would have just given her my flower since they ended up sitting in the plastic on our coffee table the rest of the time. Wayne had suggested getting our stewards to put them in water but we never bothered.
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