by Louise Schutte

Created on: September 12, 2009

Zigzagging up the long road to the Haleakala Crater was anything but easy on someone with mild equilibrium problems, but waking up at 4:00 a.m. for the ride up to the summit was well worth all the butterflies in my empty stomach. When we reached the summit to see the sunrise, the landscape appeared as though we might just be on someone else's planet.

Maui, the Valley Isle, is a playground that offers an almost never-ending amount of activities to enjoy both on and off land. Three of my cousins and I started our trip by driving to see the sunrise. Though I didn't count the switchbacks on that snaking road, there were apparently 33 of them on the way up to the 10,023 foot high summit. We arrived behind numerous other early risers, but the cloud cover prevented us from seeing the golden orb emerge. The Haleakala National Park area includes marked trails and offers several photo opportunities once the sun actually peeks through. The barren crater itself is considered large enough to hold all of Manhattan.

Kula Lodge, on Haleakala Hwy., was a refreshing place to warm up after the cold temperature that was still in our bones from our journey to the top of Maui. The Kula Market, next door to the lodge, sells excellent preserves, among other treasures such as the wonderful ginger candies that soothed my stomach for the rest of our trip.

We stayed a private dwelling in the quaint upcountry area of Kula, home to ranch houses and flower farms, and much quieter and cooler than the beach resort areas of the island.

We shopped in the muggy heat at the Maui Swap Meet at Kahului. The swap meet, on Hwy 350 off Puunene Ave. next to the Kahului Post Office, runs from 7 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Saturdays. Like many markets, it sells souvenirs, crafts, arts, and flowers. We found some excellent fresh produce to put in the cooler for our evening meal - corn on the cob, green beans, liliquoi, star fruit, dragon fruit, bananas, and guavas. Then we were off to Kama'ole III Beach.

The following day's rain didn't stop us from leaving our cozy digs. We enjoyed a glorious day at the Maui Ocean Center, but we didn't get to see "Nemo". The aquarium is home to native Hawaiian fish only, such as the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Hawaii's state fish. The name, that is almost longer than the fish itself means "stitched together with a nose like a pig." The translation explains the length of the Hawaiian word.

The Ocean Center's shark tank was mesmerizing to the two of us in our group that are highly

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