I have a love/hate relationship with my birthday. I don’t like the stress and anxiety of making a declarative statement of “this is what I want to do” in fear that whatever I chose will not live up to expectations. But I do love it when it’s a day spent doing something fun for everybody involved. So when I woke up yesterday after spending the night before pouring over a guide book of Maui, deciding to snorkel in an area called Black Rock only to wake up to cloudy, cool skies I could feel my anxiety rising.

I bring down my Discovering Maui Guidebook and a package of weight management oatmeal (see previous post) and join the cast for breakfast on the back lanai. “What are we doing for your birthday?” everyone asks in one form or another. “I don’t know” is my response, “I’d planned a day of snorkeling, but it looks a little too cool for that”. They all agree and continue their conversation as I begin to frantically flip through the book. And that’s when I see it. I had missed it last night focusing on beach activities. A hike called the Acid War Zone to the blowhole Nalele. The book describes it as beautiful and surreal, an experience you won’t have anywhere else. That’s what we’re doing for my cast birthday celebration.

Rance has arranged a mini-van for the day and after picking it up, we head out on the highway to the northwestern part of the island. As we drive the clouds burn off and the temperature begins to heat up, it’s a beautiful day. We make a stop on our way to Lahaina to watch whales, lots of them blowing plumes of water into the air. Piero takes this opportunity to look like a ridiculous business man talking on his blue tooth phone.

Piero is very important and also quite a business man.

We continue on our way to lunch in Lahaina. I pick out a place recommended in the guide book to find out that on Sunday’s it only opens for dinner…anxiety rises. But the group comes through and we quickly agree on a restaurant on the water offering reasonably priced fish and chips and mai-tai’s for only $3.00. The drinks are good, the food, even better. I settle on a seared ahi sandwich with garlic chips and wasabi aioli, it’s high-grade tuna that almost melts in my mouth.

My Mai Tai cherry has a baby, I still eat it.

After lunch, we all pile pack into the van and continue on our way north. The road curves around the top of the island to a part of Maui I’ve never been in any of my visits. And it is beautiful! The road, which takes you along high cliff tops, all of a sudden dips down momentarily to a rocky bay area. We park, get out and scramble over the rocky beach. There’s this weird duality of facing the huge pounding surf with high rocky, red walled cliffs on either side of you and immediately behind you is a lush, quiet natural clear water stream, pooling up before it leaks and mixes with the salty ocean.  We take pictures, do bits, and get excited for the next unknown right around the corner.

Our Christian Rock Album Cover

The road rises quickly back up from the ocean floor inward a bit from the ocean and at mile marker 38 we park the van to head into the hike called Acid War Zone. It was given that name because as the island was forming and lava was spewing out, the wind, which on this part of the island can be pretty strong, would move and shape the still warm lava into the most incredibly surreal shapes. It really does look like something a set builder would create for a 1970’s sci-fi movie.

A tidal pool seen from 50 yards above.

Although there are several paths to get to the blowhole we choose the lesser used but certainly more breathtaking (and dangerous) path along the cliff side. From our vantage point we can see how the pounding surf has eroded the cliffs into these incredible shapes with pools and arches. It’s quite rocky and with tiny loose gravel underneath, our footing is never sure. But the views more than make up for any fear. We climb up to a light beacon and then descend into the Acid War Zone area. It really is surreal.

Hot as hell in the Acid War Zone

Rance bounds ahead and spots the first blowhole we’re warned about in the guidebook. Warned because though impressive it’s not THE blowhole that is still about 100 yards away, hidden behind a wall of lava formations. Apparently a lot of visitors see this one and think it’s the blowhole they’ve read about only to miss the incredible display just a bit further. This one does comes from a hole that’s been eroded out of the side of a lava wall, and the force of the water coming through creates a loud booming sound, as if the water is in it’s own ampi-theater.

The imposter

Rance leads the way up and over the lava bed to a cliff area looking over a two feet diameter hole in a lava shelf over the water. We don’t have to wait for long when a surge of water rushes underneath the shelf and forces a plume of water up the hole about 200 feet into the air. This is THE blowhole! The force of it is incredible and the mist and spray just misses our chosen lookout point..

The real deal

We stand in awe of this natural sea geyser from here for about 5 minutes when Piero says “if we go over to the other side we’ll see the rainbows”. Going to the other side means passing through the shower area from the after affect of spout. We all manage to time it right not to get too wet. And we await the next plume. And as soon as it comes up a rainbow creates itself following the path of the water. It’s a magical site to see a rainbow suddenly appear and then travel through the sky from left to right.

It's magical!!

We get about ½ hour of quite serene watching the power of the sea until a group of teenagers who are clearly traveling through Hawaii descend upon the blowhole. About 15 of them hold hands around the circle and scream their bloody heads off every time the water shoots up. Several of the nim noms stick their faces over the blowhole apparently wanting a face full of water and not understanding the power. They only try that once. But their screaming and antics break our spell and signal our return through the Acid War Zone to our car.

On our way back we stop in at the Whaler’s Village, a high-end outdoor mall in Ka’anapali. It’s also connected to one of the most beautiful beaches in Hawaii. We look around the mall and then I announce I’m going to go check out the beach. Everyone comes out and though none of us are dressed for it, and for some the idea of sitting on a sandy beach in their hot sweaty hiking clothes may be the last thing they want to do, we all sit and take in the sunset. It’s just a perfect moment in a great day.

What a bunch of goofballs.

But by now we’re all hungry again and the smells coming from the restaurants that line the beach are so enticing. But there’s a restaurant I want to try all the way on the other side of the island in the town of Pi’aia, called Milagros. And so the day continues into night and we head back across the island into the last town on the road to Hana, before it becomes a seemingly never ending stretch of twists and turns. I love the feel of this little town it’s kind of hippie eclectic, Little individually owned shops and great restaurants. I’ve only been here at night though so I really need to make a day of it at some point to get the real feel.

Milagros delivers on all of the promises written about in the guidebook, plus Jen and Larrance had brought Jen’s parents here just the week before. Great margaritas and the food, the food was soooo good. Sometimes when you eat with a group of people, one person gets a meal that they don’t like or just doesn’t look or taste as god as everyone else’s. Here everything was fantastic. I had a burrito the size of a small baby. Now I know I wouldn’t be able to eat a full baby in one sitting, no matter how hungry I am.

A burrito the size of my head...yum.

We finished our meal and headed back to the ship. It was a great day, with great friends with little to no anxiety. Now if I could only make that declarative statement about what I want to do with my life.