Aloha!

Greetings from balmy Maui! The flight yesterday was long but uneventful. Boxing the bike was easy and my airline was really friendly and helpful in total contrast to the debacle in August in Edmonton.

They are charging way more to fly the bike now- $175! It used to be around $50-$90. They also charge for every checked bag and even the food on the airplane. Oh well, flying Sam is spendy but it's still way cheaper than a rental car.

As I was boxing Sam, I heard someone calling my name. It was Cam Matthews, one of my former physical science students and peer tutors. Both he and Beau Day now work as baggage handlers at the airport.

Sam, the bike, and my other checked bag were AWOL last night when I arrived so I took a cab to the Banana Bungalow, the hostel where I had reservations.



There was a party going on when I arrived, so I got to meet lots of people right off the bat including a bunch of people from Ashland.
The dorm rooms here are pretty bare bones but adequate. The advantage of staying in a hostel is that it's really cheap and there is usually a really interesting group of people around. They have a kitchen and laundry, too.

The airline called and is going to deliver Sam and my gear this morning. I'm currently hanging out waiting for my wayward bike to show up. Once I get everything sorted, I'll head into town to pick up some food and a filter for my camera lens. I'll also have to find some methanol for my stove. On the mainland it's easy to find in the form of gas line antifreeze. Finding the stuff here is a bit more challenging.

I also want to ride up Iao valley today which is supposed to be really pretty. I'm staying one more night and the will head out to ride around West Maui. I'll take the ferry to Molokai and Lanai'i and then come back to ride the road to Hana and up Haleakala. I brought a lightweight backpack so I want to do an overnight hike on Haleakala maybe next week.

My bike finally arrived intact. I put it together and headed down into town. I found a camera store which was right next to a bike shop. I had the shop give Sam the once over since had developed a few rattles from the flight. I found Heet at Walmart and bought food for a few days. It's warm so I'm on the peanut butter diet since nothing else will keep in the panniers like it did in BC and theYukon.

I went down to the beach and watched some kite boarders.


It started raining on the way home but it really didn't matter since it's so warm. The last of the Dempster dirt finally got washed off my gear!

I didn't have time to go up the valley but will still be able to do it later since I'll be coming through here again.
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Akulikuli Way,Wailuku,United States