Today we decided to drive to the summit of Haleakala which is the Volcano that forms the lower part of Maui. It is about an hour from the hotel to the base of the Volcano then the drive to the top is along winding roads but they are a lot better than the road we drove yesterday. The views as you drive up are spectacular you can almost see the whole island. This became a national park in 1916, about the same time as the National Park service was established in America, before this time few people visited the peak of Haleakala as it was part of wow akua – the realm of the gods, the humans lived in Waco kanaka or the realm of man. Early visitors came by horse to the summit then in the 1930s as part of the federal programme to improve the economy during the Great Depression they built a road. The road opened in 1935 and provided barking for 320 cars which I think is more than can park there now, possibly because the size of the car’s have increased quite significantly. In an effort to preserve the natural habitat and of the Hawaiian islands, they have provided a protected environment for more than 200 endangered species. Apparently there are Nene which are geese like birds that are not normally found at this elevation but boy scouts strapped cardboard boxes each holding a nene to their backs and carried them to their new home – no one seems to have asked the birds how they feel about living at this height! The summit of Haleakala is 10,023 feet, but it is once believed to have reached 15,000 feet. Erosion has caused it to sink into the crust of the Earth but even with this loss the volcano stands 28,000 feet above the sea floor. At the very top there is an observatory but unfortunately you are not allowed to go in. We walked around the summit and had a look at the Big Island where you can see their observatories as small while blobs on top of the mountain. There are a few hikes you can do but we decided against them as it was actually quite cold at the top, the temperature was 61F – it had been 83F in the valley but the main problem was the wind it was really breezy so after doing a circuit of the top we started to head back down. We stopped at about 9,000 feet and had our lunch looking over the valley. The clouds were starting to gather and at one point we actually were at the same level as them! The a few minutes later we were below them and the sun was out again – very strange. For the first time since we arrived on the island we didn’t get stuck in a massive traffic jam on the way back to the hotel so we got back about 3pm, time to write some postcards, update the pictures and blog, drink our champagne then hopefully watch the sunset before we head off for something to eat. Tomorrow we have a helicopter ride booked so hopefully we will see some of the famed waterfalls of this region.