Maui to Bangkok, Thailand

Jan.16, 2010
Yesterday was a day of snorkeling. It was a nice area on Maui right next to a road and near the western part of the island.
The condo is nice and 7 of us girls fit into it. Its nice but we have a bug problem so everything has to be tucked away to keep bugs off. The first day everyone did lunch in the girls condo. It worked but then us girls ended up with all the dishes and didn’t have any for dinner.
I was in the water snorkeling first and was one of the last to come out. I came in the first time to grab the rashguard. I went far, almost to the end of the reef but turned back because I thought if something was to happen I would have no way of helping myself. So I headed back and found out that a few people had seen a sea turtle. I thought I shouldn’t have gone off on my own. So I went out again with Denny. I ended up with Jacob, Allen, and Andrew.
It was near the coral I saw but it was more dead and a few corals were completely destroyed. Its sad that such beauty is getting destroyed just due to carelessness. Even I could see that our group were careless at times getting into the water and fins hitting coral or disturbing sandy bottoms.
When the group decided to head back I headed back with the guys but we noticed that the other people were looking at something. It was a Sea Turtle! I am so happy to see one. The group followed it then I thought it would be good to stop because it could get spooked. I headed back and the groups broke up. Allen and I headed back. On the way back I saw a small boxfish. Its harder to point to something snorkeling then diving. But Allen saw it and we headed on. We made it to shore and when everyone got back we had a group photo. We headed back to the condo to freshen up before going shopping. I went shopping and got most of the stuff for the meal I am making but somehow forgot the chicken. So today I went back and got it.
Today started off on the wrong foot. I had coffee was trying to get skype to work so I walked up the stairs with coffee in one hand and the net book in another, bad idea liquid with electronics. I tripped on the stairs and went down. The laptop went down and I slid and fell spilling my coffee on the carpet and netbook. The netbook seems to be working fine but I was worried for awhile. Then we had to deal with the carpet, which came out worse then the netbook, which smells like coffee now. The next was the office was closed so I didn’t know how I would get my packages. On top of that all the money I had from the loan is no longer there and so if I don’t get it then I have nothing to spend and am stuck. My only thought is that this loan company just takes back what isn’t used. On the good side I got my packages. I kept praying and finally consented that if my packages didn’t arrive I wouldn’t care as long as the netbook worked. I went outside to get my snorkel gear and Brenna asked if anything was wrong so I told her and managed not to burst into tears. As I was talking I saw the mail truck and ran down there. The guy was just about to call the number that was on the packages. I was able to get mine and picked one up for Denny as well. The netbook works and I got my packages. God does answer prayer.
After that got cleared up the group headed out to the lava flow and snorkeling. We went until the road ended and has beautiful lava flows. Lots of volcanic rocked that had been deposited and weathered. It was so awesome to see it. It made me want to go back to geology just for that. We walked for a long time but couldn’t decide on a spot to snorkel. So we got back in the cars and found a sandy beach. We couldn’t snorkel but all of us just wanted to swim. We jumped into the water and had fun in the blue water being able to see the bottom which was about 10 or more feet down.
Denny found a snorkel area so I got out of the water and headed to snorkel. A few of us went snorkeling. I saw snowflake morays. I was watching the one but the surf kept moving me. In the end the surf moved me and I saw another eel head come up. 2 eels! One was along the coral edge and the other just his head coming up. It was amazing because the only eels I had seen were the green morays, which are much bigger then the ones I saw. It made my day to see something that not many others saw. Unfortunately Denny hit some urchins on accident and got spines up and down his pinky finger and some in his arm, so he spent most of tonight pulling them out. one of the girls got one that went up into her fin and stabbed her foot. We got it out and both were ok.
When we got back it was some time before dinner and I got a chance to freshen up. For dinner the boys made Kabobs, grits, and dessert was brownies. After dinner we headed to the store. At the store I got the rest of the ingredients I needed. I got back and found the kitchen a mess and so I cleaned it while talking to the family at home. I was able to talk to Mom, Paula, Carrie, Taber, Erin and Trevor. It was nice talking to them. Man I am tired with doing alot of stuff.

Jan. 18, 2010
I was so tired last night that I didn’t get a chance to log what happened. It began with getting ready for snorkeling and then a whale watch. When I was getting into the car I heard a snap and found that the hook that kept the halter of my swimsuit together had broken. Luckily I had a shirt on so Brenna tied it up and I made do with a really tight suit the whole day. We went to Black Rock beach near the Sheraton hotel. It was clean sandy with beautiful blue water with a reef on cliff. I finally headed out and from the sandy to the coral reef. two other people were with me. As I headed to the reef I saw a trumpet fish swimming along the sandy bottom. When I got to the reef I saw so many fish that I only kept tract of which ones I saw and not the count. When I was swimming along I saw an eel. It wasn’t just in a hole but swimming along the coral and ocean bottom. It moved from rock to rock and on the one rock it rested and opened its mouth. I wish I had a camera. It had a green head and green body with white dots. Finally it settled in a hole and I moved on. I saw a yellow tang, the fish that has the scar in finding nemo, I have the name written down somewhere, unicorn fish, convicts, black durgon and much much more. Becky came up and asked if I heard the whales singing. I dove down and I could hear the whales singing! It was beautiful. I hardly heard it at the surface because the sound travels better in deeper water do to no sound being lost to the air. While floating on the surface I saw a small eagle ray in the middle of some fish. Oh how I wish I had my dive gear for it would have been deep enough and perfect conditions for SCUBA. The group I was with headed farther out to sea and we found not one but two Sea Turtles at a cleaning station! We looked at them and as we did one came to the surface within touching range. I could see every feature on its face. I was interesting to see it move its head in and out of the water to breathe. The mouths look like they have some pretty strong beaks. We stopped following it and headed out farther and Nicole almost ran into another Sea Turtle! And farther off was also one. How much more awesome could it get? We headed out again and found another cleaning station which had 2 sea turtles on it. So 6 Sea Turtles in all! I said the next thing I wanted to see was a shark bit sadly I didn’t see one. I was far out so Becky and I headed back in. Some people were feeding the fish and we got caught in the middle so we got to see swarms of fish in one area. In that swarm of fish was a puffer swimming along. It was so cute and came so close I could have touched it. As we were headed back 6 cuttlefish were right near where I had started snorkeling. This snorkel expedition turned out very good. Becky and I got pushed around by the waves when we came in causing me to get a lot of sand in my suit.
By then I was tired so I sat down and ate my lunch. As I was eating my lunch a girl got tumbled by the wave and injured her neck and face. They couldn’t get her out of the water so some of the Hiram students sat and blocked the waves by sitting in front of her. The good thing is that she could move her arms and feet. After that I went with Liz and Brenna to shower out all the sand in our swimsuits. Sand was were it shouldn’t be that’s for sure. After that I decided that the best way to get out the sand was to get into the water. So I joined a few of the guys and I body surfed the waves. I was able to surf and then get up on my feet and plant them in the sand and not fall and get all sandy. After that I got out and did my fish ids and then sun tanned for while before it was time to leave for whale watching.
On the way to whale watching we had problem with people not getting to the cars in time but it worked out in the end. We Whale watched with the Pacific Whale Foundation. We had a lot of whale activity from Humpback whales. First we saw a mother and her calf along with the male follower and 2 or males following. It was amazing to see the fins and the arch out of the water. The mother can carry as well as nurse at the same time. The whales feed in Alaska and then breed and train in Hawaii. The mother will not eat but the calf will. It was cool to hear whale facts while looking at the whales. We moved away because we didn’t want to disturb the mother trying to train her calf in how to be a whale. We came upon another mother and calf with only one male follower. We have to be 100yards from them but we did seem them very well. The calf breached a few times. People cant agree on why the humpback whales do that but most agree it’s a signaling technique. The calf got curious and got super close to the boat that I could see the eyes when he came out of the water. We stopped engines until they moved. As we did that they put a hydrophone down and we heard whale songs from a male somewhere nearby. After the calf gave a show with 2 breaches right in front of me, the mother moved it along and we finally moved. We saw a competition group of males. We stopped watching them and headed to the harbor. On the way there and mother and calf were in our way. The mother was rolling and lifting fins. It was harder to see since we were not close. So that ended a wonderful day. For dinner I made chicken tortilla casserole with salad and Nicole made apple dumplings.
Today We did the 12 mile hike through the crater, should be called a erosional valley, of Haleakala. We started at an elevation about 10,000ft. Basically only rocks and dirt at the summit. I was with the fast group for the beginning but somehow managed to be the slowest person. Lol oh well. We went down hill for about 4000ft and then walked across cinder cones and lava field. We rested at a cabin and then headed to the steepest mountain and went up 2000ft. It was almost 2 hours up the steep mountain side and I was dying. I didn’t have enough water and I knew I was over heating not even half way up the mountain. I was doing good at the start but the trail kept going on and on and on. It was sandy until we got to the lava field and then after getting past the cinder cones it was green. It was still very hot and dry that I was dehydrating and overheating. The final part was the hardest not having any water and having to go up switch backs up the mountain. All in all it was fun and I would do it again as long as I have more water with me.
After being dirty, dehydrated and hungry we went to Da Kitchen for good Polynesian food. I had teriyaki chicken that had been marinated for 48 hours. It was so good! I am so glad tomorrow is a free day.

Jan 20, 2010
Yesterday was a free day. I wanted to sleep in but at 8:30am I was awake. Around 10 I went shopping with Ahne. I came to a place that sold Maui made soaps. So I got one for my parents and I got a free sample. On the way back to the condo I picked up shaved ice. It had ice cream and the flavoring on the ice was cherry and pineapple, just wonderful. Then Swaffy and Johnny B went surfing and I watched their stuff and tanned. Swaffy got up at least 3 times. Afterwards I went to the beach and boogie boarded with some of the students. After that we had dinner at the girls condo using leftovers. I am so sore from the hike. My calves and hips hurt. My socks caused a reaction and I have rashes on the back of my heels.
Today was NOAA. We learned about Hump-back whales from Ed Lyman and how he works on untangling them if they come entangled. It made me want to work with Hump-back whales. I really like the songs that the male whales sing. It so pretty sounding even if it is grunts, moans and growls. After the presentation Denny showed us the fishing area. It is an area that was once an area for Hawaiian aquaculture. It is being rebuilt to be used again and as a historic site. After that we head to the Iao Needle. It is a mountain peak standing by itself because it eroded away from the rest. Wasn’t all that impressive but the nature around the stream was really nice and I liked standing at the rail hearing the water babble over the rocks. The area around the needle was I think more worth it then the needle itself. I came back to the condo and we pulled everything out of the fridge to see what we had for lunch and leftover. A group of us then headed to the post office to send home stuff. I sent home the soap along with my fish id card and some postcard to the family, Tom, Tom’s family and Banecroft house. Then I went with Nicole, Kanako, Brenna, Liz, Jacob and Johnny B to watch the sunset. Along the way we met up with Nate. When we got to the beach it was fun having my feet in the sand with the waves coming over them. I got some really nice photos because there was very little clouds covering the sun. Denny joined us but had to leave to pick someone up at snorkel bobs. I just loved the sunset. I want to get pictures of sunsets around the world. When we were watching a wave came up and tried to take Nates backpack and other peoples shoes. After the sun went down we headed back for dinner. It was leftovers from all the food we had. We have to leave here by 5:45am. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Jan. 23, 2010 (lost one two whole days traveling and crossing datelines)
At this moment sitting in my hotel room at the New Empire Hotel I can hear the sounds of mopeds, cars honking horns, buses moving people here and there and the tuk tuks trying to find customers or moving along the busy streets of Bangkok, Thailand in Chinatown.
Today we went to two temples and walked around and then we took a river barge to the barge museum. It has all the royal barges still used in ceremonies along with one that got destroyed in WWII. The bummer was that we had to pay 100baht to bring in cameras so I didn't get any pictures at the museum. Then through the small cannels we proceeded and saw lots of cool things. It is very tourist oriented so everyone wants to show you something or get you to buy something. Street food is very good here. Due to the loss of time I am very tired but have lots of homework to do. Good night for now.