2am starts. They’re not normally the stuff relaxing holidays are made of but if you’re going to haul yourself from the plush sanctuary of your king-sized bed at some ungodly hour then Mount Haleakala might be just the pile of rock that makes it all worthwhile.
Trust us, we’ve confirmed it.
2:45AM
Often the most enriching travel experiences come from getting a little out of ones comfort zone. Sometimes that comfort zone comes in the form of staying under the doona (or quilt if you’re one of our North American readers). We get it.
For the sake of our safety/relationship we opted to leave the early morning drives to the professionals. In our case, we had Steven from Roberts Hawaii at our hotel at 2am, and like a kindly godparent he swaddled us up in the back seat of the van with our assortment of hotel robes and pillows to just slumber away the 2 hour journey.
5:00AM
You’d think that such an undistinguished meeting would require a proper re-introduction but by the we started up the mountain, Steven knew every single blurry-eyed guests name by heart. It’s just a small thing but it goes a long way to bonding a motley crew of strangers (and makes the huddling together at the summit a little less awkward but more on that later).
It’s around this time that we could feel the effects of the altitude as our van started to make the 29 switch-back turns to the summit.
They don’t call it breathtaking for nothing – the thinner air means you’re actually forced to slow down and appreciate the scenery. Perfect for those who struggle ‘turning off’ on a holiday. Nothing like being a little starved for oxygen to chill one out.
6:00AM
The tallest peak in the park is Puʻu ʻUlaʻula (Red Hill), sitting about 10,000ft up so it gets pretty cold – as in about 5 degrees Celsius – which we wager is about 20 degrees off whatever chills you originally expected to find in Hawaii. Don’t be surprised to see visitors wrapping up in whatever robes and towels they could scrummage from their hotel. We know because we did this.
The plus side is that those kinds of temps have an extremely leveling effect on the community of visitors who make the pilgrimage, so expect to make huddle buddies quickly as you attempt to share body warmth.
Steven also seemed to inherently understand that Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs shifts dramatically once you reach the top and had his own collection of thermal sleeping bags and a ready supply of hot chocolate on hand so we weren’t too distracted by the chill to take our eyes off the vista.
6:45AM
By the time you see the tell-tale line of orange smile across the clouds, you know that, shudders and all, you’re in for a treat. Nature, in all her artistry, really did a number on Haleakala and standing at the main lookout reveals enough rolling red, black and orange volcanic cinder cones to have you feeling like you’ve just driven to the moon.
Forget filtering any imagery you capture – all the colours are so vivid they’ll make a poet out of even the most reticent of wordsmiths.
An extract from our travel journal even reads:
‘It’s like a silent explosion of shades went off and just radiated peace across the landscape.’
Okay… We didn’t say it would be good poetry but our point is that it’ll have you feeling extremely romantic.
By now the chill generally dissipates and you’re free to explore the park at your will (keeping on to paths).
7:00AM
Haleakala is home to one of the world’s rarest species of Silversword, a prehistoric looking plant that’s kind of a cross between a succulent, a daisy and a flamboyant cactus. Almost decimated by cattle farms in the 1920s, their grey-green stalks now dot all across the Haleakala’s red slopes, fiercely protected by the park rangers. It’s an amazing colour combination which just adds to the celestial mystery of the place.
Steven even explained how the Silversword plant is one of earth’s great adapters. Meaning, that the species is constantly evolving and forming hybrids with any local greenery that it comes across. If that doesn’t fill your quota of wonderment for the day, we just want you to meditate on that for a minute… You are literally watching evolution in action.
9:00AM
From here on in Steven shone both as a people herder and a tour guide. It’s one thing to hustle a few tired tourists out of bed in the morning, it’s another thing completely to try to drag them away from one of the world’s most beautiful views.
The lure of breakfast loomed strong though and we finished off our morning together swapping stories over cream cheese and salmon bagels from Casanova’s in the historic cowboy town of Makawao.
Safe to say that a full tummy always makes for an excellent snooze on the ride home and you also have the rest of the day to press the snooze button (not that you’d want to).
CITIZENS OF THE WORLD travelled with Roberts Hawaii who specialise in touring Haleakala.
A few special Maui must-d0s from Steven include the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm and the Ocean Organic Vodka distillery. Both 100% locally owned and produced, the latter literally crafted from the waters surrounding Maui, so you could say that you literally ‘drank in’ the scenery.
