Hawaii 2007 - Day 8 and 9: Banyan Trees and Laziness

The first time I went to Hawaii was forever and a day ago. I was 6 or 7 (I want to go with 7, but I'm probably wrong...but for arguments sake from here on in I am going to say 7) and I was a flower girl at my aunt's wedding. I have pictures somewhere. They will never find life on this blog.

Anyway, although I don't remember much of that initial trip, I remember that we went to a town to go out on (what turned out to be) a very memorable whale watching trip, but before we went on the boat, we saw a GIANT tree. I'm talking HUGE! Well, not only did my Grandparents and father tell me all about it, they endured the trip to Lāhainā to take me to see it.

Now, Lāhainā is a nice place. It's also the most popular tourist destination on Maui, so 'crowded' isn't exactly the best term. Packed is more like it, with cars bumper to bumper and people everywhere you turn. Vendors are all over the place trying to take your money and people are selling vacation tours like the world was going to end. And we were there on a weekday.

Overall though, it has it's charms. I mean, they even had a Bubba Gump shrimp shop, which, despite my seafood allergy, totally made my day.

I almost bought a shirt that says "Stupid Is As Stupid Does." Oh Forrest Gump. You make me smile.

Anyway, we shopped for a bit, and wandered around along the boardwalk alongside the water. I also managed to buy a hilarious miniature license plate that says "I GOT LEI'D" on it. Original, I know.

If you look down to the rocks, behind where Kristyn and Grandpa are sitting one picture up (and you can kind of see them behind Dad in the picture above me), you can see dozens (though there are probably hundreds) of little black crabs that scurry along top of the black rocks.

Now, I don't have a problem with crabs in general (I'm sure you remember this post a few weeks back.) I mean, they're kind of gross to start with, but you get used to them.

Not these ones though. Because they were black in colour, they just reminded me of big, ugly spiders. It sends shivers down my spine just remembering it.

I mean, look at that thing lazing around on the rock! Ugh!

Anyway, as we walk down the street we suddenly come to this HUGE courtyard with one of the most amazing trees you will ever see in your life.

This, my friends, is a banyan tree.

This particular banyan was planted in 1873 to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the missionaries.

Now, what makes a banyan particularly unique is that it not only grows up and out (like regular trees), but it also grows down.

Essentially, as the tree grows branches, these branches grow down and root themselves into the ground, thus creating the effect of multiples trees being present. There were so many "tree trunks" around, but when you followed them along for a ways (quite a ways, may I add), you realized that they are all connected to the original sprouting in the center.

If you look closely, you can see various points where the branches have grown into the ground and thickened up like actual trunks.

I got Dad to take a couple pictures of me by the tree, so you can get an idea of how HUGE this monster of a tree was. The shade it provides from the afternoon Hawaii sun is phenomenal!

While on the way back, I really started to notice how, despite the tourism, the island is still preserved. I mean, part of it is it's natural geography, but the locals have made sure that you go around everything to get anywhere. Rather than clearcut through tropical rainforests and beautiful scenery, they have found the least environmentally damaging way to get to various points in the island (at least from my perspective.) It's funny though, because even though the island is so small, because of the way the roads are built it sometimes feels like it takes ages to get anywhere, because you're also going around and around rather than straight through. I kind of like it that way though. It means that the Hawaii I fell in love with on this trip will still be around when I choose to go back again.

Day 9 was just like the title above states: Laziness.

I recall that on this day we went to Charlie Young beach (where we would later go on our "extra" day) and worked on our tans, waded in the water, and wondered what "the people back home were doing in the snow." Yes, we thought of you all. We might have snickered a bit, but not much, I swear.

I don't mind that I don't have much to tell you about this day. I don't even mind that I don't have any pictures to share from this day. Some of the greatest times spent in Hawaii were moments where I was doing absolutely nothing. No stress. No worries...

Hang loose.