MAUI day 6

Alarm clock went off just before 3 AM.
We wanted to watch the sun rise over the Haleakala volcano.

Haleakala, 5AM: Top down on the jeep and the next hour spent star gazing. I have NEVER seen so many stars in my life. They were so so so bright & we couldn't count the number of shooting stars. 

 I was praying for clouds because I read in M.R. (of course) that the sunrise is majestic when clouds are present. My prayers were answered because cloudy it was. The ranger told us sunrises like the one we saw only happen a couple of times a year. 

Majestic it was.

A-mazing!

After our bodies were sufficiently numb from the 40 degree temperature on top of Haleakala, we made our way to JAWS to warm up while watching the surfers.

Jaws gets its name because of the size and ferocity of the waves. Waves can reach 70 ft! 

We watched a tow-in surfer ride 30-40 ft waves. Unbelievable.  

After breakfast and naps (notice a pattern?) we wanted to surf. We had been inspired. Austin has surfed in Hawaii & actually owns a surfboard but we managed to forgot to bring it with us to one of the ONLY places he can ever use it. DUMB huh? Since it was my first time I wanted lessons.

We paid for group lessons and I ended up getting a private one....we were getting quite lucky on this trip.

3 Hours of surfing = reef burn, bone contusion on my knee (which I still have), a wicked wreck into the breakwall, numerous falls, sore muscles, and a seaweed stained bottom. But I GOT UP! I rode 10 waves! I was so proud, when I got home I put my "surfing certificate" on the fridge next to my skydiving certificate! Like my 7th grade teacher said about our good report cards--it was a "fridger!" 

When I was too sore to paddle fast enough the instructor started using this trick. Nifty huh?

Surfing is fun but hard. really hard. What I want to know is how people make it look so easy?

Ended the day with a candlelight dinner overlooking the ocean + hula pie (cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream and whip cream.). Superb.