Just a little farther along the coast was La Perouse Bay, a dive and spearfishing site popular with locals. There was a haze over Maui that day, which Al was blaming on, of all things, another island. Kilauea has been pretty active lately. Maui's own volcano, Haelakala, is dormant. One of the popular things to do down there is to get up really early in the morning, say about 3 a.m., drive the long and winding road up to the summit, and watch the sun rise, seemingly from inside the crater.
Some people do that on a tour, riding up in a van and coming back down on a bicycle.
Our craft turned away from the moonscape, making a coiling descent past numerous waterfalls. We were back into jungle country, called the Hana Rainforest. On this side of Haleakala is the scenic, photogenic, picturesque Oheo Gulch, which you've never heard of, not by that name. So she, being a gifted storyteller, created the legend of the Seven Sacred Pools. An equal challenge is getting to Hana by land.