Kula

K is for Kula... Kula is a town along the sides of Haleakala Crater, on a big rounded volcanic mountain, that thankfully is not active. Haleakala dominates the skyline of a big chunk of the island. This crossroads sign shows distances from other places in the world.

Anyhow, Kula is a lovely rural town or townlet, stretched along the slopes of the mountain. It's cooler there at night, and during the "winter season." For us, cool means... 60 degrees at night, or cooler. (I know it's not that cold for most of the world, but after being here for a while, it does feel cold.)  Kula... it sounds like "Cool -ah."

Most tourists will never see this sign as it's off the beaten path, along Lower Kula Road, close to Kula Hardware, the best darn nursery and gardening supply store on island and Nui's Farmers Market.

NOTES on the crossroads sign above: Kikalapu'u - Pulehu is the top sign. I'm not familiar with Kikalapu'u, but I think that must the Hawaiian name for this area of Kula, along with Pulehu, which is how I'm used to thinking of this area of Kula. 

Kula's elevation is at 2450 feet. 

This is a close-up of the owl on the sign above. We have a native Hawaiian owl called pu'eo (pooh-ay-oh). 

Kaimuku is a town on the island of Oahu, close to Honolulu. 

Alaska is 2815 miles away, and we do get lots of visitors from Alaska on Maui. 

Portugal is 7,833 miles away. I'm wondering if the sign maker is of Portuguese descent, what we call "Portagee" with a hard g sound. 

How far to the East Coast of the US? According to the sign, Miami is 4801 miles away.  

Notice the big prickly pear cactus growing behind the sign. Kula is high and dry, just like the Southwest. Farmers here pray for rain. 

Kula is known for sweet Maui onions, the National Park on top of Haleakala,  large cattle ranches, purple trees in the spring, small farms. The countryside looks romantic and hilly like Ireland. Kula has sweeping vistas and reminds me of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music as she whirls down the mountain. 

View from Kula to the northwest of Maui.

To keep this post sweet and short, I'll post just a few pics that remind me of Kula.

Purple Jacaranda trees in bloom in the spring.  
The green grass shows it rained recently.

Protea flowers that need the cooler elevation to grow well.
Popular in flower arrangements.

Top of Haleakala Observatory, 
a world class observatory on top of the crater.
 See the big balls on top?

 

If you are participating in the A to Z Challenge, please use either Disqus or Facebook to comment below. Please include your link so that I can visit you back, but it might be as late as May! (I'm still not sure I'm fully committed to this because of ahem, the "chicken terracing project," so if I can get through this week... we'll see.)

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