Maui historic capital

The reef still sinks ships that miss the gap!

New roots hang down from the branches of the banyan tree and form new  trunks. 

Cruise liners anchor the other side of the reef where the whaling ships used to be seen

Sugar cane is 8 to 10 feet tall

The port of Lahaina on the west coast of Maui was the site of the island's capital and the most important centre for early western settlers. After Cook landed and mapped the islands the British and Americans  started settlements. Whaling was a very important industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the annual migration of the humpback whale to these waters made them easy prey. The whales give birth to 3,000lb, 14ft  long calves from December in these waters and they remain close to shore for the next few months. The early polynesian settlers also liked whale meat and could kill the new calves, seen just offshore from Lahaina, easily. There are coral reefs around large parts of the islands where they do not fall away too steeply into the ocean. Lahaina is opposite a gap in the reef so it has  protection from the reef as well as being accessible from the sea, a natural location for a port and whaling centre. Sugar cane is a major industry today as well as tourism. Cane has a very high sugar content and the pulpy residue, after the sugar has been extracted can be burnt as fuel. Unlike our sugar beet which only has one crop a year so the refineries are not working for more than half the year, cane here is cropped all year round. The weather is warm all year and crops are planted in rotation so the refineries are operating non stop. Honolulu, on the island of Oahu is the state capital today but Lahaina still has many historic buildings for the tourists to see. A huge banyan tree dominates the waterfront, planted 140 years ago, it gives shade and makes a meeting place for the many visitors.