From Hana to Honolulu
After conquering Haleakala we headed for the famed town of Hana on the infamous Road to Hana. This narrow, curving, breathtaking road is a must-do for all visitors to Maui.
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| From Maui |
Along the way we stopped to admire several beautiful waterfalls and bamboo forests and marvel at the amazing tropical flowers of Maui. This area of Maui is in the shadow of Mt Haleakala and receives one of the highest annual rainfalls in the world and, true to form, it rained off and on for most of the trip. This area is unbelievably lush and the rainforest canopy literally covers the road most of the way. There is absolutely no way to be in a hurry on the Road to Hana with its multitude of one-way bridges and blind curves. In many areas, the road is only one and a half cars wide. The coastline is formidable here and the “mana” (spirit) is palpable.
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| From Maui |
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| From Maui |
At a roadside stand we sampled caramelized coconut and bought some locally grown fresh fruit and met one of the friendly local inhabitants.
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| From Maui |
F
inally, we arrived at Waianapanapa State Park where we had rented a “rustic” cabin for the next two nights.
The next morning we continued on to O’Heo Gulch
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| From Maui |
and the scenery got even more lush and beautiful. We passed several beautiful oceanside estates and wagered on which one belonged to Oprah. At O’Heo Gulch we hiked 4km past the famous “Seven Sacred Pools” (actually there are 24!) and through a surreal bamboo forest to Waimoku Falls, a stunning 400ft delicate waterfall that resembles a bridal veil.
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| From Maui |
There were guava trees (the Hawaiian apple) everywhere and Alexa decided that guava is her new favorite fruit (she ate so many that she got the runs). By the time we got back to Hana, we discovered that everything closes at 6PM (even the restaurants) and the only thing open was Hasegawa’s General Store. We had to content ourselves with hotdogs and ramen noodles for supper, but all agreed that it had been a great day.
On our last morning in Hana we explored Waianapanapa State Park with its black sand beach, blow holes and sea caves.
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| From Maui |
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| From Maui |
The smooth black stones on the beach have an amazingly therapeutic effect when you walk on them in bare feet. I felt like I’d had a reflexology session (without the need for a Nature Sounds CD). On our drive back to civilization, our kids had their first experience with motion sickness as Claude drove the curves like an Indy driver.
We spent our last day in Maui at Kanaha Beach where Claude was able to rent a sailboard and try some real Hawaiian windsurfing (along with about 50 other windsurfers).
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| From Maui |
He handled himself well in the wind and waves and came back exhausted and happy. He said it was truly humbling to sail with the experts in one of the best windsurfing spots on the planet.
Finally, we were off to Oahu for 3 days before heading to Fiji. We found ourselves an awesome hotel room one block from Waikiki Beach for only $74 an night! What a difference from Maui – it was like going from Cape Hatteras to Las Vegas! There are approximately 150 people per square mile in Maui compared to over 1500 people per square mile in Oahu. The island, especially Waikiki, is crawling with people! On our first night in Waikiki, we walked “the strip” until about 9:30pm and the kids were completely overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle and odd cross-section of society we encountered. There were tacky tourists, buskers like the “silver man” and people with parrots who tried to get you to take a picture with them (for a price).
The next day we explored the island by car and started by snorkeling at famous Hanauma Bay where the kids saw lots of “humuhumu” fish, to their great delight.
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| From Oahu |
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| From Oahu |
Then we drove the coast, stopping to take a picture of the beach where the famous scene in “From Here to Eternity” was filmed
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| From Oahu |
and finally ending up at Kailua Beach. We made it back to Waikiki in time to sit on the beach and watch one of the most spectacular sunsets we had ever seen.
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| From Oahu |
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| From Oahu |
The next day, we went in the opposite direction and ended up at Sunset Beach in time to watch the surfers and the sunset (not as great as the night before, though). That night we caught the “red eye” to Fiji at 12:30am. We really enjoyed our time in Hawaii, especially Maui, and we will definitely come back someday.
To see some more of our photos from Hawaii, go to our web album.
Tags: Hawaii, Maui, Travel
tambour
i’m really enjoying reading about your trip. oh how i miss hawaii! it sounds like you are having a fabulous time. i’m so jealous! looking forward to more!
emily