Today was another early day as it was “Road to Hana” day! The Road to Hana is a 52 mile, very winding, twisting road with 617 hairpin curves and 56 one lane bridges. Andy, Laurie and I popped our Bonine pills for motion sickness and we left the hotel about 6:30 am. We stopped in Paia at the Kuau store for some lunch provisions and began our drive to Hana.
One of the things I was looking for were the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. I had read about them and seen pics on the internet, but I have never seen them in real life. Well today was the day! I had heard they were between mile marker 4 and 6 on the Road to Hana. We found a grove of them on the left at Mile Marker 6. They were sooooo beautiful. The colors in the bark were so vivid that they looked like they had been painted!
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| The Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees located just before mile marker 7 on the left |
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From there we drove on and using the Maui Revealed Book and the Gypsy App, we were able to see everything we planned to see. We stopped at certain waterfalls and a favorite stop of all of us was at Ching’s Pool, a deep clear cold pool of water with a waterfall at the end of it. People were swimming so Danny and Andy eased themselves into the cold water and swam around. Laurie and I stayed closer to shore. Actually, I only had my feet in the water but Laurie went out a little deeper. Danny was watching the cliff jumpers and decided that was a little too dangerous so he climbed up on a rock jutting out into the water and did cannonball jumps from there. We stopped for Banana Bread at Aunty Sandy’s and Halfway to Hana to compare the two. The Aunty Sandy’s bread was fresh and hot right out of the oven. It had a poundcake like texture and the flavor of banana was not as strong as Julia’s from the other day. The Halfway to Hana bread was closer to Julia’s but still not as strong Julia’s. We thought they were both good.
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| we saw beautiful waterfalls all along the way right from the road |
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| and then we tromped through the rainforest to find hidden beauties |
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| we found this hidden gem while going off trail |
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| this rooster with "furry feet" was so cute! |
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| Aunt Sandy's Banana Bread |
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| Aunt Sandy's Banana Bread was tasty but dense |
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| we ate our banana bread on this lava rock beach |
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| This old stone church is called “Ihi’ihio Iehowa o na Kaua” church in Hawaiian. It was built in 1856 and is the only surviving building from the April 1st, 1946 killer tsunami. This tsunami wiped out the entire village on the Keanae Peninsula |
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| Danny and Andy's favorite secret find, Ching's Pool. A hidden waterfall and pool perfect for swimming |
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| The water was so clear we could see the bottom |
We stopped for lunch at the Black Sand Beach and ate the lunch we had
bought earlier at some picnic tables. We had banana bread for dessert.
Andy and Laurie were trying to remember from 10 years ago where was the
black sand beach and lava caves she went into. They pretty much
convinced each other that we were at the wrong beach until an opening
caught Laurie’s eye. She remembered that it WAS the correct beach and
she had been in that Lava Cave before. We all ducked our heads and went
inside and at the other end was an opening out into the surf! It was
really cool. Before we ate lunch, Danny and Andy had done a similar
thing, ducking into a lava tube along the side of the road and popped
out into a green oasis of tropical trees. They said it was really cool.
Laurie and I were resting while they did this because we had just
climbed down to the Three Bears waterfall which required going down a
long ladder and then crawling hand over hand on large boulders. We were
just a bit tired.
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| Laurie and I climbed down this rickety ladder to find the Three Bears Waterfall |
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| The Three Bears waterfall |
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| Danny and Andy went exploring in this lava tube |
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| The Black Sands Beach where we ate the sandwich lunch we had bought earlier in the day |
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| Through that tiny little cave is a tunnel out to the ocean |
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| Inside the tiny cave. Another secret find. |
After leaving the Black Beach, we stopped at Hana Bay to see if there
were any ukelele players out. Andy and Laurie had enjoyed hearing them
ten years ago and wondered if they would still be there. Andy had some
ice cream and we enjoyed looking at the bay while he ate it. From there,
we headed out to the Seven Sacred Pools. There really aren’t Seven and
it really isn’t sacred, but that is what they are called. This was a
huge disappointment for us. Andy and Laurie did not get to see this when
they came 10 years ago because they were caught in the middle of a ton
of rain! We made a point of going this time for them only to find the
pool water murky and dirty from all of the people swimming in it.
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| Waianapanapa State Park |
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| I always wondered what a Mongoose looked like! |
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| view above Hamoa Bay |
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| Halfway to Hana's Banana Bread |
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| The strangest little crawly bug |
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| The Seven Sacred Pools |
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| The pools empty out into the ocean |
We stayed for a few minutes and then decided to go ahead and head back
to Paia for our dinner reservation at Mama’s Fish House. We decided to
drive back on a road that previously had been deemed not passable. The
roads were rough and some parts were gravel, but the views were amazing.
It was very surprising to us that the views were so drastically
different than what we had seen already. We were treated to a beautiful
sunset as we drove and stopped at the last minute to watch the sun
literally drop into the ocean.
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| the road away from Hana |
We made it back to Mama’s about an hour before our reservation and had
to wait, but just being still after driving all afternoon on those
twisty road was a welcome diversion. Our dinner at Mama’s was absolutely
delicious.
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| Coconut Chiffon Pie |
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| Kuau Chocolate Pie |
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| Polynesian Black Pearl...Liliko'i Chocolate Mousse in a pastry seashell |
We arrived back to the hotel about 11:00. Tomorrow morning we pack and then begin the process of using up our time and energy to be ready for our late evening flight. Until then…..
