Day 7-The Road to Hana

Everyone said that this is a must. I agree that you should do it but I think it would take a lot to live up to what Paul and I were expecting.

It was what I had envisioned all of Maui to look like. We are both still shocked that so much of Maui looks similar to California, and not just the pretty parts. Anyway the road to Hana was lush and green. There were tufts of moss and ferns growing off the top of fence posts. There were so many types of flowers

and birds I had never seen before

and then there were these little critters scurrying about.

We saw waterfalls and rivers

and picnicked above a black sand beach.

We even paid the $5.25 for a mini loaf of banana bread that we were told was a must. (For the record I like mine way better!)

The drive was beautiful but tedious. This is taken from the Maui’s Visitor Guide. The road to Hana is dangerous. With approximately 600 curves and 54 one-lane bridges,

(We believe it. Paul says he bets that they got a great deal on the one lane bridge signs since they could buy in bulk) the Road to Hana can bring you closer to heaven in more ways than one. With winding roads, blind turns, constant traffic, distracting views, narrow one-lane roads, cliffs, and wet conditions, Hana Highway has proven its worth as a danger with many fatalities. Take your time, and make sure the driver is focusing on the road. Our adventure took the whole day and we didn’t even come close to seeing everything.

I spent the whole day looking like a gomer.

I wore my swimsuit thinking I would swim at stops along the way. We didn’t, the water was cold. I had my cover up (one of the elastic topped, strapless dress jobbies) on over my suit. Paul had the top down on the convertible so I had on a big Hawaii t-shirt on so my shoulders didn’t get sunburned and since we weren’t getting in the water I kept it on most of the day. Not a good look over the cover-up. I am lucky that I didn’t spontaneously combust with all the friction I had going between my bare thighs. I’m really wishing I had worn regular clothes. My pictures will be a constant reminder that I chose my wardrobe poorly for my journey to Hana.

Here are some pictures from our day. Paul by one of the falls.

There was a cave right off of the black sand beach that was so cool. It had all of these smooth black rocks inside. I loved it.

Here is the black sand beach that was just awesome! I am wishing that we had swam here. It looked perfect but neither of us wanted to feel salt-watery the rest of the day.

When we got to the town of Hana we tried to find the red sand beach with no luck. I know they hid it from us.

We went on the Seven Sacred Pools. Holy heck. The road got worse. It was kind of a joke. They charge you $10 and then you have to walk *way* too far to get to the water from the “parking lot”. Once again the water was cold. Paul only went in up to his tenders and I watched from a rock. After walking out I started calling them the Seven Sucky pools. I was hot and gross after walking on the hot dirty path. It was pretty there though.

He never went further than this.

We then had the decision of going back home the way we came or driving all the way around the other side of the island. There are a few miles of unpaved road going the other way so we opted to go back through Hana. We also decided to just drive straight through with no stops. I had gotten hot, sweaty, had sun block grease on my face and I smelled a little gamey at that point. I wanted to get home and get in the shower. It took us over two hours. It’s interesting, I can ride on a catamaran racing over ocean swells/waves like a speed boat and feel fine but you put me in a car on the road back from Hana with no stops and I turn as green as the foliage. I never got sick but I had a headache that was really bad and I wanted to be off that road even though it was gorgeous.

When we got back into Kahului we opted for drive-thru fast food so we could get back to the hotel as quickly as possible. When we got back home we started packing. I’m thinking that we will be able to get everything home but it’s going to be interesting. We found that we can drop off our luggage up to six hours before the flight so that is the plan since we don’t leave until 9:00pm and we have to be out of the hotel by 11:30 am. We want to go back to Lahaina today and get some more pizza and dang it I want another snow cone. It will be great to get home but there is also going to be so much that I will miss about Hawaii.

Look guys, I got a huge fry! (It's always about the food with me.)