Maui - The Road to Hana

Hana

The eastern side of Maui has very lush vegetation and a long, slow, winding road through it. There is a small town called Hana half way around. The road to Hana is a famous tourist activity and has been compared to driving through the Garden of Eden. 

It's a narrow two lane road most of the way except for several one way bridges. The drive takes a half day so we decided to stay in Hana overnight and continue driving around the island the next day rather than returning by the same route. We left early to avoid getting into a line of traffic that we had read sometimes occurs. That did not seem right for such a beautiful isolated drive.

True to it's reputation the scenery was breathtaking including many waterfalls right beside the road or a short walk away.

              There were a number of small vendors en route mainly selling different types of food.

Coconut Glen's has the reputation of making the best coconut ice cream in the world and it was really good.

                                             This was the view from our B and B in Hana.

Hana is a very quaint small town where things move slowly. The population is around 1200. Supplies are very expensive and apart from a very expensive resort the handful of restaurants only open for lunch for the day trippers. We took supplies with us.
Some people choose to live in Hana to get away from it all including the singer Chris Kristofferson.

The next morning we drove south to the Haleakala National Park. There are a series of pools with waterfalls running into them which are very beautiful. They're called the Seven Sacred Pools. Only problem they are not sacred and there are not seven but they are impressive none the less.

The main attraction for us was the Pipiwai Trail which is about 3.5 kilometres each way with a rise of a few hundred metres. It was quite hot and very humid so a little strenuous but just beautiful. It goes past this beautiful banyan tree and beside a stream with lots of waterfalls to look out at. Then there's a walk through a bamboo forest - part of an old plantation. It's several metres high and because the path is quite narrow it gives a feeling of total immersion that I loved.

At the end of the trail are the Waimoku Falls - about 120 metres high which slide down a lava wall surrounded by beautiful green vegetation. Very peaceful and a lovely sound of water falling although very slippery to walk close to.

We continued south and passed the Church where Charles Linbergh - the aviation great chose to be buried. he had a friend who lived here and fell in love with it when he visited.

We continued on this winding and increasingly deserted road around the south of the island and then back up the centre. It was an unforgettable and enjoyable experience. I don't think we'd do it every time we went to Maui as the driving is quite demanding and it takes a long time to get anywhere. Once again my thanks to Bob who did all the driving.