Day 11: Road to Hana - part I

A storm rages through the area while we sleep, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. 

 Overturned tree at the grocery store

Debris in the streets

Admittedly, not an encouraging start to the day, because we'll be driving the legendary road to Hana today, one of the most iconic drives in all of Hawaii, famed for its many waterfalls carving through the lush vegetation. But of course that's how it gets to be so green!

A double rainbow breaks out behind us and although the weather is notoriously difficult to predict we take this as a sign of good things to come.

One of the downsides to staying in Ka'anapali is that it takes a bit longer to get to the start of the road to Hana, but this is a concession we're willing to make.

At Ma'alaea, we drive past the landmark wind turbines perched high on the West Maui mountains.

My heart skipped a few beats when this handsome boy looked me in the eye.

By the time we drive into Pa'ia the skies let loose. Not a sprinkle. No, this is the someone-get-me-a-canoo type of rain we'd been dreading. But what can you do? We have reservations for tonight in Hana. Rain, or no rain ... to Hana we go!

The rain slows down a bit after leaving Pa'ia and we make a quick run into the local supermarket in Haiku. One of my road trip rituals is to try out new beverages and I come across a Hawaiian brand of vanilla cola. I never even knew such a thing existed, but let me tell you ... vanilla coke is awesome!!

The sky has cleared some when we pull over at Ho'okipa, one of the premier windsurfing destinations in the world. Today, not much is happening.

A deserted Ho'okipa


Due to flooding only part of Twin Falls is accessible and what we can see looks nothing like the guidebooks. Don't mind my photography skills as I tried to balance myself on slippery rocks.

Oops, barely on the road and already I'm confused about what's in my pictures. Just bear with me while we go through some random shots I took that I can't place.

Farmland

One of the many bridges

 Looks like we have arrived at Waikamoi Nature Trail

The bark! The vines! It's all so wonderful

Well, maybe Sandy isn't loving the roots quite as much ...

If I recall correctly we were parked in a somewhat questionable spot so we only did the short loop. While it was a nice hike I don't have very vivid memories of it, so I wouldn't rank it as a must see stop.

Alright, onto another waterfall ... note the lonely rope swing

And a view from the top.

 Rooooooaaaaarrrrrrrrr! This is one angry waterfall ... half water, half dirt.


Lower Puohokamoa Falls:

Note that you cannot get close to the falls, but even from a distance it's worth a stop.

Kaumahina State Wayside Park apparently has nice views of the coast on a clear day ... which, clearly this was not. They do have (very basic) bathrooms though!

We went for a short walk and boy was it muddy!

I guess that's why they caution against hiking in sandals ... they'll launch mud everywhere.

Time for puzzle: which one does not belong?

There's a cat among the pigeons ... chickens!

Wasn't me!


Bladders empty we continue on our way.

Random blind corner

A rough road leads to a small parking area right along the beach at Honomanu Bay

This is not a popular stop with tourists today, maybe due to the condition of the road, or the rough seas. A few locals are getting some decent rides.

A short drive down the road leads to this dramatic scene

Nua'ailua Bay I believe

There's a small parking lot for visitors to Ke'anae Arboretum, one of the places to admire rainbow eucalyptus and other native species. The paths are well maintained and easy, plus it's free ... what's not to like?

Eek! Now that's a bit ominous ... who wants to set out on a hike with this guy perched on the rail at the trailhead? Especially, when judging by the lack of cars in the parking lot you're the only people at the park?

What was even creepier though was the rusted remains of a car that plunged off the edge and is now forever part of the forest (sorry, no pic).

 Sidetracked by taking pictures, I've let Sandy get way ahead as usual

 Moss!

The aptly named Rainbow Eucalyptus ... sadly, it was very hard to find a piece of bark that had not been vandalized by people carving their initials.

"Take nothing but pictures.

Leave nothing but footprints.

Kill nothing but time."

 One of my favorite pictures of the entire trip ... the red torch ginger

 You can't even see the tree underneath the vines

Rejuvenated after a stroll through the arboretum we head back to the car for a short drive to the next attraction: Ching's Pond. It's said that in summer daring locals will plunge head first into the pool, but that's hard to imagine looking at it today (and probably not the best idea on a good day)

Phew ...

That's it! We are now officially halfway to Hana. There is actually a Halfway to Hana stand at the side of the road, but we skipped it.

Anyone need a break? I'm a bit worried about all these pictures crashing someone's computer so we'll continue on towards Hana in a separate post.