Maui: The Road to Hana

Number one (or very near the top) on any list of top things to do in Maui will be driving the Road to Hana. Now, the first thing to know about this trip is that it is about the journey, not the destination. Hana is a small Maui town with not much going on. It's not really worth a 3-hour drive (plus or minus depending on frequency and length of stops). But the getting there is just breathtakingly beautiful!

We were a bit nervous after reading some reviews of the road, for the things that make it beautiful make it both dangerous and unfriendly to motion-sensitive stomachs. Namely, it's sometimes narrow and often very, very winding. It hugs cliffs without much between you and the rocks below. The two-lane road often narrows to one lane despite being for two-way traffic. The twists and turns include many blind hairpins. And on it goes...

But after driving in Ireland (with many same such characteristics and then add driving on the "wrong" side of the car and road), I declared I could drive anywhere. (Never mind that Steve was the sole driver of our rental car.) So we braved it (and I downed some Dramamine) and were rewarded with many beautiful sights, tastes, and smells. I can't duplicate tastes or smells and these photos don't do it justice, but here are a few sights from our day-long trip that show some of the highlights. (Warning! Many photos ahead...)

Great ocean views and salty sea air to appreciate.

Winding roads and lush vegetation.

Views like this around every corner...

Seriously. So many amazing, breathtaking vistas!

Tree lined road to an ocean view.

This and some fresh banana bread from roadside stands kept us going!

It was so tempting to stop and take photos and linger at every beautiful view, but we had to keep going. And I'm so glad we did! There are lots of guides available (viva la internet age!) so we had to do some research (actually, Steve's forte, not mine) to select where to stop. I have to say, Steve did a great job! The highlights were definitely a little past Hana, at these fabulous sites:

Waianapanapa State Park (black sand beaches, lava tubes, and lava cliffs with a blow hole):

Gorgeous black sand beach.

Happy toes in black sand.

Lava tube (lava flowed through here to the ocean,
leaving behind this cave)

Steve kindly carries our bag of stuff (we had a picnic lunch here
and were also ready to swim). The blow hole was nearby, but it must've
been low tide, because nothing was going on.

Large pebbles made up the top of the beach.

O'heo Gulch (The Seven Sacred Pools) and Waimoku Falls (Haleakala National Park):

O'Heo Gulch has many waterfalls and pools (more than
seven!) and is a beautiful and windy spot.

We didn't swim at the black sand beach, but I couldn't resist a dip in this freshwater pool. It was chilly! Above is the
bridge we drove on en route to the Park.

Looking away from the waterfalls is a great ocean view.

It's real. We saw it with our own eyes!

Our hike to Waimoku falls (2 miles each way) took us through this
enchanting bamboo forest. Some parts were as dark as night!

The 400' falls were worth the journey!

We drove back to our resort by continuing the loop around the South side of the island.We had some doubts about doing so because there is a stretch of road that is unpaved, but so glad we did. We didn't make it home before dark, so we enjoyed the sunset and the amazing other-worldly scenery.

If it weren't dark, you could see the cliff-hugging road that characterized
the start of our drive home.

 

Awesome cloud formation on the South side of the Haleakala Ridge

The volcanic landscape looked like the set of a Sci-Fi movie!

There's no way to really do these places justice (especially with my amateur photography skills), but I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of it from our eyes! We had such a wonderful time and thank God for the opportunity. I have more photos on my Facebook page if you haven't already seen them :)

Maui: Iao Valley and Lahaina

You know how sometimes when you go on vacation, you need another vacation because you packed so much in that you didn't really relax and now you're more exhausted than when you left? Yeah, me too. That's usually how I usually roll because I can't stand to have missed anything there is to see/experience in a place.

Well, this vacation to Maui was different and I actually am starting to appreciate the benefits of sitting around doing nothing relaxing. However, we did actually leave the resort to go on a couple of adventures! (We did have a rental car, after all... had to use it!)

The first day we arrived and were driving to our resort past this gorgeous, green mountain area and Steve said, "Wherever that is, I want to go there."

It was Iao Valley, and there we went. It is a beautiful, narrow valley between tall, lush, green mountains that rise sharply from the island. We were immediately enthralled with the exotic landscape. Fascinating, too, was the history of this valley; it was the site of one of the bloodies battles in Hawaii in the uniting of the island chain under King Kamehameha. Warriors were said to climb the area's most significant landmark, the 1200 foot Iao Needle (pictured below) as a lookout. (How'd they do that?!)

It also has a lot of spiritual significance to the native Hawaiians. We, however, simply marveled at creative power of our Lord on display in this place!

Our time there involved a short hike to a viewing point of the Iao Needle and a stroll around the botanical gardens there. It didn't take much time, so afterward, we decided to head to West Maui to the city of Lahaina, where we checked out the shopping area, the wharf, the most awesome tree I've ever seen, and ate the most amazing Hawaiian Shave Ice!

This Banyan tree spans one full acre: each additional trunk is a part
of this one tree!

Seriously a highlight of the trip.

The following day we drove the Road to Hana. I'll share some photos of that adventure in the next post. Thanks for reading!

R&R: Maui Style

I got it into my head that we should go to Hawaii while we are here on the West Coast last winter. I mean, it's only a 5-hour flight instead of 8-10 from Detroit (depending on where your connection is). Which makes it much cheaper. So... I mean, it just makes sense to take advantage of our proximity, you know? It took a bit of work, but thanks to friends we met here who did just so, and our Hilton Diamond Member status, Steve was also convinced. (Insert happy dance here!)

And, we thought, why not make it an anniversary trip? So off we went, the week before our first anniversary. (First anniversary and second tropical vacation... yes, I know I am spoiled!)

Our Hilton points got us a cheap rental car and five days and four nights at the Grand Wailea Waldorf-Astoria resort. And then our diamond status got us upgraded to an ocean-view room. The resort was amazing and beautiful with exotic gardens, grand ocean views and access to a beautiful beach, and more pools than we could keep track of (seven, I think... it's hard to count that high when you're on vacation!), many connected with water slides. So needless to say, though there is much to do/see on the island, we spent almost half of our time just enjoying the resort and relaxing. So here's what our time at the Grand Wailea consisted of... (and I'll keep it fairly brief since a picture speaks a thousand words)

Wearing leis

Watching the fish and turtles in the koi pond below our lanai

Sitting by the beautiful pool

Reading and sunbathing (with sunblock, of course!) while drinking fruity drinks

Enjoying the sound of crashing waves on the beach

Laying by the pool

Drinking tea and reading on the lanai, enjoying the ocean view

Fine dining at the Humu restaurant at sunset

We were so grateful to be able to get away to such a beautiful place so affordably!  It was much-needed for Steve, who continues to work 12 hours/day (sometimes more), 7 days/week with only every other third weekend off. (Which is why we stayed and relaxed at the resort!) We had an amazing time! Thank you, God, for this blessing!

[PS - Yes, we did eventually leave the resort! (That will be the next post...)]