Trip Journal entry for Monday, February 23rd.
Against the advice of that old Pop song by TLC, we set out to chase waterfalls.
An Early Start
Maybe not as early as our drive up to Haleakala a week earlier, 5:30am came a lot sooner than we typically prefer on a vacation. But, in order to be on the road by 7am and on our way to Hana before most everyone else, that’s what we had to do. To make it out the door early, we skipped breakfast in our room and stopped at Pauwela Cafe in Haiku along the way.
Many of the articles and reviews I read said to try Charley’s in Paia for breakfast, but we were happy with Pauwela. As far as TXT updates from my phone out to Twitter goes, the one from breakfast was the last one for the day. Where we were headed was far beyond the reach of area cell towers, and much more rewarding at that. This being our 3rd trip to Hana, and the first time driving it ourselves, we were headed off the beaten path and in for a very memorable day.
Being Our Own Guide
I have to admit, we learned a lot about the Road to Hana from the two previous guided tours we took in years passed. During those two tours, we hit all the popular places, including the Keanae Peninsula, Waianapanapa State Park, Wailua Falls, and the Oheo Gulch just to name a few. This time, it was about finding the things we hadn’t seen before, which was sort of the unofficial theme for the entire trip.
When it was time to be our own guide, we had a few options. There is the always popular Maui Revealed, of which we have both the 3rd and 4th editions. That, incidentally, was left at home. There are also a few CD guides that pop right into the CD player of the rental car. That came highly recommended from our Maui friends on Saturday, but silly me forgot about it until 10pm Sunday night.
We ended up with going something more locally based, Maui – Mile by Mile, which was researched and written by folks on the island. It wasn’t until later that we realized there was a newer (and full color) version of the book from the same publisher, but it still served us well.
Hidden Treasure
Before we knew it, we were stopping at mile markers and crossing things off the list in the guidebook. Since we were staying overnight in Hana and skipping out on the larger sights we had already seen, there was little concern with taking our time, doing a little hiking, and watching the occasional car pass on by to the next stop ahead. There were so many great spots the guidebook led us to, I was lucky to have my GPS travel recorder with me to log all the spots we visited during the day.
Until I’m able to review those logs, though, a few of these treasures will have to remain nameless for now. Here are a few of the highlights, in pictorial form.
For not being big hikers prior to this trip, we were really having a blast exploring some of these trails and less beaten paths. It was about 11:30am when we made it to the well known Halfway to Hana stand.
With only a light breakfast in Haiku and some cereal bars to munch on along the way, it was time to break out the deli sandwiches we packed and start our picnic. Of course, we had to grab a loaf of the freshly baked banana bread they sell at the stand here, which was still warm, too. Yum!
Back On The Road
We must have still been making good time despite all the stops, because while we were eating, we didn’t see as many cars passing by as I thought we would have. After satisfying our appetites with lunch, it was back on the road and more treasure hunting. The second half of the drive to Hana wasn’t as enticing to us as the first 17 miles (at least this year), so we actually made it to Hana ahead of schedule.
We made a stop off at Hana Beach in order to stretch our legs, and for me to walk around and get some photos. Check-in at the Hotel Hana-Maui wasn’t until 4pm that afternoon, and by now it was only a little after 2pm. That gave us quite a bit of time to play with before we thought about settling in and getting ready for a nice, quiet dinner.
Seeing that Hana isn’t exactly a large town, the hotel was easy enough to find. We kept driving, though, and made a stop at the Hasegawa General Store. Now, we had been there in the past, but only for one of those off-the-bus-on-the-bus visits. Having time to actually spend there, it was quite a neat little store with a stark range of products for such a remote shop.
A Few More Sights
Still not time to check-in yet, we kept on driving and made a few more stops. Next up was the amazing Hamoa Beach. I like to think we’ve seen some very, very nice beaches on the island of Maui, but after spending some time walking around and taking in the mana at Hamoa Beach, I had to step back and reevaluate most of the others on a slightly different scale.
After our time at Hamoa Beach, it was another visit with our old friend, Wailua Falls (and the talking Elvis Firebird, for those in the know). Most people know of Wailua Falls as seen from the bridge, but you really have to climb down the rocks and to the pool below to really get a sense of just how amazing (and tall) this waterfall truly is.
One of the things I learned pretty quickly last year was while you can admire the magnificent size of this waterfall in person, it’s nearly impossible to capture the entire scene in a single photo from down on the rocks. Not letting that discourage me, I did focus on various parts of the falls in segments, and of the shots I’ve gone through so far, this is one of the better results.
It didn’t take very long before I had a small gathering of folks down on the rocks with me, so I started making my way back up to let others have their turn. Our last few stops did the trick to compensate for being ahead of schedule, and it was time to head back to the hotel in Hana.
Our Home For The Night
Choosing to stay at the incredible Hotel H
ana-Maui as part of this overnight trip in Hana was truly beyond compare. Even after a full day of amazing experiences, the night was still relatively young as they say, and more magic was awaiting us. Rather than continue this particular journal entry any further, the next one will pick up the evening from here.
What wonderful pictures. It’s been years since I made that drive, but when we did, we also hiked into another waterfall through the bamboo forest. Great fun!
Thanks. Our plan was to hike through the bamboo forest on our second day in Hana, but after my little mishap at the Oheo Gulch in the morning, we had to scratch those plans for next time.
I’ve seen some really great photos over on Flickr of the hike, though, and it looks truly amazing.