Maui Once Around

Friday we got up late and walked to Ulua Beach, a short distance from the Marriott, where we did a little snorkeling and found the requisite Humuhumunukunukuapua'a swimming by, and tried to get his photo. The problem with midday snorkeling is that the wind comes up after noon and underwater visibility degrades. We will be back for an early morning snorkel.

We walked down the beach a short way and passed the former Renaissance hotel where we celebrated our 25th Anniversary. Sometime in the last 15 years an attempt was made to go condominium or timeshare with the property. Unfortunately the conversion process got caught in the economy crunch and the place is now have finished and abandoned. And it is in a beautiful location right on the water.

Since it got windy and cloudy in Wialea we thought it was a good opportunity to explore for quilt stores and wend our way up to Lahaina. We drove through Kihei on what used to be the main road, it has been supplemented by a faster 4 lane road half a mile inland so all the places near the water don't have to deal with as much traffic. When we got to Lahaina it was sunny and HOT. We had a late lunch at the Lahaina Fish Co. on the water overlooking a wrecked sailboat on the reef.

Saturday we got up early for the fabled drive to Hana. Our first stop, after a quick visit to the Kaluhui Walmart for supplies and a McMuffin at the McDonalds within, was at Twin Falls. we hiked to the waterfall - a very pleasant walk with many flowers along the way. including a number of shampoo ginger. The yellow part of the bud apparently is a natural shampoo when you crush it.

After we got back we had a pineapple-banana smoothie at the stand, located in an old school bus. Mark had said it was the best smoothie he ever had and we agree!

From there we negotiated the many turns, switchbacks, and narrow bridges. Our next stop was the Ke'anae Peninsula, a very small town that has preserved (informally) some of old Hawaii. We parked among some walking trees and watched the surf pound the black lava rocks. On the way out we stopped at Aunty Sandy's, a small family run food stand whose specialty was banana bread, made from the local apple-bananas. It was excellent! So far the trip had been a culinary success.

We arrived in Hana, the first stop being at the Wai'anapanapa State Park. We checked out the black sand beach and the lava tube. A woman tourist asked Kathy why the sand was black. Kathy explained that it was basically ground up volcanic rock, like all the black rock surrounding the beach. The lady was surprised, saying "Are there volcanoes around here?" Kathy got out of the discussion gracefully somehow. Volcanoes? Hawaii? Hello???

We had lunch at the Hana Ranch and visited the Hasegawa Store, which pretty much is the only store in Hana. It is celebrating its 100th year in 2010. From there we headed to the Red Sand Beach.

The Red Sand Beach is secluded and beautiful. the seclusion is largely due to the trail to reach it. It is short, maybe a quarter mile, but it is truly treacherous. Not the place to make a misstep. If you don't fall off the cliff, the rocks will likely cut you to ribbons. The beauty of the beach is that it is like a pool protected by a rock barrier from the open sea. Jim swam around the area. the sand is only on the beach, the rest of the bottom is uneven rocks, but as always the water is wonderful. We also watched a guy jumping about 45 feet off the rocks into the water just outside the protected area.

After the red sand beach we drove through town and found the hotel we had stayed in 15 years ago. From there we continued around to the Ohe'o gulch portion of Haleakela National Park. We had visited there before and by now it was getting past 5 pm so we asked the Ranger about the road across the south side of Maui. She said it was passable and probably notably better than when we had driven it 10 years ago, so we elected to continue around, through the section where the rental car companies don't want you to go. Some of the roads are spectacular, along cliffs over the ocean and only one and a half cars wide. There was more paved road than 10 years ago, but much of it is 90% patches and 10% original road, so it is a rough ride, but straighter than the north side road to Hana.

After driving about 20 miles on narrow winding roads, we came upon this sign.. Thanks.

Along the way we got a couple of glimpses of Mongooses (Mongeese? spellchecker says no) crossing the road. One was a mother and juvenile. They are too fast to photograph. We were also treated to some rainbows over the ocean. Those we were fast enough to capture on camera.

Some where around 120 miles from when we left we closed the loop and arrived back in Kahului, completing the circuit of East Maui.