Maui - Day 7

Last night we did some shopping in Whaler’s Village. Lynn and Denny took Juliet so we could shop in peace. There was a guy singing in the courtyard and he saw Juliet dancing to his music. He asked her name and then dedicated Winnie the Pooh to Juliet. Wasn’t that sweet?
Today Jon and I did the Road to Hana, Juliet stayed at the hotel. Thank goodness. Put one finger on the west end where we are staying and the other on the east end where Hana is and you see we went across Maui. Well technically in a circle because of the way we came back. We started at 7:30 am and got back at 6:30 pm. I am so glad stinker was not with us.
The Road to Hana is a winding coastal road with over 600 hairpin turns and over 50 one lane bridges. The average speed is between 15 and 20 miles per hour. It is around 50 miles from the beginning to the end of the Road to Hana. Not counting the time it takes to get to marker 0.
Our first stop was a place called Twin falls. Due to the drought that Hawaii is under, there was only one fall flowing. Was still a sight to see. Next we went to the Garden of Eden Arboretum. They have there the rock from the opening scene of Jurassic Park, although when you look at it there are power lines running in front of it. We also saw a 100 year old mango tree and another set of falls. Unfortunately our guide did not tell us to take a lot of cash, so we were unprepared for everywhere that took cash only and was $10 a person. Our next stop was Honomanu Bay. This is a small secluded black sand beach that if you weren’t watching your guide you would have missed. We traveled next to Keanea Peninsula which overlooks a plantation that was once destroyed by tsunami. Stupid warning siren testing almost made me jump out of my skin. We then went to Wailua Valley lookout where you looked into the lush green of a crater. We stopped by the Pua’a Ka’a State Park hoping to see a mongoose, but what we saw was an idiot almost fall over a waterfall. I had my camera ready for the fall, too bad though. We tried next to find Nahiku Landing, never found the scenic bay, only locals. Our next venture was to Pi’ ilanihale Heiau, which was ancient for worship and sacrifice, but guess what, it was in another park that wanted $10 a head. Where was our guide on this? All the Hawaii guides tell you not to carry a lot of cash and this trip requires a lot of it. Needless to say we voted no on that one. We did have fun in the Wainapanapa State Park watching the white waves crash into the black rocks and onto the black sand. We also saw a rock shaped like a dinosaur. After that stop we went on to Hana which, the road leading to it is the good part, not the town itself. We were tired and hungry and picked up a burger before heading back.
We decided to try one more park to see a 400 ft waterfall, but the drought in the SE part of Maui has dried up all the falls. What a disappointment. The road back was very narrow and bumpy, but we made it back with a beautiful view.
Photos on flickr, don’t miss them.
Aloha - Laura