The Road to Hana

The days are flying by. This morning we set out on a long day trip around to Hana. After our continental breakfast we left about 10 and made our way along the road to Kahului. We passed the turnoff to Haleakala, and the story was much the same - a shroud of cloud covered the summit from about 2/3 of the way up.

We continued along. Hana is around on the east of Maui after a long and tortuous drive around to the north. However, there are spectacular views along this road: bamboo forests, waterfalls and deep valleys which end at the ocean. It was a trip of many miles of very winding road, wit 52 narrow bridges to cross. We stopped in several places to photograph the scenery. We pulled into Hema Beach about 2.00 and went looking for lunch. This is certainly one of the most isolated places we've been so far. Our burgers were nothing spectacular, and the locals who served us were totally non-plussed.

A school end of year luau was in progress, with singing, dancing and of course, food. We walked around the beach of essentially black sand to a jetty from which kids were having a great time jumped into the water. They stopped and eyed us suspiciously when they saw Pete with his video camera. Perhaps jumping from here isn't allowed.

We saw a lighthouse and a bit of a track so we decided to follow it for a while. It was a nice little walk. We passed a tiny bay where the sand was red. Most of the rock here looks very rich in iron. Perhaps it should be called Rusty Beach!

We went further around past huge boulders and overhangs, but couldn't make it across to the lighthouse, so we turned back to the car. We passed an Islander standing on a high ledge fishing with a bow and arrow. I just couldn't imagine how anyone could catch a fish that way in waves which were so turbulent. A quick ice cream at our favourite kiosk before departing. We went along a little way further, but decided we wouldn't make it to the Seven Pools and other delights down the road.

By the time we got back to Lahaina it was 6.45 and we had planned to have dinner at Denny's, which we did. The food was good and the kids got a children's gift of a set of cards each.

Everyone was by now pretty tired, and I was still feeling ill with my cold and sore ear, so we wearily packed up ready for an early checkout the next morning.Read more