Maui October 30, 2014

On Thursday, 30 October we departed early in the morning to take the long, scenic drive on the Road to Hana along the northern and eastern coasts of Maui. It was about an hour drive from the Papakea Resort on the west coast to where the Road to Hana started on the the northern coast of Maui. We tried to purchase the Road to Hana CD at multiple locations as a tour guide but either got to the stores before they opened, or they didn't have the CD. We were able to purchase the CD at the Huelo Lookout Fruit Stand as we began the Road to Hana. As luck would have it the CD only worked for a few minutes due to CD player malfunction in our rental van - oh well! Karen and I took the Road in 1979 on our trip to Maui and it pretty much had not changed for most of the drive - still beautiful overlooks, wonderful waterfalls, and winding, twisting slow driving - traffic didn't seem to be any worse.

The Road to Hana should be the Road to Ohe'o Gulch since nearly everyone continues on to Ohe'o Gulch or the Sacred Seven Pools.

Our first stop on the Road was at Mile Marker (MM) 4.5 at the Huelo Overlook Fruit Stand. Bill sampled the sugar cane/lemon, sucking lemon juice through a sugar cane stick. Jenna finally found and purchased the Road to Hana tour CD - worked for a short time before locking up in the CD player.

There was a nice view to the ocean from the Huelo Lookout.

The Road to Hana twisted and turned and climbed to MM 14 at Honomanu Bay Lookout.

Flower at Honomanu Bay Lookout.

At Honomanu Bay Lookout you could see the Road to Hana hugging the cliffs along the coast as it wound along the coast.

Great photo opportunity at this stop.

Another flower at the Honomanu Bay Lookout.

At MM 18.5 we stopped at the Wailua Valley State Wayside where we took a short walk up stairs to a lookout high above the Keanae Valley.

The view from the lookout to the south included Haleakala Volcano and the Koolau Gap descending from the summit crater. We could see waterfalls on the slopes in the distance.

A flower at the Wailua Valley State Wayside.

The view to the north included the Keanae Valley and this church in the valley.

Upper Waikani Falls is located at MM 19.5. Karen and Bill viewed the waterfalls from the bridge.

Bill, Marla, and Jenna decided to climb down a rickety ladder to get a closer view of the falls.

At the bottom they climbed over rocks to get to the base of the waterfalls.

They got very close to the waterfalls.

Marla, Bill, and Jenna at the base of the Waikani Falls.

Of course, the rickety ladder was the one way back up from the falls.

On the other side of the bridge the water from the falls continued flowing down to the sea.

Waianpanapa State Park and the Waianpanapa Black Sand Beach was the next stop at MM 32. We ate our lunch that we had packed before climbing down to the black sand beach.

View down to the beach from the parking lot and picnic area.

Karen and Jenna at the top of the cliff above the beach.

OK - now funny face.

Jenna, Karen and Bill down at the lava trail around Black Sand Beach.

Rough waves on the north side of Maui crashing against lava cliffs at point of Black Sand Beach.

Jenna by a fig tree.

Jenna by the lava cliffs.

Karen at the Black Sand Beach cliffs.

Marla and Bill on the Black Sand Beach.

Marla and  Bill.

Beautiful views with the black lava, green foliage, blue sky and blue water.

Bill and Marla on cliff trail above the Black Sand Beach.

Jenna on Black Sand Beach.

Bill and Karen on the Black Sand Beach.

Karen and Bill on Lava trail at Black Sand Beach.

Jenna selfie on Black Sand Beach.

Marla and Bill and a photogenic spot on the beach.

Ready, set, .....

JUMP!! - Jenna's famous jumping pose.

Panorama of Waianpanapa Black Sand Beach.

Lava bridge at Waianpanapa Black Sand Beach.

Wailua Falls at MM 45. Past Hana the mile markers are numbered according to how many miles to continue along the coast on Piilani Highway (dirt road) to complete the circuit in the same direction, so the numbers start high and go down from Hana.

Jenna by the Seven Sacred Pools at Ohe'o Gulch MM 42.

Jenna ready to dive into the pools.

Jenna wouldn't dive so Bill tried to push her in.

Bill and Karen by the Seven Sacred Pools.

The Seven Sacred Pools viewed from the road above.

The Seven Sacred Pools captured through the bridge on the Road to Hana.

The Seven Sacred Pools meeting the Pacific Ocean on the east side of Maui.

Karen with the Seven Sacred Pools from the bridge.

On the way back from the end of the Road to Hana (actually a few miles past Hana to Ohe'o Gulch) we drove past Hamoa Beach (MM 51), Koki Beach, and Hana Beach Park. Since the day was getting long and we wanted to get off the Road before dark, we didn't linger.

At the end of the Road to Hana on the way back we stopped at Ho'okipa Beach Park to watch the surfers and kite surfers as the sun set.

Nice sunset over the western Maui mountains. Bill and Marla asked us where we would like to go for dinner since they wanted to treat us to dinner for organizing the Maui vacation. We immediately said, Maui Brick Oven. So we headed to Kihei for another great dinner before heading back to the Papakea Resort.