The following contains photos and information from my recent trip to Maui the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. I have now returned and so I am happy to share with you what I experienced. Mahalo.
Also check out my wife’s post about Hawaiian culture!
It also includes some great info on The Road to Hana!
There is no shortage of tourists sites that will give you a guide to this fantastic journey, so I am not going to do the same.
Instead, I am going to share with you some of the pictures that I snapped along the way with a little story thrown in for fun!
To begin, for the uninitiated, which was me before my trip, “the Road to Hana is world famous for the natural beauty of its unblemished landscapes and towering waterfalls.”.
Also, it is comprised of a road full of “curves that hug the coast and gaze over an ocean that stretches uninterrupted all the way to the Alaskan coastline. Couple that with black, red, and white sand beaches, a multitude of trails, and beautiful gardens.”
And:
Here is a map, although it says “interactive”, you’d have to visit the site to find out for sure, this is just a link to their picture.
Road to Hana Map
Being the case, I was able to snap several shots while we were in rout. Here is a view as we were headed out from the surrounding area of Kahului.
Heading Out For Hana
The app used our GPS location and let us know about different sights along the way. It also gave us stories and some history of Hawaii.
It was a great way to help us along our Road to Hana trip.
The way we did it was to drive out to Hana first and then beyond to get to Haleakala National Park for an unforgettable hike, but more on that later.
Then on our way back we stopped by some amazing sites that I will get to below.
A View From The Road
Soon we had a brief stop at the Kaumahina State Wayside Park, yes to use the bathroom, and took in a nice view!
Somewhere about this time, I forget the exact details, because c’mon I was on vacation!, we stopped by a little road side trail and saw the most beautiful Rainbow Eucalyptus trees!
Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees
Here is a view of the Maui East Coast from the park’s visitors center:
The East Side
E Komo Mai - Pipiwai Trail Map
Here is a cool mountian view we saw along the trail:
A Mountian View
A super wild banyan tree, awesome greenery, flowers, and at one point a remarkable bamboo forest.
Here is a peek at a creek from the bamboo forest:
A Creek Peek
Waimoku Falls
But we couldn’t eat just yet…
We had brought a picnic lunch and needed a great view for our setting, because we were in Maui after all!
So we packed back in the car and took off for Wai'anapanapa State Park.
Once we got there and ate, it was time to see the black sands of Pa‘iloa Beach!
Pa‘iloa Black Sand Beach
Another Beautiful View
Another Great Shot!
Of course we had to go in it!
Cave Cam
Along the way we took a pit stop at a place Cafe Coffee that had some killer coffee and unbelieveably tasty snacks!
We got some delicious pineapple coconut cake and a yummy lemon bar along with delicious cold macadamia nut iced coffee drink to power us up for the journey home.
Cafe Coffee Shop
Another Road Shot
We stood on and took in the view the fantastic rocky coast.
Also we saw the "only remaining building after the devastating tsunami of 1946”.
It is the Kaulanapueo Church which was built out of stone in 1853 and still stands today!
The Church That Stood Its Ground
Created by Michael Paine
