The rooster crowed early this morning, but indeed we were
hoping he would. Greg and I
discussed in the dark of predawn, since we were both awake we may as well
attempt the Road to Hana. The
tropical storm still churned the waters in front of our condo, no snorkeling
today anyway. We have visited Maui
twice before together and hadn’t yet undertaken the journey. Greg remembered
pieces of the drive from when he had traveled here with his parents in his
early twenties. I had never
been. Tales of hairpin turns and
slow traffic on a narrow highway had kept us from spending one of our precious
few days on this journey in the past, but with several weeks remaining in our
trip and a competent rental car at our disposal, we decided today was the
day. We threw some supplies into
bags, tossed on some travel clothes and left the condo before six o’clock
without even a cup of coffee to fuel us.
Luckily among the items I had tossed into the bags, were some snacks and
the makings for brunch on the go.
By the time we got to Kahului, we were hungry and gratefully nibbled on
the apple bananas we bought at the farmer’s market yesterday.
Paia town and Haiku weren’t awake yet, as we started down
the road to Hana at about 7:30 in the morning, the road was entirely ours. Each waterfall and patch of tropical
green foliage seemed to exist for our eyes alone. Each vine that hung from the towering trees entreated us
with the temptation to swing from it like Tarzan, as we went whizzing by.
We stopped only at a park to use the
restroom and arrived in Hana Bay by 9:30.
We enjoyed a breakfast of vanilla yogurt that I had jammed in a cooler
with some ice on the way out the door, some papaya and of course the remaining
pineapple bread spread with lilikoi cream cheese. Enjoying the view of Hana Bay from our picnic table, we
watched a team of young boys gather near the community center and haul a giant
canoe to the shoreline. Either a
team captain, coach, or otherwise responsible adult stood on the pier shouting
encouragement and instructions. It
was amazing to watch these young men in the rough water, completely at ease,
working together in unison. The
speed with which that canoe cut across the bay was impressive. As we visited the restrooms at the
community center, we got to peak in on local hula class in session. At first glance Hana seemed a rather
understated anti-climatic end to our drive, but I was quickly enchanted by
seeing a glimpse of the real Hawaii.
Local folks proud of their cultural traditions, organizing the
youngsters during the summer time, keeping them busy while keeping the
culture.
Before getting back on the road, we followed the directions
in our guidebook to a hidden spot.
A precarious but short path led from the pier to a pocket-sized red sand
beach. Just a tiny cove,
completely hidden from the road.
You get the feeling that Hana hides numerous little treasure like this
one. We took our time on the way
back, stopping at a stand for vegan coconut ice cream, and following a small
road to the airport and ending up in a beautiful neighborhood. It was noon when we emerged in Paia
town again. We had planned to have
lunch there, but it was swarming with tourists…who were no doubt just about to
be descending on the Hana road.
Pleased that we had started our journey so early and that we had beaten
the crowds, we decided not to join them in Paia where there was no parking
anyway and we drove back to Lahaina for lunch.
Excited to try a restaurant we had long drooled over from
afar, we stopped at Star Noodle and ate delicious bowls of steamy ramen. Back
at the condo we crashed hard, late afternoon naps led to a lazy evening of
cooking at home and relaxing after a long journey.
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