Dec 10 Road to Hana

Today was an all-day trip called the Hana Experience, a tour by Aloha Hawaii. We got picked up at 6:30am at our condo by a shuttle bus, and after picking up about 10 more people, rode to Lahaina, switched buses,

and headed for Hana, a small town on the east side of the island, formerly the center of sugar cane production but now very isolated from the western part of the island by the quality of the roads through the rain forest. According to our guide, our trip would involve over 600 sharp turns and over 60 one-lane bridges, plus no guard rails and precipitous drops as close as one foot from the road (sometimes unpaved, and rental cars are not allowed on one stretch due to this danger), so this is why we chose to let someone else do the driving!

The northern Maui shore has huge waves, sometimes rivaling the big island, here is one beach where surfing competitions are held

We stopped at some colorful eucalyptus trees

and at a roadside stand with "the best banana bread on Maui" (which several other stands also claimed to have). It was very good, served warm

We stopped for a couple waterfalls, with the opportunity to jump in and get behind the falls. With my bad back, ankles, etc, I decided to be the photographer while brave Diane (in the blue swimsuit) took the plunge (and the water reportedly was very cold). Here's the first falls

We stopped at a roadside ice cream stand to get delicious and expensive non-dairy, gluten-free sweet stuff

We stopped at a place operated by the tour guide's relatives (hmmm) for a souvenir and bathroom stop

and then went to a black sand beach (black because it's ground-up volcanic pumice)

After a tasty lunch at a roadside food truck, we visited another waterfall, and Diane took the plunge again

We then proceeded along the southern part of the island, where rain forest gave way to dry plains, cattle wandering loose, and dangerous driving, made worse by our guide/driver tailgating every car we came upon.