The beauty of this drive is incredible and well worth the time but something that isn't so enjoyable for people who get motion sickness. It takes about two hours to get to Hana on narrow, winding roads that sometimes narrow down to just one lane. I'm not quite sure the distance, probably no more than 30 miles, but, like I said, it takes 2 hours to go that 30 miles. That gives you an idea of how slow going the drive is and it's a little scary at times but absolutely gorgeous.
At the start of our adventure, we came across an older gentlemen with beautiful parrots offering a free chance to hold his parrots if you just pay him $20 to take pictures. Couldn't pass up this free offer for 20 bucks, right?
After our little pit-stop with the parrots we are, again, on our way to Hana. Each turn in the road either brought us near the coast line, which offered a view of gorgeous blue water....
or brought you to a beautiful waterfall cascading down the side of the mountain.
Of course, there were beautiful flowers along the way. I can't speak of Maui without speaking of the flowers and their incredible smell. It was all, truly, heavenly.
As we got closer to Hana we took a little detour down to the beach of Wainapanapa. Have I said that Maui was incredible and gorgeous and breathtaking? Well, those are the words to describe the beach of Wainapanapa. There's a small parking lot to park your car under trees that have what looks like cactus wrapped around the trunks. You take a short walk, gazing out at the incredibly beautiful water....
... to reach a black sand beach that's everything you would expect of a beach in Hawaii.
Like many of the beaches you can see that it's not overly crowded. The majority of people there just stood or sat down and stared in wonder at the beauty. At this beach there is a small little cave that you duck into and have your own private show of God's creation.
After all this, we finally make it to Hana. A cute little town with another gorgeous beach. We drove around the town to enjoy the quaintness of it all and couldn't help but wonder what it was like to live there. As I mentioned, it's a two hour drive on narrow, winding roads to get to this town. A two hour drive from groceries and other necessities. This town is the true meaning of island living.
Another 30 minutes past the town of Hana is the National Park of Haleakala. This national park consists of a very large, dormant volcano and the seven sacred pools of Oheo. To visit the seven pools was our ultimate goal in this drive, which is the Road to Hana. We had heard many things about the beauty of these pools and were anxious to visit them and swim in them. We were not disappointed.
These seven pools are fresh-water pools that drain from rain water collected high up in the mountain range of the Haleakala volcano. The water cascades down waterfalls and collects in seven different fresh-water pools that eventually all drain into the ocean. It was a treat to swim in the cold, clear water and drink in the beauty.
My final, take-away message for the loyal readers of this blog. Visit Maui.... and take me as your tour guide.
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