The Road to Hana

Today we decided to drive the road to Hana, which is the loop around the eastern lobe of Maui. The drive is famous for its beauty, waterfalls, spectacular coastline, and of course, the road itself which has hundreds of curves. Even if you've never been there, you've seen it...in endless car commercials. Recognize this stretch of road? I bet it looks familiar:



So we set out early from our hotel. We got some coffee and pastries to eat in the car, because we knew it would be a long day, and we were hoping to be in front of some of the other tourists. We stopped in Paia, to gas up the car and to get some picnic lunches at "Hana Picnics". We were able to get the "Road to Hana" CD guide as well, which was entertaining to listen to as we rode along.

Unfortunately, as soon as we got on the Hana Highway, it started to rain, and it poured off and on until we got to Wai'anapanapa. Between the rain, and the heavy number of tourists on the road, and the fact that we needed to reach mile marker 20 by 11:30, before the road closed for construction for 4 hours, well, we didn't stop too often on the first part of the drive.

We made our first stop at the Garden of Eden botanical garden. It is a lovely place. The sun came out for about 5 minutes, and then it started pouring again.

There are some beautiful plantings, like this hibiscus:


In the mist here, you can see Keopuka rock, which is a view featured in the opening sequence of Jurassic park (only on a much sunnier day!)




You also get a nice view of Puahokamoa falls.