This was our last day to enjoy the wonders of Hawaii. Of course, if you are on Maui you must take a drive down the Road to Hana highway. A few planning notes of caution for those planning to go - it is crowded. If you take your own car, leave very early and plan to take your time. The later you leave the fewer opportunities you will have to find parking at different interesting sites. I think after this trip in many cases I would suggest looking into Road to Hana tours where they will take you in vans and arrange all the parking, etc., allowing you to sit back and enjoy the scenery in all its glory without stressing.

If you do drive, with the higher tourist traffic, they are really getting ticket happy. The tickets are also not cheap (I found out the hard way, over $200 later). It does appear that they tend to target tourist rentals instead of locals. I parked on the side of the highway (all wheels were off the payment) next to several other cars. As I was wondering down in the water to shoot a waterfall, I heard a siren. No chance I could get back quickly. But when I did, I found that I had a nice new ticket (and was the only one of many similarly parked cars). The ticket said that I had parked with my wheels on the pavement (not true) and that it was illegal parking (two separate fines). A couple of the locals walked by and saw the ticket. They actually apologized and seemed to feel bad for me (everyone there seems to be nice - except for that one traffic cop). The pictures however were almost worth it (see 0052N and 0053N on this page). I did happen to coolect a bit of mud and water in my shoes to get the shots but it just made it more of an adventure.

One more tip - if you do go and want to visit the black sand beach at Waiʻānapanapa State Park (it is beautiful and has lots of hikes through the lava and jungle vegetation - see pictures from my 2008 trip), you need to make a reservation for a three hour time slot in advance. I am not talking about one day in advance - plan well ahead.

____________

Back to the day with our group. We headed around the NE section of the island and connected with the Road to Hana along the northern shore. Our first stop was Ho’okipa Beach Park where you can almost always watch surfers. Waves were mild that day and on the way back there were more people playing in the waves. After that point, the classic Road to Hana started. It is one of those roads that doesn’t bother with curve signs as the road is nothing but a huge set of curves. The road follows the coast closely for most of it, serpentining around the rugged volcanic shoreline. There is also water everywhere so lots of waterfalls to view. But no cell service in most places so plan ahead if more than one vehicle.

Since I had not known about the reservation for the Ho’okipa Beach Park, we weren’t able to go there. Shortly before Ko’okipa is the Ke’anae Peninsula. This location has a lot of wonderful wave action against very rough lava boulders. It additionally has an old church, a lot of history plus, if you like banana bread, you will love Aunt Sandy’s who has been making homemade banana bread for sale since 1983 at this location. Oh yes, lots of parking in the area.

As mentioned before it had been a very busy week. Without access to the upcoming Ho’okipa Beach Park and we would not be able to drive around the backside of the Road to Hana, most of the gang decided to head back to the hotel to enjoy some relaxing beach time and then to prepare a barbecue dinner by the poolside for us. Charles and I decided to go a bit further but shortly afterwards I dropped Charles back with the others to return to the hotel (luckily they were still there). Driving makes it more interesting to me on the curvy roads but I suspect was not favored by many of the passengers. I was tired so only went a bit further (after dropping Charles off to the others) before turning back (remember it is a long drive back to the hotel). I did stop for a quick car nap and also took some surfing pictures at Ho’okipa Beach Park.

When I finally got back to the hotel, the gang had the barbecue all ready for me (I call that service!!!) not to mention my favorite drink at hand. What a nice and relaxing day (watching the sun go down and enjoyed a dip at dusk is recommended) to finish a great trip.

A couple more notes on The Mauian on Napili Bay. While we didn’t find a grocery store very near, aways down the highway we found what felt like the biggest grocery store in the world - a Safeway in Lahaina. It had everything from food to tourist stuff and other odds and ends.

It seems too that The Mauian is a popular place for people to come back to year after year. It is easy to understand why as everyone is so friendly and the place is so nice. Not only are the guests friendly but they share. As our group was setting up for the barbecue they met some ladies who would be leaving soon so they left to us some of their barbecue supplies and perishables to enjoy. Of course, we did the same when we left for airport the next day.

____________

The next day (Day 7) we had some time to relax a bit and then head back for our evening flights, with everyone arriving home as expected sometime the following day. I believe that everyone really enjoyed their adventure and traveling companions.