I Drove the Road to Hana

Wow. I went in to this month trying to keep up with the ol' blog and it's been four weeks since the last post. This is not good.

Long story about how this lapse has happened, but suffice it to say that this will not stand!

So to rectify (not to be confused with converting AC to DC...) the situation, here's some pixtures of my trip up (on?) the Road to Hana on Maui.

If you ever make it to Maui, this is a trip I highly recommend. As I've said before, most people of think "Hawai'i = beaches" and that's quite a misconception. The islands are an incredibly varied landscape - beaches, green fields, mountains, rainforests...it's mind-boggling.

Anyhoo.

The fammis Road to Hana runs from Kahului, near the center of the island, up to Hana, a tiny town/village on the northeast part of Maui. It's about 68 miles, and (you'll hear this 9 zillion times), made up of over 630 curves, and 59 bridges, 46 of which are one-lane. Because it's twisty and narrow, you get a wonderful up-close view of some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere in the world.

Here are some typical views along the way.




When I said the scenery was lush, I wasn't kidding. This is pretty typical. It's all green. You can see one of the numerous waterfalls here. Since we're in the mountains, the water (over 600 inches yearly...) flows down to the lower parts of the islands.



Arty shot of one of the many bridges.



Yet another waterfall. I read that there are lots of bugs, and you can certainly imagine that given the shallow slow moving pools of water and all the vegetation. But we were lucky and didn't get swarmed by many at all.


Hee hee hee. Hawaiian crawfish. I want to boil him up and eat him.


At the 'top' of the road is Waianapanapa State Park. The state park web site describes it as "remote,wild" and that's pretty accurate. I am lucky enough to get the spelling correct, let alone pronounce it. All I can say is it's unreal. There is a black sand (aka blacksand) beach, caves, an historic cememetary, and the priciest Coke ever to come out of a machine.


The blacksand beach.


Different angle from above the beach cove.

Lookit that water. When they say "Pacific Ocean Blue," this is it. Well, actually, that's the fammis album...but I see where Dennis got the inspiration. The Atlantic is green, and the Pacific is blue. That's the easy way to tell 'em apart.


More of the cove. I coulda sat there for days.


Self-portrait of Yr Fthlfl Blggr. Just so you know I Really Was There.


Sun, clear sky and palm trees.


Some of the amazing fauna. Or is this flora?


Hope choo bring lotsa munney if you want a Coke.


This is actually back on the road. Had to include something that related to my how-to-do it blog theme. I have no idea what these bolts were for - they might have held a sign at some point?