About 600 hairpin curves and over 60 one-lane bridges through a jungle-like/rainforest landscape with bamboo, waterfalls, palms and other tropical vegetation. That's the famous road to Hana, all the way to the east of the island. It's a "one-way route" (same way back and forth) and officially starts in Paia. From there it's about 46 mi. in total, about 30 mi. of them VERY curvy and narrow, and, that's probably what attracts most visitors most: the adventure to drive this road in a ruck of many other cars, rented Elantras, Jeeps or Mustangs - that's the three types of rental cars you mostly get to see. Well, after we made the trip - which added up to 150 miles and about 6 hours total driving time - we were not sure, whether we would rate it a top destination in a fictive guidebook we would write.
The night before we had monsoon-like rain and still in the morning there were quite a few clouds on the sky. Our first stop was at Twin Falls. The waterfalls themselves were not highly impressive, but it was just a short hike and the flora was lush and diverse (see flower pics below). Plus, there was a coconut/fruit vendor and we treated ourselves to a coconut to drink.
After the falls the winding road really begun and official speed limit was 15 mph. It was always good when we didn't have anybody in front of us, gave me a chance to prove my hidden talents as a race driver. Not driving myself, I couldn't have made the drive, getting car-sick very fast. In the course of 30 mi. the landscape became pretty monotonous, too, and towards the end we didn't stop very often anymore. Another waterfall,,, another bridge,,, another ocean view,,,
Arrived to Hana before noon and drove down to the beach (which was not spectacular). Originally, we had planned to hike to the Red Sand Beach over the hill, but skipped the thought because the trails along the coastline were too slippery because of the previous rain. Drove into "town" instead - which was not really a town, but a handfull of shacks and houses, the old Hasegawa General Store (pic), a church and some food trucks on a parking lot, where we had lunch (coconut-crusted mahi-mahi with rice and papaya salad) - our first hot meal since we left Elko. Since the town is so far apart from any real "civilization" it's a crazy, off-beat crowd here.
On the way out we stopped at the famous black sand beach in Waiana Panapa State Park, but, boy, it was crowded! Parking was a challenge, though we had another rain shower coming down when we arrived there. The beach itself was rather small, not really worth the visit.
The way back appeared a little faster (learned to drive the curves efficiently) and therefore we stopped in Hookipa Beach Park (pic above) to watch the surfers. Waves were high (it was windy) and there were lots of adventurous men and women on their boards out there. Also, it's a gathering place of the rare and threatened Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (pic). Checked out Paia for a little while on the way "home" to Lahaina and had then earned us a beer in the Kohola Brewery.
And some tropical flora:
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen