Up before dawn to board the shuttle bus at 7, to sit in traffic most of the way to the airport.
It was a quick flight (not even 30 minutes in the air, barely enough time to finish the coffee they gave me) from Honolulu to Kahului, Maui. The check-in kiosk for Hawaiian Air has, in addition to the regular baggage check stuff, options for checking surfboards. (2 boards is equivalent to 1 checked bag, I think.) It was a little strange to see someone leaving baggage claim with a large, black, nylon bag in the shape of a surfboard.
We have a rental car from Alamo, which probably wouldn't have been anyone's first choice, but they have great prices. Also, you get to pick your own rental car, sort of. In this case, we got to choose from the "mid-sized SUV" category (I didn't want to get stuck anywhere, there are some terrible roads, but that's another story). Our first criterion was the presence of a sunroof. That narrowed it down to 2 choices. Next, Sabrina sat in the driver seats, to see which one she liked better. That left us with a Pontiac Torrent. Nothing remarkable, not bad though. By this time, it was after 11 AM, so we immediately left for Hana... after stopping to apply SPF30. Garmin GPS has been the MVP so far, I'd say.
We stopped in a quaint little town called Pa'ai for lunch. As the guidebook puts it, "it's still the age of aquarius here". They weren't kidding. All sorts of strange hippies were walking around. One kid asked me if I wanted to buy some "Maui Wowie" (sp?), to which I said "huh?" and kept walking.
After lunch, we gradually headed east on the previously mentioned Road to Hana, stopping periodically at lookout points and scenic overlooks to take pictures. There are lots of road-side shacks/huts/stands peddling items ranging from coconuts and pineapples to woven hats and a variety of BBQ meats. Many places have displays of fresh fruit and exotic flowers, all with hand-painted signs and seedy-looking proprietors.
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Eventually, we ended up in what seems to be rainforest. The coast is dotted with waterfalls that tumble from high up in the mountains. We stopped at a few to take pictures, and even started following one.
I kept going after Sabrina wouldn't continue, and got some great video.
Along the way, we took a few side roads into the jungle, often at the recommendation of the guide book. Some of these roads couldn't even have been 12 feet wide, and were in rough shape. On more than one occasion, I remarked that I was glad we hadn't rented a Hyundai compact.
One of these roads eventually ended at a flat spot, on the coast, with a view back towards where we had been driving. The surf on the north side of Maui is incredible, often deserving a handful of warning signs.
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The last such side road that we went down led to a sort of lava-rock park, where some people were camping. The attractions included a black beach, some caves, a lava tube, and the "blow hole". Again, some great video.
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We finally arrived in Hana around 5 PM, to a little cottage near the ocean, comically referred to as "the Garden Suite". We found dinner at the only place that was serving it around here, and I got to sample some more local beer. It turns out that the Kona brewing company makes a tasty porter.
Sabrina was a tad concerned to see a cautionary clause about "critters" in the guest information book. It turns out that they weren't making this stuff up; these little guys are incredibly fast and difficult to catch. The good news is that they're considered to bring good luck, apparently.
The plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and watch the sunrise at the beach, so I'm going to bed now (just before 10 PM).
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