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"Lucky me, I got to have Monday off to be on my own and do a little shopping for my friends. I was told that the Tuesday trip would be quite full with numerous stops along the way. It was suggested that this road trip could be a bit scary-so be prepared. The two lane road to Hana is narrow with over 600 curves and 54 one lane bridges. It takes about 3 hours with numerous stops just to reach Hana!! My stomach felt a bit sick just thinking of this drive.
Tuesday
Our driver arrived early in a mini van. We were assured that he has had a lot of experience driving to Hana. As we got settled in our seats he told us that this road trip is more about the experience along the way than the destination. The ride up was like nothing I have ever experienced. Lucky there are 48 mile posts signs so one can look at a booklet to see what was coming up. But our driver Tomio was so informative we didn't even have to look anything up. He handed us the itinerary for the day that covered all our scheduled stops. Since there are so many places to take pictures Davis & Sons associates had to make some choices where we would take photos. Looks like they will have a difficult job deciding which photos to use for the hotel's brochure.
All I can say about the ride was WOW!!!!!!!! Totally amazing winding around these hairpin curves past rain forest, waterfalls, ravines, fishing settlements and gorges. The breathtaking vistas looking down to the ocean made my stomach a bit queasy. It was fun to get out along the way to climb on a bamboo tree, sit on a black sand beach and gaze at immense waterfalls. I even got to see some peacocks up real close. One problem for me were the gusty winds. When they were taking photos at Honokalami Black Sand Beach I almost was blown out to sea. So I had to sit near a sheltered spot on smooth lava pebbles for the photo. One of my favorite photos is where I got to sit among the coconuts. I was able to write a message on one and send it back home to Sully and Moxie-just like a giant postcard.
What a day that ended some 9 hours later. I would like to add that the ride down was even scarier than going up. I was just happy to get back home without any accidents. Just as we got out of the van they handed each of us a certificate with fancy gold writing that said: I Survived The Road To Hana. We plan to go to bed early since the van will be back at 3:30 AM. Yes I said 3:30. We plan to see the sunrise at Haleakala. I hope it is a clear night for viewing.
All these Hawaiian names are so hard to pronounce with so many vowel letters in each word. "
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LOVE that ocean view pic. That's ONE lucky sock monkey.
ReplyDeleteYou are much braver than I. I kept thinking that the road TO Hana is also the road FROM Hana, so declined to endure the hours of switchback turns twice.
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