October 13
Well, probably this is one of the few things I've done as a traveler that I'd say it was truly a ONCE in a lifetime event because while we enjoyed the entire L-O-N-G day, I'm not sure I'd ever do it again. Asked would I recommend it - that's a tough question.....I think I'd have to explain what we did and let the person make their own choice if it would be worth it, especially considering it's a 10-hour adventure. And I should qualify that by saying, what I'd heard BEFORE our day was that the "Road To Hana" took you up to the town, and then you came back. In OUR excursion we completely circumnavigated the entire island.....and it's the back half of the drive that would make many people wonder if this is really worth it. We enjoyed every stop....had a GREAT day.....our driver Eric was amazingly awesome. But.....well, here's the story........
We knew going in it would be a long day, and we knew that the Road To Hana has over SIXTY, yes 6-0 hairpin turns that wind all the way up to the town. AND we knew that most of the road was along cliffs and over bridges with deep gorges. And to be fair we debated about taking this excursion or using the entire day as a "free day" to enjoy the property and the adjoining beach. But in the end, all the wonderful things we'd see and do made us decide it would be worth it. The photo above was at our first stop and I could post at least half a dozen of these kinds of photos because we saw so, SO many amazing bays & beaches with the waves crashing. At this first stop - oh, and did I mention our driver in our independent tour - met us in his Mercedes van at 5:50 am? Only ten guests along for the ride which made it a very personalized event, and we enjoyed that. Anyway, our driver provided us with pastries and drinks at this stop. We moved on and we made a stop at what I'd read was a "YOU HAVE TO DO" stop at Aunt Sandy's which is known to have THE best banana bread on the islands. And as we approached it's location about 8:25 Eric told us that it was not uncommon for the long to be some 20-30 deep, but because they opened at 8:30 am we thought we'd be one of the first in line and it would be great timing. Pulled up just as people were beginning to stop buy and sure enough we were about number four in line. We drove up the road with our coffee (and diet coke) and still hot banana bread to a park and enjoyed every bite. Also took a selfie of the bay and I also took a close-up of the crashing waves. They are so loud and so cool.
Then we headed up the road, winding our way to our lunch stop. Along the way we say so many waterfalls, and even stopped briefly at one so a few of the guests could jump in for a photo op. We'd pre-ordered a sandwich and Eric had snacks to go along with them as well as fresh pineapple. Our stop was at the national park with a black sand beach where we could go swimming. After polishing off the sandwich we changed and went down the 62 steps (was at least that many) to the beach and got in for about twenty minutes. AHHHHH, so refreshing. Below is a pic of the bay (you can see the beach on the far left side) and one of the four of us in the surf.
Next stop was the actual town of Hana for another photo op and bathroom stop before making out way along the back side of the island. Here's where it began to be "tricky." When we stopped for the banana bread I'd talked with Eric and mentioned I was so, SO glad I wasn't driving....not only the curves - one right after another - but the fact they were over cliffs AND that the lane was often not wide enough for two vehicles which meant you were constantly trying to get as close to the edge as you could to pass traffic. But then Eric told me that for a couple hours on the backside of the island the road was no longer paved AND there were no guardrails - just a sheer drop down the cliff mere feet away. Yes, for real.
These photos above hardly, HARDLY do it justice. And there's just no describing meeting another vehicle midway through a sharp turn, around a cliff and then someone having to back up. Quite the adventure for sure. Far less sites to see along the backside, but the vistas were amazing. The top three, in my opinion....saw a 150 year-old church, that's still active (though most of the population has moved away); saw a 185 foot waterfall. The last one - one of my most favorite students of all time saw we were on the road and messaged me we had to see "the pools," - we did indeed see the "Seven Sacred Pools." Apparently these - in a national park - used to be quite a hit for tourists and according to Eric when you'd drive in you'd see well over a hundred visitors swimming, diving, and jumping in. But for the last few years the park has been closed to visitors as the structure is no longer safe.
The last hour and a half was just a drive on regular roads again. We were back at the resort by 4:30 pm which was great timing because we had reservations at Merrimans - a very VERY nice restaurant which sits on the edge of a cliff. We'd sent our oldest here on his honeymoon and this was their favorite restaurant. When I made the reservations more than a month ago the seating times were limited, even then. But we were happy to take a 7:15 pm slot just to be sure we'd be back in time.
It was a fabulous dinner - a great way to end another wonderful day. Back to the hotel at about 10pm with just four hours ahead for the wake-up call to head off on our sunrise excursion tomorrow on our last day in Hawaii!
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