USA - Hawaii - Maui Part 1

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Alpha!

Friday 28^th September – Waikiki to Maui continued…

We were up early to finish packing, grab breakfast (love the free croissants and muffins!) and check out before heading back to the airport for our flight to Maui. We got a taxi to the airport and there was a bit of trouble at check in because the system didn’t prompt us to pay to check in our bags… that’s no real problem! It helped make it easier for the airline who’d got a bit confused when I said we needed to pay for our bags separately. We went through to the departure lounge and had a drink in the bar before our flight with Go/Mesa. I was expecting the plane to be smaller than it was so was pleasantly surprised (the bigger the plane the less turbulence)… we didn’t have allocated seats so it was a free for all but not as bad as it is getting onto Easyjet when you don’t have a seat. There was one flight attendant for the 22 minute flight; she was very fun and bubbly and as is typical for Hawaii everyone wears short skirts, it doesn’t matter what age or size they are. I was giggling all the way through the safety demonstration because she made it so amusing.

We took off and flew over some of the islands (flight attendant told us the names of each with other interesting information). There were a lot of waves in the sea and she told us we were in the 3^rd windiest place in the wood…. so to expect some turbulence (I was like bloomin great…but it wasn’t too bad!). We could see a lot of wind farms so they were obviously taking advantage of it. At Kapului airport we picked up our bags and got a $20 taxi to Banana Backpackers in Wailuku. We checked in to the dorm and got a tour of the hostel… I was happy with it but was anxious for Jonny, it was his first time in a hostel and dorm with shared facilities. There wasn’t much to do around the hostel and my plan to study and take part in the free hostel tours didn’t seem fair on Jonny so we set off in search of a hire car. We got onto the bus whilst I made some calls to local rental companies and found we were going in the wrong direction so had to switch buses… It was all so local and friendly, I really liked the place and it felt much realer than Waikiki. We eventually found the hire car place and picked up a battered automatic that we affectionately called ‘the piece of s*i*’. I loved it, it reminded me of Mildred (Drew’s car in Oz) and it had MFY (Maffy!) in the number plate.

We got in and headed off (I drove because Jonny didn’t have his driving licence) and the car was BOILING hot! The air conditioning wasn’t very effective. Jonny was map reading (I’m not good with other people map reading, too much of a control freak… he hadn’t mad much practice but got there and did a great job!) and we tried to head into Kapului but ended up driving up a very high steep road with no barriers. We pulled over to take a look at the view and decided that as the map warned the road was ‘desolate, but very picturesque. It also has a very narrow section of road with a sheer cliff and no guard rail…not for the faint hearted’ we should head back, neither of us are good with heights! We made our way back into Kapului and had a dodgy incident with a junction I didn’t understand… and then found fuel and a restaurant to have something to eat in. Jonny was feeling a bit like we were in the middle of nowhere so I suggested we headed out to Laihana which I’d noticed used to be the capital. It was a lovely drive up the east coast of Maui, past a lot of surfing spots, although the sun was setting and right in my eyes so very uncomfortable (the sun in my eyes as I’m driving will be something I remember from Maui). Lahaina is very touristy and pretty with international names like Hard Rock Café and posh shops and boutiques. We parked up and stopped for a drink in the Mai Tai bar and then walked through town towards the harbour and watched a bit of the sunset. There was a guy playing violin on a bench overlooking the sea… Jonny saw he was collecting money to attend an Irish fiddle school. I meant to give him some money on the way back but got distracted by the beautiful sound of bagpipes… they were coming from a rooftop bar. At the same time a guy working for ‘Fleetwoods’ (the rooftop bar) stopped us and suggested we take a tour, he said it didn’t matter if we’d already eaten. So we took a tour and it was lovely… it had been opened by Mick (as in Fleetwood, I embarrassingly had to ask to be sure…) 2 months ago and was doing well. We arrived up on the rooftop bar and were left to have a look around… I wanted to get home to study but thought we might as well have a drink as we were there so convinced Jonny to stay for one. I had a lovely sparkling water and we enjoyed the atmosphere. As soon as sunset was completely finished people started heading down to the restaurant for dinner and we got a nice spot overlooking the ocean. And then Mick himself walked in! You couldn’t miss him because he’s so tall and he was saying hello to everyone as he was escorting his Mum to their table. He wasn’t sat down for long before he was up and having people queuing to take photos… he had his man with him and it was fascinating to watch how crazy people got about meeting him. I’d have liked a photo (mainly for Drew, who’s also a drummer) but felt it was too intrusive to ask. As he was stood quite near us his man (introduced himself as Ryan) started chatting to us and we had a joke with him about his dinner getting cold… and once Mick was finished with the queue Ryan brought him over to us so we could say hello and have a photo… it was nice for everyone to hear another British accent J We had a chat (I told him I needed a photo to show Drew who thought he was a legend) and then we let him go off to his dinner. We had a nice evening and met an investor in the restaurant and someone whose brother was in the running to buy Leeds football club. We learned that Steve Tyler and Carlos Santos lived locally and are regulars… Steve and Mick recently had a jam on stage. Mick got up with the band and played a few tunes on the drums, it was brilliant to watch. The bar was lovely and the food looked great, the chef in the main restaurant works on Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey but everything was reasonably priced. Before we knew it, it was 10pm and we thought we’d better head back, never a good idea to arrive in a dorm for your 1^st night when everyone else is asleep. Jonny navigated us back to Wailuku and we luckily found somewhere to park the car. We were in a 4 bed dorm and two Swiss friends were in there, they were friendly. We settled down to sleep but I didn’t sleep very well… the window was open and we were right next to the road, the noise from the cars was so loud we might as well have been on the road and my ear plugs were not at all effective!

Saturday 29^th September – Maui (the Road to Hana)

We were up early and I was feeling quite poorly… like I had a cold. I’ve been having trouble with my ears (think it’s the snorkelling in Fiji) and now had a sore throat and cough. Anyway… we were heading out on the ‘Road to Hana’, the must do drive on Maui. Jonny got a good map and directions from the hostel and we headed on the Hana Highway to the start of the road at Pa’ia. It was a pretty town and I’d read that Charley’s was the place to go for breakfast (Eggs Benedict for me, Jonny likes the omelettes) so we had something nice there to fill us up for the rest of the day. We continued on making our first stop at Hookipa Beach… known for surfing. There were a lot of surfers but the waves weren’t that big… it’s not the right time of year for the REALLY big waves yet. I could happily watch surfers for hours but we had to continue… you can apparently do the drive in 1 ½ hours without stopping but people say it takes 5 hours one way with all of the stopping. Our next stop was at Twin Falls where we walked for about 20 minutes to find the ‘Twin Falls’. It was a bit of a mission and quite dodgy going in places; through mud, over slippery rocks and along narrow ledges. But we made it and were a bit disappointed… the waterfall was not very impressive and there was only one. The talk at the waterfall was that there were several of them dotted around but we decided not to attempt to find another, my flip flops and feet were completely covered in slippy mud and the signposting was non-existent (we did later see in my photo though… there were 2 waterfalls). The road continued on and we stopped every now and again for photos… the road was very windy, there were 617 hairpin bends and lots of ups and downs and narrow one lane bridges (54 in total) with signs telling you to ‘Yield for Oncoming Traffic’ (what sort of word is yield, I’d had enough of it by the time we finished!). Jonny was very quiet and I was a bit worried about him… he had his eyes fixed on the road and not on the view. It turned out he was very uncomfortable with heights (bless him!) and not being in control of the driving (he said I was doing well though!). We stopped at one of the arboretums which had nice trees and views of the ocean… we could see Keopuka (or something like that) that was used in an opening scene of Jurassic Park. We continued on looking out over fields of taro and more and more waterfalls before ending up in Hana, the end of the road. We went to Waianapanapa State Park to see the black sand beach, lava tubes and blowhole. There were a few of us waiting to take a photo of it and just as it went off some prat walked in front of it! Why would you do that?!!! Anyway it was nice watching the ocean, the swell was massive! We continued on into Hana Bay and felt like we’d come across some sort of private party (Jonny's description); there was a gathering of people, loud music and a woman talking to everyone over a loudspeaker!

We continued through Hana, stopping at Hamoa Beach where there was a surf competition, and onwards in search of the red sand beach and Venus pools. Somehow we missed them (the Swiss showed us photos in the hostel later). The road got windier and windier and we had two options… drive back the way we came along the windy road for 2 hours or take the unpaved road for 5 miles that was pretty rough in places (the description on the map said ‘because it’s total isolation out here, if you have trouble you are on your own. Drive at your own risk’, hire car companies do not cover you if you’re on it) but got you home quicker. We decided to take that and I was so glad we did!

It was a crazy drive but so amazing! I loved it! It was a little stressful because it was very steep and windy in places, with big drops off the side of cliff and no barriers. And we were driving into the sun so sometimes couldn’t see anything when going up a steep hill (sometimes you couldn’t even see the summit); I was glad for my good polarized sunglasses. But it was one of THE best drives I have EVER done; this part to me was better than the actual Road to Hana. It helped the sun was setting so we were travelling at my favourite time of day. It was so remote and wild…the coastline was fantastic and the mountains to the right were awesome…you could see where the lava from the Haleakala volcano had once flowed through, at one point we delved briefly into the most fantastic canyon. There were cows with ducks and the odd church jotted around and rainbows J We stopped at Kaupo General Store and they told us it wasn’t much further on the rough road… phew as we didn’t trust the map. We were on our own for quite a while (I kept stopping to take photos) but had to stop at one point because I actually couldn’t see anything. We then joined a convoy which Jonny was happier about and it was easier just to focus on the back of the car in front, especially because they blocked out the sun when we went up the steep hills. We eventually started to head inland which I was disappointed about because I was enjoying the coast. But the inland road was pretty nice too… the setting sun glowed off of the trees and lit up the way for us. We stopped to look at an impressive view down into a valley and out over the ocean. The sun was setting so I stopped to watch sunset and taking more photos… poor Jonny must have had enough of me taking photos! It was just beautiful. I found it all really moving.

We drove on back to Kapului (passing a electric post that was sparking and on fire… Jonny said we didn’t need to call the fire brigade but I was reassured to see one a few minutes later speeding towards it!) and got Macdonalds before going in search of an adaptor plug for me (I’d lost my other one and needed my laptop charged to study). I was so tired after the driving and the sun in my eyes but around receiving some calls from home I did do some study and then watched some Smash to chill out.

Next up…Maui Part 2!

Xx



NOTE: I use these updates to capture my memories and share what I'm doing on my travels with friends, family and anyone who’s interested enough to read. The views are my own and I try my best to ensure any information I share is fair and accurate but I do sometimes get things wrong. I welcome any feedback so I can make improvements and corrections for future readers. Thank you.

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