Hawaii - Day 9

It rained a ton last night again. And this was our view at 7:30 this morning. 

We decided to get going even though it was still raining. Another busy day for the Rays!

Campers extraordinaire. 

He’s such a dork. 🤣

We hiked the Pipiwai (sounds like PPY) trail all the way to the top. 

About a half mile in till about a mile and a half in, these poor dogs followed us. They were super friendly with waggy tails but they didn’t look great. We mentioned them to the park ranger when we got back and he said they belong to one of the locals and he often has to call and tell them to come pick up their dogs. 

It rained on us off and on the whole time. And there were signs all over about being careful because a flash flood can pop up at any moment and they even printed news articles on their signs about a father and daughter who fell down a 100+ foot waterfall and another woman drowning in a flash flood. So basically I was a little nervous. 

Of course we stayed on the trail, but the stream and falls were riiiight next to the trail for a good portion of the hike and they were loud and angry looking. 

I know I keep saying it, but this place is amazing. Just beauty everywhere. We’re so happy. 

When we got to the top we found 4 waterfalls instead of 1. That’s how much rain we got. 

Waimoku Falls. 

Hazy because of the rain. 

We hightailed down the mountain (1.8 miles each way) and hiked out to the Pools of Ohe’o. 

I think sometimes you can swim in these, but definitely not today. 

Angry ocean too. 

I can’t handle even a little bright sun, it’s so ridiculous. 

We were in a rush because we had reservations at Wai’anapanapa State Park for 10-12:30. As it was we didn’t arrive till 11:15 and we went straight to the black sand beach and even though the waves were a little crazy, we got right in. 

I took a little talking into, but not much. 

Matt snorkeled while I bobbed around, and we stayed close to each other. 

A few other people came out, but not many. And now black sand beach ✅. 

We thought they’d probably be cool if we stayed longer, but we tried to be respectful so we headed out at 12:45. 

On our way we bought 2 fresh bananas for $1. 

They tasted like a regular banana. 

Because sometimes you just gotta pull over and stand on the guardrail for a picture. It’s that beautiful. 

We shared lunch from the Hana food trucks and looked at souvenirs but no luck. I’m hoping tomorrow I can find things for the girls!

One of the things we missed on our way yesterday was the Waikamo Rodge Trail hike, so we did that one today. 

We stopped at a local chocolate farm and got to taste chocolate fruit. It’s slimy and then bitter and chewy, so not great. But they say it has great antioxidants. 🤷‍♀️

We picked up some coconut brittle yesterday but were $.50 short, so we got cash out and planned to pick up another bag and give them an extra dollar for their troubles but they were empty. Sadness. 

Another stop we missed yesterday was the Halfway to Hana! We shared a pineapple smoothie and were happy as clams. 

Our cool rig pulled over like the other road to Hana’ers. 

When we got back into town our first stop was for Maui’s best shaved ice - Ululani’s. It was pretty good - better than Oahu, but not as good as Kauai. We’ll see what the big islands got to offer tomorrow!

We gassed up at Safeway and then I took my first turn driving. We’re staying the night back in Haleakalā National Park but this time on the Hosmer Grove side which is at 7000 ft elevation. So i drove all those crazy switchbacks uphill while it was getting dark. It was a little crazy, but I took it slow and we made it. The stars here are amazing. We organized and got packed up and hopefully we’ll be able to see the sunrise at the summit tomorrow!

Hawaii - Day 8

Because of the camper/junkyard situation we went to bed early and also woke up early. Since we had a full day Road to Hana excursion planned we decided to hit the road early and find a place to change and brush our teeth on the way. 

We made our way towards the starting point, and our cars hood fully started to steam. Matt looked at it and thought there was something wrong with the radiator. So just after 6am we left a message for the business owner, and about 10 minutes later she called us back, and about 20 minutes later we met her for a car switcheroo. Not in the plans, but easy enough. 

We stopped to watch some surfers and change and brush teeth, and we were on our way! 

We could have walked down there and watched for a lot longer but there were so many good things to do. We felt behind all day. 

Second stop - fresh coconut and fresh cane sugar drink. 

They took the fresh cane sugar and put it through this machine and it juices right out. It’s pretty incredible. 

Don’t mind my drunk look. 👆🏼 I ❤️ sugar. 

I kind of wanted to mix the sugar juice and coconut milk. Maybe next time. 

After we drank the coconut milk they cut up the coconut and put it in a baggie and we enjoyed it all day.

He explained to Matt how he climbs the coconut trees and they also fulfilled a lifelong dream of Matt’s to chew sugar cane. It was sweet and hard and I guess an experience. 🤣

I do love fresh coconut. 

Mile marker 0! I had downloaded an app and as we drove he would make helpful suggestions, give us the history, and tell us where to stop. 

Shaka!

We fulfilled another of Matt’s dreams when we swam at our first Hawaiian waterfall. 

We hiked about a half mile out to it and it was cold, but so cool!

We love swimming and it was beautiful.

And while we were there 2 ladies cliff jumped into the pool and Matt really wanted to but I really didn’t want him to and I won. 

The Road to Hana is crazy windy and narrow! I had to keep my eyes up the whole time otherwise I felt sick. 

We stopped and shared a banana Nutella crepe and pineapple smoothie and had a nice Hungarian couple take our picture. We told them someday we’d love to go visit and they said to wait till they get a new president. We could relate and we all had a sad laugh about it. 😬

We stopped at every point of interest our app suggested, even if it was just for a minute. 

We still feel so excited to be together having this amazing experience in Hawaii. 

One of the points of interest was a quick stop to check out their irrigation. It’s pretty amazing infrastructure because of the terrain. 

One possible suggested stop was The Garden of Eden.

It was really beautiful but $$$ and now in hindsight, we probably spent too much time there. 

We had a map and there were trails and all the trees were labeled. 

Jurassic Park opening scene pyramid rock. Though I swear we saw that on Oahu. 🤔 

There were a few private residences in the park and - heaven. 

Matt loved the banana groves and he really wanted to pick one, but alas. 

We saw these cool rainbow eucalyptus trees all over. 

And a 100+ year mango tree. 

It almost doesn’t even look real. 

Even though we tried to stop at every suggestion, but sometimes the tiny parking areas were full and some stops we didn’t take pictures of. 

One of their 5 “must do” stops was a free arboretum, and that’s when we realized we should have skipped the garden of Eden. It was beautiful and I do love trees, but I love swimming and the beach more. Anyways, by this point I was getting pretty hungry. Another “must do” stop was this little town of Ke’anae with Aunty Sandy’s famous banana bread. We grabbed a loaf and a cookie and sat down and chatted with some new friends. We were asking about where to get a meal and how there really weren’t many options before Hana and our new friend Claudine insisted on giving us food. I promise we said no, but she had a half container of pasta salad and a half bag of chips she said they were going to throw away, and she also gave us two ice cold orange pineapple juices. It was very sweet and very aloha. It was so fun seeing people on the road because there were several we saw at many different stops. We saw Claudine and David twice more. 

Not a lot of beaches because of all the volcanic rock, which is beautiful but sad. 

Lookout point. Because of the trade winds and the mountains, it rains on this side of eastern Maui a ton!

Same lookout spot. 

Three Bears Waterfall. 

We came to another waterfall swimming hole that Matt didn’t really want to stop at, but I did. Then he didn’t really want to swim, but I did. Then while we were swimming someone came and cliff jumped and when we talked to him we found he was a tour guide. So then Matt had to do the jump. Twice. 🤣 I was v nervous, but it was fine, and then a couple other boys jumped too. 

The road isn’t that long but it is windy and narrow!

With lots of 1 lane bridges. 

Rainbow!

We did some souvie shopping and rolled up on this lava tube just after they closed at 4.

Thankfully they let us in and we got to walk their cave and then talk to the owner when we finished. 

We found food trucks for dinner and I had a most delicious coconut crusted mahi mahi and Matt got a chicken sandwich and delicious mango shake. We tried to souvie shop there, but things close before 6 apparently. 

Beautiful, but we did a drive by since it was getting dark. 

We’re camping at the Haleakalā National Park tonight and tomorrow, but this night is on the Kipahulu side. And just look at our spot!!!

There might just be composting toilets and no showers, but you can’t beat the view.