Hawaii Day 5

It was time to say goodbye to the cousins and move islands. We got up early, got the house cleaned and the car loaded, and drove back across the island to Kona. We had plenty of time before our flight to Maui, which only lasted 30 minutes. Up to this point, the travel had been pretty easy and lines had been short despite the Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately, we waited for nearly an hour for a rental car. This set us a bit behind on our Maui excursion. So after lunch at an excellent burger spot, we settled in for some hours in the car.

Heading to Maui!

It's fun to fly over the islands and guess which is which.

The plan was to explore as much of the Road to Hana as we could before dark, since we would be staying in Hana anyway. We had purchased a really cool talking tour, with a host we dubbed Craig. As we moved down the road, he tracked us on our phone, telling us about what we passed and when to pull over and stop. We really enjoyed Craig's commentary, but we didn't make a lot of stops.

We did stop at a beach on the north side of Maui that is famous for surfing. Ho'okipa Beach was a long, deep-sand beach like you find on Oahu. We spotted a bunch of turtles in the water, and it wasn't very busy at all. We enjoyed the walk along the beach.

This beach was beautiful, but rocky.

We loved the soft sand.

We spent a little time here walking and looking for turtles.

The waves are great for surfing.

Our main stop was for Twin Falls. This was a two mile hike that passed three waterfalls. The first was just off the road, and we watched some of the locals jumping off the cliffs into the water 30 feet below. A little further up the trail, we came upon a second waterfall. This one came out at our feet, and there were more locals sitting in the pool below begging us to jump. Of course, we weren't equipped for that, since we didn't wear our swimsuits on the airplane. The final waterfall required a few stream crossings, and it came up in a beautiful grotto. There were only a few people there, but the water came over the rim in a nice cascade. Unfortunately, we were across the pool, so we couldn't get too close to it.

Waterfall number 1

Mark found a coconut.

This spider was quite large.

Waterfall number 2

It was a lovely jungle hike!

The end was through the water.

Waterfall number 3

Having a good time!

Mom wore here water sandals so she just tromped through the water.

Craig narrated us all the way into Hana, recommending at least a dozen stops that we didn't stop to see. It was beginning to get dark, and the road to Hana is a real doozy, narrowing down to one lane often, though there is two way traffic coming at 20 mph both ways. Dad was a hero and drove the narrow, winding road in the dark. 

It was pitch dark when we finally pulled into Hana at the hotel. Of course, it was only 7pm, but that didn't help us much. 

Mom was so excited to see the rainbow eucalyptus trees!

The views on the road to Hana are gorgeous. 

We made a few stops, but the sun was going down quickly.

So, so pretty!

We think Hawaii is pretty great!

A little town on the way to Hana.