Heavenly Hawaii (Part 3): Maui

Maui

Maui was the second port of call and we took a day-long tour, Road to Hanna. It is to me the most beautiful scenic route. I especially loved the first half when twisting and narrow road climbing up the mountain sides took us through dense, profusely rich forests, revealing along the way a successive of spectacular vistas. I was so moved by the immense beauty surrounding me that I turned to my husband with moist in my eyes and forbearing to quiver, muttered “I’ve now tasted paradise.” Can you imagine the way it was long time ago when there was not a single mosquito?!

It is also one of the most dangerous scenic routes of the world. During first hour of second half of the tour, our bus jolted us violently over unpaved road and over this stretch we reached the peak of the road atop a sea cliff thousands of feet above the water with only a tiny margin between us and the edge.

So it turned out, we were among a dozen of couples celebrating anniversaries. The winner was the couple in front of us with 50 years of marriage. Our driver cum tour guide, who was a California native and had been divorced twice and quote, “looking for wife number three”, unquote, asked what was the trick for long married life? A male voice behind us uttered unhesitatingly “Yes, dear”, which brought out agreeing laughter. Nonetheless, our driver sounded learned and knowledgeable about Hawaiian history and provided much interesting info to us during the ride.

Maui viewed from the boat

Ho’okipa outlook

Rainbow eucalyptuses

African Tulips add lovely color to the forest

Across greenery to vast ocean

Red Teas, African Tulips, Coconut trees among others

Shell Ginger

What a view at Kaumahina State Wayside

A group of waterfalls along the way

A lovely flower that I could not name

Black sand beach at Wai’anapanapa State Park

Orchids found home on a big tree at the parking lot of Hana Ranch restaurant where we had a delicious lunch (BBQ short-ribs and braised chicken with rice and macaroni salad) that made some of the best meals we had on this trip

We were taken to a flower shop right off the road and each lady was given a pink or red ginger flower and we were taught to squeeze the flower to get its fragrance on the palm

Seven Sacred Pools at Oheo Gulch lookout

These waterfalls feed into the seven pools

Hula tree bears pineapple like fruit that however is not edible but good material for mats or alike

Another black sand beach on the way

An ocean front church

Dry Canyon on the desert like part of Maui

Discovered this unusual flower at Tedeschi winery where we tasted 3 wines and bought Splash, a fruity, light white wine of pineapple and passion fruit