While in Maui (Hawaii) we visited Hana which can only be reached by either hiring a car or booking an excursion. We’ve managed to see quite a lot of the western side of Maui using local buses but decided to hire a car for the day to visit Hana in the east. We had a half price upgrade to a Jeep at the rental company which is recommended for this journey.
Hana is only 51 miles from Kahului (the largest town on the island where we picked up the Jeep) but the journey takes 2 hours as it is incredibly twisty with hairpin bends and 54 single lane little bridges to cross.
As we left Kahului we drove through a town called Pa’ia and stopped at a stunning beach nearby (photos above). The waves were huge and many surfers were making the most of them. This view turned out to be the wow factor of the day.
There are several stops and viewing points on the way to Hana including the Twin Falls. We parked the Jeep and walked for 10 minutes towards them but found these particular falls a little disappointing.
We proceeded along the winding road and had a short detour at Ke’anae peninsular, the half way point. The waves crashing on the black volcanic rocks were quite spectacular. As was the spectacular warm freshly cooked banana bread, a local specialty from a fruit stand known as ‘Auntie Sandy’s’.
We got to Hana (above), a quiet sleepy little town in the early afternoon, parked up for a bit before heading back for the 2 hour return drive.
Today was about the journey rather than the destination. All in all this was an awesome day spent driving through rain forests, up and down steep roads and valleys, waterfalls and crashing waves and it was also great to have the freedom of the Jeep.
frombluetogreen.com 
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