Hawaii
November 5-28, 2011
hawaii - november 10
Hana Highway
Hana Highway - Haleakala to Ke'anae Peninsula
Before heading out to Hana, we stopped at the highly recommended Komodo bakery to pick up some cream puffs and old fashioned doughnuts for snacks along the way. We got tons of beautiful waterfall stops and great coastal vistas. Lunch was at the Kaumahina State Wayside rest stop and then we explored the Ke'anae Peninsula for a while. The kids enjoyed climbing the hala trees and we watched the enormous waves crashing against the lava rocks. We finished off our tour of the peninsula by sampling some local shaved ice and banana bread before continuing our journey along the Hana Highway.
Rainbow over Maui.
Panoramic view from Haleakela over Maui.
Lavender garden along the slopes of Haleakela.
Komoda Bakery at 3674 Baldwin Avenue... famed for their cream puffs, we had to make a stop before heading out on the Hana Highway.
While "Maui Revealed" went on about the cream puffs, the locals seemed to be scooping up the old fashioned doughnuts so we grabbed some of those too.
Surfboard fence.
A bamboo forest.
Ka Haku's smoke shack... with medical marijuana permits being advertised, does that mean it's THAT kind of smoke shack?
It was a bit of a cloudy and drizzly day but it was a beautiful drive nonetheless. This is a typical view of the Hana coastline with all its lush vegetation.
We stopped at the "Maui Revealed" recommended spot of Lower Puohokamoa Falls (MM 10 8/10) to find this spider greeting us.
Sam takes a closer look at the spider which is an Agriope appensa (locally knows as a garden spider). A little bit of trivia according to wikipedia: "This species was used in episode "Exposé" of the Lost TV series, which was filmed on location in Hawai'i. It is there named Latrodectus regina (or Medusa Spider), a fictional species of widow spider, in the family Theridiidae. The "males" that run for the female are also females, as the males are much smaller. "
Not the most inviting trailhead... first the spider, then Bambi (what's left of him!) draped over a barbwire fence.
If there hadn't been tons of other people along the trail I'm not sure we would have continued!
Samantha and Christopher along the trail... I think the trees with the berries are schinus terebinthifolius (aka Christmas berry or Brazilian pepper tree) which is quite invasive. The berries are a mix of white, black and red... the mixed peppercorns you can find at your grocery store.
Despite the ominous trailhead, the final view of the approx. 200m Lower Puohokamoa Falls was spectacular.
Most people drive along the highway never realize they are passing Lower Puohokamoa Falls.
A rest stop at MM12 with bathrooms - Kaumahina State Wayside.
We had our lunch and tried to dry up a bit.
Time to taste those cream puffs from the Komoda Bakery. Mmmmm!
A bit of sun... yay!
The kids collected some flowers that had dropped to the ground.
A view of the Keanae Peninsula.
The first road to reach Hana was only built in 1926 and it was only paved in 1962. The paving job was awful and the road soon deteriorated until it was worse than the original. Driving the road was only for the brave and well insured. In the 1980s the state finally fixed it to the smooth (though still narrow) road that exists today.
The road bends are tight and lots of debris (including tons of guavas!) get washed down onto the road.
Tons of these trees with red flowers.
A geocache along the Hana Highway.
Looking back over Honomanu Bay (MM14).
The beautiful Hana Coastal drive.
Just like the Cabot Trail only more tropical! ;-)
Along the road into Ke'anae Peninsula. (between MM16 and MM17)
The view that greeted us at the end of the road at Ke'anae Peninsula.
Naupaka (Scaevola taccada) - a hardy coastal shrub common on Hawaiian beaches.
The kids enjoyed climbing around on this hala tree.
The screwpine (Pandanus tectorius) is called hala in Hawaiian, and is likely indigenous, arriving from Pacific islands over ocean currents. The tree is palm-like, with the leaves arranged in a spiral around the stem, and having many prop-roots at the base of the trunk. They are often found at the coast along beaches, but also along the edges of steep cliffs.
The spiny hala leaves were traditionally used for weaving and thatching, and the "keys" of the fruit for paint brushes, as food, and for a medicinal mouthwash to treat thrush. The female trees bear large fruits that look a bit like pineapples or pine cones, with seeds that break off in many segments. As the fruit ripens from green to yellow to red, the "keys" fall to the ground. Each key has a bit of starchy, edible sweet potato tasting pulp attached to some very tough fibers used as paintbrushes by Hawaiians.
We spent quite a bit of time watching the giant waves crash along the shore.
The guidebook describes this as 'very striking' and 'an excellent photo op with the ocean tearing through some jagged lava boulders'.
Yup, that's about right!
Rubby, don't turn your back on those waves or you may get a nasty surprise!
The waves were absolutely phenomenal!
A family pic at Ke'anae Peninsula.
A little stop at Aunty Sandy's Fruit Stand.
We just had to try some shaved ice and stock up on banana bread.
We also tried this local Guava drink... in Hawaii they obviously prefer cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup!
[ Hosmer Grove Loop | Hana Highway 1 | Hana Highway 2 ]
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