Monday, February 28 – Kihei

Woke up early this morning for my sunrise yoga class. Oh, wait…that was actually a dream I had! I’m in Maui now! I was up early though, so I made my way down to the beach to see what’s going on.

I spent the early part of the morning doing a quick update to the journal, then was ready to hit the road!

My first stop is the Iao Valley. This is a State Park that features some hiking trails and the Iao Needle, a spire that rises more than 1,200 feet from the valley floor. It was about a 30 minute drive from my hotel, and the entry/parking fee was $15.

Just down the road from the park are the Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens. Being so close, I had to stop. (plus, it was free, my favorite word!) It was established in 1952 to celebrate the diverse heritage of Hawaii’s immigrants as well as the original people to inhabit the islands.

The Iao Valley is located on the peninsula that is the northwest part of the island. While I was in this area I wanted to take a drive on the road along the the northern and eastern coast of the peninsula that I had read about called the Honoapiilani Highway. Quoting from my reading…Driving this route is not for the faint of heart: the road weaves along coastal cliffs, and there are lots of blind curves; it’s not wide enough for two cars to pass in places, so one of you (most likely you) will have to reverse on this nail-biter of a “highway”.

I can attest to the fact that everything in that sentence is true; including the part about having to go in reverse to let a car pass – that was me! The curves were so extreme in places that along the way I saw two vehicles pulled over so one of its occupants could throw up on the side of the road!

And as a bonus, adjacent to the “highway” is the Ohai Trail. This 1.2 mile loop was a fun hike and offered some wonderful scenery!

This was a fun day! I gotta say though, I was pretty fatigued at the end of the drive. It took a lot of concentration. It was invigorating though. However, I think being a passenger would be pretty cool too!

Travel Note: So, you may recall that a few days ago I predicted the demise of daily housekeeping services in hotels. Well, here at the Day’s Inn they in fact do offer daily service. Not only that, even if you don’t want it, they require that the room be cleaned at least once every three days!

And in light of the high cost of visiting Maui, I have some good news!!! I’ve discovered that there’s a Subway about a mile from my hotel that offers the $3.99 daily special! Yessss!!! (there’s also a grocery store nearby; can you guess where I’ll getting most of my meals?)

Steps Update: The trip is now 75% complete, so let’s see how I’m progressing. As predicted, with the addition of a rental car, my daily average is dropping; it now sits at 16.4k. Daily max is 30k, and the min is 10k.

Tuesday, March 1 – Kihei

Out the door early this morning! (no, not for sunrise yoga – sorry, that joke’s getting old!) Today I’m heading to the southeast of the island and will be accomplishing the proverbial two birds, one stone thing. My ultimate destination is the Waiʻānapanapa State Park; and the only way to get there is via the iconic Road to Hana.

Now, my hotel is in the southwest of the island and the park is in the southeast. So, to get there you’d think I would simply head due east, right? Nope. The only way to get there is to loop around to the north and then south along the east coast. It’s about a 2 hour and 15 minute drive (60 miles).

The Road to Hana (TRH) officially begins in Kahului, and ends in, well, Hana. Like the Honoapiilani Highway, TRH features blind curves, narrow roads and great scenery. Unlike the Honoapiilani Highway, TRH also includes several single lane bridges.

Sidenote: I know that The Road to Hana gets all the accolades, but in my opinion, the Honoapiilani Highway is the better drive. Don’t get me wrong, TRH is great; I just feel like the HH offers better views and a little more of an extreme driving experience.

Entrance to Waiʻānapanapa State Park is by reservation only (which I like). Bookings open two weeks in advance of the requested date. And the reservations are on a timed basis, with four three hour windows each day. The visitor is not restricted to buying only one window though, so I ended up purchasing three reservations that covered the period from 10am to 6pm (the cost of each time slot was only $10, plus $5 per person entry fee for the whole day – so my total cost was $35).

Waiʻānapanapa is popular for its stunning coastal views and rugged lava shoreline that features sea arches, blow holes, and the black sand beach of Pailoa Bay. The park also includes a 2 mile out-and-back coastal hiking trail that was awesome!

And thanks to the late tipoff in Madison, I was able to watch Wisconsin defeat Purdue and win the B1G Championship when I got back to the hotel! A good day!

Wednesday, March 2 – Kihei

I’ve done a LOT of driving the last couple days, so the plan is to stay fairly close to the hotel today. I’m leading things off with an early morning walk on the beach.

There’s a highway overlook a little ways up the coast near Maalaea that’s supposed to be good spot for whale watching, so that’s my first destination of the day.

…and I had an amazing viewing experience! I saw several whales breaking the surface and blowing water, and witnessed two whales breaching. Incredible! Sadly, I have no pictures to show for it. It was nearly impossible (at least for me) to scan the ocean surface for a whale, and when one was spotted, have the camera in place, focused and ready to take the photo. Great memories though!

After returning to the hotel I took a walk down to Subway to pick up a sandwich for dinner. There’s a nice oceanside park nearby; a perfect place to dine! While I was there, I noticed a little activity offshore…

I started the day with a walk on the beach…

Fuel Price Check: