Mornings in this little cove are so sacred. There is no car noise, just the waves and the birds and this incredible light.
We finally invited our neighbor cat friend into our apartment (I was afraid he would pee around an unfamiliar place). He did not. He definitely enjoyed checking out our place, and so did Dan.
Dan even found him a box.
Today we had modest plans: to visit Iao Valley, and to drive up the northeastern side of the island. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and, speaking for myself, feeling like this was our most intense and ambitious travel day yet. We did see many amazing things…things like this.
The Iao Valley is dramatic in the Maui landscape. For dry and dusty miles, the scrubby landscape pitches and rolls; it’s beautiful but it sure isn’t green. Then, rising up to the west of Kahalui, an impossibly green valley towers over the bay. You drive up this valley, and get to the Iao Needle, the striking pillar of rock above. This was a fantastically laid out state park, small, but well-appointed, with three distinct zones of awesomeness.
On your way to the needle viewpoint, you pass over a garden full of indigenous gardening and fish cultivation methods. Just beautiful.
Daniel got to see some taro ponds up close, which he was very happy about.
We walked up to the viewpoint for the Needle, which is where we got the shot above. Then there was a trip down to a stream, with its own fabulous scenery.
Iao Valley was a fantastic place, but it took less time to check out than we had allotted. We headed into Kahalui to visit that 7-11 with the Japanese and Korean food again. To our dismay, the Slurpee machine was down. We made do. Then we tried to visit some food carts, which were all closed on Monday. Very fortunately, we had our 7-11 booty, so we made do there too. It was a very nice lunch. We were able to use the shaded picnic benches at the carts, and we had two very delicious varieties of Spam musubi, so don’t be too sad for us. Oh! And a really fun spicy tuna roll – the seaweed was in its own separate pouch, so it was very crispy and on-point when we wrapped it around the stuffed fish. Really exceeded expectations. Also surprising was a can of pineapple soda with a tiny perfect ring of pineapple right in the can! Those crazy Hawaiians, what will they think of next?
We set out to drive up the eastern edge of the peninsula, which we did know to be actually more challenging driving conditions than the road to Hana. What would that be like? We were about to find out.
Our first stop was the trailhead for Waihee Trail, a trail that one review after another characterized as steep, intense, challenging…all things I don’t like a trail to be. We resolved to see what we could see in a short walk from the trailhead, and be on our way. And that short walk was UP, like a 35 degree angle. But great payoff, time well spent.
We headed back down the hill and drove on. There were many outstanding vistas along the way, the dramatic coastline with its miles of blue ocean.
The road was indeed insane – it was one lane most of the way, with hairpin turns, and some spots so narrow that one car or the other would have to back up – sometimes a long way – to find a shoulder. Fortunately, there were few cars, and we only had to do the terrifying backing up once (and when we drove on from that spot, we appreciated as the road unfolded that it could have been much worse).
We particularly loved this stop at a gallery that was closed – but look at the grounds and the view!
Look at these flowers with a flower centerpiece!
We stopped off at Ohio trail, which promised to be a flat 1.2 miles. What does that take, 30 minutes? No problem. The trail was flat as advertised, but an hour later, we were still walking, and Stef was cranky. Still, many neat things, and you could imagine the best whale watching from the endless expanse of sea.
Look at this crazy mesa!
From a distance, we even saw the blowhole that Dan and family had visited in 2018.
We had set sail on this 3-hour tour with a single bottle of water and no phone chargers. On hour 8 and after an hour hike in 85+ degree sun, we were completely dehydrated and our batteries, physical and phone, were drained. I actually complained a lot, which I’m not proud of. But we had made it back to the car.
As we drove on, we found a completely magical oasis – a valley so green and lush I could not believe it was set in this arid landscape. I wish we’d gotten photos of it from above; it’s so surprising. And at the bottom of this oasis? A lady selling shave ice and bottled water. Saints be praised.
This was my first shave ice of the trip, and maybe ever! Honestly it wasn’t the best thing I’ve had, but it hit the spot after that hike, and was plenty good for everything except my old cold-sensitive teeth. The water, however, was the Delicious.
Dan told me with excitement that if I liked this green valley in the middle of the desert, I would love Honolua Bay. Revived by the water, and thrilled by the idea of an oasis like this, we hopped in the car and made our way there. Friends, this is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been in my life. No disrespect to the rest of Maui, but you know I’m a forest girl, and this was the forestiest forest ever.
But first, one of the handsomest roosters I’ve seen:
Back to the forests:
This grove was so completely out of Tolkein that the residents had had to put up signs saying, “Please don’t trample on our grove by having your wedding photos here.”
The canopy grows in this crazy way where the leaves don’t touch. There’s a stream of space running between each tree.
I couldn’t believe this place was in the middle of all this desert. We walked all the way down to the cove, where there’s really solid snorkeling when the weather is clear. I hope we can check it out in a couple of days.
We arrived at long last back home. We went for a dip in the pool, and reprised our pot pie dinner again in the light of this gorgeous sunset.
Tomorrow? NOTHING. With extreme prejudice. Our plan is to stay within walking distance from the condo at all times, except a quick trip to the store. Today was a bigger day than we had planned, but what a day. So many wonderful things.
