Maui

We started out late in the day, so we were only on the road for about 1 1/2 hours and decided to stop for a bite and a cocktail. We ended up at Mama’s Fish House in Paia.  The town of Paia the beginning of the Hana highway.  This place was incredible, not just for your taste buds but for your eyes it’s an absolutely beautiful building made of bamboo. Completely Hawaiian style. In the gardens It was like eye candy you couldn’t get enough of it. And this is all set in the coast with incredible views. Its is like the Jurassic Park of restaurants.

Down the road a price  to that,  sets a cliff  called Jaws. It is every surfer dream to stuff this spot. They have world wide competitions here and they have to take the surfers out with wave runners because of the surf. They say that these waves can exceed 50 feet!

Next stop was Twin Falls, it seem to be the best thing to do at the time, but then it started to rain. It took about 30 minuets to get to the top of the first hill. Then there was a gate and it said “Only experienced hikers go past this point!” I kept going, it was very steep, slippery and muddy! Just down right nasty! People kept passing me on there way down and I kept asking “how much further” they would answer maybe another 20 minuets or so. Well it was more like another hour! Climbing through water that was up to my knees through slippery rocked brooks and then I could finally see the waterfall up ahead. I said to myself Are You Kidding Me!   How am I going to get there?  Well I did. What ever weight I gained during this trip thus far. I just walked it off during the 3 mile hike up this hill.

We decided to move on to Hana it was getting late. We had more days to explore and wanted to get out of the rain.

Hana itself is so small that you can blink and your through it. The bank is open every day for 1 1/2  hours and the post office is the size of my kitchen.

The local Cattle Ranch owns the only real “general store” and the General Store is not a general store at all.

We had been in the car for 6hours and it was getting dark.  The last thing you want to do is be in the dark on the Hans hwy.

We had arrived and it seeme as if we were in the middle of nowhere. The directions were go to mile marker 49 go over the one lane bridge, look for the fire hyrdrent and turn right! How crazy is that. We pulled up this very long jungle like path and came to a cottage. To my hearts delight I opened the door and it was beautiful!

The next morning we woke up to pouring rain.  I had to be convinced to get out of bed. So I did and we went on another wet,muddy and rainy journey.

We got to see many more waterfalls. They were so large because of amount of rain we have had.

 The Hana highway is like a small Almafi coast every single turn is one lane  and has 620 tight turns from beginning to end it is the roller coaster of  Hawaii. The trees make a tunnel that make a canopy over the roads. There Are  bamboo and eucalyptus trees everywhere it is absolutely spectacular.We saw black sanded beaches, lava tubes and caves. I even climbed up a lava cliff on the black beach to get up and  personal  with a giant blow hole. You’ll get to see all of this in my footage.

 The road to Hana was an amazing experience. The rainforest and waterfalls we worth all the work to get to. I’m not sure if it would be a must to put it on your bucketlist, but I can cross it off mine!

SHAKA my Friends

Till next time

We headed back to West maui where our whale watching was incredible!  They are the largest living thing I have ever seen.  They are gentle giants,  and to think that they only come to the warm waters of Hawaii from Alaska to mate and have there calf’s.   From what I have learned the months they are in Hawaii they do not eat because there isn’t enough food for them, in those months the loose up to a third of there body weight.  Being able to get this close to them was a experience I will never forget.

Of course I had to add a few more of the friends I met, in the video.  They might have felt left out. check it out!

How i’m feeling about the Hawaiian islands is completely different then I felt 20 years ago. They have changed tremendously. They have a whole different vibe than they use to. Granted it depends on what island you go to and what you are looking for. Out of the two islands we visited Kauai was lush and beautiful and for us very adventures. At the same time very tranquil place.  Whereas Maui is very hussel and bussel and very Americanised.  Unless you end up in east Maui (Hana). Completely on the other side of where most of everyone ends up. Here you find what I call the “real Hawaii”. The people that live here are there to live a very simple life. Living very modestly in the hills of the rainforest. I’m not sure if its the best vacation spot for more than a few days? They do get almost 300 inches of rain every year. But it is a must see if your in Maui. At least a long day trip.