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Monday, March 17, 2014

the maui roundup
















At first I was planning on breaking our Hawaii trip into 4 posts. There was just so much to say about our trip and I wanted to give each experience it's own post, but alas, time is slipping away from me and here we are with a few weeks that have passed by, so I have decided to conclude our Maui trip with this final post.
While I had hoped to write more in detail about some of our very favourite parts of Maui, I realize that I am not a travel writer, nor is this a tour guide book, so maybe it's okay to be a little more point form and get the job done.
So here we go. Thoughts on the rd. to Hana, the Needle (State Park), and a few other things.
The rd. to Hana was one excursion that we were told about time and time again. Many friends had recommended doing the rd. to Hana, and we knew that it was an experience that we would want to do while there.
The funny thing is that we didn't know, just what the appeal of the rd. to Hana was, we just knew that we had to do it. So with a tour book in hand (seriously, get a guide book if you plan to do this drive), we headed down the highway, and set of on our adventure/day trip.
First off, I just want to say, the rd. to Hana was probably my most favourite experience of our trip. The sights we saw, the places we went, the things we did, were ones that I thought I'd never actually get to do or see in my life. For much of the day, I would say that it was almost an out of body experience for me, and I came away from it all feeling very blessed and thankful for it.
For those wondering, the rd. to Hana is just that, a road to a small town called Hana (on the eastern end of the island of Maui). While the town seemed charming and like a great place to stay for a night or two, we did the drive, solely for the stops along the way .... and there were many stops along the way to see.
I won't go into all the details of each stop that we made, but I do want to make note of what we saw and did.
On our first stop, we found a magical grove of rainbow eucalyptus trees. I had seen these on Pinterest before, and was hoping that we might see them in real life. So needless to say that I was thrilled (as was everyone in the family), so see these amazing trees.
Our other stops included a swim in the most beautiful local swimming hole (it was a waterfall fed swimming hole), a short hike through a forest full of giant trees and lots of bamboo, a swim at a stunning black sand beach and a picnic down by some cliffs, over looking the ocean.
Sigh, the rd. to Hana will stay with me in my dreams for years to come. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see breath taking scenery. And if you do it, grab a guide book so you know where to find all these hidden gems (or you risk driving right past them, as none of them are marked).
Onto our next adventure. We decided on a whim to take a little trip to see a famous natural landmark known as "the needle". It is a tall rock formation in amongst the mountains and has been made into a lovely State park that includes easy paths and and trails to walk. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I never did read up on the significance of "the needle" to the local people, but to my defense, we had two little kids to keep an eye on and there were many steep stairs and winding path ways. The park had informative plaques everywhere, but I was just so busy keeping an eye on Katia. I suppose I will just have to do a little post trip research instead.
This little excursion was a last minute idea of ours, but I am so glad that we did it. The state park had very accessible paths that made it easy to get around. Noah enjoyed bounding down the trails, while the little streams kept Katia enthralled. It was so lush and green there, and we enjoyed spotting banana trees , as well as the popular plant taro.
And so this is where I leave off for now with my Maui stories. There is so much more I could say about our time there. The beach, the swimming in warm ocean waters, the morning walks (alone), the time I had to re-evaluate my priorities and dream about the future. This trip did us all very well. Now, we think ahead to next year... will we return to Maui again? I am hopeful.
xox





3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the daily dose of natural beauty! That swimming hole looks amazing! Aren't the black sand beaches so cool? Just added this to our to-do list for when we are wealthy world travelers! :)

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  2. Try Kauaui! We were there in January and it is gorgeous! Amazing beaches,food etc. The whole island feels like one big small town.

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