After breakfast we packed up and drove the “Road to Hana.” It seems a big deal to do this, to go to Hana. I had read that one is advised to have a full tank of gas – good advice – there are no gas stations for miles. We topped off our tank and wisely, it turned out, rented a GPS tour for the car. The Hyatt had given us a coupon for 10% off and they rent for about $40. There are also cds that you play in your car to guide you, but the GPS can tell “real time” where you are and what you may be seeing. As there are virtually no signs to identify where on the road you are, nor detailing what you should be stopping to see or to hike to, the GPS becomes invaluable. The only identifiers along the way are the mile markers…many of which have become overgrown.
On the screen of the GPS, the road ahead often resemble intestines! The pink, undulating road ahead turns in what seem to be 360s and then back upon themselves! While Lar is a really good driver, and usually was very confident, the sudden appearance of the occasional driver coming the other way around a sharp curve, in our lane and going way too fast was disconcerting to us both.
The drive is through an amazing rain forest. One passes rainbow eucalyptus trees – trees that appear to have been spray painted. And then come the bamboo forests. Thick and taller than your mind can absorb. Flowering trees of so many colors. Trees heavy laden with fruits that fall to the roadway to be crushed into the sweetest perfumed air.
We stopped at one rest stop where we observed what appeared to be a family of feral cats living amongst a flock of chickens and a rooster. They appeared to be a peace with each other and I wondered, might the cats own a flock of chickens? Or the other way round? Or might they have discovered the secret of actually living in peace?
On we drove, intending to at least reach the black beaches. Much of our advice received had been, “if you go no further, at least get to the black beaches.” We walked out to the blow holes and then down a steep and covered pathway to the caves. The walkway covering is of bushes and trees full of large flowers with a heavy honeysuckle smell, and the only sounds are of the lapping waves and dripping water of the waterway feeding the falls. The beaches there are a surprise in their ebony beauty. Lava rock has been ground down to the finest sand over years of the pounding of the sea. I did get some nice pictures there, but none of the cave and walkway…only movies, and I still haven’t seen them!
Lunch was a banana, some sun chips and water. And then to the restroom.
Ladies – we were on top of a volcano in the Pacific and there was still a line! Five of us standing there….laughing….does the line perhaps follow us?
Lar continued driving, I am sure I might have been able to do some, but it would surely have taken twice as long….those blind curves would have had me doing 2 miles an hour with my foot on the brake! The speed limit is marked at 15 mph and I would never have been guilty of speeding.
We did make it to Hana, but had little time to spend as nightfall was threatening and one is advised to be back before dark or to stay in Hana.
The GPS was packed up and slipped through the mail slot at the home shop, and although we had hoped to stop at K-Mart for me for a couple of items, and at Costco to transfer pictures, we were exhausted, so we returned to the hotel.
I was thinking of just staying in our room, having a glass of wine, perhaps some cheese and checking our pictures on the tv….just relaxing and unwinding. Had no appetite for dinner, seems I’ve been well satisfied with two meals a day this vacation, especially with the amazingly satisfying breakfasts we been having. That day I’d had the best croissant I’d ever eaten, some granola and fresh fruit, nuts and seeds. But Lar never loses sight of his appetite! He claimed to be very hungry and wanted to go to the outdoor bar for a drink and then later a meal. When we got to the bar, the young waitresses were astonished we had done the road to Hana. One of them kept saying to me “You are so strong!” I said, no, that Lar had done the driving, but she responded “it’s much easier to drive!” Ha! That may have been true prior to some of our treacherous drive in the Highlands of Scotland, but I have come to know that Lar is a wonderful driver and I have every confidence in his ability. And anyway, I was so busy snapping pictures, running video, ooohing, ahhhing and smelling the sweet air to be, as they tell me most are, dizzy. Another of the servers admitted, “I am Hawaiian and have lived here all my life and I have never been brave enough to go to Hana.”
We did end up having dinner, Lar had a gigantic Angus burger, I had pulled pork tacos with guacamole and black beans and three kinds of sauces I couldn’t get enough of. I realized the banana and chip lunch had not really sated. When I finally licked my fingers and sat back to finish a glass of pinot noir (Lar was with his Bikini Blond!) my plate was clean! We sat and enjoyed the guitar playing singer and finally wandered back to the room in the dark, broken here and there only by torch light.
We discovered that the TV would not play our pictures, so we opted for a movie Julie and Julia which I had wanted to see in the theater. We opened a Fetzer Valley Oaks Cab Sauv 2007 – each had a glass and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I am now interested in reading the two novels upon which the movie was based. I am also tempted to delve into Julia’s recipies…we’ll see if that temptation makes it to NJ.
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