Got up early again for the long drive to Hana. Long being a relative term here since it is less than 40 miles from Paia. However about 30 of those miles are on a twisty narrow road with lots of one lane bridges. Speed limit is 15 on the good parts, 10 on the bridges. The jungle is thick and the views spectacular. Many waterfalls. We were playing leapfrog with a tour bus and a bunch of other tourists stopping at every opportunity.

Looking down at Wailua from the Hana Highway

Taro fields in Wailua

Not sure what the name of this valley is.

More waterfalls on the Hana Highway.

We stopped at "Uncle Harry's" for a fruit smoothie and banana bread. There are a number of places like this along the way and we really liked this one. Very friendly. When I remarked about a fierce looking boar's head mounted on the stand, a Hawaiian guy told us about the local boar hunts. They had a couple of pictures of Uncle Harry, who looked like he probably did a lot of boar hunting in his day. His grand niece was running the stand this day with baby in arm and two others running around.

The first stop before Hana was Kahanu Gardens, home to Pi'ilanihale Heiau, the largest remaining ancient Hawaiian sacred structure and a national historic landmark. The spot was preserved and there are now 123 acres of tropical plants and trees all nicely identified.

The mountains looming behind Pi'ilanihale.

Next stop was the black sand beach which is the main tourist destination. The sand is formed all at once in a big explosion when lava hits the ocean.

Black sand beach.

After this we went to Hana bay to swim. This is a little park right in town with very few people, mostly locals. We swam and relaxed on the beach before heading back.

We stopped for dinner at a little place in a wide spot on the road that looked like it was hanging off a cliff. A very cheerful Thai lady served us great vegetables and noodles with peanut sauce. Very tasty and enough to fuel us for the drive back. On the way back, there was much less traffic and it was a mellow drive.

That evening we visited with Neil and Tracy, who recently moved here from Seattle. You can follow their adventures at vonhofmills.blogspot.com. I last saw Neil 13 years ago so it was great reconnecting.