We now know why and, no, we actually never made it to Hana. There is SO much to see and do along the road, that getting there is a full day’s drive, despite the fact it is only about 50 miles from the airport. The road is also amazingly narrow and windy, usually allowing speeds of only 20 miles/hour. This makes the (one way) trip about a 2 1/2 – 3 hour at the very least. Add several stops and a fair amount of traffic and it is easy to comprehend that getting all the way to Hana requires a significant investment of time. Going there and back all on the same day is pretty much impossible.

The road itself is quite spectacular and passes though the “jungle” side of the island. Extremely dense vegetation, rocky cliffs, waterfalls and lots of interesting stops, many of them have small stands with fresh fruit smoothies, freshly baked banana bread, coconut ice cream and many more Hawaiian delicacies. All to keep the traveller well nourished and snacked-up, until the next stop.

Right at the start of the road is the famous “Mama’s Fish House” restaurant. We did not stop (it was morning), but have heard lots praise about its fish menu. You pass some small villages before you get to “Twin Falls”, our first planned stop.

Twin Falls

As you would expect from the name, there are two waterfalls here. The first is just a brief walk from the carpark and is the fall that most people go to.

A lot fewer people make it to the second waterfall (which is way more beautiful). I suspect that the main reason is this “scary” sign that is posted at the beginning of the trail that leads there.   

Throwing all  caution into the wind, I set off expecting the worst! But it is a delightful hike and not too hard at all! This is what you find when you get there.

There were very few people there and I suspect the sign, at the beginning of the trail, was put there just to deter people in an attempt to minimize the environmental impact to this pristine location.

Needless to say, I had to get into the water and swim over to the falls. The water was surprisingly cold, but, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, I got in and swam up to the fall and treaded water for a little, while letting the water splash onto my hear. Quite the experience! 

Along the trail, you can observe several other beautiful aspects of this tropical paradise.

Moving further along the road to Hana, we kept passing these creeks and cascades. So much water, no wonder the vegetation is so lush and green! 

At some stage we decided to head back, it was mid-afternoon, we were still quite a ways from Hana, but still had to get back to the other side of the island to get home. So we turned around. The day turned out to be quite full and interesting, but actually reaching Hana itself will have to wait until another time. We will go better prepared book a place to stay a few nights in Hana. 

The post Along the Road to Hana appeared first on Hit The Frog and Toad.

There are literally beaches everywhere! Small ones, large ones, wide open ones, intimate ones, straight ones, crescent-shaped ones, you name it, it is there. Many of them are open to the public. Picnic tables, ample parking (paved as well as unpaved) and portage-potties are provided at most of them. It does say a lot about the Maui “culture”. You’ll see interesting types on those beaches – surfers, families with kids, tourists, “hippie” types (complete with VW Combi-vans), lots of Jeep Wranglers, fishermen and, sadly, homeless people.

There was a beach just next to the hotel we stayed at, literally a 2 minute walk from our room. I went snorkeling there as we could see turtles swimming around. No, I did no get to see a turtle while out, I guess they made a point of avoiding me . 

The other thing that struck me was how few people were on the beaches. Perhaps because there were so many to choose from, but we did not see a single beach that was busy, certainly none that were crowded! Even the small beaches, those that were only 50-100 feet wide, were sparsely populated, no matter how pretty or idyllic the location..

Flora

The flora of the island was spectacular. You would expect the iconic hibiscus and plumeria (known as “Frangipani” in Australia), but there was so much more! We saw all kinds of amazing, spectacular flowers growing everywhere.

The post Sandy Beaches and more appeared first on Hit The Frog and Toad.

We started to think about Hawaii after my daughter and her husband’s family went to Hawaii a few weeks earlier. Their pictures and stories inspired us to check into the travel rules a bit deeper to see if we would be comfortable with going too. Eventhough we have both been fully vaccinated (Linda with Pfizer and myself with Moderna), we were still somewhat concerned and put off by the thought of flying and being in a hotel. However, any concern we may have had was pretty much put to bed when seeing the details on the rules and conditions that were set in place by the state of Hawaii.

These rules include: getting a negative COVID test 72 hours before arrival, a re-test upon arrival, a state-wide mask mandate, a mandatory COVID tracing app on the phone, reduced capacity events (such as tours, dinner cruises, etc) and lots of social distancing. Additionally, Hawaii has implemented a “Vaccination Passport”, which (currently) only applies to Hawaiians traveling inter-island. We had hoped that the fact we had been fully vaccinated would help us, but applying vaccination passport control on “non-Hawaiian visitors” is too hot a potato in the current political climate of the US (note that some states have even gone as far as outlawing vaccination passports). The whole set of rules is clearly outlined on the official Hawaiian Government website which has 6 basic phases”

1. Mandatory Account creation on the website.
2. Upload of travel details (flight, hotel reservations, etc) to the website
3. A location to upload your COVID test.  Note that only results from certified testing institutions will be accepted! Also required is some some sort of official ID (like passport or driver’s license).
4. Completion of a Health Questionnaire.
5. When all done and verified you will receive a QR Code via email (an automated process) that you need to save on your phone (we advice printing it too)
6. Upon arrival at the airport, you need to present that QRCode, the same official ID you uploaded to the website, a cell phone that is charged (you NEED to take a picture of a form they present to you).

Each adult visitor needs all of the above (obviously, parents with children can include their kids in their submission). Linda and I both needed to do this.

Your arrival and positive verification of everything will automatically trigger an update to your account on the website. I assume this is for tracking, as they now know you are in Hawaii and know where you are staying.

Please note: Failure to meet ANY of these conditions will require a mandatory 10 day quarantine period! At your own expense!

All-in-all, we agree and like how Hawaii has not only set these guidelines in place, they have set-up an infrastructure aimed to TRACK the fact you are following the rules. By default, all travelers need to quarantine, UNLESS YOU MEET THESE CRITERIA! We have heard of people getting arrested and cited, who did not abide by the rules and order to quarantine! 

This all added up to us feeling safe enough to decide to book a 7 day trip to Maui! Linda found an amazing deal that included hotel, airfare and car rental. We even scored a one bedroom suite with ocean view at the Royal Kahana in Lahaina (which is located in North-West Maui). We were all set!

Arrival in Maui

We arrived late at night and after getting the rental car, drove in the dark to the hotel. Kinda frustrating because we could not see a thing (very few street lights on the island ). The room turned out to be awesome! Not only does it have that ocean view we were expecting, we are right above the pool and, because we are facing West, can see some awesome sunsets right from our balcony!

We are also pleased to report (now that we are here), that Hawaii businesses also follow the rules outlined above. For example, the hotel has a rule to only allow two people in the elevator at one time (unless a family) and that masks must be worn throughout the hotel. Of course you are allowed to take it off when in the pool or when (socially distanced) on the beech. We also heard the resident tour guide tell people that tours are all operating at half capacity, so availability is limited. We would therefore advise anyone traveling to Hawaii, to prebook anything they may want to do, as waiting until getting there may be too late. We have heard that we are not the only ones who feel safe traveling to Hawaii (we can also see it on the roads), so be forewarned.

Another note of advice, the influx of people traveling to Hawaii has strained the local car rental business who were all forced to sell their un-rented inventory when the pandemic started. Now that visitors are returning, there are not enough rental cars to go around and the ones that ARE available are very expensive! So please book well in advance!

Aloha from Maui

The post Maui – here we come! appeared first on Hit The Frog and Toad.

We made the trip to the Haleakala National Park, about 90 minute drive from our hotel in West Maui. The weather was dreary, some rain and heavy mist. So dreary, we almost did not go. But being lazy was not really on our agenda, so up the mountain we went…. rain or not. We then realized that we would go right through the low hanging clouds and emerged in glorious sunshine and blue skies. How wondrous!

And how amazing it turned out to be!

Our hotel lies behind that mountain in the middle of the shot. That “shadow” of land in the background is the island of Lanai, the nearest Hawaiian island. As you can see, we are still below the clouds here.. still a long way up to the top.

Once through the clouds, we were rewarded by beautiful clear skies. We walked up to the rim and looked down into the crater which displayed magnificent sections of reds and greens. What a breathtaking view.

We had been attracted to the “Sunset tour”, an event you need to prebook as they only allow a limited number of people. We decided against that for several reasons. Firstly it meant leaving the hotel at 3am and second, it meant driving the route (which entailed multiple switchbacks and tricky rods) in the dark.

The sunset visit is an event rooted in Hawaiian history and legend. You can read all about that here. But in summary; the Hawaiian Demi-God Maui’ s mother Hina complains that her kapa (bark cloth) is unable to dry because the days are so short. So Māui climbs Haleakala and lassoes the sun’s rays as the sun comes up. The sun pleads for life and agrees that the days shall be long in summer and short in winter. This event is perpetuated today, by these sunrise events. 

The volcano crater lies well above the treeline with only small shrubs and plants growing among the distinctly volcanic rocks. Noteworthy is the Haleakala Silversword, a silvery plant that has adapted to the climactic conditions on the volcano. They are protected and we saw lots of them. 

[See image gallery at hitthefrogandtoad.albertdebruijn.com] Click on a thumbnail for a larger view.

This unique plant flowers only once in its 50 year life, the flower produces over 50,000 seeds and then the plant dies. It is believed to have evolved from a California Tarweed that arrived in Maui more than a million years ago (probably by a bird). It is now unique to Hawaii and only grows on the slopes of Haleakala and nowhere else in the world. Its Hawaiian name is “Ahinahina”.

Also unique to Hawaii is the Nene (pronounced “nay-nay”), a goose that is a relative of the Canadian Goose. The Nene is an endangered species and we saw two. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a shot.

At the very top of the volcano is an observatory that is dubbed “the Science City” because its near-absence of light pollution, as well as the high-altitude air and the mountain’s tremendous height. The combination of these conditions render it one of the most superb and valuable planetariums in the world.

Here are a few more images taken at the top of the volcano.

The post Day trip to Haleakala, the dominant volcano on Maui appeared first on Hit The Frog and Toad.