Trip to Maui Day 6

The Road to Hana:
Wow! What a DAY!
Hana is a town on the very far East side of Maui. The road to Hana is known for the many waterfalls along the way; some widely known, while others are seldom visited. The trip is suggested be completed in multiple days, but like many tourists, we were on the 1-day mission.

We awoke and left early in the morning to avoid the traffic. We stopped in a town for breakfast then continued our journey. Our first stop was at a 4-waterfall journey. The first two waterfalls are what most tourists see. The third and fourth waterfall is harder to get to, but are much bigger and more rewarding. After a hike through a bamboo forest and stepping through slippery rocks, we ended up just seeing the first two waterfalls :)
The road is composed of many hair-pin turns - so we drove through many of these. Partway through we stopped and hiked down a bit to see a huge waterfall under the highway in the mountain. It was quite a site to see!

The next big stop was in a peninsula (Ke'anae) a little off-course from Hana. Here, we stood on black rocks, visited an old-church that survived a tsunami from many years ago, and ate delicious banana bread from Aunt Sandy's.

Back on the road and back on track - we stopped at an unmarked path that we read about online. We hiked for several minutes, up a lush trail, through slippery rocks, and over a narrow bridge, until we came to the most BEAUTIFUL (and SECLUDED) waterfall that I've ever seen! WOW! Needless to say, we stayed here a while!

We then arrived to the Hana area and came to Waianapanapa park, where we visited the black sand beach. Very worth it!

Our next stop was simply amazing. I don't think too many people come here (I could be wrong) but we stopped at Venus Pool for some time. You have to walk through some farmland to get here, but once you arrive to this hidden gem, your breath is taken away! Many of us jumped from the steep cliff (see a video of Dad jumping below)! I wish we could have stayed here longer!

After picking up a couple, fresh and beautiful $2 leis (yes, only $2 from an older gentleman playing a ukulele!), we made our way to the Seven Sacred Pools, which is the tourist-name for this beautiful set of pools and waterfalls. We had a great time here and enjoyed the sun beginning to set.

Unfortunately we knew we were running out of time and spent the rest of our time driving home the rest of the way around the island. It got dark FAST, but the scenery was beautiful as we watched the sun go down.
We almost hit a bunch of cows on the way, but it was a fun drive back!
Overall, an INCREDIBLE adventure!! We loved it! Enjoy the pics and video!