Trip After Maui Storm
This week on Tuesday, Heidi and I picked up a very nice couple. They had gotten off their cruise boat, and were not sure what they were going to do. They had booked an excursion to go to Hana, but do to the major storm that we had on the island the week before they landed, all the scheduled trips were canceled. Heidi and I were not sure what to expect as we drove down from our home Kula. It was again raining, as it had been all week, al be it not nearly the volume that we had been receiving in the days before. And we were not sure if anyone was even going to come off of this cruise ship. In fact as my wife was looking for possible passengers, one of the other guides expressed the unlikely possibility of folks going on an unplanned trip.
However, a couple came to us and wanted to see whatever they could see. At this point we were unclear what the road conditions were, what stops would be accessible and how far toward Hana we would make it. But our guests were ok with the possibilities, and the unknown, so we set out. We stopped at Ho’okipa, where there was a pretty good surf break that morning. The waves were a little messy, but most of the surfers were making the best of it, and just happy to be on the water. There were also several large Green Hawaiian sea turtles that had climbed up the beach near the rocks to rest. Our guest counted eleven.
From there we headed up to Twin Falls. I was surprised that it was open. The upper falls were closed, but the two lower ones were full and it was an awesome hike to see them raging with all the extra water. It was truly a blessing, as one of our guests, “the boss” as her husband lovingly referred to her a couple times, said the one thing she wanted to see in Maui, were waterfalls. The main reason she had booked a road to Hana trip a few days earlier. I was impressed as she climbed right down to edge of the rocky viewing area to get the best photos that she could.
The next stop was Waiʻānapanapa State Park or the black sand beach. I was again pretty stoked that this stop was accessible after all the rain and wind the week had brought. I was glad to have the all wheel drive in our Sprinter as the road was defiantly pretty wet. However, I did not have to lift any bamboo out of the way, like I did on our previous trip. Our guests loved this stop as they explored the cave on the Hana side of the beach, then stalled across to opposite side, taking in the uniqueness of this environment.
From there we began to head back toward Kahului. But made one final stop at the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. This was actually the first time that I had hiked back a little ways, I usually slow to get a few pictures of these beautiful pieces of nature. And it was well worth it as one of the tress on the back end of the grove stood alone. It sprayed out more than many of the trees on the street, almost Banyon tree like, and its coloring was bright and just amazing. Well worth the hike.
From there we took them back to the drop off point outside the harbor. It was a very nice day, and was really cool to have just two people and be able to “hang” for a few hours.