The Road to Hana

When looking at places to go and things to see this Road to Hana was first on my list. The idea of waterfalls, ocean views, winding road, breathtaking scenery, etc. I loved the very thought. We rented a Jeep just for this and it rained on us. The top was down for just a few moments. We left early that morning and passed this little quaint town. The name escapes me now but it was a little surfing village. I hear Willie Nelson lives there. They had great fish and chips and cute shops. When we drove by this day everything was closed since we left so early. We pulled off at a beach that was home to wind surfing championships. We ran into some sea turtles. Sea turtles are alive and well off on the shores of Hawaii. I saw and swam with some. But on this particular day we ran into a local lady who was out looking for Hawaiian Monk Seals. She said there were only three left in the world and she had one right there on the sand. She had a uniform on and all this equipment to gather because her plan was to watch this seal as it slept. She was going to make sure no one disturb it. She had roped off the area and it sounded like her day was to watch this seal. She shared all this with us because we didn't look like we were from around there. True. We were tourists. Also on the road to Hana we stopped by the "Garden of Eden" and enjoyed a walk around their grounds. We saw a peacock and quite a bit of growing plants that were new to us. I loved all their colors and shapes. The rainbow bark on the eucalyptus trees was one of my favorites. It really did look like a rainbow. We ate lunch here. It was a van with two ladies working there. The younger one was so cool to us. She showed us how to drink coconut milk straight from it and made us these two great tacos. But the best part was the conversation. She just was so relaxed and cool. (Favorite spot of the day.)The black sand beach was off this stretch of highway as well. It was so cool to see and Dane was brave to go snorkeling out there. I stayed on shore and enjoyed the sights. Black sand is HOT! We continued our trip through Hana and onto the other side of Hawaii. So this side of the island is not open to the public. It's a dirt road over seriously rocky terrain. Good thing we had the Jeep. The sights over here were amazing. There were many great looks at the ocean and rocks below. It took us longer to go this way but we can say we saw the whole island of Maui and what a sight to see. Loved it all. Just a couple notes I lost my camera lens at a waterfall. It just tumbled right in. So sad. And the actually city of Hana really doesn't care for tourist and there isn't much there. I saw a native Hawaiian and her young children playing in the waves and thought what a great place and way to live