Today is our last day in Hawaii. Packing has been a challenge – we are taking back more than we brought (helping the Hawaiian economy). We had to buy a new bag which we will have to check at the airport but there is no way I can get this stuff in the suitcases we brought over here! We are going to take the “road to Kahakuloa” when we leave Lahaina. Penny, the B&B owner, says it is much harder than the road back from Hana. I remember it being a real challenge but the scenery is absolutely beautiful and it will be worth the drive.
As we start out, Tom and Carolyn learn that this road is ONE LANE with TWO way traffic! FUN! It is really curvy but the good thing about it is that you can see for several miles ahead and there are “pull over” spots real often. I am glad that we are on the mountain side rather than the cliff side even though it means we will be expected to find the “pull over” spots.
As we drive the ocean views are absolutely beautiful and there are some really unusual rock formations (possibly built by early natives.) We eventually got to the small village of Kahakuloa where we spotted a beautiful small church and some fantastic flowers. We also saw the “café of Kahakuloa – an orange bus converted into a kitchen. Leaving Kahakuloa we saw signs about the best banana bread on the island being in the “green stand.” James and I had bought banana bread there before and we agreed with the advertisement. We left the stand with 2 loaves of warm banana bread (which didn’t last long.) The road continued to be a beautiful drive (even though it was nerve wracking at times.) Near the art shop we came upon huge sculptures of giraffes. We stopped at the art shop and I bought a few more things to try to stuff into that extra bag. Leaving there we saw the signs about the road and the danger of the cliffs – those should have been put up several miles back. The cliffs were beautiful and as we came to the end of the one lane road we all agreed that the drive was well worth the challenge.
Leaving that road we came into the area of IAO where we stopped for lunch and found a couple of really pretty churches. It was sad to see another note on a church door that said they had to keep their doors locked during non-service times due to vandalism. A few “thugs” can keep good people from enjoying the beauty of churches – SAD!
We headed to IAO valley where we came to the Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens. This area was once a bloody battle site where Maui warrior corpses, victims of Kamehameha I, blocked the 'Iao Stream, the name means "damning of the waters". Now this lovely garden features a variety of structures. One of the areas honors Korea. In 1903 the first Korean emigrants left Korea and arrived in Hawaii. This was historic because the Korean people had never experienced a world outside of their own. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of this historical monument, the Korean Traditional Park was built in the Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens. There is also a Japanese garden (again honoring emigrants) and a beautiful sculpture of a man and woman which honors Portuguese immigrants. This garden was beautiful with waterfalls, beautiful buildings, and flowers that reflect the beauty of Hawaii.
We then went to the IAO Valley State Park which features the IAO needle. This park is beautiful. There are very unusual formations of the “peaks”, a great water garden, and some really unusual plants. There is a waterfall which goes into a creek which the locals use as a “swimming hole”. We saw some people swimming who had brought their dog. The dog had better sense than get in that cold water.
As we left we headed to Kahului to eat dinner before going to the airport. As we stopped to get gas for the car we saw our last sunset in Hawaii. This one was very different than the others. We didn’t see the oranges and reds. The sky was dark gray and sun was silver. It was beautiful as the clouds settled over the mountain and the sun set just behind the clouds. We had a great trip but it is time to head back to ALABAMA.
FOOTNOTE: We left Hawaii on 6 Oct at 9:30 p.m. Hawaii time (2:30 a.m., 7 Oct, Alabama time) and arrived at the Huntsville airport at 4:30 p.m. 7 Oct. LONG FLIGHT HOME! I hope that everyone has enjoyed this blog.
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