We had visited Maui many times over the years, but somehow we had never driven the Road to Hana or spent any meaningful time Upcountry.
When we returned in November for the Business Success Summit in Wailea, we decided to arrive several days early and finally explore those parts of the island.
We didn't stay long—one night in Paia, several nights in Hana and two nights Upcountry—but we were very glad we went.
Paia
We flew into Kahului, rented an enormous Kia Carnival and headed first to Mama's Fish House, where we'd made a reservation for lunch.
The food was good, although we remember being a little surprised that lunch with one drink each cost about $250.
From there we checked into the Paia Inn. It was quaint and a little older, and the room had some quirks—including a bathroom without a door—but it put us right in town and next to the ocean.
We walked around Paia, wandered through some shops and bought milk for our morning coffee.
What we remember most, though, was sitting on the common patio behind the inn overlooking the beach. The surf had picked up, and there must have been a hundred or more surfers in the water. We spent much of the late afternoon simply watching them and listening to the waves.
The Road to Hana
The next morning we bought breakfast and sandwiches for the road, picked up a towel in case we decided to swim somewhere along the way, and headed toward Hana.
The Road to Hana was every bit as winding as advertised, with seemingly endless one-lane bridges and signs telling us to yield to oncoming traffic.
We stopped at several places, but two stand out.
At Kahanu Garden, we walked through the peaceful grounds near the ocean and saw Piʻilanihale Heiau. We took our time walking through the gardens and ate our sandwiches at a picnic table.
Then, on our way back toward the highway, we saw a sign for the Hana Lava Tube and pulled in.
It hadn't been part of the plan. A short while later we'd paid our admission, been handed flashlights and were walking underground through a lava tube.
We spent about half an hour walking into it before reaching the end and turning around.
We hadn't started the morning expecting to go spelunking.
That was part of the fun.
Hana
We stayed at the Hana-Maui Resort.
After checking in, we made our way to Red Sand Beach along a narrow, hilly trail. We got our feet wet but didn't swim, then later walked from the resort to the food trucks for dinner.
Our days in Hana started early.
One morning we made coffee and watched the sky brighten from about 5:45 until the sun finally came up around 6:28.
Later that morning we drove into Haleakalā National Park to hike the Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls.
The ranger told us it was two miles each way and should take about an hour in each direction.
We were slower.
It took us about an hour and a half to reach the falls, partly because we kept stopping for photographs and partly because the muddy, slippery trail demanded our attention.
It was spectacular.
We walked through the bamboo forest, listening to the bamboo stalks knock against one another when the wind blew. At different points we could hear waterfalls, streams and birds. Much of the time, we had the trail to ourselves.
Some sections were easy. Others made me feel a little like Indiana Jones.
Afterward we drove to Hamoa Beach, where we spent about an hour bobbing in the warm, clear water.
That night we had mahi mahi with coconut curry, polenta and green beans and were back in the room early.
Hana seemed to encourage early nights.
Waiʻānapanapa
Our last morning in Hana was rainy.
We had an early reservation at Waiʻānapanapa State Park and went anyway.
It rained for almost our entire hike along the Piʻilani Trail. After the first few minutes we had the trail largely to ourselves, walking past coves and along the coastline in the rain.
Rather than spoiling the morning, the rain became part of what we enjoyed about it.
When we returned to the black-sand beach, we stripped down to our swimsuits and got into the water.
We weren't in a hurry.
And we didn't see any reason to skip something we'd wanted to do merely because it was raining.
One practical lesson did make it into my notes: Pack a waterproof, packable backpack next time.
Makawao & Upcountry
From Hana we drove back along the Hana Highway and into Upcountry Maui.
By then the road felt considerably less intimidating. As we approached the other end, we joked about all the drivers heading toward Hana for the first time who were probably thinking exactly what we'd thought a few days earlier: What the hell did I get myself into?
We stayed at the Banyan Tree B&B near Makawao.
The next morning we woke to roosters and birds. Two roosters came right up to our door and hung around long enough for us to take an embarrassing number of pictures and videos.
We sent some to Laura and realized we'd become those parents who send their children pictures of things they probably don't care about.
We spent the day exploring Upcountry and drove back up Haleakalā, stopping at the visitor center where we'd watched the sunrise on a trip in 2014. We walked around, sampled a small part of one of the longer trails and continued to the summit.
That evening at Makawao Public House we shared ceviche, an Upcountry salad with strawberries, walnuts and goat cheese, and panko-crusted mahi mahi.
By then we were disappointed that we'd be leaving the next day.
Two nights didn't feel like enough.
One Last Hike
Before leaving Upcountry, we drove to the Makawao Forest Reserve.
Near the trailhead was a sign saying that the area was open to hunting. We didn't think much about it until about ten minutes into our hike, when we encountered three hunters and their dogs.
One of the hunters was carrying a wild boar on his back that they estimated weighed 150 to 160 pounds.
For the rest of the walk, we couldn't help noticing all the places along the trail where wild pigs had been rooting.
The hike itself was easy and beautiful, through a forest that looked surprisingly like pine country rather than the tropical Maui we knew from the coast.
From there we drove back toward Kihei, stopped at South Maui Fish Company for an ahi plate and slaw, and returned once more to Keawakapu Beach.
We parked along the road and changed into our swim clothes beside the car—something Shirley was becoming surprisingly comfortable doing—and spent about an hour in the water before checking into the Wailea Beach Resort for the Business Success Summit.
What We'll Remember
We'll remember watching what seemed like a hundred surfers from the patio behind the Paia Inn.
We'll remember pulling over on a whim and unexpectedly spending part of the afternoon walking through a lava tube with flashlights.
We'll remember the Pipiwai Trail: the mud, the waterfalls and especially the sound of the bamboo knocking together in the wind.
We'll remember bobbing in the water at Hamoa Beach after the hike.
We'll remember walking the coast at Waiʻānapanapa in the rain, having most of the trail to ourselves, and swimming at the black-sand beach afterward.
We'll remember waking to roosters outside our door in Upcountry and behaving as though we'd never seen a chicken before.
And we'll certainly remember encountering a hunter walking through the forest with a 150-pound wild boar on his back.
Mostly, we'll remember discovering parts of Maui that we'd somehow missed despite visiting the island for years.
Would We Return?
Yes.
We were glad we finally drove the Road to Hana, and staying in Hana rather than trying to make it a hurried day trip gave us time to hike, swim, explore and simply enjoy being there.
We were equally glad we spent time Upcountry. Makawao and the surrounding area showed us another version of an island we thought we already knew.
Neither stay was long.
In fact, that was one of the clearest things we wrote in our notes at the time: Two nights in a nice, new location isn't enough.
We'd happily return to both.