Maui’s resorts and tourist crowds are helpfully clustered together around Ka’anapali and Wailea so escaping their gravitational pull is relatively easy, but we’re rolling the dice a little by going well and truly off piste.
This small island has more than its fair share of spectacular drives and remarkable scenery, but the Kahekili Highway coast road which is banned for rental cars (forbidden fruit and all that), is one of the most epic I can remember. This vertiginous, cliff hugging route is not for the faint of heart, but it is the only portal to the tiny Garden of Eden hamlet of Kahakuloa, a community of just ninety three souls who tend their taro crops in the time honoured way and offer the few outsiders who venture there such roadside delights as Randy’s Pineapple & Cotton Candy Store and a small stand selling the ‘Best Banana Bread in the World’ (for once, truth in advertising). Overlooked by an imposing vegetation clad outcrop of rock similar in shape to one of St Lucia’s stunning Pitons, this is one of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen. We sat contemplating it on a large piece of driftwood on a narrow windswept pebble covered beach and watched the enormous breakers roll in, pinching ourselves that just 20 miles west of here is the hotel strip in Ka’anapali.
More staggering sights were to come as we explored the Īao Valley with its 1200 foot ‘Needle’ peak and the pineapple fields and pasture land on the lower slopes of Mt Haleakala until they gave way (literally) to moonscape, as we approached the 10,000 foot summit, as this is where Armstrong and Aldrin trained for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Neither Sabrina nor our daughter could be persuaded to hike the full ‘Sliding Sands’ trail down to the craters, but having seen the exhausted red faces of returning walkers, I had to admit that it was probably the right call.
To cap a perfect day, that evening we sat down to the best dish we’ve ever had on any of these islands, an Asian-inspired Seafood Soup in a Miso Broth at Hali’imale General Store, in Makawao, a small ranching community where ‘paniolos’ (cowboys) still herd cattle.
Asian-inspired Seafood Soup: Serves Six
1lb shrimp (26-30), shelled and deveined
1lb scallops, muscle removed
1lb mussels, scrubbed and beard removed
1 large onion, halved and sliced
4 large Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 quart fish stock
2 tbsp Shiromiso (or to taste)
¼ cup Sake or dry white wine
In a large saucepan, heat the fish stock, sake or wine and miso. When the stock comes to a boil add the onion, mussels, shrimps and scallops. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat and then add the tomatoes, gently cooking for 2-3 minutes (be careful not to over-cook as the seafood becomes tough).
By comparison, there’s nothing remotely ‘off piste’ about the justifiably world famous Hana Highway with its waterfalls, bamboo forests and black volcanic beaches. Joining the parade of cars, we picnicked and swam at Halpua’ena Falls with its crystal clear pool, explored the charming Our Lady of Fatima shrine (a white coral chapel on the Wailua Peninsular) and were ravaged by mosquitoes as we picked bananas, papayas and mangos on a small plantation, buying repellent for the next time at Hana’s classic General store, Hasegawa’s.
The last stretch past Oheo Gulch and Kaupo is where things start to get really interesting as we left the crowds and tarmac for stretches of dirt road, which are again off limits. Here, the countryside turns from lush bamboo forest to the wild and barren southern slopes of Mt Haleakala, where there are huge, starkly beautiful lava flows.
It’s our last day here and for a change of pace we have traded tarmac and dirt road for a morning of sublime body surfing, followed by an afternoon of snorkelling on the pristine Molokini reef, near the uninhabited island of Kahoolawe. Sabrina has stayed put on the expedition boat, as open water is not her element, but I swim with our daughter for whom it decidedly is, with scores of fish, a basking shark and the soundtrack of humpback whales calling out to one another for company.
Tomorrow we catch the inter-island ferry for the short, 45 minute crossing to Lana’i, the smallest inhabited island in the archipelago. It’s a beautiful prospect for the next few days, before we head home to LA.
A very evocative piece about a part of the world far removed from anything I have experienced!
Ooooh you made me want to visit Maui even more than I already do. After reading such a vivid description, I feel like I can taste that banana bread, and the fish soup… Mmmmmmm…