Woke up early and were really excited because we were taking our very first helicopter tour – yes, we were taking a half an hour helicopter tour of the West Maui mountains, complete with water falls and all.
We reached the heliport at around 8:15 am, our tour was to begin at 9:00am. We got our customary safety talk by one of the members there. I did not think too much about getting onto a chopper for the first time – it was no big deal. I had already ridden one of those small air planes – the 4 - seater ones, and thought it should be pretty much similar. Newho, the pilot took us to the chopper, he got on first, I got on next to sit beside him and Sush got in last. I was surprised at how tiny it was. We were literally squashed against each other. And then the chopper lifted from the ground – and I suddenly got the jitters. The helicopter is all glass and very light and for a moment I was scared. The pilot was driving it like a Kinetic Honda. We took flight and rose above the ocean. The scene was breath taking. We had to communicate via the headphone and speaker, like a walkie-talkie. We left the ocean behind and entered the mountains. Wow – it was magnificent to say the least. Water falls, greenery and the mountains … it was a great experience. We saw the location where the opening scene of the Jurassic Park movie was shot – it was just great. We toured all around the West Maui mountains and were really spell bound at how much more beautiful everything looked from that height. I really envied all the birds at that point of time. How quickly the 30 minutes passed and we came back and had a safe landing. We were on a high at the sight we had seen.
We left the heliport and left for Hana. We had to drive by the town on Pa’ia where we stopped to have brunch. After a satisfying meal at a local restaurant and a full tank of gas, we were all set for the Road to Hana – often called the Road to Heaven! Some information about the drive to Hana. It is a trip back in time to the old style, slower paced Hawai'i and the most beautiful tropical rainforests you've ever seen! The road to Hana offers some of the most spectacular scenery found anywhere in the Hawaiian Islands, but the road is long and winding, with over 600 curves and 54 bridges. It's only 53 miles from Kahului Airport to Hana, but it usually takes about 2½ to 3 hours to make the drive, of course that depends on how often you stop. The Road to Hana is world famous for the natural beauty of its unblemished landscapes and towering waterfalls. We had already borrowed the Road to Hana cd from the lobby of our hotel. This cd was to guide us which mile markers to stop at, where to get the best views. If you are not a local to Hawaii, it’s a very good idea to play the cd along.
So we started off in our Mustang, with the top down of course, cruising along. We were warned amply by the locals regarding the drive and that we have to be extremely careful and watchful because of the winding nature of the road and also the one-lane bridges. The fun just started!
As soon as you enter
the rainforest, you can make out the difference. The landscape totally changes. It is just too beautiful – the view, the scenery is mind blowing – cannot be described in words, and cannot be captured in pictures. The ocean was a magnificent blue. To get a better view of the scenery and the ocean, I stood at the back of the car, in the convertible and it felt great. Perfect weather, wind blowing against my face – hearing the ocean – oh it was like out of a book!! I cannot describe the scenes that we saw there – so I am just putting up the pictures to do the talking.
We reached the town of Hana and now were all set to check out the O’heo’s gulch beyond Hana. Here’s some information about O’heo’s gulch which is also known as Seven Sacred Pools. About 15 minutes past Hana, on the Hana Highway (Road to Hana), is the O’heo’s Gulch at the east end of Haleakala National Park. A series of lovely waterfalls and tranquil pools flow through the O'heo Gulch and into the ocean nearby. The Pipiwai Streams feeds these falls and numerous pools starting 2 miles inland. The Pipiwai Trail, above the Seven Sacred Pools, is considered to be one of the best hikes on Maui. It is 4 miles roundtrip, gaining 650-feet in elevation. It takes 3 - 5 hours to hike, depending on how much nature loving you do. There are several great waterfalls along the route with the final destination being Waimoku Falls, falling 400-feet down a sheer lava rock wall.
Well we reached there around 3:00pm or so. We changed and started to check out the pools. We did a short hike and saw a few falls. It was around 3:30pm by then. Now to start off with the Pipiwai Trail. We did not know about this trail before – as the local expert did not tell us anything about this. If we had known that we could do robust hiking here, we would have started for Hana like early in the morning. Anyway, we started the 4 mile trail. We were a far distance from where the car was parked. We did not have any water bottles with us – no torch. Just us. We met people coming back from the trail and we kept asking how the trail was – they said it wasn’t easy – would take at least 3 and half hours if we were quick. We had started walking really briskly. The trail was a reasonably difficult one as it was going to gain an elevation of 650ft. I don’t know why we decided to do it – we just had to see the Waimoku falls. Why were we so concerned you think – as it was just about 4:00pm? We were going to be hiking in the rainforest with thick vegetation. We were sure there would be places with minimal light – and worst of all – no water. Anyway we decided to just start and see what happened. We decided not to stop and to go as fast as we could. Maybe on a different day, both of us would not have decided to do this – as it is not a very intelligent choice.
We started – almost running, skipping along – also we met a lot of people on our way – everybody was returning back. The trail was pretty difficult – maybe if we were just walking it wouldn’t have seemed so. We were hurrying all we could, climbing without water and no breaks. It seemed like Mount Everest. We kept asking people how the trail ahead was and how long it would take. They said it was going to get more difficult, and dark. We kept going and going, did not take a break. The only times we stopped were when we came to a water fall or a pool to look at it. We reached two more water falls, it was breathtaking – the view. We just stopped for like 5 minutes to drink in the beauty of it and continued with our hiking – gaining elevation steadily.
We reached a really dark spot. It was a wooded area in the forest – a lot of bamboo and no sun reaching there. It was fine going in – but what about returning back – it would be bad without a torch or company. At that point, we met some people returning back from the trail and we asked – how long – they said probably half an hour more. We asked them if there was anybody at the Falls, they said they were the last ones to leave the spot, and there was nobody there. At that point, we thought that maybe we should return back – Sush asked me what do you think we should do? I said – we have come this far (believe me it was difficult) – lets just get done with it. And we went on – we reached the falls and what a sight it was. It was like Nirvana for us. It felt worth every bit of perspiration. Seeing the Waimoku Falls, falling 400-feet down a sheer lava rock wall was pure bliss to the eyes. Luckily as we reached there we met a lady with her two kids also. Those were the only people there. We immediately asked if they had a torch – they said no. But we were glad that at least we had some human company. We spent some time there (minimal) and started the hike back. I had sprained my knee and the hike back was all the more difficult. But now, we were relaxed because we were heading back and we had company. We still hiked back rather vigorously, ‘cos the drive back to Maui on Hana Highway in the dark was a little scary. We were very surprised at ourselves (me, especially) at how quickly we could finish the hike. And it surprised me as to what all we can achieve just if we set our hearts to it!
Finally we reached the car and the time was like 6:00pm We had finished the entire hike in about 2 and a half hours. It was an achievement of sorts and boy, we were glad we did it. Like Sush said at the end – I can’t believe we did that – I guess I did it for you, and you did it for me! The drive back was a difficult one, but Sush made it all seem very easy. The boy loves to drive and he was totally relaxed and confident – so no issues. We reached Kihei around 8:30pm and had dinner at an Indian restaurant. We were pretty tired and headed back to the condo and slept like logs!
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