Sightseeing - Haleakala & Hana Rd

Dec. 3 -We left our residence at 4am, and drove for 2 hours, to the top of the Haleakala Volcano to watch the sunrise. It was a crystal clear night, the billions of stars shining brightly, no wind. Had about a 45 minute wait until the actual thing, but the colouring of the horizon was beautiful to watch as it slowly became lighter. We were above the 10,000 ft. level, with white fluffy clouds below us, just suspended in the air, not moving. Where is a Tim Horton's when you REALLY need one? Once it was daylight, we could see that the entire top of the crater was like a moonscape, very barren, bleak, desolate, uneven lava rock of some sort. But it was so beautiful in it's own way, we have such a magnificent creator to praise for His handiwork! We took a lot of pictures, but lots didn't turn out either! This area is now a national park.

After looking over the area, (by now we were all quite chilled) we drove back down to find some coffee to drink with our packed muffins and such. Once back to the bottom, we carried on in our rented car, and travelled the famous Hana Road, but because of where we were at the bottom of Haleakala, we approached Hana in the reverse of the usual route. Yes, the road does go both ways, but there is a very rough stretch of about 11 miles, so you can't go over 25 mph! And even when you reach the good paved road, it is very narrow in many places, with 615 hairpin turns, & over 50 one way bridges, spread over about 45 miles. And in many places, you are on the very edge of the cliff, I couldn't bear to look out the side window, just looking ahead. But the scenery was spectacular in many places, as this is a tropical rainforest, with many waterfalls, gorges, cliffs, all with dense folliage, 99 shades of green at least. And as this is an island, it is all coastline, with the blue water, whitecapped waves, sheer cliffs, black lava sand & rock in many places. In one area, there is a bamboo forest, with a 2 hr. hiking trail to, & through it, with several bridges spanning the deep gorges. (Think as in Elora Gorge) See the photo. As we continued driving towards home, we drove through several other areas of bamboo also, it really is unique to see it growing. I kept looking for the Panda Bears, but no luck!

It truly was a great day, admiring God's beautiful creation, in the bright sunshine all day, and even that is rather rare in the rainforest area! Praise God!
Blessings to you all!