"It's legal here to ride in the bed of a pickup truck"

Landing in Kahului Hawaii, gently gliding onto the runway after about 24 hours of travel time, I could almost automatically feel a sense of calm and relaxation on the tropical island. The balmy air, the ocean breeze, seeing the palm trees sway as the mystical mountains stand sturdy in the background, breaking the clouds with their summit. To end the pondering questions, Hawaiian women in hula skirts did not great me with leis! But still, it was an adrenaline rush none the same. :) 

I’ve come to the island of Maui for three months, to work for my room and board on Hana Tropicals, a tropical flower farm in the small town of Hana (the name seemed fitting enough). My friend, Chelsea has accompanied me on this journey, and we both could not get over the sights as we voyaged down the infamous “Road to Hana,” soon after our arrival.

For those of you who don’t know, the road to the small town of Hana winds. And when I say winds, I mean it with every ounce of that word. It winds through the tropical rain forest, following the northern western coast of Hana. Like a true Hana resistant, Chelsea and I took our first trip down this road in the bed of our boss, Krista’s pickup truck. :) It’s legal in Hawaii, so don’t fret. The view absolutely left us is awe, as two college graduates couldn’t think of anything else but, “Oh my God!” to say…. Small waterfalls, every shade of lush green enclosing around you, waves crashing into the volcanic rock that cement this piece of land, the roadside stands of fresh pineapple and mango, every part of this road is a gift to unfold. To leave us even more speechless, a full rainbow appeared in the air over the ocean, like the Arc welcoming us to its city, but this is defiantly noooo St. Louis.

As of now I haven’t had an official work day, I know what you’re thinking, after two days that’s real tough, so will share that experience in blogs to come! But the first days here have been packed with aimless wanderings around the area that have led to fantastic discoveries. On our first full day, Chelsea and I took a ride in the back of Happy’s pickup truck into town. Happy, and employer of Hana Tropicals warned us of the short comings of his truck, but reinsured it hasn’t failed on him yet, and to say a quick prayer before is chugs along down the road. Long story short, which may of may not have involved hitchhiking, we ended up going to two beaches, Hamoa and Koki. On Koki a, a beached Monk Seal lay on the sand as onlookers respectfully kept their distance. Hamoa, a much more popular destination, housed a line of many pickups with surfboards in the back, a sight you’ll see on a regular basis here.

As we headed back into town, walking down an incredible road with the ocean on one side, and the mountains and cattle farms on the other, it became very obvious we needed to go grocery shopping. So partook in the best shopping of all, free and fresh. Coconuts (Chelsea’s much larger and heavier than mine to her dismay), limes, and liakuo, (do not trust my spelling on that one, but it’s quite tasty), all filled our hands and bags; found right off the side of the road.

Our second day took us to Wai’anapanapa, the most BEAUTIFUL beach in the entire world! I don’t care if I haven’t seen them all, it’s absolutely incredible. Amy, a fellow worker at Hana Tropicals, and our new friends Torey and Ashley from a farm down the road, guided us there and showed us the ropes. We all completely ignored the signs saying not to swim, kicked off our sandals and headed down the black sand into the crashing waves. Some of us, meaning myself, aren’t the most adventurous when it comes to ocean swimming!  As Ashley and Amy fearlessly dove right into a wave, I cautiously let it ride into me as I inched my way closer into deeper water. A rough day even by Amy’s standards, I called it quits as a wave knocked me down. :(

Perhaps the most memorable part of yesterday’s adventure, the fresh water caves. Cool and still with no salt, this water’s much more up my alley. We walked down this unbelievable pathway, and reached a cave, once again kicking off the sandals and jumping right in. The water felt so refreshing after the ocean, and the colors of the caves ceilings reflected down upon us. There’s a legend about that cave, that once a princess named, Popoalaea, fled here to escape her cruel husband. Unfortunately, he found her in the cave by spotting her reflection on the water, and murdered her. In the spring, tiny red shrimp apparently give this cave a red tint representing the blood that was shed. Guess I have no choice but to go back in April to test this out myself….

It’s been a rough couple days, but I think I’ll manage to find SOME way of scrounging fun out of this 

experience ;)

Aloha from Hana!