Road to Hana - Kahului

One of the most isolated archipelagos in the world can be found in the centre of the Pacific Ocean. Consisting of approximately 137 islands, and between 400,000 and 28 million years of age – depending on location – are the Hawaiian Islands. The nearest landmass, quite surprisingly, is the southernmost point of Alaska at 1,573mi (2,531km) away from Hawaii’s northernmost point. It is usually mistaken to be California which is about 2,286mi (3,680km) away.

Hawaii is the 50th state of the USA having joined in 1959. It has eight main islands with Hawaii, Maui and Oahu being the top three in size. Maui is the second largest island and is one of four islands – two of which are uninhabited – that make up the County of Maui.

On the northeast coast of Maui is the winding Road to Hana that begins in the town of Kahului and ends in the small village of Hana. My journey will continue beyond Hana, exploring the east coast down to Kalepa Gulch and finishing at Alelele Falls Viewpoint.

My travels begin in Kahului, the most populated town on the island, with several commercial shopping malls and light industries that serve most of the island. Within one of these malls is the Tasaka Guri Guri shop, known for its specialty in frozen dessert and its well-guarded secret recipe. A cross between a sherbet and ice cream, the guri guri was invented by Jokichi Tasaka in the early 1900s in Japan. When his son, Gunji, migrated to the United States he set up shop in Maui and carried on the family business. Today it continues to be run by family members with pineapple and strawberries as their main flavours inside a bright pink painted shop that has been the family’s business address for nearly 40 years.

The northern beaches of Maui such as Kanaha Beach just to the east of Kahului are popular destinations for windsurfers and kitesurfers. Since the northern shores are open to the oceanic elements it is a much windier location, when compared to the southern beaches that are sheltered by the island, creating the right conditions for these sailing sports. Maui is the birthplace of kitesurfing following the inaugural 1998 Kitesurfing Championships. Described as a combination of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and wakeboarding, it is one of the more accessible extreme sailing sports both financially and in terms of learning it.

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