Ben & Star's Excellent Adventure: Kipahulu Car Camping

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, 40 miles and 1 hour 45 minutes will get you to the backside of the volcano to an extremely remote and special coastal area called Kipahulu. There is little water, no power nor stores, so take what you need.

At night the stars pop out of the sky by the thousands.  The temperatures in winter are in the mid 60's at night, but quickly jump into the low 80's during daylight hours.

The beaches here are unlike anything else on the island, and home to the famous cove beaches called Red Sand Beach, Black Sand Beach, and the hidden little white beach, Hamoa.

We met new, fascinating people on this trip who are travelling the world and somehow ended up on Maui.  Most don't seem to have the means to be embarking on such grand adventures, but nevertheless seem content wandering the globe.

On Saturday, we picked up similarly aged campsite neighbors (a couple) hitchhiking to the village of Hana some 9 miles down the road.  They never could tell us exactly where they were from, but were looking for a rental cottage in the area. We dropped them off and went to the beach. Afterwards, we found some outdoor showers in Hana, cleaned up, and had lunch at the Hana Ranch.

By the time we returned to our campsite at around 4 pm, things had changed considerably. Crowds of locals were pouring in, and the place started to resemble festival camping for some outdoor music event. Star and I quickly recognized we were now the oldest people at the campground. Sticks of truth, fire poi, and other lighted contraptions filled the night sky, and the music blared. Meanwhile, we sat at the back of the campground in our tucked away spot, drinking vodka and cranberry and watching the show.

Suddenly at 10 pm, the noise stopped, the lights went dark, and you could hear a pin drop. So, I've coined a new saying from the experience, "They partied hard, and stopped on a dime."

Best of luck to Mo from Chicago via Botswana(?), the waterless travelling mechanical engineer waiting on his Fulbright to start in Brazil in two months. We left him with a gallon of the precious liquid and some snacks and oatmeal.