Episode 145: Hawaii and the Road to Hana

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Paige:  You're listening to Coffee with Gringos. I’m Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And so today we are going to talk about an exciting trip that Ian just went on. For those of you who don't know, Ian was just in the US for a couple of months, and he was lucky enough to do the family trip to Hawaii. For those that don't know, Hawaii is this magical place off the coast of California in the US that everyone wants to go to, few people get to go to, but Ian was able to go when he was home. And just to point out, Ian is from Missouri. He lives nowhere near Hawaii, but that's where they went on a family vacation. It's paradise, so we have to talk about it today. So, listeners, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Okay, Ian—Hawaii. Congrats. It's very exciting.

Ian: I know, I was really pumped because not only had I never been to Hawaii ever before in my life but I know that everyone's just clamoring to get to do anything right now after this long year of COVID that we've had. Getting to go anywhere is nice so being locked up in quarantine for more than a year in Chile, I was really excited to not only just to get to Missouri to visit my family but also to be lucky enough to tag along with the rest of my family who planned this trip a while in advance to go to Hawaii, and specifically one of the eight main islands on Hawaii which is called Maui. So, we made it all the way out there. Like you mentioned, it's very far from where my family lives in the US. It's about an eight or nine-hour flight I think from Missouri to Hawaii so the islands are not very close to the mainland. So, it's a good trip out there but once you get there it's amazing. The weather is tropical and beautiful, these white and black sand beaches everywhere, volcanoes—it's absolutely amazing. So, again, I just feel so lucky to have gotten to go there and especially during all this COVID nonsense that we’re, hopefully, going to get over soon.

Paige: Absolutely. I remember when you told me you were going to Hawaii, I thought you were kidding. For those who aren't from the US, Hawaii is kind of the honeymoon spot, you usually only go once in your life and it's on your honeymoon. So, I was like, did he get married? Did I miss something? And he's like, no it's just family vacation, but no I think that's amazing and I think we're all kind of itching to travel so I'm glad that you and your family were able to make it work. So, I heard during your trip, you were on the main island and there's this iconic activity to do. It’s a scenic drive. Tell us about what that drive is? What do you see along it? What is it?

Ian: Totally. So, on the island of Maui, one of the biggest tourist activities is to do this trip that's called the “Road to Hana” or the “Hana Highway”, but more popularly known as “Road to Hana.” And so basically what the Road to Hana is it's a sort of a road trip that you take along what's called the Hana Highway, which is on the island. And so essentially this is a 65-mile, which is 104 kilometers, more or less, of driving along this very scenic route on the island where you have. it’s called the highway but it's very, very small. I mean, it's barely a road. In some places, it's just gravel so it goes all around the island or most of the island, but it's called Road to Hana and because there's a town called Hana on the other side of the island. And so basically the idea is you're taking the road there and then circling around. People go either clockwise, you can go counterclockwise, so we went counterclockwise too which is actually the reverse way to beat some of the traffic because, as you can imagine, it's a one-lane road all along the island. it's going to get some traffic. But what's cool about the Road to Hana is you drive, basically, all day long, taking different pitstops at different places along the island. So, for example, there are a bunch of beaches that you can stop at for a little while, there's a national park that has all these different pools that, unfortunately, we couldn't swim in due to weather conditions, but you have all these different attractions like different waterfalls, different forests, different little national parks. And the idea is to go to all these different places if you have time or the ones you want to see and check them out. And the idea is to do them all in a day. I think you have to be careful with your strategy depending on your group. I say this because I think if you had a small group, maybe if it was just even another person or maybe a group of five, it could be really easy to stop along at each place that you want, to access where you want to go, and just a little bit more convenient. In our case, we had a big group since it was my family. We had eleven of us and so, we had two cars, you're trying to coordinate where you're going to stop. There’s an application on the phone that you can have to where there's a voice that leads you around the island telling you what you're driving by, what to look for, sort of the history. And so, we were trying to coordinate together what we wanted to see. We had a couple of little kids in our group which made it difficult and of course, trying to park on a crowded road—on these tiny, tiny, little roads—is very hard so tempers were flaring a little bit by the end of the day. Some of us were yelling at each other, we were hungry, tired, ready to get home and even some people in my group ended up calling it the “Road to Hell” instead of the Road to Hana. So, my family when we get together, we get a little crazy. It’s understandable because some statistics here are the trip that you pass over 60 bridges and the majority of them are just a one, tiny little lane, and then on the island itself on this road, there are over 620 curves. So, by the end of this, we were all feeling kind of dizzy, you just feel like it's never ever going to end. So, if I had to give some advice to those who could if you have a bigger group…”

Paige: Don't do it? Just kidding.

Ian: Don't do it. Yeah. My dad says “don't do it.” Or I'd say try to break it up into two days. So, you could take your time on one day, go halfway to Hana, and then the second day, you could wake up and do the rest of it on your way back.

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: Nope, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes. You can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Ian: Also, the history of the place is very interesting because the highway actually was started back in the 16th century. So, Maui had a king at the time named Pi’ilani, and he was a really cool guy. He had half of his body completely tattooed. So, one half of his body was totally black tattooed and the other half without tattoos, and he was this fierce Island warrior king, and he decided to start building this Road to Hana or this Maui highway essentially to have a way to have transportation all around the island. It's a pretty big island so this is a way for people to get around and it was amazing because when it was completed, the road is only like four to six feet wide, so we're talking barely enough room to get by. And it was constructed completely out of igneous rocks, so lava rocks from all the volcanoes from the island. So, I'm sure when it was first built, it was very rudimentary, really barely put together but just the image of that back in the 16th century so long ago, it's amazing to think about.

Paige: I have to ask, what is Hana? It's like the road to this destination. What do you get when you get there? Do you see waterfalls? Is that a beach? Do you get gold?

Ian: Yeah so, the thing with Hana is it's just sort of a town. It’s one of the towns that exist on Maui. So, I think actually the only reason it's called Road to Hana is Hana sort of serves as the middle point of the circuit or of the trip and so, I think it's just kind of a thing of saying like we're halfway there. I don't know why it was chosen out of other little towns, but the idea is you're taking this road to the town, and then you're going to leave it and take the road back to wherever you came from. So, I guess that's the only reason but there's honestly there's nothing really special about Hana itself. It’s just a little town with a few places. It's actually the places in between on your way to Hana that are more special— these big waterfalls or black sand beaches or these swimming pools. It just kind of depends on what it is and what the weather's like at the time.

Paige: Okay, so it's the common phrase where, “it's not the destination, but the journey” when you're on the Road to Hana.

Ian: Yeah, that classic phrase right there—” it’s not the destination, it's the journey, man.” Yeah, it's kind of like that. You're supposed to enjoy everything on the way and when you get to Hana, you maybe stop for an ice cream or a coconut and keep on moving.

Paige: Cool. Well, I mean it sounds, like you said, very tropical things—waterfalls, beaches. Did you see anything surprising? Any wildlife or anything that you wouldn't see, I guess, anywhere else?

Ian: I think for me I just was so surprised at how lush and how dense all the rain forest is there. I mean, before I came, I knew obviously it was very tropical and a lot of forests and things like this but I was just blown away with how much dense forest there is. It would be so easy to get lost anywhere on the island. I can't imagine even trying to be within the forest and trying to get like a half kilometer or even finding a place a kilometer away because you're just so in there with the trees and in the birds and the vines and the grass and everything. So, I think for me I just was really blown away by how dense it is and thinking back on the history I was talking about earlier. I can't even imagine what it was like constructing this highway back in the 16th century first. They were just cutting with their hands and laying lava rocks over the whole island. I mean, it was an amazing feat of infrastructure obviously, at that time, and even now in the year 2021, I was so impressed by, we were going on these tiny little curves all around, through the rain forests and the island and I thought, how do you even get bulldozers up here? How do you even get things up here to make these roads? I can't even imagine it. So, I think the logistics and just the sheer greenness of everything was surprising to me.

Paige: So, Hawaii, seems like you had a great time. Do you have some favorites or some, maybe lows during this trip?

Ian: I mean, it's a great place but, like I mentioned, make sure that you save your money before because it's very expensive even when COVID is going on. It's very expensive because being an island out in the middle of the ocean, you have to import everything so there's a premium cost on everything. So, make sure you save up your money when you go but I mean, it's beautiful. Enjoy the beaches, enjoy the sun. I had a fantastic tan. I had the best tan of my life leaving. I think it's already gone, unfortunately. But take advantage of the sun and also the seafood. I think I had some of the best seafood I've ever had in my life, and I think that'll be enough to get me to come back and visit someday. So, I tell everyone, check it out, check out Hawaii if you get the chance, but if you're going to do the Road to Hana, make sure you do the logistical planning before and be aware of your group and make sure you have enough food, maybe enough beer on hand as well, so, everybody stays happy and you get to the end of the trip without killing each other. That's always a good goal at least for us.

Paige: Fair. It's funny too because when you said it was like 64 miles, which I think you said is something around 100 kilometers, is not long. That on a normal highway takes an hour so when you were like it took the whole day and it's this whole journey, I was shocked. But then when you said how many curves that were that this road was built centuries ago, I was like okay this is like you're going pretty slow on these 64 miles.

Ian: Yeah, it was pretty insane actually because we did the math on it and we did about 65 miles in, I think, ten hours or something like that. So, you can imagine how slow you go, stopping at this place and getting out of the car or having to walk to it, come back, drive, do 100 more curves on the highway. It’s a one-lane so of course, it's going to take a long time to get anywhere so it was a long day and a long trip. So that's what I mean when I say just know what you're getting yourself into beforehand.

Paige: Fair. What I gather is maybe I'll just have my beers and stay at the beach. You enjoy your car ride.

Ian: Yeah, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Paige: Well, I'm glad that you were able to do that with your family. It's definitely something I bet you will always remember and for listeners out there, obviously, as Ian said, check it out. Put Hawaii on your list. It's definitely a place that is worth going to. I hopefully will go one day but probably not anytime soon. So, listeners as always if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Thanks for listening.  

Ian: We'll see you next time.

Paige: CWG officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile”. And that’s thanks to you. But we are always working to grow our audience so make sure to rate sure to rate, review and share us. 

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     pumped (adjective): very excited; eager.

a.     I am so pumped that we are going to the beach tomorrow.

2.     to clamor (verb): to demand or call for something.

a.      The groups clamored for the chance to meet the actor.

3.     to tag along (phrasal verb): to follow or join someone else in something.

a.     I was so lucky that they let me tag along with them for their trip.

4.     honeymoon (noun): a vacation spent together by a newly married couple.

a.     Many people choose to go on their honeymoon in Hawaii.

5.     iconic (adjective): very recognized and well known in representing something.

a.     She is such an iconic figure of the island’s history.

6.     scenic (adjective): providing impressive or beautiful views of nature.

a.     The drive was incredibly scenic and we saw so many amazing things.

7.     pitstop (noun): a short rest, usually during a trip.

a.     Let’s take a pitstop up here and get something to drink.

8.     tempers flaring (idiom): to become impatient or angry about something. 

a.     At the end of the long day, some people’s tempers were flaring.

9.     rudimentary (adjective): undeveloped or basic.

a.     The highway is still rudimentary after all these years.

10.  lush (adjective): growing rapidly and beautifully.

a.     The number of lush trees and vegetation on the island was so surprising.

11.  blown away (phrasal verb): to be greatly impressed by something.

a.     I was completely blown away by the beauty of the island.

12.  bulldozers (noun): a large and powerful tractor used for construction.

a.     I don’t even know how it’s possible to drive bulldozers on roads this small.

13.  sheer (adjective): nothing other than; only.

a.     The sheer beauty of the island is enough to make you love the place.