Maui

Today's photo was taken on Maui in August, 2006.
I was there for the wedding of two close friends of mine (and soon to be neighbors-they just bought a house about three blocks from mine). This photo was taken in the very desolate and remote southeast part of the island. There's a small town on the eastern edge of Maui called Hana. The road to Hana is one of the must-do things on Maui. It's an all day event, with hundreds of tight curves, hills, waterfalls, and narrow bridges as the road winds through the lush tropical landscape. Several miles beyond Hana is the beautiful Oheo Gulch, which is as far as most tourists go. In fact, your rental car contract probably forbids you from going further, claiming the road is impassable. Guess what-it isn't, at least it wasn't when we were there.We decided to continue on past Oheo Gulch and return to the more developed parts of the island along the one road running through the upcountry.
It was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip. It is very desolate-we didn't see another car for dozens of miles. The climate changes from the tropical paradise of Hana to dry, grassy scrubland with few trees and large expanses of rock and lava fields. It was an amazingly beautiful, stark landscape, and although it took us over 2 1/2 hours, was a much shorter trip than returning along the Hana road.
Anyway, this photo was taken somewhere along that lonely upcountry road.