CENTRAL MAUI - Maui: Including Molokai and Lanai - page 220

tainside garden for over 25 years. There are only a few parking spaces, and if it's been
raining heavily, think twice before going down the short but steep driveway in a low-clear-
ance rental car.
Haleki'i and Pihana heiaus were once the center of Central Maui's religious activity.
Farther down the road you'll reach the Kaukini Gallery (808/244-3371,
www.kaukinigallery.com , 10am-5pm daily), which is inside a mountaintop home over-
looking Kahakuloa Valley. The gallery features more than 120 local artists and their asso-
ciated paintings, jewelry, ceramics, and handmade crafts, and the views from the parking
lot looking up the valley easily make it the most scenic gallery on the island.
Finally, after a few hairpin turns on a narrow one-lane road, you reach the village of
Kahakuloa. This place truly is unlike anywhere else on the island, and all sorts of clichés
abound: “Old Hawai'i,” “turn back time,” and “a place that time has forgotten.” No matter
which one you like, they're all true. Stop just before you drop into town to pick up banana
bread from Julia's Banana Bread ( www.juliasbananabread.com , 9am-5:30pm) stand in
the bright green, wooden building. Across the street is the St. Francis Xavier Mission
church which was built in 1846, although access is only possible on special occasions.