Molokai & Maui 2013
Every few years the weekends and holidays line up so that you can get a nice break. In 2013 the combination of a break week at work and the Christmas holidays all lined up so we could have 3 weeks of holidays. Now where can you go in December that is easy to get to, doesn't have the risk of traveling through the Northeast US during winter storms, and will give us a break from the winter weather? Well, we haven't been to the Hawaiian island of Molokai yet, and it has been almost 14 years since we have been to Maui... sounds like a good idea.
I contacted our friends David and Brigitte at BeBackHawaii.com again, they have found very unique places on Hawaiian islands for us in the past. They gave us some different options, we planned out the itinerary, and a vacation of 10 days on Molokai and 11 days on Maui was ready. On Thursday night I held a graduation for my students, and on Friday I was on a flight to Hawaii.
There always seems to be some frustration when flying, this would be no different... did the flight leave almost 3 hours late because they were waiting for some connecting flight from Edmonton? Yep, but OK. The thing that frustrated me the most was the email I get from Westjet 45 minutes before our flight is supposed to leave telling us their new plane doesn't have in flight entertainment, so we should make other plans. Oh that's useful when you are already past customs and sitting in the gate lounge... somebody needs to work on that. How does a 6 hour flight not have any in flight entertainment anyways? Wasn't that a big selling point of Westjet before? I guess they spent their money on their Christmas advertising campaign, which was heartwarming, but only helped 2 planes worth of passengers.
Rant over, our flight departed, and it landed in Hawaii... After a quick overnight in Honolulu, we were on a puddle jumper to the remote island of Molokai. Known as the Leper Colony island, Molokai is supposed to be a step back in time to the old Hawaii.
MOLOKAI
Molokai is not one of the bigger islands, and the residents have managed to keep it that way. There is one main highway that runs from one end of the island to the other, and there isn't a single stop light on the island. Rush hour traffic consists of the 2 or 3 cars that are driving the speed limit ahead of you. Our first stop once we landed and got the last rental car on the island, was to head to the main town of Kaunakakai for groceries. Apparently the West End of the island that we are staying on doesn't have much in the way of stores and supplies. You know you have truly arrived in Hawaii when the Friendly Market has almost an entire aisle dedicated to the many variations of Spam.
30 minutes west of Kaunakakai is the area known as the West End or Kaluakoi. What used to be a thriving golf resort with a high end restaurant was abandoned due to water supply issues and the area is a mix of abandoned structures and condominiums with beautiful grounds that have been maintained by the owners of the condos in a group of 3 areas around Kepuhi Beach and the old golf course.
The condo that we are staying in is owned by David and Brigitte from BeBack Hawaii. It's a cozy little condo in the Ke Nani Kai complex, a short walk from Kepuhi Beach, and it has a lovely Lanai that overlooks the nightly sunset.
The complex also has a beautiful pool, perfect for cooling down and de-salinizing at the end of the day. As you can see, it is almost always packed full of people all fighting for the best spots. That would be the true magic of Molokai, there just isn't that many people here.
The grounds are maintained beautifully and covered with the most colourful of Hawaiian flowers, and no tropical home would be complete without our own pet geckos to eat the insects.
Just across the road and past a couple abandoned buildings is Kepuhi Beach, a small little sand area and some lava rock shoreline that seems to be a perfect combination for a few of the local surfers and families to come play in the waves.
Kepuhi Beach is also the gathering spot for those in the area to come down and watch the sunset. As the sun was nearing the horizon the crowds gathered, almost half a dozen people stood around to watch the sky turn yellow. As the sun crossed the horizon a horn could be heard blowing in the distance, our first sunset on Molokai was pretty special..
We headed to one of the recommended restaurants in a town called Kualapu'u, a 30 minute drive had us at what appears to be a roadside diner called the Kualapu'u Cookhouse.
Stuffed shrimp with fresh crab wrapped in bacon! Sitting at picnic tables in an open air diner, and it was like we were at a 5-Star restaurant.
Our first Sunday on Molokai became a day of relaxation, as it rained all day long. Lightning & Thunder (did you know? in German that's Donner & Blitzen), and a flash flood warning has been issued for Honolulu. The rains stopped in the late afternoon, and the surfers came out to catch some waves before the skies cleared up to allow the crowds to gather for another colourful sunset.
After watching the sunset we headed into Kaunakakai to check out another recommended restaurant called Paddler's, apparently on Sunday nights they have some locals come in and play music and sing. As we pull up the staff are out front drinking from pitchers and let us know they are closed for their company party... oh well. We end up going to a place called Molokai Pizza Cafe, which serves way more than just pizza. The next day we would stop there and picked up some pizza to take back home for dinner... of course I got a Hawaiian pizza!
After a leisurely morning on the lanai, we decided to explore the coastline a little more. We wandered through the old abandoned grounds of the golf resort, and headed to the right of Kepuhi beach following some worn trails.
As we come over the rise, we discover a little sandy beach cove, part of 2 side by side beaches known as Pohaku Mauliuli beaches
The 2 beaches are separated by a small volcanic rock hill, and each of the beaches is cram-packed with 2 people. We spent the afternoon on the second beach and didn't even realize someone else was there until we left.
We stopped to pay our respects at a monument to a lost surfer, before avoiding wild turkeys on the way back to our place.
In front of us the sky turned orange as the sun went down, and behind us the sky went purple as the moon came up.
The next morning was an early start as we headed to the Kaunakakai wharf to go whale watching with Captain Mike. Captain Mike is an old-timer of the Molokai seas, and welcomes us and 1 other couple aboard his ship, the "Ahi" for a 3 hour tour, yes, a 3 hour tour.
As the sun comes up we head East along the coast of Molokai, looking across at the island of Lanai and heading towards Maui.
We spent all morning heading one way, then back east the other way when we spotted some spouting, and saw some humpback whales breaching in the distance. We got close enough to see a few flukes as they dove down when we got near. It was pretty cool to see them, but Captain Mike wasn't happy, and invited us to go out again in a couple days "on him", because he didn't think we saw enough.
The water was smooth, and we could see deep enough to watch turtles swimming below us as we came back into the harbour, hopefully Thursday would be as nice. We bid adieu to our Captain, and headed into town for lunch.
Ticking all of the available restaurants on the island off of our list, we went back to Paddlers for lunch, where a fish burger is actually a huge piece of Mahimahi.
The restaurant was all decked out for Christmas, it must be getting closer.
Having been warned numerous times about the dangers of swimming on the beaches near our place during winter, because of the waves and undertow, we headed East to find a beach we heard about called Puko'o Beach. Not easy to find, as you look for what appears to be a driveway .7 miles past Mile Marker 15, but sure enough it pulls out into a small parking lot right on the beach. Puko'o beach is a little protected bay with a reef at the end creating a very shallow pool, almost unswimmable because it is only a few feet deep. But it's pretty, and there is only a few people there.
Not far from the beach is a quaint little church called Saint Joseph Parish, built by Father Damien in 1876. I'll tell you more about him later.
A few people told us the people on Molokai were often unfriendly to tourists, I can say that is absolutely not true. Everyone has been super friendly. We spent 1/2 an hour in a small shop today talking to a lovely woman who asked us what we had seen so far. She then went on to tell us the amazing and insider stories on where to find the best beaches, which places to check out, a secret trail to an overlook 2000 ft above crashing waves... She gave us a map and then lent us a DVD to watch about the island. Molokai: the story of Father Damien, starring Peter O'Toole, Kris Kristofferson and Sam Neill. "Just drop it by the next time you come into town" she says.
We also bought a couple of locally crafted Christmas ornaments made of gourds.
We watched another sunset from the lanai of our condo before watching the DVD that the shopkeeper lent us.
We had already explored to the right of Kepuhi beach, so this morning we wanted to find the infamous beach that was to the left. Papohaku Beach is supposed to be 3 miles long and just a short walk from our condo.
We wander down a number of trails, avoid a menacing gang of wild turkeys, and find ourselves at the top of a lookout. Below us is 3 miles of sandy beach, and as best we can tell from here, the beach looks deserted. We backtrack, and finally found a hidden trail, that takes us right onto the sands of Papohaku Beach. We walked a couple miles down the beach and passed 2 other people.
For the better part of the day we camped out on this beach, and all day long a couple people would come and a couple people would go. We basically spent the whole day alone on this beach watching the waves and visiting a local named 'Pepe'.
As the sun started to come down, we had to leave our special beach and head back to our condo.
Another evening of watching the sunset from our lanai.
As promised, Captain Mike took us out on his boat 'Ahi' again. It was another early start, the moon was still high in the sky.
Today the waters weren't quite as smooth, but we started seeing whales spouting right away. Off and on for most of the morning we were moving from one group of whales to another, including a family group with a male, female and a small calf.
The boat was rocking pretty good towards the end of our tour, making pictures a little tough, and the most beautiful backlit shot of two whales tails was lost when my batteries died just moments before the event... sometimes you just have to watch it with your eyes.
Having finished our tour a little before lunch, we say goodbye and thank you to our Captain, and head up into the hills to the Kalaupapa Overlook. Not only a great place to look over the Kalaupapa Peninsula, but also a chance to see the one and only historic Phallic rock.
I'll tell you more about the history of Molokai and Kalaupapa later, but first the Phallic rock. Hoping to have a baby? Well, if you're at the Kalaupapa Overlook and are looking to reproduce, take the rocky side trail to Phallic Rock, a site believed by the ancient Hawaiians to have the powers to induce pregnancy. Even though there is no chance it could happen, we kept our distance from the rock just to be safe.
On the way back we stopped for a yummy lunch at the Coffees of Hawai'i cafe, and picked up some souvenirs from the little store there.
We managed to get back to our condo just in time for another sunset.
Many people, including our new found friend in town, recommended Dixie Maru as the only safe swimming beach on the island at this time of year. At the very end of the west end of the highway is a dirt driveway leading to Kapukahehu Beach. It was in the 1920's when the Japanese sailboat Dixie Maru was wrecked off the shore and its name plate was then hung near the beach's gate. From then on, the remote beach has been fondly called Dixie Maru Cove by the locals. Most maps will still show it as Kapukahehu Beach.
Aside from the cool caterpillar we saw, there was one downside to this being a safe swimming beach, everyone knows about it. The parking lot is full and the beach is a little crowded (but only when you compare it to the other beaches on the island).
After spending another nice day at the beach, we headed into town to visit one of the few restaurants we haven't been to yet, Molokai burger. We picked up some fried chicken and an egg nog Milkshake to take back for our sunset viewing party on the lanai.
KALAUPAPA PENINSULA MULE RIDE
Today we would visit Kalaupapa Peninsula. A "leper" colony, this idyllic peninsula is separated from the rest of the island by dramatic sea cliffs which soar half a mile above the Pacific. The term "leprosy" is no longer politically correct, having been replaced by the term "Hansen's Disease." This contagious and deadly disease swept through the Hawaiian islands in the mid-19th century and hundreds of thousands of victims were exiled to this remote spot, making Molokai an island to avoid. This allowed the island to remain like the Hawaii of yester-year.
Hansen's Disease can now be controlled by modern drugs, so only a few patients remain. Father Damien, a Catholic priest, came to Kalaupapa from Belgium in 1873. He literally gave his life in service to the patients, succumbing to the same disease 16 years later. Today Father Damien is highly revered as the unofficial patron saint of the islands and was recently decreed a saint by the Catholic church..
There is no roads down to Kalaupapa, only the steep and winding Kalaupapa trail. You can hike down, or ride a mule... we chose the mules. We meet at the barn, get assigned our Mules; Norine gets Ilikea, which means 'fair-skinned', and I get Alika, which means 'protector'.
Uncle Buzzy who has owned and trained mules here since 1980 gives us an overview of what to do, "Let the Mule do the work, they know the way", and we all load up and head out to the Kalaupapa Trail.
It's a 1700 ft decent, 2.9 miles long with 26 switchbacks, and every once in a while we are treated to amazing views.
When we finally reach the bottom, they load us onto a school bus (after our legs recover enough to walk). This would begin the strangest tour process we have ever encountered... they drive 100 ft, and then let everyone off to look at a building, monument or area, then reload the bus... drive another 100 ft, unload... repeated about 5 more times. We could have walked the whole area in less time than it took to load the bus. I suspect it is to make sure we all stay together and don't wander into areas that are sacred or private... but it's weird.
The area is a mix of small modern homes and ruins of the old settlement, Christmas decorations are scattered, and I am pretty sure I saw Santa Claus in one of the houses. There is several bars, a post office, a general store, everything is self-contained. One of the interesting laws of the area, it is illegal to photograph any of the residents, whether they approve or not, but if they wander into your picture that's ok.
We meet a couple of the locals, and say "hi" before entering the St. Francis church, which had just been decorated for Christmas.
They load us back on the bus again to take us to Kalawao, where the original settlement of Lepers was established.
The road to Kalawao (circa 2013)
Artist depiction of Kalawao (circa 1900)
The bus stops for another few minutes so we can admire some of the local Flora and Fauna, and then takes us into Kalawao where we can have lunch and look around at the old churches and the amazing scenery.
St. Philomena church built in 1873-1889, started by Father Damien, and finished by Brother Dutton.
Nearby is the pretty Siloama protestant church, you can see both these churches in the painting above from 1900.
We loaded back onto the bus and headed back to the stable. Everyone had to remember the name of their mules, if you had this spotted Mule, you needed to know that his name was 'Stripe'. We loaded up and headed down the beach to the trail that takes us 'Topside'.
We started in a giant mule-traffic-jam, and then they knew their order and single file we wound our way back up the trail.
As we head up the trail, we look back on the amazing views over Kalaupapa peninsula and ponder the terrible conditions those suffering from Hansen's Disease had to endure. Lucky for them that Father Damien arrived from Belgium to make it livable.
Once we were back topside again, we noticed more and more houses have been decorated, we'll have to check them out at night...
It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.
Exhausted we head back to the condo for some pool time. Can't finish the day without a sunset.
After the grind of yesterday's Mule ride, we decided to spend this Sunday relaxing back at our own private beach. It's the Sunday before Christmas and Papohaku Beach is hopping... we counted, almost 30 people are filling up the 3 miles of sand.
With some of the recent weather the waves were a little more exciting (FUN), everyone had to back up on the sands a bit further, and between body surfing, wake boarding, and the jr. surfer set, everyone is having a great time.
After a great day on the beach, we walk back to our condo, rinse off some of the salt, watch the sunset and head back into town.
It's Sunday night, so it's a chance to head back to Paddlers for some food and entertainment from the locals. Afterwards we made our way home and stopped to enjoy the Christmas lights that have been setup along the way. We even pulled off the road in a remote area to look at the stars... absolutely amazing, you could clearly see the Milky Way and star clusters/galaxies.
On our last full day on Molokai, we decided to head down to the farthest end of the island and hike through the historic Halawa Valley.
The closer we get to Halawa the more the road becomes like Maui's 'Road to Hana'. Narrow single lane sections, winding switchbacks overlooking the sea, and unique sights like odd homes with walls of bottles, wild pigs, and even rock slides on the road.
We arrive in Halawa and wait for our guide to meet us. We are entering sacred private lands, and need to have a guide show us the way and step us through the rituals we must follow. The scenery on this eastern end of the island is wild... literally.
Our guide Gregor and his daughter Leilani arrived and led us on foot through private family owned property where we were part of a traditional Hawaiian protocol. A conch was blown to announce our arrival, the family blew their conch to invite us in. Norine and another member of our group presented a typical natural gift to a ceremonial display, and each of us performed a native greeting.
We were then given a talk about the history of the valley, shown the traditional terraced gardens where they grow Taro and other vegetables.
We say goodbye to our hosts... no, not Aloha...'A hui hou', which means "until we meet again", and cross a small river towards the valley.
Along the way we learned about the local plants and their medicinal uses, we saw historical rock walls and ancient forests.
Maybe because I stopped to take pictures, but somehow we always ended up at the back with our guides teenage daughter. Leilani would tell us different stories and info, then pick different fruits for us to try, including the delicious Lilikoi fruit.
We continued along the trail to Mo'oula Falls in the sweltering heat. When we finally arrived at the falls, the Canadians in our group wasted no time disrobing and diving into the cold waters below the falls. Even Leilani went in fully clothed.
After eating our packed lunch, sandwiches (Tuna not Spam), and apples, we get dressed and head back down the valley.
One of the, ahem "highlights" was Gregor giving us each a small dwarf apple from a local tree, I bite into mine, delicious flavour, full of ants. As I pull it away the fruit is now covered in ants that were hiding inside... valuable lesson, only accept Hawaiian fruits from teenage girls.
We walk back to Halawa Valley beach, say 'A hui hou' and head back to the opposite end of the island.
Kumimi Beach, aka Murphy Beach, aka 20 Mile Beach Kahinapohaku Fishpond
We stop in town after a really long day, it's the afternoon of December 23rd, and Kaunakakai is a ghost town. We pick up some take-out food from what I think might be the only place we haven't been yet... The Molokai Drive Inn. I get a good ole Bacon and Cheese Burger, Norine gets a Chicken Caesar salad. I still kick myself for not going to "Dave's Hawaiian Ice Cream" before we left.
It just seemed ridiculous to show you another sunset from our last night on Molokai.
Christmas Eve morning, we packed up and headed to the airport for our 25 minute flight to Maui.
I returned the rental car with less than 12km worth of gas, the Alamo attendant was pretty impressed.
