Today we explored the island of Moloka`i from the West side to the East side! We started the day relaxing, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. After a while it was time to get going or our day was going to slip away. I packed some sandwiches for us and the beach bag and off we went.
The first stop was Popohaku Beach, also known as Three Mile Beach. It runs along the West side of the island and was just a few minutes South of where we were staying. I read on a travel website that on Moloka`i a person can find salt within rock formations, scoop it out, dry it, and then have their very own Moloka`i salt. One of the places mentioned to find it was Popohaku Beach, so in addition to it being a beautiful beach, we were hoping to find some salt!
When we arrived at the beach we took a look around and decided to head South along the beach, toward a large rocky area. We were looking forward to some beach walking. This beach has a reputation for being completely empty, and a person can be on this three mile stretch of beach with no one else there. I think that I have realized why! It's SO windy! I really thought we were going to blow away, and the sand was blowing all over. (After talking with some locals later on during the weekend we found out that it usually is this windy.) Another reason it might be so empty is that the water is very rough, as is the case with a lot of the water around the island of Moloka`i, and makes swimming pretty dangerous. We enjoyed a nice walk along the beach, but unfortunately found no salt at the end. At least we got some good exercise! It didn't show up in the pictures, but we could see the East side of Oahu from here!
 |
| Fun to see only our footprints in the sand! |
When we finally made it back to the park area, we showered off the coat of sand we got covered in, and ate our sandwiches.
As we were sitting eating, a small group of people in the 20s walked by and we said hi. We started talking with them, and go figure, one of them was from Janesville and another from North Minneapolis, and now they live on Oahu! These islands are so tiny, I continue to live by what I say: This island, state even, is the biggest small town you'll ever live in. It seems like we're always running into people we know or are from the Midwest. Love it!
Next on the agenda was to hopefully do a little snorkeling. There is a popular spot to snorkel but it was on the opposite side of the island, so we figured, why not? Let's go! The snorkel spot, Mile 20 Beach (because it's at mile marker 20) is about 30 miles from Popohaku Beach. Another landmark we wanted to see, Halawa Valley, is only 17 miles farther, so we decided to truck across the island and see them both. This way we didn't have to drive all the way back again on Monday. We decided to drive all the way up to Halawa Valley and then come back down to Mile 20 Beach.
After mile marker 20, the road turned into a glorified one lane highway. This made for quite the adventure when driving around the switchbacks. (Big mahalo to my private driver, Will!) Will said it was the craziest drive he's ever done himself, and it sure was a beautiful one, too!
 |
| You can see Maui! |
 |
| And Lana`i! |
 |
| Beautiful shoreline. Reminiscent of the East side of Oahu. |
After some white-knuckling by me, and pure confidence and joy for Will, we arrived at Halawa Valley. There are still some Natives who live in Halawa Valley, and they lead a hike and tour through the valley. This is something that I would love to do but we didn't want to schedule another full day activity during this stay. Next time this will certainly be something that we will do.
 |
| There was a brush fire, but it got put out quickly thank goodness! |
 |
| Beautiful Halawa Stream and Bay |
Even though you must be on a tour in order to enter the valley, visiting the stream and bay is open to the public, so we drove down to check it out. When we got there the very small parking area was filled with cars of locals. I think Will and I were only one of two small groups of visitors. The families were swimming, picnicing, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. It was at this moment more than ever that I was extremely thankful that we had a "local" car, rather than a rental with all the rental stickers on it. This way we didn't stick out too much.
We walked along a path that lead out to the clearing of the bay. Here we sat and enjoyed the unbelievable beauty around us. We still can't believe we get to visit these places, let alone live here, too!
 |
| Looking into the valley. |
 |
| On the lookout! |
It's hard to see, but just behind the bushes here is an opening where the stream meets the bay. We went for a little swim. There is a sandbar between the stream and the bay. The water was gently coming up and over the sandbar and lots of kids were playing around on their boogies boards. It looked like they were sledding!
Hawaii is a great place for Will and I to live. Will gets to look at his mountains . . .
While I get to look at the ocean! It's all about the ying and yang : )
The sun was starting to set and since we were on the East side of the island, we weren't going to have daylight for much longer, so it was time to jump back in the Pathfinder and stop at Mile 20 Beach for some snorkeling.
 |
| On the drive back. You can see Maui on your left and Lana`i on your right! |
It was pretty cold by the time we got there, and it was honestly a little creepy to be snorkeling in an area where no one else was around (what would happen if we started drifting away or a shark came?!). It was also pretty dark in the water which added another level of creepiness. To add to it, as we were swimming around there was a dead fish flopping around at the bottom of the water. In this case it was unfortunate that the water was shallow because that meant the fish was pretty close to us! And to top it off, a few days earlier I had read a newspaper article explaining, in detail, the new shark diving craze that is going on around Hawai`i (what a silly thing . . .) so I was constantly afraid of sharks as well. All that being said, we looked around in the water a bit, saw some pretty coral, and got out. Then Will had a genius idea, since there's no one around, lets pull the car up to the beach and tailgate! We enjoyed sitting and looking off to Maui and enjoying the beauty that surrounded us.
By this time we were starving so we stopped off at Paddler's Inn in town and shared a salad with locally raised shrimp and some ahi poke. Yum Yum! Then back to the West side for some more stargazing and a rest.
Comments
Post a Comment