Day 10 Molokai

Okey Dokey. Snafuland here again at Tea Time means I'm writing this day over again. Happily it hasn't ended yet so I'm not technically "late." Plus, my phone has charge and I'm in town, so win/win/win. Sort of. Because the original post is gone. Usually I like to finish the post the night before and then edit it a bit the next day. When a post goes missing I get crammed for time and I feel my writing is more pedestrian. But enough about me! More about Hawaii.

Breakfast was new and different (I bet you guys were tired of yogurt too). We went into town and the bakery was open so we ordered an egg platter (scrambled with bacon and superbly buttered toast) plus a side of portugese sausage. I also grabbed a classic glazed donut from the front counter. It was delightful. What's that? I hear the beach calling. It's only 7:30, but let's get our stiff legs out and swimming. (That hike yesterday has left its mark!) On the way to the east end of the island we spotted a "public beach" sign. Screech! How did we miss this until now? It's a lovely beach, with real sand. Great for swimming, but the coral reef here is Dead. No fish, only coral covered in algae. Depressing. Our book Maui and Molokai is severely outdated (published 2008) due to the algae affliction. Basically there is no longer any decent snorkelling off the beaches of Molokai. If you'd like to pay to go a mile out into deep water there are snorkelling tours available from the Fish and Dive. Maui is trying to curb the problem with algae eating sea urchins, but Molokai doesn't seem concerned.

Lunch is beachside, fried chicken (a six piece combo somes with 7 pieces so it lasts a while!) buttered rolls from the bakery and various eats from the cooler bag. Dessert we got back in town (before I got to charge my phone so no pictures). Ice cream sundae! Cotton Candy Brownie sundae for me, and Mint chip with hot fudge for Dawn. Delightful on this warm day. Molokai shuts down on Sundays, only a handful of businesses are open. Families (ohana) get together for fun and rest. We missed the big open market on Saturday, hiking our butts off walking down, then up the cliffs to Kalupapa. We deserve a break, too. So we after resting at our campsite for a while we head into town for a drink (Lava Flow and Blue Hawaii) at Paddler's Cove. Then we head to the wharf for a last sunset in town. It was quite overcast, so no spectacular goodbyes for us. After some debate we decided to try someplace new for dinner. Molokai Drive Inn gets picked and we choose some crispy fried goodies off the menu. Onion rings, curly fries, cheese sticks and a bacon cheese burger. With a side of heart attack. Oh no! We forgot about hot bread! My brain looks at the time. 7:45. Alert! Well, we'll have to hang out and wait until 8pm rolls around so we can get our loaf of the famous Molokai hotbread from the back alley entrance of the bakery. We found our camping neighbors there as well, getting a fix of this amazing hot bread. Straight out of the oven and to your mouth. It can be slathered with your choice of toppings. We got simple cream cheese, but everyone raves about the butter/cream cheese/cinnamon and the strawberry/cream cheese combos. Taking photos in the car before tearing off hunks of the bread made it a bit blurry, but I can tell you it's a good thing we waited until the end of our stay to stray down the alley. This bread is so delicious it's a danger. And the perfect dessert!

Day 11 Molokai to Maui

Good bye Molokai! Today is our last day on the island, but we don't leave until dinner time. Breakfast was the rest of the delicious bread from our run to the bakery last night. We broke down camp and got to talk story with a local man who was visiting the park. Turns out he cooked for the wedding that happened over the weekend. (The scoop is that this is wedding #4 for the bride.) The thing we liked best about the wedding was that the parks dept cleaned the port o potties (the main restroom/showers are currently under rennovation).

We've met quite a few friendly locals who didn't seem to mind us bombarding them with 1000 questions. Mike at the Sugar Mill, Philip from the Bike Shop and our Halawa Falls guide. They helped us learn more about this quiet, no stop light isle. It's bittersweet to leave as we're just getting the hang of how to live here.

The canoe rental didn't work out so we just relaxed instead. Maui will be a more demanding mistress, as it's a much bigger island with more to do and see before vacation is over. A drink from the Coffees of Hawaii shop (I think I called it the coffee mill—they grow the beans too...) is on our list since it's warm out unless you can feel the breeze. I got a caramel milk shake (a disappointing vanilla ice milk shake with caramel drizzle) and Dawn got a peach surprise, gummy bears were her surprise!

Another last day adventure, to mail our coconuts back to the mainland. One USPS here has free coconuts available to decorate (they provide markers!!) and you just pay the shipping. It's pretty awesome. The postmaster also puts real stamps on them, instead of a metered stamp so they're extra fun to receive. It's a great idea to "post a nut."

Lunchtime! The Cookhouse is nearby so we get plate lunch with a side salad (papya dressing is very tasty!). Their teriyaki chicken is so tasty we've eaten it every visit (3 times if you're keeping track), plus they have the best mac salad in town (on island?). After eating we have the energy to go get gas and vacuum out the van. It's quick work since we swept it out with the tent broom first.

Next on our list, check out two cemetaries. Molokai doesn't follow "standard" practice when it comes to gravestones and grave sites. Some have no information at all, just a simple ring of red lava rocks. Others bear witness with a simple wooden cross. Many have earthly goods left on them such as sodas, shell necklaces, plastic flowers, real plants, solar powered lights, just a myriad of some seemingly random items.

We munched on dried bananas and leftover butter rolls before checking in at Island Fashion (where we purchased items earlier in the week) to see what's new. A kitchy item catches my eye, but Dawn resists any new purchases.

The Most Awesome thing about inter-island travel? No Security! That's right. We just check our bags, walk onto the tarmac and board. That perk plus the views over the cliffs are worth the trip! We chat with a nice local woman while waiting for the plane and she even helps us with our luggage. Mahalo. Twenty minutes and then wheels down! Budget in Maui has a deal for Costco members. We ask about it... with that discount, plus another we upgrade to a Jeep! Convertible!! Woo Hoo Tops Off!!

Until tomorrow...

Aloha from Maui

Day 9 Molokai

Saturday is a busy day on Molokai. There is the big market in town, and families spend time together.

Dawn and I made it to Kalupapa today. I have no phone pictures since I forgot last night to turn it off. (It also ate my original post from yesterday, so there is an abbreviated version published instead. Version 2.0) Later I will publish a post with the info and photos from my camera.

Breakfast was per normal. Yogurt, fruit, granola all made the list. Lunch was a picnic of fried chicken (from Molokai Burger) and mac salad, plus some leftover veggies from our cookout.

The wedding next to our tent is in full swing (featuring musicians of questionable talent) so we plan to check out a local favorite who will be at Paddler's Inn tonight. The show (and food) has been good so far tonight. For dinner we had the grilled fish platter (good) and poke(great). Dawn had the mango blended margarita and I chose passion fruit. Both are well worth $8. Later we shared a Lava Flow which was much tastier than the $16 Lava Flow from the Ritz Carlton last weekend. The show was great. We liked it a lot and might have stayed until the end, excepting we were up before dawn to get ready for the visit to Kalupapa. That hike is over 6 miles straight down then back up. So we left with fingers crossed that the wedding had ended. Happily most of the cars had gone, but it appears they are cleaning up tonight. The recorded music is too loud for us to rest, so we'll give them until 11pm and then ask them to turn it down.

Day 7 Molokai

Today was the first day at our new camp. After a stellar dinner made on the campfire last night, we broke our fast with Molokai pineapple coconut bread with a goat cheese spread and a side of fruit. Delightful! We were up early to get to Halawa. Our fingers were crossed we'd get to do the hike to the falls today. Molokai Fish and Dive is a great place to get local info (and they have snorkeling/scuba trips). We booked our hike to Halawa Falls there and we were lucky. You can easily find a guide to the falls, but our tour came with a healthy dose of Hawaiian Culture. One of the family members who lives in the valley begins the hike with a traditional greeting in Hawaiian. Then you get to hear about his life growing up in the valley. As the last living survivor of the Tsunami that crushed the Halawa Valley on April 1, 1941 this Hawaiian Elder is extremely knowledge and willing to teach about his culture. After our culture immersion we started our hike. Remember that Tuesday there was a flash flood? Today the river was pretty high, but we forded it and only got a little damp. Our hike included stories about the plants and trees the Hawaiians use and explanations of the ancient customs and the ruins left behind. The waterfall was worth walking through the squelchy mud! We got to take a cool swim and after lunch (leftovers+fruit) we felt refreshed and ready to hike back to the modern life. If you come to Molokai, plan to do this hike on day one or two, then you can pick your guide's brain for local tips! We got a lot of answers for questions we'd been pondering as well. The road back was awesome, beautiful and sunny. Apparently the weekend starts on Thursday here on Molokai since everyone was out at the beaches and on the water. After a quick stop in town to get apricot bread we started back to our camp. Mentally ready to swim, sun and eat we were stopped short in our day dreams by rain. Wet, wet rain. At the campground we reconoitered and then headed back into town making a beeline to the laundromat. After a consolation dinner and mope at the Cookhouse (mixed plate with beef/veg stir fry, teri chicken, fries and mac salad with a slice of chocolate mac nut pie for dessert) we ventured back to our original campsite. Now we're ensconced in our dry tent, making new plans for tomorrow. We were going to hike to Kalupapa, but we don't want to slide down the cliffside. There is an option to take mules down the hill, but we don't want to pay that much when it will be more adventurous to hike it. Hopefully we'll be able to go on Saturday.

Day 8 Molokai

Okay. This post disappeared. (Sad face) so now I'm almost a day behind.

Breakfast—yogurt and such. Variations on a theme.

We went to Dixie Beach on the westside. Stopped at a few other beaches. None were as nice as Dixie. We cooked lunch in foil packets on our campfire coals. Molokai beef, Surfing Goat Farms goat cheese, Kumu farm veggies and herbs. We also ate it for dinner. Good stuff. Dessert featured Molokai apricot bread with goat cheese, roasted banana schmear and candied coconut strips. In other news I know nothing about Hawaiian geography! However, just so you know (and I remember!) East of Molokai is Maui. West is Oahu. South is Lanai. So our camp at Ali'i park looks at Lanai. We plan to take the ferry there from Maui for the day next week. Stay tuned. I think there was more I was gonna write, but now I'll put it in another post later. Aloha!