Moloka'i is an island between Oahu and Maui. It used to be a large ranch, but as the people of Moloka'i have expressed, the evil white man came, stripped the island and left. It looks pretty barren from the air, and there's barely any tourist stops along the way. It was exactly what we wanted at first.
Our friends, Kyu and Natalie, joined us for 2 days from Honolulu to explore this island with their son Colin. We explored King Kahmehamea's coconut grove, ancient fish caves, ad some great swimming holes. We also found that this island was not a tourist island, therefore it didn't have strip malls, more than 2 restaurants, and a grocery store that was in the middle of the island, about 30 minutes away! We definitely had to plan ahead!
By day 3, we had accomplished the week's worth of tour plans. It was now the week of long coffee walks and hours of soaking in the pool. Yep, we quickly decided to hitch a boat taxi over to Maui.
Maui was everything opposite of Moloka'i and was a bit overwhelming at first. We sat at this cute fish house watching the sun set upon Moloka'i island and then strolled the streets and shops. By nightfall we found our luxurious abode. I wanted to move into this resort! They did not have a water shortage, as it felt like we were walking through a Coasta Rican jungle of flowers. The resort was old Hawai'i of hand carved wood, and the food... omg!! We ate so much passion fruit and pineapple on everything. That was a magical excursion!
We returned to Moloka'i and the kayakers and outriggers were just preparing for the big race from Moloka'i island to Oauhu island. We had one last day to fill with a hike into these old ancient ruins. The wind howled up the cliffs and through these asian pines, it sounded like old grandfathers were sharing secrets. We took a day trip on mules down one of the other sides of the island to the leper colony and back up. We tried to get photos of each other on these amazing animals, which we were very cautious and grateful for their sure-footedness. A long night in the hot tub was so needed after a day on a pack mule!
Hawai'i is such a great place to explore and relax. 4 islands down... who knows, maybe more to come??
