Vacation, Part II (and our first visitors!)

Kipahulu Coast

Hello, Blog.  It has been a whirlwind of a month, already.  For the second half of fall break, I spent a few days camping on the Hana (jungle-y) side of the island with my friend, Cori.  It’s not very far mile-wise, but it takes a few hours to follow the winding road up and down hills, around hairpin turns, past tiny towns and banana bread stands.  We finally arrived at the Kipahulu section of Haleakala National Park and found a great tent site near crashing ocean waves and stunning lava rock formations.  In case anyone is wondering why this blog is called Water + Lava, see the photo above.  This whole island basically exists because of water + lava, which is completely amazing to me.  

Banyan Tree

Cori and I went on some great little hikes and detours over our few days of camping, but I think the best was definitely the Pipiwa Trail, which goes along the O’heo Gulch, through a bamboo forest, and up to the Waimoku Falls.  The gulch sometimes has flash floods and the water was high that day, so we weren’t able to swim in the lower pools.  It was getting warm and we were getting fragrant, so we hiked our way up to the smaller pools near the top of some cascades and stopped for a nice, cool, freshwater dip.  The beauty of camping over there is that you can wake up, eat breakfast, and climb to the top of the falls before anyone else arrives.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves!  I was sad that Dave had to work, but it was good that he and Porter had some guy/dog time for a few days.  

Venus was here. 

On the way home we saw a couple in swimsuits climbing out of a construction site and I said, “OH!  I think that’s the way to the Venus Pool!”  Cori turned the car around and off we went on another adventure.  It was quite a scramble through the woods and the gulch below, but we came upon an incredible pool that was bordered on one side by a low, rocky beach and crashing ocean waves.  We climbed into the higher, shallower end and had yet another lovely morning dip without another soul in sight.  It seemed like dinosaurs might come climbing around the giant rock formations.  Fortunately, this did not happen.  I was kind of sad, though, to see what looked like an oil slick on the surface of the lower pool.  It was from sun block and other human products.  If you use sun block and play in water, please, please switch to biodegradable sun block.  It hurts the reefs, the creatures, and the fragile environment more than it protects your shiny, white skin.  We also stopped on the way home at a great little beach where the waves were huge and the surf boards were tiny.  It was amazing to watch.  It did not, however, make me wish I had my giant Ole.  

Prepping to hit the waves with Corinne.

Coming home from camping was kind of interesting because it was like returning from a long, long journey (of roughly 120 miles, round trip).  It was also the first time I returned to Kahana and experienced that “coming home” feeling.  It was pretty nice.  I celebrated by going canoeing on Friday, which was fantastic because we surfed the kayak in some ocean waves and we saw a bunch of spotted eagle rays...beautiful!  Then Matt and Corinne (my brother and his girlfriend) arrived to find out what it is that makes us want to live so far away.  

Matt surfed a giant pickle. 

 
We spent a bunch of time surfing and eating amazing foods and snorkeling while Matt and Corinne were here.  Sadly, my camera battery is toast.  I do have some great surfing pics, though.  It was great to see the island through the eyes of first-timers again.  It’s easy to get caught up in the routine of work, groceries, laundry, bills, etc.  Dave and I do a pretty good job of getting out and enjoying Maui, but having M & C here really helped us remember to appreciate this magical place.  They also found two amazing places to eat that we hadn’t yet discovered (including the best fish tacos ever in the universe!!!)  They had a mind-blowing snorkeling experience involving a school of dolphins one day while I was sleeping off a cold, which was a bummer for me, but awesome for them.  I was happy to see them get the most out of chillin’ in West Maui.  We finished the visit with an incredible meal at Merriman’s (local, fresh, fancy, delicious) and the most amazing sunset I have seen in a long time.  Oh, and then we played Bananagrams into the wee hours.  

Our little family. 

I pretty much cried my eyes out all morning after Matt and Corinne departed.  I knew I was really going to miss them, but I wasn’t prepared for how isolated and far away Dave and I would feel upon spending time with family and then seeing them return to the East Coast.  It was a strange day today.  Luckily, I’m not stranded alone on a desert island.  I have Dave and Porter and a couple of friends who we are getting to know, slowly but surely.  Still, we miss our loved ones more than they know!  We spent a quiet Sunday evening at our favorite beach, no one else in sight but some sailboats going by.  It was a strange feeling, but peaceful.  We have lots of visitors in the coming months, so I’m sure the disconnected feeling won’t last for too long.  


Aloha!
Jen