August 27, 2012
August 27, 2012
Because of the prevailing winds, the eastern side of all the Hawaiian Islands is wet and lush while the west is arid. The dry side of Molokai is flattish, brown, and ugly; not at all what you think of as Hawaii. Our goal today is to explore the wetter eastern half. The road east follows or should I say hugs the southern coast. The land rises steeply leaving little land for human use. Too bad because it is very picturesque with the islands of Lanai and Maui looming only ten miles away. The shore is also lined with dozens of fishponds. These rock-lined, man-made sea pens were built by the early Hawaiians to raise ocean fish.
The mountain to our left gets greener as the road gets narrower. The last half is a one-lane winding road barely big enough for one car. I can’t see around the corner for oncoming traffic. Fortunately not a single car passes us going the other direction. It takes two hours to do the 30 miles to Halawa Valley on the east end. It is a lush green box canyon with two very tall waterfalls in the distance. It is thought this valley was where the earliest Polynesians first settled. This is as close as we are going to get. The valley is private property and you have to arrange a tour to hike up it. Instead we eat our packed lunch, while sitting on the beach where the river meets the ocean.
On the way back we stop in town. There we catch up on news at the library and get dinner at the only restaurant on Molokai, a pizzeria. We toast our last night in Hawaii with a bottle of wine.
Because of the prevailing winds, the eastern side of all the Hawaiian Islands is wet and lush while the west is arid. The dry side of Molokai is flattish, brown, and ugly; not at all what you think of as Hawaii. Our goal today is to explore the wetter eastern half. The road east follows or should I say hugs the southern coast. The land rises steeply leaving little land for human use. Too bad because it is very picturesque with the islands of Lanai and Maui looming only ten miles away. The shore is also lined with dozens of fishponds. These rock-lined, man-made sea pens were built by the early Hawaiians to raise ocean fish.
The mountain to our left gets greener as the road gets narrower. The last half is a one-lane winding road barely big enough for one car. I can’t see around the corner for oncoming traffic. Fortunately not a single car passes us going the other direction. It takes two hours to do the 30 miles to Halawa Valley on the east end. It is a lush green box canyon with two very tall waterfalls in the distance. It is thought this valley was where the earliest Polynesians first settled. This is as close as we are going to get. The valley is private property and you have to arrange a tour to hike up it. Instead we eat our packed lunch, while sitting on the beach where the river meets the ocean.
On the way back we stop in town. There we catch up on news at the library and get dinner at the only restaurant on Molokai, a pizzeria. We toast our last night in Hawaii with a bottle of wine.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 10:05 AM
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