get comfortable for some reading... but i'm up to date-ish. hooray!
Now, i'm in Fiji already so i'd really like to be done writing about Hawaii. This means I'm going to try my best to gloss a little more and detail a little bit less. although i'm sad about that. because i like writing details.
When we last saw our noble protagonists, they had set out to drive the long long long (they didn't realize quite how) long road up to Koke'e state park and the Koke'e lodge where they had reserved a cabin. They drove and drove until they arrived at the restaurant/lodge. The restaurant was closed. The keys to their cabin were hanging outside the main office. They realized they had no dinner. and the road was, as i mentioned, long back to civilization down the mountain. so they went to the cabin. Upon exiting the car, they found that the weather up here at 4000 feet was FREEZING. they entered the cabin and found that it was not any warmer. there was a wood stove in the middle of the main room, but no wood. there was a note saying one could buy wood at the lodge. when it was open. but it wasn't open. so there they were, foodless and warmthless. Being resourceful, they took the two fresh guavas they had remaining and brought them over to a neighboring cabin, hoping to barter. What they got was ramen. beef flavored.
The night proceeded in its absurdity, after they made the ramen in the huge pot that was their only choice, they spread a sheet on the floor (no table) and sat there while playing miniature cards (war) and sharing the headphones to one of their mp3 players, shivering in all of their layers and socks. Every now and then, they would burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of it all. Finally 9:00 rolled around and they huddled together in the cold bed in the scary room of the scary several-roomed-horror-film cabin. (seriously - down to the rust in the shower and the room with the empty bunk beds).
Next day, they woke up to the roosters' call and hightailed it out of there, heading for the lookouts up at the end of the road and then down back towards the rest of the world. The views were stunning, though the weather was gray and rainy. They even caught a rainbow at the Kalalau lookout - one of the most popular vistas.
On the way down, they stopped at almost every lookout because the views of the coast and the canyon were just that breathtaking. don't worry - you'll all be subjected to the photos when we return. Don't hold your breath though - it'll be a littel while. They did a nature walk trail thing but nothing more strenuous as nabia's knee was feeling not-so-good.
After getting back down the mountain, they had some lunch and killed time in the town of Waimea, and nabia got a free bead from a palestinian store owner guy. amy bought a rosewood bracelet from an antique store. They were very tired from their fitful sleep the previous night. They got supplies at the supermarket before heading further west to fulfill their plans of staying overnight at the beach of Polihale. The drive there was bumpy but beautiful, with the roads line in sugar cane and white birds flying around and the orange cliffs ahead.
Enough of the third person. We got to Polihale and Steven (musician from the other night at the hostel) was there, along with some other people we had met at the hostel. We searched out possible sleeping locations and then went and sat on the GORGEOUS beach in time for the WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNSET. I took so many pictures it's ridiculous. I've included one of them in my newest oFoto installment. (see below)
We watched the sunset and wrote in our journals, chatting with steven, alex and monica. Then we went to the pavillion for dinner. Our dinner consisted of apples, peanut butter, and raisins. Somehow, even though we'd gone to the supermarket to get stuff for dinner, we didn't end up with anything more substantive than that. so we ate it.
We spent the rest of the evening (as the moon rose and the BRILLIANT STARS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER DREAMED OF came out) singing there at the pavillion (steven brought his guitar) and all trading massages and chatting by the glow of the black cherry tealight we had purchased.
We got lost finding the open bathroom, and then wandered back to the place we would try to sleep. It went ok for a while (the stars were gorgeous indeed), but it got cold, and i had a shivering attack, so we moved to the backseat of our station wagon (we folded down the back seat so it was just roomy enough). Once again, we didn't sleep too well, but at least we slept. We woke up early early in the morning (pre sunrise) and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. (wow, we're really moving now - already on the 16th!). It was beautiful, of course. We each did some yoga and stretching, moving at our own paces, and then I went down near the water (which was warm?!) to build a sand gecko, which for some reason I had really been wanting to do. I built it. It came out cool (see oFoto). Nabia came down to water's edge and started chatting with... who could it be... RAY!He was there bodysurfing as he does every morning, but got a funny feeling he wasn't alone and that there might be a shark or something in the murky water, so he came in. He and Nabia chatted a while, and I joined in some. We told him of our Koke'e Lodge experience. He asked if we hiked up there at all. We said no. He told us about an awesome raised trail through a rain forest up at the top of the long long road. He offered to be our guide if we wanted to go up there. Exhausted though we were, we told him we'd think about it. He gave us directions to where he was working as an electrician that day (not far and on our way back to kapa'a where we had planned to stay that night), and told us to stop by and let him know, or at least to "talk story" some more. We parted ways.
After lazing around and having some more peanut butter (this time on blueberry muffins), we drove back out to salt pond beach park (site of uncle louie) and took a much needed nap on the beach (see picture of "view from a nap." We swam a moment just to cool off, then got some lunch. We picked up a few more bags of the excellent Taro chips we had discovered because we wanted to give one to Ray as a "thank you for the offer but we're too exhausted and please don't make me drive that road again" gift. So we brought them over to the house he was working on. Walking up, we felt a little bit like groupies in our bathing suits and sarongs, but it was ok.
We told him we couldn't make it up the mountain and he was fine with that - it was getting late anyway, but in the course of the conversation he offered to put us up for the night if we wanted to stay on the west end. He told us he didn't live alone - lived with two boys aged 23 and 24 along with 2 monster puppies. He asked us if we were axe murderers. we said "WE'RE not. are you?" We checked in about our instincts and both agreed it would be ok. So we followed him to his house where he showed us around and set us up. We offered to cook dinner for him and the boys in exchange. He accepted. He went back to work. We went to the supermarket for dinner supplies and for jo-jo's shave ice, which seemed to be a big deal (think sno cone with interesting flavors. we had lichee-guava-passionfruit).
We returned, chatted with Ray's son Chris a little bit, each showered (hooray!) and went to the beach down the road to watch yet another stunning sunset. sadly (or happily), my camera ran out of batteries midway through. Then we came back to cook. We made bok choy w/eggplant & sesame seeds, a salad w/tomato and avocado, and pan seared ahi tuna with sesame oil and scallions. and brown rice. It came out pretty good. We ate, we chatted (talked story) about all kinds of things, including our family histories and the "us vs them" mentality that happens. They told us shark stories that I was glad I hadn't heard at the beginning of my stay in Hawaii... We each looked at the other's pictures (nabia has some - I was not well prepared). Eventually (late for us - 11!!) we went to sleep. Ray offered us his room because his other son, Brooks, was not going to be home until late and that might be an awkward situation given that we hadn't met him yet. We said it was ok, he didn't have to, but he insisted. His bed WAS very comfortable, and I slept for a long time. It was much needed and much appreciated.
OK, we're almost there folks. On the 17th, we woke up and all chatted again for a while - our future travel plans (we even got out the globe) etc.. we bogarted his two computers to blog a little bit but realized how long it really takes and only got a little chunk in (as you've seen). Eventually we departed after taking pictures of him and the monster puppies (they're so huge, but so sweet and friendly. they think they're puppies, so they'll just jump on you and play, but they weigh almost as much as I do!) and us all together (see oFoto album once again).
We went back to Kapa'a that night, although Ray offered to put us up again, took care of some business in town (bank, postcards, etc) and organized our stuff - cleaned out the car... We cooked dinner with everything we had left - bok choy, lettuce, eggplant and added tofu, carrots, and sprouts to make a "we're leaving tomorrow and want no leftovers" salad that actually turned out quite well. Although it was a rainy and gray day on the East end and we were sure it was sunny over by Ray, we were glad we went back to home base for our last night. It was another good one - singing and hanging out - although we tried to do a lot of work on the computer (pictures and blogging and such) and got kicked off - it was still ok - a bunch of people even went down to a pavillion on the beach at 11:00 because quiet time starts at the hostel and we weren't done yet. Some of us huddled together for warmth as we sang and laughed. Eventually it was bed time. We said our sad goodbyes and made the rounds.
Someone stole the bed I was going to sleep on, so I had to climb up to a top bunk, but I worked it out and made it to sleep. We got up early in the morning, drove our car back to Rent-a-Wreck car graveyard, got a ride to the airport, and flew to Oahu. We spent two very uneventful, mostly unexciting days there. Partly because it was overwhelming to be on such a big island after the bite-sized Kauai, and partly because we ended up being in Surf Central where we didn't really feel we fit in quite as much, and maybe partly because we didn't really want anything to be good after Kauai was so great, we just kind of muddled our way through. We went into the closest down for some dinner and internet-ing and stopped at some shops along the way. We spent yesterday lying on the beaches and collecting shells and waiting for the bus and sitting on the bus to Honolulu. We had dinner at a fine thai place in downtown honolulu (i really like taking the bus, by the way, it's good people watching and sight seeing) to the sounds of a live band (ara! they played entrain!) with a really interesting repertoire, then we took another bus to the airport and sat around waiting for our 12:30 AM flight (this is friday night, remember). We finally got on, slept a little on the plane, though I had another shivering attack in the middle and had to really calm myself down, and arrived in Fiji here on Sunday morning (thank you international date line) only to get on another bus.
We took the bus from the city of Nadi (pronounced Nandi) to the city of Suva, on the other side of the main island of Fiji. It was supposed to be 3 hours or so, but it took about 4 1/2. We were one of only 3 non-Fijians I could spot on the full bus. It was great to put the island into context though. There were tiny shacks grouped into villages or standing alone among the hilly countryside. They had thatched roofs or corrugated tin and clotheslines hung outside just about every one. Eventually we began to see the shoreline - the reefs are unreal. The ocean waves break several hundred yards from the shore. Instead of sandy beach, it's shallow coral reefs. No wonder the snorkelling is supposed to be so good here. Anyhow, more on the bus ride later, perhaps, but once we arrived we got in touch with our first Servas host family here in Suva. We took a taxi to their house (which is great great great) and spent the afternoon chatting with them here. They went out to a relatives for a little while, and we've been napping, showering, and typing. Now I will finish with the computer and commence reading my Fiji guidebook. We only have 8 days here and there are so many islands! I don't know how much we'll be able to see. I'm sure it'll be great though. It's all very exciting.
OK. enjoy. Sorry to make you read so much. and happy birthday dianna. and matt - thanks.
oFoto pix
and if you're interested in a different perspective on the same events, here's nabia's blog
When we last saw our noble protagonists, they had set out to drive the long long long (they didn't realize quite how) long road up to Koke'e state park and the Koke'e lodge where they had reserved a cabin. They drove and drove until they arrived at the restaurant/lodge. The restaurant was closed. The keys to their cabin were hanging outside the main office. They realized they had no dinner. and the road was, as i mentioned, long back to civilization down the mountain. so they went to the cabin. Upon exiting the car, they found that the weather up here at 4000 feet was FREEZING. they entered the cabin and found that it was not any warmer. there was a wood stove in the middle of the main room, but no wood. there was a note saying one could buy wood at the lodge. when it was open. but it wasn't open. so there they were, foodless and warmthless. Being resourceful, they took the two fresh guavas they had remaining and brought them over to a neighboring cabin, hoping to barter. What they got was ramen. beef flavored.
The night proceeded in its absurdity, after they made the ramen in the huge pot that was their only choice, they spread a sheet on the floor (no table) and sat there while playing miniature cards (war) and sharing the headphones to one of their mp3 players, shivering in all of their layers and socks. Every now and then, they would burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of it all. Finally 9:00 rolled around and they huddled together in the cold bed in the scary room of the scary several-roomed-horror-film cabin. (seriously - down to the rust in the shower and the room with the empty bunk beds).
Next day, they woke up to the roosters' call and hightailed it out of there, heading for the lookouts up at the end of the road and then down back towards the rest of the world. The views were stunning, though the weather was gray and rainy. They even caught a rainbow at the Kalalau lookout - one of the most popular vistas.
On the way down, they stopped at almost every lookout because the views of the coast and the canyon were just that breathtaking. don't worry - you'll all be subjected to the photos when we return. Don't hold your breath though - it'll be a littel while. They did a nature walk trail thing but nothing more strenuous as nabia's knee was feeling not-so-good.
After getting back down the mountain, they had some lunch and killed time in the town of Waimea, and nabia got a free bead from a palestinian store owner guy. amy bought a rosewood bracelet from an antique store. They were very tired from their fitful sleep the previous night. They got supplies at the supermarket before heading further west to fulfill their plans of staying overnight at the beach of Polihale. The drive there was bumpy but beautiful, with the roads line in sugar cane and white birds flying around and the orange cliffs ahead.
Enough of the third person. We got to Polihale and Steven (musician from the other night at the hostel) was there, along with some other people we had met at the hostel. We searched out possible sleeping locations and then went and sat on the GORGEOUS beach in time for the WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNSET. I took so many pictures it's ridiculous. I've included one of them in my newest oFoto installment. (see below)
We watched the sunset and wrote in our journals, chatting with steven, alex and monica. Then we went to the pavillion for dinner. Our dinner consisted of apples, peanut butter, and raisins. Somehow, even though we'd gone to the supermarket to get stuff for dinner, we didn't end up with anything more substantive than that. so we ate it.
We spent the rest of the evening (as the moon rose and the BRILLIANT STARS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER DREAMED OF came out) singing there at the pavillion (steven brought his guitar) and all trading massages and chatting by the glow of the black cherry tealight we had purchased.
We got lost finding the open bathroom, and then wandered back to the place we would try to sleep. It went ok for a while (the stars were gorgeous indeed), but it got cold, and i had a shivering attack, so we moved to the backseat of our station wagon (we folded down the back seat so it was just roomy enough). Once again, we didn't sleep too well, but at least we slept. We woke up early early in the morning (pre sunrise) and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. (wow, we're really moving now - already on the 16th!). It was beautiful, of course. We each did some yoga and stretching, moving at our own paces, and then I went down near the water (which was warm?!) to build a sand gecko, which for some reason I had really been wanting to do. I built it. It came out cool (see oFoto). Nabia came down to water's edge and started chatting with... who could it be... RAY!He was there bodysurfing as he does every morning, but got a funny feeling he wasn't alone and that there might be a shark or something in the murky water, so he came in. He and Nabia chatted a while, and I joined in some. We told him of our Koke'e Lodge experience. He asked if we hiked up there at all. We said no. He told us about an awesome raised trail through a rain forest up at the top of the long long road. He offered to be our guide if we wanted to go up there. Exhausted though we were, we told him we'd think about it. He gave us directions to where he was working as an electrician that day (not far and on our way back to kapa'a where we had planned to stay that night), and told us to stop by and let him know, or at least to "talk story" some more. We parted ways.
After lazing around and having some more peanut butter (this time on blueberry muffins), we drove back out to salt pond beach park (site of uncle louie) and took a much needed nap on the beach (see picture of "view from a nap." We swam a moment just to cool off, then got some lunch. We picked up a few more bags of the excellent Taro chips we had discovered because we wanted to give one to Ray as a "thank you for the offer but we're too exhausted and please don't make me drive that road again" gift. So we brought them over to the house he was working on. Walking up, we felt a little bit like groupies in our bathing suits and sarongs, but it was ok.
We told him we couldn't make it up the mountain and he was fine with that - it was getting late anyway, but in the course of the conversation he offered to put us up for the night if we wanted to stay on the west end. He told us he didn't live alone - lived with two boys aged 23 and 24 along with 2 monster puppies. He asked us if we were axe murderers. we said "WE'RE not. are you?" We checked in about our instincts and both agreed it would be ok. So we followed him to his house where he showed us around and set us up. We offered to cook dinner for him and the boys in exchange. He accepted. He went back to work. We went to the supermarket for dinner supplies and for jo-jo's shave ice, which seemed to be a big deal (think sno cone with interesting flavors. we had lichee-guava-passionfruit).
We returned, chatted with Ray's son Chris a little bit, each showered (hooray!) and went to the beach down the road to watch yet another stunning sunset. sadly (or happily), my camera ran out of batteries midway through. Then we came back to cook. We made bok choy w/eggplant & sesame seeds, a salad w/tomato and avocado, and pan seared ahi tuna with sesame oil and scallions. and brown rice. It came out pretty good. We ate, we chatted (talked story) about all kinds of things, including our family histories and the "us vs them" mentality that happens. They told us shark stories that I was glad I hadn't heard at the beginning of my stay in Hawaii... We each looked at the other's pictures (nabia has some - I was not well prepared). Eventually (late for us - 11!!) we went to sleep. Ray offered us his room because his other son, Brooks, was not going to be home until late and that might be an awkward situation given that we hadn't met him yet. We said it was ok, he didn't have to, but he insisted. His bed WAS very comfortable, and I slept for a long time. It was much needed and much appreciated.
OK, we're almost there folks. On the 17th, we woke up and all chatted again for a while - our future travel plans (we even got out the globe) etc.. we bogarted his two computers to blog a little bit but realized how long it really takes and only got a little chunk in (as you've seen). Eventually we departed after taking pictures of him and the monster puppies (they're so huge, but so sweet and friendly. they think they're puppies, so they'll just jump on you and play, but they weigh almost as much as I do!) and us all together (see oFoto album once again).
We went back to Kapa'a that night, although Ray offered to put us up again, took care of some business in town (bank, postcards, etc) and organized our stuff - cleaned out the car... We cooked dinner with everything we had left - bok choy, lettuce, eggplant and added tofu, carrots, and sprouts to make a "we're leaving tomorrow and want no leftovers" salad that actually turned out quite well. Although it was a rainy and gray day on the East end and we were sure it was sunny over by Ray, we were glad we went back to home base for our last night. It was another good one - singing and hanging out - although we tried to do a lot of work on the computer (pictures and blogging and such) and got kicked off - it was still ok - a bunch of people even went down to a pavillion on the beach at 11:00 because quiet time starts at the hostel and we weren't done yet. Some of us huddled together for warmth as we sang and laughed. Eventually it was bed time. We said our sad goodbyes and made the rounds.
Someone stole the bed I was going to sleep on, so I had to climb up to a top bunk, but I worked it out and made it to sleep. We got up early in the morning, drove our car back to Rent-a-Wreck car graveyard, got a ride to the airport, and flew to Oahu. We spent two very uneventful, mostly unexciting days there. Partly because it was overwhelming to be on such a big island after the bite-sized Kauai, and partly because we ended up being in Surf Central where we didn't really feel we fit in quite as much, and maybe partly because we didn't really want anything to be good after Kauai was so great, we just kind of muddled our way through. We went into the closest down for some dinner and internet-ing and stopped at some shops along the way. We spent yesterday lying on the beaches and collecting shells and waiting for the bus and sitting on the bus to Honolulu. We had dinner at a fine thai place in downtown honolulu (i really like taking the bus, by the way, it's good people watching and sight seeing) to the sounds of a live band (ara! they played entrain!) with a really interesting repertoire, then we took another bus to the airport and sat around waiting for our 12:30 AM flight (this is friday night, remember). We finally got on, slept a little on the plane, though I had another shivering attack in the middle and had to really calm myself down, and arrived in Fiji here on Sunday morning (thank you international date line) only to get on another bus.
We took the bus from the city of Nadi (pronounced Nandi) to the city of Suva, on the other side of the main island of Fiji. It was supposed to be 3 hours or so, but it took about 4 1/2. We were one of only 3 non-Fijians I could spot on the full bus. It was great to put the island into context though. There were tiny shacks grouped into villages or standing alone among the hilly countryside. They had thatched roofs or corrugated tin and clotheslines hung outside just about every one. Eventually we began to see the shoreline - the reefs are unreal. The ocean waves break several hundred yards from the shore. Instead of sandy beach, it's shallow coral reefs. No wonder the snorkelling is supposed to be so good here. Anyhow, more on the bus ride later, perhaps, but once we arrived we got in touch with our first Servas host family here in Suva. We took a taxi to their house (which is great great great) and spent the afternoon chatting with them here. They went out to a relatives for a little while, and we've been napping, showering, and typing. Now I will finish with the computer and commence reading my Fiji guidebook. We only have 8 days here and there are so many islands! I don't know how much we'll be able to see. I'm sure it'll be great though. It's all very exciting.
OK. enjoy. Sorry to make you read so much. and happy birthday dianna. and matt - thanks.
oFoto pix
and if you're interested in a different perspective on the same events, here's nabia's blog
posted by theonetheycallamy at 11/21/2004 06:36:00 PM
1 Comments:
Whew, that was a long one, but at least we finally get to meet Ray! Trusting your instincts is definitely the way to go!
The pictures are gorgeous...so much beauty!!! Especially Nabia with the Ramen noodles.
Enjoy Fiji. I can't believe you're actually there.
mom
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