Ka'ena Point, Oahu

Again, I'm moving a recent trip up to the front of my list. 

My mind says, post your Hawaii experiences in order. 

But, my heart fell in love with this place and I can't wait to share it with my few :( followers!

Okay, I always knew Oahu had a Northwestern tip, but I didn't know how to get there!

When gabby was here she wanted to visit a few Lost locations.

So, we trekked off with some Map Quest directions and stumbled upon this gem!

We decided to take Ken there for lunch Gabby's last day here.

This was our lunch view...

By the way, here is a picture of the "Other's Camp" from Lost.

It's a YMCA Camp Erdman :) 

So, a few days later Ken and I decided to take the Vette to the Point. 

It's a very rural drive compared to much of Oahu.

Beautiful drive!

We met some friends on our way home for coffee at Green's Coffee Farm.

What a fun time!

That place needs a blog post of it's own! Delicious!

Me, Isabella, Andrew, and Maria

Now for the real post: The Hike

We decided to return the next weekend to hike the trail.

We arrived about 8:30 AM

You can drive so far- then to get to the real Northwest corner, you have to hike 3 and a half miles each way.

The payoff at the point is a 

59 acre natural area reserve.

The hike was absolutely gorgeous.

We definitely needed a lot of water and sunscreen (no shade)

Next time we'll do the hike even earlier in the morning and bring more water. 

The walking was fairly rocky, I was glad I wore my hiking boots.

There's a high path and one near the water.

We did both.

With a permit you can drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle. 

We saw a some people fishing and a few campers.

High Path

Now: The Reserve

Ecosystem Restoration Project.

• It is home to nesting seabirds, monk seals, and other native coastal species.
• One of the largest seabird colonies in the eight main Hawaiian Islands is found here. Recent surveys have estimated approximately 2,000 seabirds use Ka‘ena Point as their breeding grounds, and many more than that use the area as a place of refuge.

The reserve is fenced off to prevent unwanted animals in.

It is an albatross nesting area.

We saw quite a few albatross.

All I could think of was the Albatross Air from the Rescuers!

I'm sure there is a story behind this cement building right at the point.

Wish i knew it!

 It was such an amazing experience sitting on the rocks and watching these monk seals. 

This video is worth the watch!

As you can see we were having a blast!

Okay, I need to stop myself- I could share many more pictures. I think you get the idea!

Can't wait to go back.

Molokai Leper Colony Tour

leaving Honolulu

I usually blog in order of when the event happened
but this one is moving up to the front of the list.

We flew to Molokai for a tour of a historic Leper Colony.

It was such an unusual and interesting place;
I wanted to write about it before I forget things.

Molokai is one of the 8 Hawaiian Islands.

It's about 66 miles Southeast of Oahu.

The Kalaupapa Peninsula is on the north coast of Molokai, 

Settlements were established in 1866 for quarantined treatment of persons with leprosy; 

these operated until 1969.

We flew from Honolulu to the small Molokai Airport 

which is centrally located on the western side of the Island.

Then, from there we flew into the Kalaupapa Airport which is essentially an open air garage.

The only way to get to the peninsula is to fly, hike or ride mules over a rugged mountain range. 

PUDDLE JUMPER

YES, ONLY 9 SEATS

NO SECURITY :) 

Here are s few neat pictures from our flights to Kalaupapa.

Diamond Head Crater with Honolulu in the background

WAIKIKI

East coast of Oahu

East coast of Oahu

Coming up on Molokai

coastline

rural town on Molokai

The first part of the tour was in Kalaupapa(west side of peninsula) 

where the Leper Colony survivors who chose to stay on the island, still live.

There are 14 of them ranging from the upper 70's to 90's.

this was out transportation around the peninsula- fitting

Awesome tour guide at memorial to Saint Marianne

Remains of original hospital and existing hospital in background

transportation over the Mt range

Book store- yes I bought one :)

The tour also took us to the original site of this community in Kalawao
(east side of the peninsula)

There were few remaining structures but we learned about where the ships dropped off the lepers. How they often made them swim to shore & dumped supplies into the sea.

Before Fr. Damien arrived they had to fend for themselves in caves. His aim was to create a community for the diseased to live in and share the Gospel with them.There was much fear of the disease, thought not to have a cure.

We had a bagged lunch in this beautiful place.

This church built in 1872, was renovated 3 times and is the last existing building on the site.

Fr, Damien's grave. Since, his body has been moved- becoming a saint has it's politics.

Fr. Damien

The flights back home were just as exciting as the rest of the day!

Lighthouse at airport

from plane North Shore of Molokai

amazing cliffs

coastline of peninsula

Back to Oahu

 

Honolulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head Crater

Pearl Harbor

We thoroughly enjoyed our experience at Molokai!