Lanai: Day 1

Posted on September 3, 2013 by sandersnm

On Saturday, Josh and I headed to our final island (of the six that you can actually travel to) which was Lanai. I will say that we had expectations for a really cool trip, but that the island absolutely blew our expectations away. We had a phenomenal time for the three days we were there and would love to go back even though we saw pretty much everything we could possibly see.

We landed around 7:00 am and picked up our jeep and head to Blue Ginger Cafe for breakfast. We both had breakfast sandwiches and then started our adventure. Almost all of Lanai is seen by off-roading in a jeep….which was pretty incredible and also VERY bumpy in portions!

Lanai Airport

Breakfast sandwich from Blue Ginger Cafe.

Our first adventure was heading to the Garden of the Gods (Keahiakawelo). Garden of the Gods is a natural rock garden…when you are standing in it you feel like you are on Mars…definitely not in Hawaii! It was incredibly beautiful and unique! We also drove through the Kanepuu Preserve to get there. It is the largest remains of a dry land forest in Hawaii. It was quite scenic with the red dirt and pine trees.

On our way to the Garden of the Gods. The red dirt is caked on the trees. Super pretty!

Josh in the Garden of the Gods.

After stopping at the Garden of the Gods, we continued on to Polihua Beach on the north side of the island. The beach was about two miles long and there were only two other people there (which is a lot for this beach). It is located across the channel from Molokai so we had great views! It was incredibly windy, so not the best beach for laying out and getting a tan, but we did sit and enjoy the solitude for a couple of minutes.

The drive was incredible to Polihua Beach!

Driving up to the beach. Great picture!

No one around!

After a very bumpy off-road adventure to Polihua, we headed back toward Lanai City to the south of town to find the Luahiwa Petroglyphs. We had a bit of trouble finding them on the maze of red dirt roads, but once we found them it was pretty cool to see! It is one of the largest collections of petroglyphs in Hawaii and are from the 15th Century when Lanai was first settled by ancient Hawaiians.

This sign pointed to two roads…not helpful.

Finally we made it!

The lava rocks with petroglyphs on them!

After the petroglyphs, we headed further south to continue our education of the ancient Hawaiian culture to Kaunolu Village. Kaunolu Village is the remains of a historic fishing retreat for Kamehameha I. We saw the remains of a heiau, many remains of buildings and Kaneapua Rock.

Halulu Heiau

Panoramic of the shore and Kaneapu Rock.

Kaneapu Rock

After touring Kaunolu Village, we headed back toward Lanai City to grab a quick snack and check into our hotel. We had a smoothie and an açaí bowl at Coffee Works and checked in at Hotel Lanai. Our hotel was incredible. Built in 1923 with 10 rooms and a cottage, it was quite the historic gem and we loved staying there!

My smoothie from Coffee Works.

Josh’s açaí bowl from Coffee Works.

Hotel Lanai. Loved it!

Unique flower in front of our hotel.

Our room!

While I checked in at the hotel, Josh went to pick up Becca and Ben at the airport (we had a two door jeep so it was a tight squeeze with their luggage and three people). They checked in to their B&B and we all met up for dinner! We had calamari and a great pizza at Pele’s Other Garden then headed to Kaumalapau Harbor for the sunset. It was beautiful! We actually got to see the sun hit the water..no clouds blocking it! It was a great way to end our first day on Lanai!

Becca and Ben enjoying the sunset.

Josh, Becca and I enjoying the sea cliffs..that Josh was obsessed with.

Josh, Becca and I enjoying the view!

Amazing clouds right after the sunset.

Koloiki Ridge Trail

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Molokai on the left and Maui on the right.

Puʻu Pehe (Sweetheart Rock)

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Polihua Beach

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Molokai: Trip 2

Posted on August 25, 2013 by sandersnm

On Saturday, Josh and I went back to Molokai to do some things that got rained out on our first trip (we also got rained out two weeks ago when we tried to go back). We landed around 6:30 a.m. and headed to the Kualapu’u Cookhouse, which is where we had breakfast when we landed last year. We split the best breakfast sandwich we’ve ever had and some french toast (it reminded me of my mom’s). A great way to start our day/trip.

Delicious french toast!

After breakfast, we headed towards Halawa Valley for our hike (the main reason we came back). We FINALLY had amazing weather. It was bright and sunny and we could not have asked for better weather. We took our tour with Molokai Flowers. I feel like they have become my best friends over the past year…I’ve ordered multiple boxes of flowers from them and have emailed back and forth trying to set up this tour. They are absolutely WONDERFUL! Kalani’s son gave us the tour and we had the trail and the waterfall completely to ourselves. It was so serene and peaceful…a very special place! After we hiked back, we had two different types of smoothies that Kalani made us from fruit on his farm. They were incredible! He even gave us some lilikoi to take back to make our own smoothies. They also gave us some beautiful pink torch gingers to take home. Some of the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen!

The start of the hike.

Loved this pretty flower.

Huge snail!

This tree felt like a sponge…and it wasn’t rotting..it was alive!

Old Hawaiian oven.

Shampoo gingers

All of the old walls from the ancient Hawaiian settlements were still intact. Pretty incredible.

Tons of fruit. There were HUGE avocados littering the ground.

The waterfalls!

We got to boulder hop!

A tree growing out of the rocks in the river.

Mountain apples.

We made it! So serene.

There were some caves across the pond.

Josh checking out the writing/pictures on the rocks.

Old writing on the rocks.

SO beautiful!

The valley.

The biggest banana flower ever!

Smoothie time!

Some of Kalani’s flowers.

The beautiful pink torch gingers that Kalani and his wife gave us!

After filling up on smoothies, we started to head back to grab a late lunch. The drive is so incredibly beautiful (even better not in the pouring down rain). It also makes the road to Hana on Maui look super easy. The road is mostly one lane…but there’s not much traffic. We stopped at Mana’e Goods and Grindz for some chicken katsu. We had this on our last trip and it is the best chicken katsu I’ve had. After filling up on smoothies, we decided to split lunch.

They valley.

The waterfall we hiked to.

Panoramic of Halawa bay.

An example of the many hairpin turns!

Maui in the distance.

Delicious chicken katsu!

After filling up, we headed towards the Kalaupapa Lookout and the Phallic Rock. With the weather being so gross the last time we were there, we didn’t get a chance to see either of these. The view from the lookout was incredible and the rock was…well phallic shaped. Women would come here and make offerings and pray for fertility. It was set in a beautiful forest and was a nice, quick walk.

I don’t know why, but I liked this sign.

Kalaupapa National Park below.

The sheer cliffs…we rode a mule down them!

I have no idea what he’s doing…but I found this picture hilarious.

The lighthouse.

The settlement.

Josh.

Phallic Rock.

After we finished, we headed to check in at Hotel Molokai. It was interesting. I think in the winter when it wasn’t so hot it would be fine…however, there wasn’t much of a breeze and it was pretty hot out..no AC and only a fan meant we wouldn’t be sleeping very well. We dropped off our stuff and headed to grab a quick bite to eat before we got HOT BREAD! We couldn’t wait to get bread…it was actually the reason we decided to stay the night and not just make it a day trip. The stuff is so good…last time we got strawberry jam and cream cheese. This time we got the works: cream cheese, strawberry jam, blueberry jam, cinnamon and butter. It sounds iffy but it’s incredible. We took most of it back with us (and have been eating it periodically throughout the day). After that, we headed back to the hotel. We were supposed to leave around 8:45 in the morning, but decided to stand by and leave around 7:00 a.m. since we knew we wouldn’t be sleeping anyways. Excellent decision. There were only nine people on our flight! Our trip was a complete success and it feels great to cross off another island!

The clouds while the sun was setting. So beautiful!

So good!

The bread with all the good stuff on the inside.

Halawa Valley

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After four attempts, we finally toured Halawa Valley!

Judd Trail

Posted on August 23, 2013 by sandersnm

This week, I went with my friend Nic on a quick hike in the morning before work. We ventured to Judd Trail, which was right off the Pali highway. It was a quick loop hike and a great thing to do if you just want to get outside but don’t have enough time for a long hike.

The start of the trail…one way.

The other way.

Hiking along the river.

The little pond at the end that you can swim in.

I thought this was a cool shot of the palm trees.

Love looking at the sky through these tall trees.

Hawaii Loa Ridge Trail

Posted on August 21, 2013 by sandersnm

On Sunday, Josh and I hiked Hawaii Loa Ridge trail. It was about four miles roundtrip and was a pretty good workout. The first portion was mostly flat and you dip back down into a valley area. Then the last section is super steep with stairs and a good workout for your legs. The view of the windward coast was beautiful (as always on these hikes) and we had great weather for the day. Great way to spend our Sunday :).

Diamond Head.

Koko Head in the distance.

Josh hiking along.

Pretty valley…the picture doesn’t do it justice.

A tree…growing in the air…

Hiking up the numerous stairs..

The beautiful windward coast.

Honolulu.

Hawaii Kai.

The sun shining off the trees…beautiful.

Cousin Fun

Posted on August 9, 2013 by sandersnm

Along with the adventures that I’ve already blogged about, Bailey, Kyle and I spent time hiking, going to the beach, eating tons of good food, enjoying the pool and touring Oahu in general. We had such a great time and I miss them already!! I’m so thankful they were able to come visit and I got to spend such quality time with them :).

Lani Kai beach the first day….first of many beach trips for them.

Pretty sun shining through the clouds.

First açai bowl!

Bailey and her giant smoothie from Lani Kai Juice.

Makapu-u Lighthouse…at the top of the trail.

Bailey and I at the top of Makapu’u Lighthouse trail.

Hiking to Manoa Falls.

Manoa Falls from a distance.

Bailey and Kyle at Manoa Falls.

Bailey in the bamboo forest.

Sushi! They were venturesome. Kyle tried sushi for the first time.

Bailey’s favorite açai bowl from Diamond Head Health Cove.

Our matching bracelets from the North Shore.

The Hula Pie from Duke’s. Incredible! Seriously ridiculously good.

Bailey and I having smoothies in Chinatown.

Tripler Ridge to Haiku Stairs

Posted on August 5, 2013 by sandersnm

On Saturday, we hiked Tripler Ridge to Haiku Stairs. This is a hike that Josh and I both wanted to do, but hadn’t done yet (we’ve both hiked the stairway at night/early a.m. but not hiked to it then down it during the day). Since Bailey and Kyle were here, we thought it would be a great time to go so they could join in on the fun. Josh’s friend Tony also volunteered to come and be our tour guide since he had just completed the hike a few weeks before. It turned out to be one of the BEST hikes on the island yet. It took us about six hours to complete from start to finish. We hiked from Tripler hospital up the mountain on the ridges and back down the Haiku stairs on the other side of the island to Josh’s car (which Tony and Josh had staged the night before). It was EXTREMELY muddy and we were covered by the time we were finished (Bailey and I maybe slipped and fell a few times…). The views were unbeatable from the top and the pictures can’t even begin to do them justice. With the views, came a few scary portions along the ridge. We definitely put Kyle’s fear of heights to the test, but he made it the whole way without any issues! It was such an awesome way to spend a Saturday and we could not have asked for better weather!

The beginning of the hike looking through the fence at Tripler.

Bailey hiking through the woods.

The start of seriously scratching our legs up. TONS of thorns!

Kyle…he didn’t even know what was ahead of him yet :).

Pretty picture of the valley.

Cool moss along the trail.

Cool tree along the trail.

Josh hiking under a tree.

Group shot!

I think this picture is hilarious. Josh and I are both making ridiculous faces.

Bailey and I tended to be a bit slower as we were trying not to fall…so we stopped and took a selfie :).

Love the shadows of the clouds on the mountains.

Kyle and Josh hiking.

Hiking into the clouds!

Kyle concentrating!

The trail looking back.

Kyle doing a celebratory dance at completing part of the hike. Little did he know what lied ahead.

Incredible views before the scary ridge hike to the top of Haiku stairs.

Bailey and I.

Bailey and Kyle.

Josh and I holding our blow pops that Bailey provided for all of us!

Love this picture. Waiting for Kyle to join us.

Cousins plus Josh!

Josh and Tony..holding hands…

The start of the tough stuff…my favorite part!

Heading towards that power line.

Kyle and Bailey hiking along the ridge.

Looking down!

Made it to a bit of a platform with some old radio tower or something.

This looks much less scary than it actually was. it was SUPER steep and even I started to freak myself out a bit. Josh said “pause right there”. Oh ok no big deal Josh.