Our last day of touring on Hawai'i! I think we saved the best for last. The Waipi'o Valley in on the northeastern coast of the island. Of the 7 deeply carved valleys on this coast (we visited the northern most valley, Pololu a couple of days earlier), this is the southern most valley.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, we ate so well in Kohala I have to include this tremendous breakfast we had in Waimea. Isn't it outrageous when an omelet with hashbrowns comes with a side of 2 large pancakes? Hawaiian Style Cafe. The cheapest meal we ate on the Big Island. It was a great way to start the day because we didn't pack a lunch, intending to eat a large breakfast.
The history of this unique place adds to the charm. The valley was once populated with thousands of native Hawaiians. It was a sacred spot, home to Kings. A tsunami in the 1950s destroyed the colony and it was left uninhabited for a couple of decades. Then in the 70s free spirited hippy types wishing to revert to a more primitive lifestyle, along with some Hawaiians, began settling in the valley, choosing to live without the conveniences of electricity and plumbing. They grew taro and bananas in the great valley. Today the habitants live very much the same, though they have to tolerate a handful of tourists enjoying their stunning valley and black sand beach. And a few near the southern valley rim have arranged for electric wires to run down to their homes.
I mean really, how can you keep this beauty all to yourself?
The challenge of the Valley: getting in. The road down is narrow and extremely steep (25%). Only 4WD vehicles are allowed to drive down. We considered renting a Jeep and driving down but it seemed to me to be an unnecessary expense. And really the thought of driving in scared me. The road, over 1/2 mile, took no time to descend though it was tough on our knees.
Wild horses roam the valley. They belonged to the Hawaiians and a few survived the tsunami.
The two main crops, and favorites among Hawaiians, taro and bananas.
This is a view of the back and north wall of the valley. As you can see there is much more to explore but it would have required us to cross a road that was covered in 2' of water! We weren't up for wet hiking shoes, and as there are no maps we weren't sure if there was anything else worth seeing... so we appreciated this rear view and turned back toward the coast.
I was really excited about this waterfall along the south rim. Hiilawe Falls are tremendous - a true free fall of 1200 feet, 1400 from base to rim. Well, we got the view to the left. The photo to the right I pulled off the internet. I could perceive the falls in the shadow but my camera couldn't pick it up. Oh well. Perhaps the afternoon view is less hazy.
On our walk toward the coast there was this ominous warning about driving down the valley in an ill-equipped vehicle. That wasn't the only wrecked car we saw down there either!
Once we got to the coast I really wanted to visit the two sets of waterfalls on the southern side of the valley. Again, this was an instance of a fruitless venture. The left was our experience, the right was what we expected. I think the tide was higher when we climbed over to see the falls, because there was no beach to walk on. Only large rock scrabble and the violent surf was too close for comfort. Rain must have been low too. Kaluahine Falls were not there!
Another gorgeous black sand beach and a river meandering through the floor of the valley. Again, it's so difficult to put this into perspective... It's walls are so massively steep. This spot is so peaceful.
The forest all along the shore was a sacred burial place for the native Hawaiians. The sign there warns not to disturb this space, it is 'Kapu'. In Hawaiian 'K' and 'T' are very much the same. Our term 'Tabu' originates from this Polynesian term 'Kapu'. Disturbing this holy place is just not done :).
The way up was so very steep. Enough said.
At the conclusion of our venture, adequately exhausted from the climb. But that breakfast was grand enough that it pulled us through!
I'm afraid this concludes my Hawaiian entries. We spent a lovely afternoon at the resort that afternoon and the next morning. At noon we headed to the airport and began our journey back to the states. We were in Baton Rouge the next morning and spent a few days on the Tietje farm before we headed home to SC. Back to reality!
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