TRIP TO MOLOKAI January 26, 2006

As part of my job, I had the chance to visit the neighbor island of Molokai. My travel schedule for the day allowed me a few precious hours to spare to see some of the sights on the "friendly island".

Beach in Molokai

Halawa Falls

Halawa Bay

Halawa valley is literally at the end of the road in east Molokai. The village that used to stand here was wiped out by the 1946 tsunami.

"Phallic Rock"

Phallic Rock gets its name for obvious reasons and naturally, it was a sacred site representing fertility for the native Hawaiians. This is on the north side of Molokai, about a five minute walk from the Kalaupapa overlook.

Views of Kalaupapa Peninsula from the overlook.

Kalaupapa Peninsula used to be where people with Hansen's disease (leprosy) were sent to live and die, away from the rest of the community. Father Damien became famous when he came here in the 1800's to care for the sick. Leprosy can now be treated and people with the disease are no longer banished to live apart from the rest of the community, although some people with Hansen's disease still live here and you still need a permit from the State Department of Health to visit. There are no roads leading to Kalaupapa. It is accessible only by boat, by small plane or by hiking 1300' down a narrow trail.

Aloha.

Biking in Lahaina
Sunday, January 15, 2006

What better way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon than exploring the old town of Lahaina by bicycle?

We visited many of the tourist sites, including a cementery where some Hawaiian Royals (Ali`is) are buried, plus stopped at a beach behind the Lahaina Shores resort and finished the ride with Margaritas, Nachos and beer at Compadres Restaurant at the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

This ride was very easy, about 6 miles total, all flat roads and the slow traffic of Front Street in Lahaina presented no problems.

Following are a few pictures of the ride...

Starting at the Lahaina Cannery Mall

The Buddhist Jodo Mission in Lahaina

In front of the remains of the brick Palace of King Kamehameha I, by the waterfront in Lahaina.

The Old US Seamen's Hospital, in Front Street.

The Old Lahaina Courthouse.

Royal Hawai`ian Tomb in Lahaina. Some "Ali`i" relatives of King Kamehameha and Queen Ka`ahumanu are buried here.

Holidays in Ohio.
We were happy to visit with our friends and family during the holidays! Fortunately, the winter weather was warmer than normal and our experience was fantastic.

Here are a few selected photos of our trip.

Diana and Laura

Visiting our Friends Tito & Esperanza

Christmas Morning with the Kids

We visited Gwen's parents in Illinois. Gwen's sisters from Georgia, her sister from Columbus and their families, and her nephew from Philadelphia were there visiting as well. We had a great time.

At Laura's house near campus. Cooking a Puerto Rican dinner for the kids!

New Year's Eve Party at Sandra's.

January 2: Back at Sandra's, watching the Buckeyes defeat Notre Dame at the Fiesta Bowl. Final Score: OSU 34 - Notre Dame 20. Go Bucks!

Aloha!

Camping Trip To Kipahulu
November 11-12, 2005

Last weekend we loaded the Tracker with a cooler full of food, our camping gear and headed down the Hana Highway to the Kipahulu Camping area at the Haleakala National Park on East Maui.

Along the way, we stopped at the Village of Keanae (Photo above) for a quick snack by the ocean. We noticed that the baseball field in Keanae has well maintained restrooms, which is always good information to have on the road to Hana.

The Coastline in Keanae

We tried to go to the Kahanu Garden on Ulaino Road (near the "Blue Pool"), but so it happens, it was closed for Veterans Day. Nonetheless, we picked up some breadfruit that had been left on top of the rock wall by the entrance and headed to Waianapanapa State Park (Black Sand Beach), where we cooked the breadfruit on our portable gas grill and had it for lunch.

We continued on to Hana, where we stopped to do a short hike up to FAGAN'S CROSS, which overlooks the town of Hana and Hana Bay. The hike is about 1.5 miles roundtrip with a 500 feet elevation gain. It is paved all the way and cuts trough a grazing field which at the time was occupied by what seemed to be hundreds of cows.

Fagan's Cross as seen from the trail.

Gwen at Fagan's Cross.

Town of Hana & Hana Bay from Fagan's Cross.

Juan at Fagan's Cross. Alau Island is seen in the Background.

Found some fresh Guava at Fagan's Cross

After leaving Hana, we headed to Haleakala National Park on East Maui. The Kipahulu camping ground is right next to the Pools of Oheo, also known as the "Seven Sacred Pools" (Note: There are more than seven and they were never sacred). The campsites are available for free and without reservation on a first-come, first-served basis. You can drive your car right up to the campsite and there are picnic tables and charcoal-fired grills.

Arriving at Kipahulu Campsite.

If you use the park grills, you must bring your own charcoal and I recommend bringing your own cooking surface for the park grills are old and rusty. There is no running water, no shower facilities there is only one outhouse. You must bring enough water for drinking, cooking and doing your dishes. You may also want to bring a camp shower or else you may have to drive about 20 minutes to Hamoa Beach or Hana Bay and use the public showers at the beach.

Rocky shore is dangerous and they mean it.

View of the Kipahulu Campground. Faint outline of the island of Hawaii is visible at the horizon.

Gwen makes herself at home in Kipahulu

Night time at Kipahulu is quite an experience. The campground is next to the rocky shore, so the sound of the waves crashing on the cliffs dominates the night. During the daytime the Big Island of Hawaii is visible in the distance and at night, it was dark enough and clear enough that we were able to see the faint lights along the coast of the Big Island, some 60 miles away! We used our portable gas grill to cook chicken and sweet potatoes. Insects are a constant nuisance, so repellent is a must. Once the moon went down over the horizon, it got impossibly dark. Cloud cover impeded us from seeing the stars, though.

Having Breakfast under the rain.

Being the east side of the island, it rained in the morning. Even then, we managed to use our grill to cook a hot breakfast and brew some coffee. Unfortunately, due to high water, we could not swim on the Pools of Oheo.

The Pools of Oheo (Seven Sacred Pools)

We packed our camping gear and headed back to Hana, where we spent a couple of hours at Hamoa Beach, enjoying the boggie-surfing. Then, after stopping for shave ice at "Halfway to Hana" and at Nahiku Road for coffee, we headed back home. Aloha!

October 30, 2005
Po'olenalena Beach, South Maui.

Today, we decided to visit this beach, which we had not had the chance to explore yet. Po'olenalena Beach is in Wailea with beach access just south of the intersection of Makena Alanui and Old Makena Road.

This beach runs north-south and is about half a mile long. It is bracketed by lava points at each end. The beach is also divided into north and south sections by a smaller lava point near the center (See photo). The north end is smaller and more secluded because public parking is by the south section and access to the north section requires walking down a short, narrow trail and climbing over the rocks on the center lava point.

We decided to go to this north section because according to our guide, the lava point at the north end (a.k.a. "White Rock") offered great snorkeling. But what our guide book did not say was that due to the secluded nature of this beach, it is also a popular destination for those who like sun-bathe and swim in the nude! Oh, well!

Anyway, imagine our surprise when we got there! Yes, it was difficult not to look, but then again, after a few minutes we felt it was no big deal. Although the water was crystal clear, the sea was somewhat choppy, and the swim to white rock looked a little long. In the end we did not go any snorkeling because of the high surf near the rocks. We did take advantage of the waves by the sandy shore and spent about an hour surfing on our boogie boards. It was a great time.

This beach is very good. The views are great. No, I don't mean the naked people! (Not necessarily, at least!) I mean the views of Molokini, Kaho'olawe and Pu'u Ola'i (See photo). Though we did not stay that late, this west-facing beach should be a great place to watch the sunset.

Those who are willing to put up with naked people walking around, should check the north section of the beach. (We hope to go back there someday to actually do some snorkeling.) For those who want a normal, nudity-free beach experience, the south side of Po'olenalena beach will be just fine.

Aloha.

Just a silly joke I read...

"There are only 10 kinds of people: Those who understand binary and those who don't"

Aloha!

Hiking Trip To Waihe'e Trail.

(A.K.A. "Swinging Bridges Trail")

Today, we visited the Waihe'e Trail on West Maui. This trail is located a few miles west of Wailuku along the Kahekili Highway. It is on private land, but the owners allow free use of the trail to the public, they issue free permits to hikers who call their number.

There is a catch, though: Even though the trail owners allow free use of their trail, for parking and access to the trail you must go though someone else's private land, unrelated to the trail owners, and they charge you a fee to cross inside and park in their property, before the trail head. Fees are $6 per adult, Kamaaina rates are $3 per adult. Hope that was not too confusing.

The Waihee Trail takes about 90 minutes each way and it is not very steep. It requires crossing a stream at a couple of places and it has two swinging bridges. It starts as a narrow dirt road open to 4WD vehicles and then it narrows down progressively after the swinging bridges. The trail follows an old irrigation canal which parts of it are still in use, other parts abandoned. Some old abandoned structures, as well as modern stream gauges are seen along the way.

The trail offers great views of the Waihe'e Valley. There are fresh fruit trees, as well as coffee trees. We ate fresh Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) and Guava. There were many mango trees, but sadly, mangos were out of season.

Near the end of the trail we found a nice pond of clear water to take a dip. As usual, the water felt real cold at first, but you get used to it after a couple of minutes. Also towards the end, the valley opens up and reveals a tall waterfall in the distance.

Following are some selected pictures of the trip.

Gwen at the first swinging bridge and me, at the second swinging bridge.

Some of the views along the trail.

Here I am, foolishly climbing on a slippery, fallen tree spanning across the trail. You can almost hear the "VONAGE" music playing... "Woo hoo!, Woo hoo hoo!". Don't worry, I did not fall.

An Old Control Gate at the Irrigation Canal. (Below). Parts of the irrigation canal, as well as some of the water tunnels, are still in use.

Found some fresh guava. This brings back memories of my childhood in Puerto Rico, where guava trees were common in my family's farm, and we ate them fresh, straight from the tree.

Gwen enjoyed some fresh, juicy Lilikoi (Passion Fruit), that we found along the way.

Taking a dip in the Stream. (Below) The water felt very cold at first, but it felt great after a couple of minutes. It was a very refreshing break from the hike.

A View of the Waihe'e Valley Near the End of the Trail. Notice the clouds are starting to roll over the ridge. The tall waterfall is on the valley on the left of the picture, but by now, it was covered by clouds.

New Job.

Good News! I quit my old job doing land development and civil design at Austin, Tsutsumi & Associates (ATA) at the end of September, and the next Monday, I started my new job with the County of Maui's Department of Public Works, Wastewater Reclamation Division (WWRD). There was nothing wrong with my old job, and I am grateful that ATA opened the doors for me on Maui when I needed it the most. But this new job with the WWRD involves design and construction of industrial facilities. So, even though this new job requires me to "deal with all the crap going down in Maui", I am happy to be at a job that is compatible with my 13 years of experience at my old job back in Ohio.

Aloha!

"WORD VERIFICATION" has been turned on.

Notice to Blog Visitors: In order to prevent spammers from posting fake and unwanted comments on my blog, I have turned on the "word verification" feature, which will require legitimate posters to type a key word shown on the screen in order for their comment to be posted.

Thank you for understanding, thank you for visiting my blog and I apologize for the inconvenience, though feel free to blame internet spammers for it. Aloha.

Juan Rivera

Holiday Travel.

We will be leaving the island for the Holidays to visit our friends and family in Columbus. We will be there Dec 23 to Jan 3. Hope to see you all there!

Aloha!