First week in Hawaii is in the books! I started the adventure by flying into Kahului Airport, Maui. After a long day of traveling I decided to stay at a hotel close to the airport which I didn't arrive at until close to midnight after two six hour flights, a lay-over in LA, a long line at the rental car pick up, and a five hour time difference. The hotel was nothing special and after a traditional Filipino breakfast, a delicious Kona coffee, and some fresh guava juice I headed out to Baldwin Beach in Paia. The beach there was a definite local spot with tons of surfers and some pretty gnarly waves. I am already big into using all the slang here like gnarly, slippers for flip-flops, and attempting to pronounce as many Hawaiian words as possible.
After leaving Paia, I headed south on the infamous road to Hana stopping at various waterfalls and Honomanu Bay. I also stopped at the Garden of Eden arboretum which broke up the drive quite nicely with gorgeous waterfalls and peacocks. My first camping destination was Wai'anapanapa State Park. My biggest concern was that it was not going to be able to accommodate my hammock. I was right to be concerned. The park was under a great deal of construction and most of the tree lined areas were closed off. Luckily, I was able to find two trees to hang my hammock for the night but most other campers were in an open grassy field. The park had a ton to offer. There was a gorgeous black sand beach, multiple hiking trails, and caves to explore. Unfortunately, there were no available camping spots for Saturday and a permit is required to camp there so I was only able to stay one night. I took full advantage and hiked the entire park.
The next day I made my way to Kipahula Campground which is part of the Haleakala National Park. It is free to camp here but you can only stay for a maximum of three days. Once I got there and found a sweet spot for my hammock I knew I was going to stay there for the three days. Although it was right on the ocean the waves are intense and the shores were rocky cliffs so it was definitely not a beach. What was so great about it though was that you could hike down to these tide pools and swim in those when the tide was low. It also had some neat hiking trails through dense bamboo forest to Pools of 'Ohe'o or the seven sacred pools. I actually hiked with a guy named Robby who knew the area and took a hidden trail to swim in one of the pools, which were closed to the public. It was fresh water coming from the waterfall above and a nice place to clean up since there were no showers at the camp. The campground was packed with vacationers and locals alike. We all had a good time getting to know each other, grilling up some fish that had been caught, and enjoying the weather.
I did my own thing exploring, hiking, and taking it all in. I took the drive up to the top of the Haleakala crater for sunrise. Haleakala is a dormant volcano with an elevation of 10,000 feet. East Maui in general is the wet side of the island. Very lush, more prone to rain, and tends to be a little cooler. The top of the crater was much colder! I was in a winter coat. Haleakala, meaning "house of the sun", so naturally you have to go see it at sunrise. It was a two hour drive from camp because the roads are not well maintained and you can only drive about 20 mph. Although, I was exhausted from waking up at 4am to make sure I was there in time, the intense beauty of the sun coming up over the horizon woke me up right away. I made it without a moment to spare! It was like you were on another planet looking down at the clouds peaking through the crater rim.
I met a couple, Mitch and Kristen, who were both veterinarians living in San Diego. They saw me at Wai'anapanapa and asked where I was going to be camping next and decided to come. Mitch's old roommate had moved to Maui and was living on a hippie commune nearby. On Sunday nights they have open mic night and serve a raw vegan meal and call themselves Cafe Attitude. We decided to go over and check it out. Mitch and Kristen live in OB and you may remember me talking about that neighborhood and how hippie and laid back it was. Mitch and Kristen, despite being animal lovers and into organic farming, didn't seem to quite fit the typically mold of OB. Cafe attitude took hippie to a whole new level. Everyone was about love and positive vibes. I'm not sure what was in tea everyone was drinking, but it sure was an interesting night. That day before were went to Cafe Attitude Robby and I had gone to town to get some supplies and hung out at one of the beaches near Hana. We ran into a couple of friends of his who went into a deep discussion about getting rid of all your bills and debt by giving it to the IRS. Supposedly it's a big secret that no one wants you to know about because then clearly everyone would want to do it. You simiply mail your bill to the IRS and
they pay it for you. According to them, Donald Trump has been doing for years. They went on to talk about the financial you and the physical you and your financial self is always in capital letters. I told them I was going to look into further. I will definitely be emailing them if I find a way to eliminate my student loan debt. Maybe some of what they are saying is true but not if you ever want to have credit, get a loan, buy a house, or function in the society. I was starting to realize that I could never live in Maui. If I thought Californians were laid back and it was a nice balance for me, this was extreme.
Robby had been living in Hawaii for over 15 years and recently quit his job as a chef on a whale watching boat to move back to Hana. After leaving Kipahula, he was planning to go to a local camping spot in Kaupo for a few days while he was in between places and invited me along. I decided my original plan of going to Hosmer Grove Campground which was halfway up Haleakala summit was probably not a great idea in a hammock because the temperatures at night drop to the single digits so I decided to come along. Before heading there it we made a pit stop in town for more supplies (food, beer, ice). I also requested that we hiked to the red sand beach, which was close to town. There is so much iron in the lava rocks there that the beach is red. It was very secluded but the hike there was hard to find if you didn't know what to look for. It was nice having Robby around to show me all these secret spots.
The campground was not actually a campground but there were others there camping. You drove through a Rasta colored gate that led down to the beach. It was along the shore but there were huge rocks and massive waves making it impossible to swim. It was pretty relaxing. In my hammock asleep by 8pm up by sunrise with naps in between. Robby grew more distant as the days went on. I'm not sure if it was because he knew I had zero interest in him or maybe it was because we didn't have any alcohol and he was shutting down. The last night I tried to hang out but he said he was tired so I left him alone. I woke up in the morning packed up and left, didn't even say goodbye. I appreciated meeting him like I said because he showed me places I wouldn't have known about. There were definitely times that I thought he was full of shit like when he went on and on that he knew Mitch's friend Hana going into detail about her boyfriend and her musical talent and then we got to Cafe Attitude and she ignored him he was like, "Oh I was a talking about a different Hana." Bottom line he was so talkative and friendly and told me so much about himself, his life, his hardships. The whole time I was thought, "Wow, men open up this much!" It was honestly so encouraging to meet someone who wanted to engage in deep conversations and then he suddenly shut down. Maybe he was just a drunk, or a bullshit artist, or maybe it was something I said?
I was headed for Kihei. In need of real shower I figured it was time to get a hotel for one night. On my way I ended up popping a tire on the rental car! The roads are sketchy between Kaupo and Kehei and there is a dirt road for some of the time. I hit a sharp rock and the tire slit. Change of plans. After changing my first flat tire I was headed back to the airport to exchange the car for a new one because the rental company did not authorize that I put a used tire on the car, which was all that was available. It wasn't too far out of the way and then I was back on track and headed to Kihei, a totally different vibe from camping and East Maui. Not yet in West Maui, Kihei is considered on the South side and has a very arid climate. It is also is much more touristy. I checked into my hotel and after an extremely long shower, went to the pool side bar for happy-hour dinner and drinks.
I decided to Uber (yes there is Uber, so much more civilized than camping and dirt roads) to Maui Brewing Co since I had been drinking their IPA Big Swell all week and do love a good brewery. Ultimately, it was kind of a disappointment beer wise but they had a guest tap from one of favorites Modern Times in San Diego and I got some pretty sweet souvenirs.
Now, I am headed further West and back to a campground which is private and I think will be vastly different from the others I have been to so far, offering kayaking and snorkeling.
Aloha, AROOOOO!!! 🌺🌈🍍🌊
Song of the Day
As much reggae island jams I can find!!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
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