FIFTY STATES AWAYIt was going to be another busy day for us, we were glad of the downtime yesterday. There are so many activities we wish to participate in and so little time, when we get back to the mainland we know we’ll have another load of things to do and so any break we can get it great. Having said that today we set out on a hike! We had a deadline to be back at the ranch as the guys were cooking for us tonight, something nice to not have to worry about.
It was a fantastic day, bright blue skies and lots to see, we headed off past the black volcanic rock making our way to the shoreline. We stopped to breath in the fresh sea air, a little way past this was a small area, which brought us close to the clear waters. The deep blue sea was never ending with beautiful rocky, palm tree’d shores.
Our adventures led us on about a two hour drive to a place in the north east of the island called Waipio Valley. Here we’d heard that there was a spectacular view at the lookout and a fairly challenging hike and a black sand beach! The drive was wonderful either side of the road there is still a lot of old lava flow. Just before reaching our destination we stopped at a little truck by the road for some fresh juice. It tasted amazing! Fresh, cold, organic fruit mixed together a true refreshment.
We turned the corner on the last part of our journey and parked up. We had been told by some people we could make it down in flip-flops and by others that proper hiking shoes were needed, one lady even told us we shouldn’t even go because it had rained. There were lots of people at the trail and examining it for ourselves we made the judgement to continue in our non hiking shoes and make the best of it. We kind of expected it to be only a short walk, but soon found ourselves winding down steep muddy, rocky slopes, it was much more of a hike than initially anticipated but great fun and exercise.
Every corner we turned on the trial provided a different majestic view, we were eager to reach the bottom and fully explore this enchanting land. After about a mile or so we finally made it, reaching the bottom, we were here what laid before us was immense. Completely amazing views surrounded us of the valleys across, the endless ocean crashing in to the back sandy beach and the tall cliff sides tower above everything with jungle terrain covering everything, you couldn’t dream this stuff up.
We decided like many others, to cross the small channel of water between us and the other side. Whilst deciding if I should wear my shoes or go barefoot mother nature seemingly made the decision for me as a large wave came crashing in getting my feet soaked. That was it and off we went crossing the cool water it was an amazing feeling to finally reach the other side. I literally couldn’t believe it, black sand! I thought when people said that it just basically meant dirt but it completely wasn’t, I don’t know if we’d ever find this stuff anywhere else!
After exploring the amazing ocean to the left of us, we sat and listened to the waves rush in for a short time, before turning our attention to the lush green wooden area to the right. Here you can see the valleys meet, quite a sight in itself. After this gentle stroll we made the long, calf burning trek back up.
The drive back was another spectacular ride, being quite high up on the hill the road below just opens up and it feels like you can see so much of the island. On our drive we were also lucky enough to observe a rainbow!
Making it back to the ranch we tucked into our freshly prepared dinner, more Ono fish and two deserts! After a tasty dinner and a very nice sunset we stayed to chat to the helpers at the ranch. It seems like most of the people here are backpackers, working 25 hours a week for their food and board. An interesting idea but does give off a rather hippy/university lodging vibe, it’s been a while for both of us since those days. It was now that we were kindly informed that the noise at night was not birds but rather frogs! Apparently the island has been invaded by them, still they sound like birds so we are not at all worried.
We were also warned to look out for the poisonous centipedes here…. You won’t die or anything drastic like that but apparently the bite is pretty painful, all stories we really needed to hear before bedtime! Good night 😉
