Onwards.

The tallest mountains in the world, measured from the ocean floor to the summit.

Finale.

To end off the trip, we checked out a forest that was engulfed with lava. Something ghostly about them...


And think about how the island is constantly growing, due to the lava flow!

Snorkeled. Then we went to go check out a black sand beach that reminded me a lot of a scaled down version of Wreck Beach. There were amps, steal guitars, and old men wrestling naked, writing on their laptops, and smoking drugs.

Finally, waterfalls.

11 Miles.

ASL and I woke up and decided to hike the Volcano National Park, across a crater, and through a lava tube.





And then bent a rules a bit, to see lava pour into the ocean, as close as humanly possible. It required hiking across fresh lava under moonlight.

We had some amazing guides who were the highlight of my trip.



They fed us Lilikoi (passionfruit).


It's amazing, being reminded of how small you really are.

(Yes, they are talking about rolling a joint and lighting it using lava. While some other people are fearing for their lives).

3 Inches of Blood

Ancient Hawaiians believed that the coastline of Kaua'i was guarded by a giant moo (lizard) named aikapu. Kaikapu would eat anyone that tried to fish or swim in the area it guarded. One day, a young boy, Liko, entered the ocean and thrust a sharp stick into her mouth in self defense and escaped under a lava shelf and out through a small hole that lead to the surface. Kaikapu followed Liko but was stuck in the lava tube. Now known as Spouting Horn, you can hear and see the lizards breath.

Left Kaua'i, stopped in Oahu, then headed out to the Big Island.

Neil & Sharon

We woke up early in the morning and did our best to start hitching from where we were (almost the most northern part of the island) down to Hanapepe (almost the most western side of the island - between the western and northern points, it is not accessible by car). We figured the drive would be about 2 hours, so we figured we'd be lucky to make it there under 5.

Turns out we'd make it in just over 2 hours.

Our first ride was two characters out of south park. I can't even begin to describe them. Our second ride, was an old hippy who fears being trapped and was driving back downtown from her AA meeting. Amazing. Our third ride was a girl who was probably the biggest disaster in combination with her car. She had a sheet of plexy glass taped on for her rear window, the lining of the car was all falling off, and she looked like she just partied for the last week straight. But she was the sweetest girl. Our forth was a new local with Hawaiian print seat covers and our fifth was an old security man who pounded fists and partook in a seemingly sketchy and illegal fish exchange. Kinda awesome. We even got rained on in the back.

Grabbed some lunch, listened to West Side Smitty again. Then backtracked a bit for some brick oven pizza that Ace was craving. Got picked up by some Burning Man types.

Finally that night, we got to the treehouse, and it was amazing. Outdoor shower? Yes please. I had a shower outside, in the rain.

Go!

On the way to the airport we stopped for a little peak at farming on Kaua'i, which generally happens more interior on the island.

After some farewells, Ace and I were finally off to start the real vacation. We hitchhiked from the airport to tunnels beach, where our tents were set up just feet away from these wet caves.


Ride 1: the Native
Just outside of the airport we got picked up on the highway. It was easy on the island, to pick out the locals from the tourists. Tourists drive PT Cruisers, Mustangs... Locals drive jacked up pick up trucks. So much more practical.

We both hopped into the back, and he passed an ice cold can of passion fruit nectar through the window and told us of the trials and triumphs of the natives on the island. Then dropped us off next to a beach.

With another hitchhiker standing ahead of us on the road, we decided we might as well start walking up the slightly daunting hill. We passed the hitchhiker and wished him luck. We hoped that someone driving by would pity us, 2 people with full 60L packs, walking up this hill. We hoped they'd pity us and pick us up, instead of the guy looking light and fresh, with no gear, standing on the side of the road.

With each car that passed by, we got slightly more and more anxious for a ride and to entertain ourselves, we'd shout out who we thought would pick us up (someone in a pick up truck or a jeep, preferably with dogs in the back), and who wouldn't pick us up (grumpy women who'd look at us, tourists who'd pretend like they couldn't see us). We'd also look for the hitchhiker behind us to be cruising past us with the windows down.

We never did see him. But once we reached the top of the hill, a pick up was parked on the side of the road and a man was letting his dogs out for a quick run. Turns out, he was ride 2.

Ride 2: The American.
He spent his younger years playing football and hockey. Traveling all around the world. Then he found Kaua'i and decided that was where he was going to stay. And now he's a mechanic and his two dogs that run the show. He told us he would drive us until his time ran out and he had to head to his next job. He was going to drive us all the way. He must have loved us cause he could talk hockey.

This was what I was told anyhow. Ace was in the passenger seat and I was in the back with the dogs. Soaking up the breeze, and the view. The best part of this ride, was the view. There's one spot just past the 15 mile marker, where there's a sliver in the cliffs and at just the right time, you can see the sunlight shine through. For the past week, we have all been looking for it, but being in a car, we were always too low and the trees would block the view. I got it.

He took us about 1/2 an hour away from where we needed to be. Thanking him for the ride, we started walking north.

About 1/2 a mile in, there was a lookout point. I figured we might as well take a look while we were on foot. And behind us a car pulls over.

"You got a light?"

"Only if you've got a ride!"


Ride 3: Hilarious.
So we hopped in. Tourist car. But there was a local in the drivers seat, and an obvious tourist in the passenger. Both drinking Corona's. She passed back a bottle, I lit their cigarette, and our conversation went something like this.

Me (M): So where ya headed?

Driver (D): Tunnel Beach, apparently!

Ace (A): How's your day been?

P: Pretty fucking nuts. It's my birthday today. [turns to D] Can I tell them?

D: Do whatever the fuck you want!

P: So I come to Hawaii. It's supposed to be the honeymoon I could never afford and then my wife left me two weeks ago. So now I'm here with my cousin and his wife. I've been looking forward to meeting this beautiful woman (D) and you'll never guess what fucking happened. It's my fucking birthday and we're drinking in our condo, and my cousin asks D to have a threesome with him and his wife. On my fucking birthday! When I am supposed to be on my honeymoon! What the fuck. I want to fucking kick him in the balls.

M: Well no shit, I was supposed to be getting married.

And on we drank until Tunnel Beach.

Sally Anne.

We spent some time rummaging though thrift stores. It's one of those things I can't help but do when I'm in a new place. It seems like it'd be a good reflection of a bit of the town's history. This license plate was the best thing I found.


I was fortunate to finally meet Josh who has been nothing but helpful to me. Especially for someone I had never really known. He took us out on his boat to check out the fern grotto where Blue Hawaii was filmed. We managed to blend ourselves in on a tour group that was going there, providing us with the little historic tidbits we'd otherwise not know about.


The grotto was a lot less stunning then what I had hoped it would be, but with the lack of irrigation of sugarcane above it, there was a lot less water to add to the green.


We had spent the majority of our time on the north and east sides of the island, so we thought for once, we would head down towards the west. I had read about this amazing dessert restaurant and an incredible book store (the most western American bookstore geographically) in the town of Hanapepe (Lilo and Stitch's home) so that was our destination. It ended up being a little bit of a block party, so the town was lit up.


It was straight out of a western film.


Especially with Westside Smitty busting out the Johnny Cash and other classics.

Amelie.

After experiencing how beautiful Tunnels was at sunset, we decided to go back to enjoy it during the day and check out the snorkeling it was notorious for.

Unreal.

And we spent a lot of time at a ukalele shop.

Finds & Amelie.

The best part about finding locals willing to share their secrets is... they actually share their secrets. We found out about a little spot where turtles come in to feed.



We spent hours breaking the law.



The first time I was in Hawaii, I loved watching them. The fact that they just seem so lazy... letting the tide take them into coves, they'd crash face first into cliffs, mouths wide open and chomp down as much algae as they could. But when you think about how far they have to swim to get to where the tide takes them in... or the fact that 1/100 (or something outrageous) make it from where their mother lays their eggs, and into the ocean. They fucking deserve it.

Then we finally found Tunnels for some sunset. One of my favorite things -ever- is the feeling of my feet sinking into sand as the tide hits. I'm not sure why, but it's one of those simple things that makes me smile. It's the first thing I'll do as soon as I get to anywhere that will allow it.



I took a series of these photos, and in the span of a couple minutes, you can see how quickly the sun set.



EDIT: I recently read that it was only illegal to injure/harass/RIDE a sea turtle. We didn't do that, we're not assholes.

Green Sea Turtles are Endangered
Green sea turtles, as well as other sea turtles in Hawaii, are fully protected under both the federal Endangered Species Act and under Hawaii state law. These laws prohibit hunting, injuring or harassing sea turtles or holding them in captivity without first obtaining a special permit for research or educational purposes. Swimmers and divers should be aware that riding sea turtles is illegal as it puts the animals under unnecessary stress. Fines for violating these laws protecting turtles can be as high as $100,000 and may even include some time in prison.

Your first shooting star?

Mornings seemed to tease us every day with rain. I took a million pictures of the cliffs from my porch, cause the cloud formations around them always seemed to ground me first thing in the morning.



While talking to a couple frequent visitors of Kauai on our hike back up to the condo, we found out that there was a meteor shower the night we arrived. Which then explained how Ewan and I saw at least 10 shooting stars on our second night.

Now well into our 4th night, a couple of us went down to the beach and I got to share with a couple people, their first shooting stars. A pretty amazing experience to share with someone, I'd say.

Then I came home to find THIS in my bed.

AZN

I made a habit of waking up at 6AM every morning while in Hawaii. I treasured this time, as no one else was every up at this time. I got to snorkel with nobody else around. I could catch the morning showers and watch the sky clear. I could spend hours trying to climb coconut trees with nobody there to laugh. All this after watching the sunrise from the porch.


It's funny, cause at this time every morning, there was always at least 10 nene's (Hawaiian geese) outside our window.


I later found out that they were endangered, and that there were approximately 25,000 in all of Hawaii when Captain Cook arrived in 1778 and in 2004, there were only an estimated 800 left in the wild. So to think that I saw 1/80 is pretty wild.

Trying to find Tunnel beach, we ended up in the wrong spot. Regardless, awesome snorkeling and white sand beaches.

Watch it burn.

We had some time to kill in the morning before picking up our last friend from the airport, so we spent a little bit of time with my family and I obsessed over plumerias.



Had a few pit stops along the way. The island is littered with abandoned sugar cane factories.


After the airport, we stopped at a lighthouse and a wildlife conservatory. We got our first peek at some of the few wild mammals to be seen on shore. Monk seals.


My guilty pleasure for traditional Polynesian food. Lau lau.


Having fires on the beach and watching the sunset just 5 minutes from our condo just won't ever get old. One of the most interesting parts of traveling I found, was the variation in campfires and how they burn, depending on what you have available to build 'em with. Hawaii beaches: light fast, burn even faster.