After a 3 Month Blog Absence, We Bring you Molokai

Star has been wanting to take me to Molokai ever since her work trip to a school on the island last February.  The island is no more than half the size of Pickens County and has a whopping population of 7,000 people.  The majority of those are of Hawaiian descent.

If you're looking for resorts, high end restaurants, nightlife, or fancy gift shops, then Molokai is probably not for you.  If you're looking for a quiet, laid-back, secluded island, then you can stop looking.  Molokai is a secret gem in the Hawaiian archipelago.  I think the photos and videos below will verify that statement.

My favorite part of the trip was actually the 30 minute Makani Kai Airlines flight over and back.  The pilot takes you by all the sweet spots at a low elevation, and, at less than $200 round trip for the both of us, it was quite the deal.  Best of all on the flight to Molokai, Star and I were the only two passengers on board.  Yes, you heard right; there was one pilot, one flight attendant, two passengers.




Star, the flight attendant, and me

No problems with leg room on this flight.

 

Leaving Maui

 

That's a mighty big rock

 

 

Arriving at Molokai

 

 

Tallest Sea Cliffs in the World at

2,500 ft. in height

 

 

Below is Papohaku Beach, two miles long with beautiful white sand.  Star and I were here about an hour, and were the only two people on the entire beach.  I've heard of Australia's Gold Coast, but I can't imagine it being any more striking.  I started looking for Wilson and Tom Hanks.

 

When I asked Star why there were only one set of footprints,
she responded, "Because that's when you stayed off the hot
sand and took photographs of me."

 

 

On Day 2, Friday August 28th, we drove up to the Molokai State Park at the edge of the cliffs.  The Kalaupapa Lookout is incredible, looking down to what was once called "The Leper Colony."  There are around fifteen survivors of Hansen's Disease still living by choice in the village.  They will be the final Hansen patients on the peninsula. Beginning in the 1880's, Hawaiians with symptoms were hunted down, boarded on ships, and unceremoniously forced to swim to the isolated peninsula. Initially, many of them died quickly, since there were no amenities. The site is now  home to a new National Park.

 

 

Of course, Star insisted on taking the hike out to nearby phallic rock.  When she crawled right on top of it, I'll admit it made me feel a bit inadequate.

Star looking way too satisfied

While Molokai doesn't offer much for the serious hiker or backpacker, there are numerous four wheel drive roads.  On Day 3, we took our rental Jeep on a trek into the Molokai Forest Reserve, which hugs the tops of the sea cliffs along Molokai's North Coast.  We made it 18 miles through beautiful, secluded forests, until at around 4,000 ft. elevation we encountered very steep downhills and decided to call it quits.  This was new to us, but Star had a blast. One of the early stops was the Sandlewood Pit.



I've heard King Kamehameha wasn't very popular after
his men gathered up much of the precious sandlewood and
sold it to China in 1888. 

This is the actual pit the King's men dug to replicate the hull
of the ship, so they could sell as much as possible to China.  At
one time, it was full of sandlewood.



The end of the road for us

 

Somebody tell me, is Star having fun yet?

 

36 miles of off road will make you delirious

 

 

On our last full day, we ventured to the East Coast and the Halawa Valley.  This little road hugs the coast the entire way.

 





Good to see that Molokai has the same auto recycling program
as Maui.

If walls could talk, this one would have a story.

Full Moon from the Wharf

  

Some video clips of the flight back to Maui