Mele Kalikimaka

After our few days in Volcano (the town, not in the volcano...), we headed up the Hamakua Coast to Kalopa State Park. We stayed in a neat little cabin at the base of Mauna Kea near the town of Honoka'a. The cabins were well maintained duplex bunk rooms. We had half and Gretchen, Andre, and the kids had the other half. We all shared a common kitchen and eating area with one other cabin. There was a wonderful family from Puna that was staying in half of the other cabin. They had 3 girls and got along wonderfully with our gaggle of girls.

Making cookies in the mess hall.


Where there are trees there is always lots of climbing and plenty of time for showing off for the camera!


The paths near the cabins were pretty overgrown, but we had a blast finding our way and conquering all obstacles!

We spent the days hiking both in the state park and into Waipio Valley and its black sand beach.

Our second evening there was Christmas Eve. We held an impromptu caroling session in the "mess hall" that was really touching. It was nothing like being with family in MA and CT, but it was a neat way to spend the holiday since we are so far away.
Our caroling session.


Beautiful girls and beautiful voices.


Getting ready for the big man to show up...


Christmas morning surprises.


A yummy Christmas morning pancake breakfast to fuel up for our hike.

Christmas morning we awoke to find that santa had indeed found us. He left a note that most of Jacqui and Gabbi's presents would be waiting on Oahu when we returned. We all gathered in on half of the cabin and opened presents and had nice morning and followed it up with a hike in the afternoon.

Our destination is the far end of the black sand beach to the base of cliffs that you see in the distance.


Not one of your typical hiking signs... The hike into Waipio Valley takes place on a rough paved 4-wheel drive only road. It's very steep in places and provided a great workout! All of the kids performed fantastically with barely a complaint!!


The black sand beach was beautiful (we'll be sending some, Petra). We had heard that the water had a tendency to be rough here and it definitely wasn't all that inviting...


Waipio Valley is very secluded with a small population and a modest number of houses. At one time there was a large population here. Unfortunately the largest waterfall in the valley did not have water flowing over it on the day of our hike, but there were plenty of breathtaking views to take in.


We were treated to a rainbow as we started our hike back up.


And another one on the ride back to the cabin. This one was a just about full double rainbow.



The nights at the cabin were very peaceful. No outside noise, lots of stars, wind and rain howling on one night. Danielle, Gretchen, Andre, and I enjoyed some coffee and Kahlua on the porch as the kids were falling asleep.

A rainbow eucalyptus on the side of the access road into the park. They look and smell beautiful.


New friends and pals getting ready for the next adventure.

After 3 nights there, we parted ways...the Seashore-Botha clan headed to Waimea and we headed around the north part of the island to Captain Cook.