Silks and Trapeze

Gabbi and Jacqui participated in about half of the summer session of their classes with Samadhi Aerial group before departing on their mainland trip.

Showing their flexibility and balance!



Gabbi learned this new move called a hip key, as a new way to lock into position on the silks.

The girls have worked on trapeze for a couple of the classes this summer.


Jacqui with the double foot key and crossover move that she did without assistance!!

Danielle stretching during class.

Conrad even let us try out the trapeze last class!

4th of July on Moloka'i

We spent a long weekend on the island of Moloka'i over the 4th - known as the Friendly Island. We flew over with our camping gear (whittled down to the bare necessities in 4 bags and carry-ons) on Mokulele Air. The flight over was pretty full...8 of the 9 passenger seats were taken.

Heading to Moloka'i!



Looking down into Diamond Head crater.

An aerial view of Hanauma Bay.

We decided to rent a 4-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler (4 door) so that we could explore a few spots on the island that are listed as inaccessible to rental cars. We drove to the main town on the island, Kaunakakai for groceries, propane, and sparklers. We found the bakery for some great bread, the liquor store for beer, the hardware store, the gas station for ice and the natural food store; so we hit almost all of the establishments on the island...



Then we headed up to Pala'au State Park for camping. Like we have found with a number of state parks in HI, it was not extremely well marked. While we were looking for the campsite, we took a short walk to Kaule o Nanahoa (Phallic Rock). It is a site that has been used to promote fertility.

Easy to see where the name came from...


After we found the campsites, we discovered that we had the run of the place. There were no other campers when we arrived Friday mid-morning. Over the course of three nights there was a couple that came in late for 1 night on Friday and another couple that came in Sunday night that were planning on camping for a couple nights.

After setting up camp we headed to the west end of the island to Pohaku Beach. It was a gorgeous 2-mile stretch of beach that was empty when we arrived. The water was great. Then we spent some time looking for shells and were followed by a local dog that Jacqui made quick friends with. After an while, we decided to check out a couple of other beaches, before heading back to the campsite for dinner.

Pohaku Beach

Splashing in the sun!


Bathing beauties!!







On Saturday (the 4th), we first walked up to the lookout over Kalaupapa. Kalaupapa was a settlement that was created by King Kamehameha V to send victims of Hansen's disease (leprosy). Individuals were forcibly removed from families and sent to Kalaupapa which can only be reached via plane, boat, or steep 3-mile hiking trail. Some of the residents still live there and the area is managed as a National Historic Site by the National Park Service. It is really a tragic and fascinating story.

Kalaupapa peninsula...the village is the right side of the picture.


and the sea cliffs that isolate the peninsula from the rest of the island. The north side of Moloka'i has some of the highest sea cliffs in the world (3,500 feet from top to ocean).


Then, we went to the Farmers Market, which was fabulous!! We stocked up on mango, pomegranate, spinach, fennel, fresh carrots (the first ones we've been able to get in the past year and a half!), beans... Then we hit the dirt road to Kamakou Nature Preserve. The road was in pretty good shape. We stopped near the end of the road at a historic site that was a sandalwood measuring pit, where harvested sandalwood would be stacked to determine the amount for sale purposes. Then we hiked to Pepeopae Bog. By this time Gabbi was feeling pretty under the weather...she had a bit of a fever, but was a real trooper for the weekend!! It was a bit of a trek to the bog. When we got to the boardwalk trail, we saw some neat looking plants, some of which are only found on Moloka'i.

The view on the drive up.

The sandalwood measuring pit.


Some of the native vegetation.





Gabbi making it through despite not feeling well...




Hanging by the fire.


Sparklers on the 4th of July.

For our Sunday adventure, we drove to the east end of the island for spectacular views of Halawa Valley along with the 250-foot Moalua Falls and the 500-foot Hipuapua Falls. Unfortunately, they are on private property and hiking is not allowed without a guide. We spent a little time on the beach and then headed back to an area that was supposed to have good snorkeling...

The view of Lana'i driving along the south coast.


Halawa Valley

The one and a half lane road to the mouth of Halawa Valley was well paved, but still an adventure!

Looking back into the valley from the beach.


The south side of Moloka'i has some major sedimentation issues. Grazing, logging and other land practices have led to a lot of erosion. As you drive past Kaunakakai and head east, the water is a constant murky brown within 300 yard of the shore. The snorkeling site that we read about was listed as an area that would be teeming with life, unfortunately a lot has changed since the guidebooks were printed. There were very few fish and the reef is in really bad shape! Sediment, algae, really beat up coral...it was sad more than disappointing.

You can see how cloudy the water is...

We planned on eating out Sunday, so we stopped at One Ali'i Beach park for a shower. Then stopped to see the menu at the Moloka'i Hotel. When we pulled into the parking lot we found an enormous mango tree with mangoes littering the ground around it. Of course, the girls had to find some that were ripe and not too bruised from the fall to the ground. They succeeded in finding a few that were delicious. The restaurant wasn't really what we were looking for, so we stopped in town and found that our only other option was the pizza place...all the other shops were closed (except the ice cream shop, which we visited afterward). The pizza was fine and our bellies were full!

Nothing like local mangoes fresh from the tree!

Monday morning we took our time packing up camp and gave Gabbi some time to rest. Then we drove another 4-wheel drive road to Mo'omomi Beach. It is managed by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. There was a nice pavilion that is available to native Hawaiians. It was a nice spot to climb on the rocks and enjoy lunch!

Mo'omomi Beach.


When we got to the airport and checked in, we were told that we were the only one's on the flight and we could go as soon as we were ready! We enjoyed our own private half hour slightly bumpy ride back to Honolulu. It was a neat trip that was unlike any place we had been before!

Malaekahana Camping

We spent the last weekend of May camping at the Friends of Malaekahana campground. It is about an hour north of us in La'ie. Our friends Gretchen, Andre, Talulah, Stella, and Hazel rented a cabin and we had a tent site. Bruce, Khris, Cristof, and Zoe joined us all on Saturday.

Friends of Malaekahana is one of the few private campgrounds on O'ahu. It is a beautiful spot and quite different from the city and county run campgrounds... Our site was steps away from the beach and we spent the weekend playing in the sand, surfing, and relaxing!

Gabbi and Talulah catching some waves!

Gabbi, Talulah, and Zoe hanging out at the cabin.

The kids sacked out, so that the adults could hang out by the fire on Saturday night.


Jacqui and Stella enjoying the sand...


...along with Gabbi.


The beach in front of the cabin and campsite.





Our last stop on the way home was for a hike at Ahupua'a o kahana state park. We traded Jacqui for Talulah for the afternoon and enjoyed a ~4 mile hike through some beautifu rainforest. At the very end of the hike, there was an inviting pool for swimming. Danielle and Gabbi cooled off, while Talulah and I hung out on shore. The swim led to a leptospirosis scare that ended well (no more spirochetes for us!).

Gabbi and Talulah in front of a hala tree.


Danielle broke off a dead hala branch to find this centipede! The centipedes in HI deliver a nasty venomous bite that is very painful! We quickly found a spot to put the branch...


"The swim"