Island Adventure Blog: Day 6, South and West Shores, Waimea Canyon and Flying Home

Well my last day on the Island was a bit busy... trying to cram in everything that I didn't see yet. I hate being rushed and stressed so I didn't enjoy the sights as much as I did the day before. Here's the pictures...

I packed in the morning which made me get a late start... and the leftovers from hurricane Kenneth made the weather pretty crummy at times. But I did see some pretty interesting stuff. I found a coffee farm and roaster. I had never seen coffee plants before and tried their coffee (of course it wasn't Caffe Lusso, but it was still better than Charbucks). It was interesting that they list tea before their coffee on the menu there.

The next site was very beautiful and ugly at the same time. I had found a place listed as Glass Beach online with this strange multi-colored glass in the sand. I thought the glass was naturally occurring. I never heard of such a thing before, so I made it a priority to find the beach. Looking at pictures I found online in relation to some storage silos I saw, I found it. The beach was alot smaller than I thought... and very dirty. There was small bits of mouldering trash. But not nasty stuff like food or diapers... but glass, rubber and metal. This was confusing and I was wondering if it was related to the more industrial nature of the area. As I was taking a few pictures, I noticed a cemetery up the dirt road from the beach. It looked like a nice area to take some wider, establishing shots. I got up there to find the most neglected, hodgepodge of graves I had ever seen. Yet the kanji characters on the tombstones were so delicate and ornate I took a few snapshots. I then went to the cliff edge to get the shots I came for. I noticed as I took a few pictures that there was old rusted engines and transmissions. Gears too. I then saw that the whole cliff face was old garbage... not the modern stuff we throw away today. This was the dump back at the turn of the century. Then they buried the unfortuate people on top of it. This is also where all the glass for the beach was coming from. Old bottles were being eroded off the cliff face, warn down into little bits and deposited on the beach. Weird...both gross and beautiful.

I then visited an old Russian fort (Fort Elizabeth) near the mouth of the Waimea River. This is also the spot where Captain James Cook (famous British sea explorer from the late 1700's) first landed. Up the river from there is a the Menehune Ditch... which doesn't sound or even look like much, but it is said that the infamous Hawaiian little people made the ditch to help the native people irrigate their taro fields.

After that I headed out to Polihale Beach which is 15 minutes down a dirt road. It was worth every bumpy minute however. This was the most beautiful beach I saw the whole trip. It's HUGE and the water is that amazing blue. Very remote and quiet, and I only saw a handful of people. If I had time I would of just sat there all day. If I go back, I'm camping there!

After that I headed up into the Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of Hawaii, but to me it looked even bigger. Amazing views and lots of waterfalls running down the sides of mountains and cliffs. Its not for those who are in a rush though, as the roads are all 25 mph limits and extremely curvy. Also, make sure you gas up before going, otherwise you'll just stress about the gage being past the "E" and have to coast in neutral all the way back into town. Not fun... take it from me. Also if you want really clear views, make sure there is NO chance of rain or clouds that day and go early. It was pouring about half the time I was up there.

So I cruise back into town, jaunting over to the Wailua Falls I missed on other days... in full flood mode... pretty sweet! I didn't have time for the Fern Grotto tour, but there is always next time. I dashed into the Coconut Market place for gift run, and headed to the airport.

So you know about those poor people who get strip searched, flight gets delayed, have the same name as some random terrorist, and then lose their luggage? Yeah, that's not me. My flight home was one of the most easy experiences of my life. The commuter flight to Honolulu was only half full, and there were two cool Hawaiian locals who chatted it up with me. We had a blast for the short 30 minute flight. Then at Honolulu the strangest thing happened. NO ONE was there. I waltzed up to the ticket counter, upgraded to first class, and was the only one to go through the security check point. I couldn't believe how fast it was. As I got to the gate, they were boarding the plane and I was off with mai tai in hand, enjoying not only the huge first class seat but the one next to me that was empty as well. I have to say, first class is worth every dime! I'm so spoiled now, it's gonna be hard to cram into a coach seat, next to a screaming baby, ever again.

So I'm back home! Enjoying the cool, grey, rainy weather; good coffee from the roomie; driving my big ol' work van; and having to get up at was feels like an ungodly hour of 8am (5am Hawaii time).

Thanks for reading about my adventures and checking out my pictures!