House on Stilts

This blog began in 2010 at this beautiful house on stilts named Hula Hideaway, so it is fitting that this second installment ends here too. We’ve rented the house to see in the New Year on our way back from our three month sojourn in Australia and New Zealand. Hawaii has provided an excellent place to begin this trip on Moloka’i and to end it on the garden isle of Kaua’i.  I find it somewhat unbelievable to be fortunate enough to be back here.  This house could not be more inspirational with its 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape - lush greenery at the back and the pounding surf at the front not ten minutes from our door. It was constructed with great attention to detail and two of its best features are the beautiful hardwood floors and the louvred windows that catch warm breezes and the cooling trade winds that make Hawaii such a desirable destination for approximately ten million visitors every year. This is an open plan house with different corners devoted to cooking, eating, lounging and sleeping. There is a back lana’i for eating out of doors and a front lana’i for reading and gazing at the sea in the near distance. It is absolutely perfect as far as we’re concerned. There are also separate quarters on a smaller scale downstairs that we are not using but are included in the rental price.

Duncan has returned with his heart set on seeing sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs on nearby Moloa’a Beach, and I hope that he is not disappointed. Two years ago we read in the visitors’ book that on New Year’s Eve 2010, a visitor saw this natural spectacle. Believing that sea turtles are programmed to return to the same beach at the same time, we hope to get lucky.

Arriving at the house is a thrill; it is just as we left it in Feb. 2010 though it has had scores of visitors since then.  The cacophonous roosters still rule the island, and the bullfrogs broadcast from their ponds every night. Even Ginger, an outdoor cat we were encouraged to feed back then, is still here looking a bit worse for wear. I suspect she has a pretty serious flea infestation, and also that visitors let her inside the house because she seems quite miffed when we refuse her entry. An email to the owner comes back with a request to add an addendum to his welcome message asking visitors to bar the door. If she does have fleas, I consider this very sound advice. Fortunately there do not seem to be any in residence while we’re here. He swears she doesn’t have fleas, but he comes here infrequently so how would he know?

We’ve been in touch with an acquaintance we met through our next door neighbour in Toronto, and she invites us to a New Year’s Day gathering at the Taro Patch down the road. We volunteer to help with preparations and head there our third day to learn how to make leis for the Hawaiian dignitaries who will kick off the party. Duncan makes traditional leis, and I make the hakulei - the  kind that fits around the head or the neck. They are really beautiful and though I can’t imagine I’ll ever do this again, I really enjoy the experience.

Claudia's lei

New Year’s Eve at around 9 p.m. we head to the beach with our champagne on our quest. We take flashlights and stumble around in the near dark.  Unlike our first visit to this bay, many of the houses are inhabited for the holidays.  However except for a young fisherman and his girlfriend, we are the only ones who seem to want to celebrate on the beach.  He waves a welcome with his headlight and we ask if we are likely to see any sea turtles because the owner of our house didn’t respond to my request for information soon enough to be of help.  He replies that there is currently one swimming practically right in front of us and if we just sit quietly, it will probably come ashore again.  We move down the beach and sit for an hour drinking our champagne and waiting, but no luck. So we move further north along the beach to see if there is any action there.  Meanwhile the fisherman has departed, likely for celebrations elsewhere, and we are alone listening to the waves crashing on the shore.  We stroll silently sweeping the water with our flashlights when I notice a dark lump on the beach where I didn’t think there were any rocks and sure enough, Mrs. Sea Turtle has arrived! Another red letter day, just like when we saw the platypus in Tasmania. How can we be so fortunate? I wonder.  We watch for twenty minutes in the dark and see her push off into the dark ocean.  Would you believe me if I say we are ecstatic? We decide not to linger because we don’t want to disturb her further. Just seeing her was enough, and we want her to achieve her hard won goal; she’s likely swum for many miles. What a way to see in the New Year! We retire to the house and listen to drumming from a lively party in the distance. The distant noise continues into the wee hours, but we don’t mind, it’s New Year’s Eve after all; we’re just happy it is not coming from next door.

New Year’s Day we arrive at the secluded location down the road at Anahola for the Taro Patch Brunch scheduled to  kick off  promptly at 10:30 a.m. led by Puna Dawson, a native Hawaiian. While waiting we chat to a lady who originated the idea for this brunch and held it at her house for ten years. She says it finally became too much for her, because once word got around, more and more people began arriving and the parking and noise annoyed her neighbours. A committee formed to find this beautiful alternate spot and to do all the planning and execution; our friend is in charge this year. Puna (the kahuna) who is wearing a lei I made the day before, gives a blessing. I find myself praying the doesn’t fall apart as I am a very inexperienced lei maker! I admit that I am really chuffed that she is wearing one of my creations. She leads the procession into this sacred spot and participants stop to pay a small fee and deliver their pot luck offerings to the food table. My contribution: a quinoa salad with tropical fruits and macadamia nuts. I purchased most ingredients at the Hanale’i Farmer’s Market that I enjoyed so much on our last visit.

Puna the Kahuna wearing Claudia's lei

As the day unfolds we feel privileged to be here. Puna speaks of the Hawaiian culture, we see hula dancing and listen to drumming. Two people circulate with coconuts shells that contain burning sage and lavender, and they use bird wings to perform “cleansing” to anyone who would like it. This consists of having the smoke wafted by the wings around various regions of the body. One of the “cleansers” explains that this custom originated with North American aboriginals.

Hula Dancing at the Taro Patch

We enjoy half a day here chatting with some of the locals and partaking in the delicious eclectic brunch. We enjoy various performances throughout our visit and when we leave around 1:30 p.m. there are many locals continuing to arrive. I’m glad we came early because there isn’t much food left, but since everyone brings something, doubtless there will be enough for these latecomers.

Cleansing Ceremony

Moloa'a Bay Sunrise

The following day we arise at dawn to see the sunrise on the beach, and on our way see the imprint in the sand from the sea turtle’s body. I recognize it because I looked for Moloa’a Beach on YouTube  and a previous visitor had posted a film of a turtle and the imprint it left in the sand. So we know she has been back.  The night we saw her she had a ‘false crawl’; she perceived our presence and headed back out to sea, but she came back again and laid her eggs, taking care to bury them deeply! They will hatch in two months time, and the little turtles will rush to swim in the sea to avoid dehydration and death. According to Wikipedia only one in a thousand survives to maturity the hatchlings fall prey to sharks among other creatures. We also see an albatross take off from the top of the cliff before we head back for breakfast.

Sea Turtle Imprint

That afternoon we revisit Hanale’i and Ke’e Beach, all the more interesting because Anne loaned us a DVD entitled Taylor Camp about an infamous group of hippies who created a camp in the sixties and squatted there for about eight years. Elizabeth Taylor’s brother owned the land and let them use it, because he was chagrined when locals refused him planning permission to build a luxurious home on the site. The state later took over the land, and it is now Ha’ena Beach Park. Most locals were not too fond of the hippies but until the state took over, they were unable to move them off.  We weren’t sure where exactly they had located but when we looked it up and found that we had inadvertently walked to the very spot about a half mile down the beach. We had crossed a stream near a (landmark) wet cave and sat on a rock mesmerized by three surfers who were taking on the huge waves. It is “winter” here, and the waves are high on the north side of the island where we are staying, attracting scores of surfers.  The bravest go to the north shore of Oahu to try their luck on the infamous Banzai Pipeline, but it seems to me that some of these waves are worthy of attention too. I vow to find out more about surfing because it’s fascinating to watch them. The sport requires infinite patience, loads of courage and remarkable strength.

Site of Taylor Camp

The following day is hot and humid, but we feel like a hike so we tackle the Kuilau Ridge Trail rated as “hardy family” in our guidebook. There is a picnic table near the summit and in spite of the eighty degree temperatures we enjoy the view and the silence. The rest of the trail is muddy and slippery, but we do meet a few families with young children. We reach the end, an anticlimax after the great view, and head back down for an afternoon trek to our beach. We swam here yesterday and look forward to cooling off in what I call “the bathtub”, an area protected from the high waves by a reef. Locals tend to gather there with their children in the late afternoon at low tide to enjoy a dip in the sea, just our speed as neither of us is a strong swimmer. There are only about fifteen people on the beach, and this is a busy day ; there are usually two or three at most according to the owner of our house!

The following day we meet Anne for lunch at Moloa’a Sunrise, a juice bar on the main highway, and invite her back to the house afterwards for coffee. She loaned us a pile of DVDs during our stay so in addition to lunch, we present her with flowers and a lei that Duncan made last night. It kept quite well in the fridge, and she is delighted. If anyone needs a lei – he has acquired a new skill, providing there are leaves from the ti plant available. We retreat to the beach for our last afternoon, gazing out at the turquoise ocean wishing we could stay here forever. I received an email from Sara Murphy telling us she is really serious about having us as woofers on her farm in Te Anau, NZ. Now I just have to convince Duncan that this would be a real adventure he could actually enjoy. I could head back there immediately to help out! But alas, our obligations in Toronto call, and we must head for home the day after tomorrow, but who knows... we may be back sooner rather than later!