Looking down on the stream as it entered the ocean.
Another early start of the day for a tour – this one is the Waterfall Tour: Kohala Waterfalls Adventure. The guide today was Matt (Matthew for TripAdvisor.com reviews) from Gloucester MA.
There were eight of us on this tour: a singleton (name unrecalled), a family of three from Lancaster PA (Paul, Shelly, and Sarah), an older couple (her name was Faye), and us. It was the most convivial group of all the tours we took.
This tour was at the northwest corner of the island on the slopes of the extinct volcano Kohala. We took Highway 19 north, then Highway 270 up the west side of the island. At Hāwī, now on the north shore, we transferred to a six-wheel drive vehicle HF&T obtained surplus from the Swiss army. From Hāwī, we continued eastward except where the road made several swerves in and out the slopes of a valley or gulch. Eventually we pulled in front of a gate locked with three padlocks – fortunately they were in series on the chain and Matt only needed one key to gain entry into the field and to the rough dirt road heading up the slope.
At this point the need for the all-terrain vehicle was apparent as we powered up the slope and down sharp turns to cross the stream. The land is privately owned and was originally farmed for sugar cane. When that ended in the 1970’s, a Japanese company bought the land with the idea of building a resort. Unfortunately for them, the local zoning board refused to alter the zoning form agricultural uses. So the company still owns the land but works with HF&T as conservator to preserve the land for ecotourism and sustainable agriculture (a lot of the land was pasture).
Matt parked the ATV at the trail head and we descended into the thicket. Matt provided a description of the plants we were seeing pointing out the native and the introduced species, along with a number of cultural narratives related to what we were seeing.
Eventually we got to the bottom of the falls where the pool was amenable to swimming. Matt, Paul, and Jonathan all got in and swam under the falls, while Sarah decided at the last minute to forego the swim. The rest of us stood or sat on the shore recording the festivities, although Paul had a waterproof sleeve on his camera that he took behind the falls for some reverse shots.
From there we hiked to another waterfall that Matt noted they dubbed the “secret falls” as the landowner had no idea it was there having been obscured by the rampant vegetation. HF&T cleared out the bush, and viola! A waterfall. (We had actually seen the first stage of the falls at the beginning of the hike – the remaining falls were hidden).
We hiked back up the slope to the ATV and bounced our way down the slope to the gate at the road. Motoring back towards Hāwī, we stopped at another gate, this one down-slope towards the ocean. On an east facing bluff overlooking the water, several picnic tables huddled under windswept ironwood trees. There we partook of our lunches on the windy bluff. There was a wind advisory out that day and even down in the hollows and gulches you could hear the wind in the canopy of the forest.
Looking down on the stream as it entered the ocean.
Matt obliged us with a picture - one of the few times we had a guide take a photo of us.
Shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet).
Rubus rosifolius – West Indian Raspberry.
The first of many waterfalls today (#1).
A full view of the ATV.
Guava (Psidium guajava).
Shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet).
Birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus).
Heading down the trail.
Rubus rosifolius – West Indian Raspberry.
Waterfall #2.
Monkeypod tree (Albizia saman).
One of several flumes on the property used to irrigate the sugar cane fields.
Frequently, the waterways were subterranean.
Walkways have been installed above the flumes.
Waterfall #3.
Jonathan coming down the trail.
Waterfall #4.
A taro paddy.
A close-up showing parrot feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum).
Another walkway above a flume - the path went right at the end of the flume up a steep slope.
Waterfall #5 as seen from the flume.
Waterfall #6 - the swimming hole.
Jonathan and Matt behind the falls.
Jonathan.
Working his way to the exit.
A stop amidst the strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum).
Another one of my fern shots.
Looking down on waterfall #6.
Approaching waterfall #7, the hidden falls.
Waterfall #7.
The view from the picnic grounds.
Jonathan taking a snap of the scenery.
The windswept picnic grounds.
A view with the sun out.
A wide view with the sun out.
Night heron at the Queen's Marketplace.
Kohala Falls #1 (0.9MB, 0:06)
Kohala Falls #3 (1.1MB, 0:05)
Kohala Falls #6 (0.8MB, 0:07)
Kohala Falls #7 (0.4MB, 0:02)
Windswept Picnic Area (0.3MB, 0:06)
Returning to Hāwī, let us loose for 30 minutes while he transferred everything back into the bus and refilled the gas on the ATV. So we wandered among the crafts stores of this artists’ community, got some ice cream (macadamia nut for me, Tahitian vanilla for JDL), and coffee. In addition we acquired another wall hanging for our deck – a turtle made of recycled aluminum with a copper finish to be shipped to Pasadena.
Matt collected us and drove us back the way we came and dropped us back at the resort by about 1530. We settled on the patio overlooking the pools and restaurant (WiFi again) where we could work on our journals.
Being Saturday, there was another luau for us to avoid, so we opted to walk up the road to the Queen’s Marketplace shops to Sansei Seafood and Sushi Bar, just in time for the close of happy hour. As we ordered before the end of the festivities, we got 25% off what turned out to be the best meal we had on the trip. After a couple of sushi rolls as appetizer, we both had the hoisin tea smoked duck – yummy! Afterwards, we wandered over to the Aloha Wine Bar to see about having a glass of port, but they had none! So we got a cup of coffee at Starbucks and walked back to the resort.