Halawa Valley & Moaula Falls

We had a leisurely morning and headed out for our hike in Halawa Valley around 9am.  Steeped in history and legend, Halawa Valley is the site of the first Hawaiian settlement on Molokai.  The Valley was first settled in the 7th Century by people from the Marquesas and remainded a thriving community until the area was struck by tsunamis in 1946 and 1957. 

In ancient times, this amphitheater valley was extgensively cultivated with taro, the Hawaiian staple, which supplied most of the entire island.  Today, descendants of those first settleres are restoring the ancient lo'i (taro patches) and area once again producing taro for the island.

The family that lead us on our hike, live in a Yurt, have 3 kids and run these hike tours and have a flower farm (www.molokaiflowers.com).  We hiked 2 miles in to the first falls(Moaula Falls) over moss covered rocks which were very slippery, fallen trees and lots of kukui nuts (hard on the tootsies !).  The family dog, Noni, navigated the challenging trail right along with us (she does it daily).

The falls were spectacular !  Tony and Earl ventured into the chilly waters after we had lunch while Joanne & I observed (we thought better of having to trek back in wet suits !).

The hike back part of the group (us included) headed up to another falls higher up and far more treacherous - boulders very slippery because of the moss, and we had to cross a creek.  I slid down one of the rocks and called it quits, waiting for the rest of the group right where I fell.  Other than my bruised ego and a few scratches, I'm none the worse for wear (also took a nose dive on the trial back to the flower farm...).

We came back to the flower farm and had fresh fruit smoothies from fruits just picked.  Home grown bananas, pinapple, guava, lemons and limes.... Boy oh Boy were they good !  And then took a tour of the flower farm which was beautiful (Tony, Joanne & Earl...I stayed behind as my feet were killing me and I had leg cramps in both legs :-(

Headed home, sipped Mai Tais and Joanne whipped up a wonderful dinner of pesto pasta and a huge salad with Hawaiian Sweet bread and white wine.  We topped off dinner with macadamia ice cream with coconut syrup and whipped cream and candied coconut crumbles.

Played 1/2 a game of Chicken Feet and now headed to bed... .we're all exhausted.

Nothing on the agenda for Monday... playing it by ear....