Friday – Our last day in Molokai. We started our day with Joanne and I going to the Plumeria Farm and picking our own flowers to make leis. We were instructed by Dick, the owner, as to what flowers to look for (not too opened, plenty of color) and then we were off on our own to pick to our heart’s content. Joanne went one way, I the other. We met back at the Welcome Center some 30 minutes later to string our leis.
The boys, in the meantime, went to watch the locals ready their canoes/outriggers for tomorrow’s 27th Annual Master Blaster Outrigger Race. Beer and alcohol are involved.
The boys came back 60 minutes later to find us stringing our flowers into beautiful leis. Proud of our efforts we headed straight for the Cookhouse for breakfast. I had macadamia nut pancakes, Tony had corned beef hash made from the previous night’s prime rib leftovers….. OOOHHH So good!
From there Joanne and I dropped Earl & Tony at the Sugar Cane Museum while Joanne and I headed back to the Macadamia Nut Farm for more ‘take home’ goodies. We also went to Kumu Farms where Joanne had shopped for all of her fresh veggies while she’s been in Molokai.
We happened to sit down and chat with a local woman who makes straw hats. Now, we’re not talking any old straw hat. She was wiping down the leaves to prepare them to be split into strips to begin crafting the hat. She makes approx.. 1 hat a week using the plating method – not braiding – it is where each strand of straw is bent & creased into position, one fold after the other. The hat she had on the table where we sat had a price tag of $450.00… that’s right… $450.00…. there wasn’t a strand out of place and you could not tell were one strand ended and the other began. Very Amazing.
From there we retrieved the boys from the Sugar Cane Museum (they learned all about the Cane Factory that was opened in 1878). We then headed for our last beach/snorkel day. We found a beach that was uninhabited and we could wade out ¼ mile before it was deep enough to swim. The boys did their snorkel thing and Joanne and I chose to just stand in waist deep water and watch the boys. We stayed only an hour or so then headed back home to clean up for our last night on the town.
On Fridays @ the Molokai Hotel the locals get together and ‘jam’ Hawaiian style. There must have been 15 locals (including a young boy about 9 years old) with their ukuleles and their song books (the song books had to be at least 6 inches thick … all hand written-no typing).
For two hours we listened to Hawaiian music and sing-alongs. One was fun… Aloha Friday…. The verse is simple… It’s Aloha Friday…. No work ‘til Monday…….then some funny sounding words… but a catchy tune ! With several mai tai cocktails under our belt… we were flying high :-)
We had dinner at the Paddler’s Inn and sadly, headed back home to pack for tomorrow’s departure. We head out mid-morning to catch our inter-island flight back to Honolulu where we have a 4hr layover then catch Hawaiian Air back to Portland arriving around midnight (UGH!)
It has been an amazing trip - we saw things we've never seen before, had great hosts - Joanne and Earl, had great eats, consumed plenty of alcohol and met some incredible island folk. We're sorry it is coming to an end but I am sure it will not be the last time we visit this wonderful island.
For pictures of today's adventure click on Photo Album, click on view more, then on the right, sort by location, click on All Countries - USA, then location and click Kainalu Molokai Hawaii