Sunday, March 21

Andi and I were up early again this morning (like 3:30am early!). The older we get, the more time it seems to take our internal alarm clocks to adjust to a new time zone. Call it turning 40. Fortunately, Tory and Aden haven’t had much of a problem adjusting to a new sleep schedule.

I used my time in the early morning hours to read and blog, and then did some stretching on our outdoor patio once the sun came up for the day. Around 8:00am, Andi and I went for another walk together around the resort complex. It’s colorful, warm and quiet here first thing in the morning.

Today, Andi’s friend Clark offered to show us some of his favorite places on the Big Island. We left our condo around 9:30am and drove to Clark’s house about 20 minutes away near Waimea. From there, we followed Clark to the Waipi’o Valley Lookout located on the Hamakua Coast.

Photos can’t capture the raw beauty of this place. Thousands of native Hawaiians once called the Waipi’o Valley home, and now less than 100 people inhabit this lush, tropical coastline. It remains an important place in Hawaii’s history and culture.

The drive down into Waipi’o Valley is no joke! A steep, well-traveled, one lane road snakes down into the valley on the side of a cliff from 2,000 feet above. A 4x4 vehicle is a must, so we parked our rental car at the top of the lookout and hopped into Clark’s truck for a ride down. Of course, walking the five-mile road is an option as well (and people were doing that!), but it’s a very, very steep climb back to the parking lot. There’s a lookout area at the top with signage detailing the history of the area where visitors can see the coastline from above.

It was fun riding in a pickup truck with someone who lives in Hawaii, as Clark shared lots of history and stories about the area and the Hawaiian people. Once we made it down to sea level, Clark parked his truck next to a river which flows through the valley. A few of his friends were there, too — Steve, Kara, Tony, Tim and Baby Rory — and the small group of us hung around and chatted with one another for a while.

There’s a herd of wild horses that live in the Waipi’o Valley and they’re definitely used to see people there. The horses came right up to us for a pet on the nose and to sniff around in the back of our truck for food. I get the feeling these horses know the drill and are given lots of treats from visitors.

Clark’s friend Steve brought his drone along, so we walked over to a clear area near the ocean. Aden was smitten with Steve & all this electronic devices! Steve let Aden look into the viewfinder while he flew his drone over the ocean and up around the tall cliffside. Aden was having the time of his life being part of the action.

Hawaii’s Big Island is one of the most ecologically diverse places in the world with eight different climate zones. It’s always hot & sunny on the northwestern side of the island where our condo is located in Waikoloa, and continuously wet and cooler just a short drive away in places like Waipi’o Valley.

Since it was a little too chilly to swim in the river, our group decided to go off-roading through the rainforest. Everyone piled into Clark’s pickup truck and rode along as he slowly cruised along the river (sometimes through the river!) sharing information about the plant life and culture. We saw native taro plants growing along the riverbanks and Hawaii's tallest waterfall, Hiilawe Falls, which cascades down 1,300 feet in the back of the Waipi’o Valley.

After some off-roading, we climbed back up to the top of the Waipi’o Lookout and then made our way to the nearby town of Honokaa. The small town’s Main Street is lined with historic buildings from the 1930’s including an old theatre, bank and post office. We window-shopped up and down the street, marveling at just how hard businesses here have been hit by the effects of the COVID pandemic. Nearly half of stores were out of business.

Andi and Tory perused through a local gem shop, and then we followed Clark back in the direction of Waimea to the famous Mana Road — a 42-mile dirt road that cuts though grassy pastureland all the way to the other side of the island. Parts of the road are in such terrible condition so it’d take over 8 hours to drive the entire length. That wasn’t our intention today; just out for a pretty country drive.

The many shades of emerald-green hills and pastureland were breathtaking, as white billowy clouds rolled along overhead. Tory and Aden thought the drive was positively boring, but Andi and I loved every minute.

From Mana Road, we drove back to Hapuna Beach to catch the sunset. The beach was practically empty as the day winded down. Our small group found a spot out of the wind along the rock wall and watched the sun go down over the ocean.