A Long and Winding Road

     We took a break and had a slower start this morning. I made us some egg mcmuffins (for those who know my lack of cooking skills this was a nice gesture on my part). We're really loving our condo - maybe I've said it already but the view is so amazing and we continue to see lots of whale activity out in the water off the reef. Today as we looked out while eating breakfast there were even some kayakers and paddleboarders heading out towards the whales. It was kind of cloudy this morning but later on we decided to explore the area north of us, so Beth packed us some sandwiches and we headed out.
     We drove along the ocean, north of Kahana.  Our first stop was Honolua Beach and was about 20 minutes up the road. It was a smaller beach in a bay and wasn't too busy, but it did have a life guard -not that we needed one:). There were 4 people surfing, and it was interesting to observe how they waited for waves and their techniques for riding them out. There were also whales spouting, flippering and breaching out in the water beyond them. We just stood there and watched their amazing behaviour for quite a while.

      Then we headed out on our adventure along a long and winding road. It was a well-paved 2-lane road with a few one-lane bridges but it had many sharp curves and the landscape was just outstanding. To our left was always the beautiful blue ocean and to the right were combinations of black lava rock, trees, red dirt hills, and long grass that came right up to the edge of the road (Beth could have reached out and grabbed some). There were regular places to pull off and take in the scenery, which we did, but our main destination was the Makalele blowhole. We parked in an area that we thought had a path to the blowhole but it turned out to be a bit before it. It was a 4 minute hike to a cliff overlooking the water but there was also a steeper path heading north so I checked it out while Beth waited. I ended up looking over a pretty isolated cove and almost walked right into 2 doves sitting on the edge of the rock (who didn't seem to want to fly away from me).

      We got back in the car and ate our lunch, then drove a bit further and came across the parking lot for the actual blowhole but kept going because Beth wanted to check out the Ohai Trail that she had read about and was a few miles (and many curves) further on. We decided to give this 2 km loop a try and it was a great choice (but a fair bit of work, with lots of inclines, and pretty hot - we both ended up with sunburnt faces as well). There was a wide variety of flora and terrain, along with some muddy areas from the recent rain. At about the halfway point we were rewarded with some whales not too far off shore who were breaching (where they leap out of the water and splash back down). We were also reminded about how thankful we are for Beth's surgery last year which ended up improving her breathing because she doesn't think she could have done the trail before that.
      Next we drove back south and stopped at the blowhole, and it was pretty spectacular. It's a bit of a hotspot for tourists though so was pretty busy. There are signs warning to not get too close as there have been some deaths there in recent years. A lady behind us took a tumble and had a lot of pain in her foot so nurse Beth was quick to help and I, along with another fellow, gave her our shoulders to assist her back to her car.
      From there we drove back to the condo and when we got back Beth made a delicious chicken fajita supper (while I took a shower and then watched the third period of another Leafs' loss). Around 7 o'clock we took a little walk in the dark to the south of our place to where there is a small plaza with a general store and McDonalds. We got some ice cream and as we sat there eating were struck by how odd it was to hear Hawaiian music at a McD's.