Saturday, January 16, 2010

hawaii

My final treat on my month-long vacation before staring a new job: 4 days visiting a college buddy, Courtney, and her two kids in Waipio Valley, Hawaii.  Waipio Valley is one of the few valleys in the northwest region of the Big Island that's accessible by land, but barely accessible... the steep drive down in a 4x4 is always an adventure in itself!  See that road cut into the 2000 ft cliff in the background?  That's the only way in!

There are maybe 100 folks that live off the grid in the valley among the rivers, waterfalls, taro fields, black sand beach, and tropical forest.  It's such a unique place to raise children.  Courtney has a few friends in the valley raising kids as well, and it's quite an adventure for the young group. On my first day there, we did some fruit harvesting...

First some coconut tree climbing with a riveted audience. 











Nothing better than drinking coconut milk out of a papaya branch straw and gnawing on a sugar cane!

















And then there's the beach...  my favorite place to be...


The next day we took a hike further back into the back of the valley to our favorite waterfall.  Here's a picture of me climbing up to get a water neck massage.  Abram and Angelina also did some dancing in the hose spray, with some much needed warming up from mom afterwards.






















Lots of hiking...


And some nice downtime at the house.  The house (pictured below) is the result of Courtney's and her late husband's handywork.  I've seen it through many stages over the years, and it's so comfy with it's running water, propane-powered full kitchen, and solar-powered electricity.  The kids (to the left) are preparing for their auditions with Cirque du Soleil on one of their favorite Christmas presents.  Every evening after Abram and Angelina went to bed, Courtney and I had some quiet time catching up with some wine in the candlelight.  I'm really lucky to have a friend living in such a magical place. It's a great break in the middle of a Seattle winter and so nice to catch up with an old friend.  I miss my girlfriends!