Hitchhiker, Valley, and a Topless Chick

Did you know that President Obama and Manti Te'o (Notre Dame star Linebacker) both graduated from Punahou High School on the Island of Oahu?  I just found that out.

Well, Spring Break 2011 is in the books.  I kind of chuckled to myself all week long that I'm 39 and on spring break from the University of Hawaii at Hilo.  It was a little different from the spring breaks of my teens and early 20's.

I took two notable day/road trips.  The first was to Waipio Valley.  I was rubbing it in most of the way there by taking pics and sending them to my brother Dan.  One of his responses was rather bitter and I won't repeat it on this blog.  Let's just say it had something to do with him hoping a shark bites me in a sensitive area.  I probably deserved it.  I've been rubbing it in a lot lately.  It's only because I'm hoping you'll all become so jealous that you'll come out and visit me.

I drove up a side road from the coastal highway and it wound up and up toward Mauna Kea (background).  It looked like mostly agricultural land and ranches.  The scenic diversity is amazing here when you follow the "mountain to the sea", or Mauka(mountain) to Makai(sea) route as they say in Hawaiian.  Native Hawaiian lands were originally divided up using this system, called Ahupua'a.  Strips of land were apportioned from the mountain to the sea so that each clan (Alaea) had a tract of land that could provide its families (Ohanas)  everything needed for survival; fertile lands for crops, ample water supply, access to the sea, etc.  Original Hawaiian maps have the Ahupua'a boundaries.

After my little detour and as I was pulling up to get on to the coastal highway again, I noticed this long-haired, bearded hitchhiker standing on the side of the road smiling and dancing, waving to cars as they drove by.  Hitchhikers are all over the place here, I typically don't give rides, but at the same time I'm not opposed to it.  I used to hitchhike to and from work in the Rocky Mountains when I worked at Keystone Ski Resort when I was 19.  Anyway, I had seen this guy when I left Hilo about an hour earlier and I respected his hitchhiking technique so I picked him up and told him I could take him as far as Honoka'a, about a half hour further up the road.  He happily accepted the ride.  It turns out that he had ditched optometry school in Alaska because he just wasn't feeling it, and decided to do some backpacking around the world to take a break from school.  This guy had some good stories.  His next move (after spending a couple more months in Hawaii) is to northern India to help teach English.  He had met a woman who runs a school there when he was traveling through Europe and she offered him a job.  This guy was content and it showed. Imagine a less intense version of Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild).  I dropped him off in Honoka'a and wished him the best of luck. 

Moving on, I made it to Waipio Valley on the Northeast shoreline of Big Island.  Wow....

From the top, lookout point.

Zoomed in a bit.  From the beach (below).

From the black sand beach, looking up into the Waipio Valley.

Waipio Valley is definitely a "must see" if anyone plans on coming to the Big Island.  However, the walk down along the 4-wheel-drive-only road is steep; not hard going down on foot but coming back up was a hell of a workout.

Two more things:  As I was hiking along the coast I passed by a couple who asked me if I wanted to try some fresh-picked New Zealand lettuce.  It seemed like an odd thing to ask, but sure enough they identified it and picked some right off the edge of the coast.  I had one leaf and I have to say that that one piece of lettuce was better than any salad I've ever had.  The leaf was lightly coated with salt from the salt-air blowing in from the ocean.  It had an incredibly sweet, salty, and fresh taste.
Oh, and then I saw a girl from the Czech Republic jump in the ocean, topless.

That's all for now.

Wait, I said I took two road trips, almost forgot.  I went to Mauna Kea Resort (not to be confused with Mauna Kea, the mountain) beach on Thursday for a little more relaxing, touristy-type fun.  The beach was beautiful and the snorkeling was great, although not as great as I had been lead to believe.  I'm getting picky with my snorkeling spots because there are so many great ones here.

Had to rub it in one more time.