Lanai

Weather held only what is expected in paradise - sunshine. The channels between the islands have been flat with rolling swells that flow as smooth as a hula’s story, perfect for whale-sightings on a morning ferry ride to Lanai.

Tourist fingers stretched out pointing to the dark backs of the humpbacks that broke the ice blue waters. Excited frenzy hung on the rails when white puffs drifted in the light winds before dissipating. "Where?" Ah, another whale missed. I caught a small whale breach and another slap its tail at least seven times before doing a head pop, checking to see if we were watching his antics.


Dad and I hiked the remote Jeep trail attempting to make the lookout to see panoramic views of Maui and Molokai rising gently from the horizon. Except we never made it. After wandering down a muddy trail to a gulch filled with Eucalyptus Trees, we stopped for chicken sandwiches I packed the night before. Several mountain bikers were surprised to see two people sitting along the side of the trail. The place seemed quite remote and far from civilization. Then two hikers came up from around the corner and suddenly nine people were clustered in the middle of a two lane Jeep trail. Fortunately, no Jeeps came careening around the bend.

We made good time, even caught a ride from a local who offered to take us to the trail head. We were marching up Cemetery Road, looking like two out-of-place tourist, map in hand.
Richey Carlos, a Filipino whose ancestry was peppered with every North American tribe imaginable was now about to offer his children pure native Hawaiian blood. He claimed his third wife’s lineage descended from the first Maui family to come to Lanai to work the island’s ranch.

Our turn-around-time of 1PM came up quickly, but I calculated we needed an hour and a half walk to the lodge where Clara and David relaxed in the lobby of a beautiful five star hotel. Then I realized we were hiking parallel to the golf course. It seemed silly to walk all the way around the course, the cemetery, the stables and then some, so I suggested we shortcut through the plush greens.


Being careful not to get plunked by the way-too-serious golfers who paid way-too-much to chase little white balls, we “played through” the 11th and 10th holes and found the cart path that lead down to the club house, a steep drop through a forest of Notfolk Pines large enough to replace the mask on Captain Cook’s ship.

The short cut saved a good half hour,leaving plenty of time to walk into town and grab an a scoop of chocolate and butter almond ice cream before shuttling to the lower hotel where we wandered to the beach and eventually to the ferry back to Maui.