Molokai: Hawaii for Hawaiians
Part 4

By Thomas Scheuneman

Clouds hung low and heavy on the horizon, the gray mid-morning light silhouetted the sharp rise of Maui, looming across the channel. My eyes were getting droopy and the book in my hand began to slip. A gentle, moist wind blew in off the coast. The occasional drop of rain on the roof of the lanai... The sound of the surf filled my brain...

It was beginning to look as if this would be a lazy day. I fell gently asleep, lounging on the second-story lanai of the little house by the sea, nestled along the southeastern coast of Molokai overlooking the blue Pacific, with the dramatic coastline of Maui rising just fifteen miles to the southeast... A deep sense of peace settles in, warm and drowsy.

The misty day brightened somewhat in the early afternoon. It was shaping up to be a perfect day for drive to the End of the Road....

East to Halawa valley, at the northeast tip of Molokai.

The weather alternated between brief, light rain showers, followed by bands of sunlight breaking through the clouds. It was a perfectly mellow and peaceful day. We packed dog, water bottles, and cameras in the rusty Toyota and headed east toward the sea cliffs of the East End...

After a mile or two, the road narrowed, hugging the coast, as the tops of waves occasionally broke over the stone sea-wall, splashing across the road. Barkley strained against the car door as she stuck her full face into the oncoming wind....

Turning and twisting, each bend in the road offered a magnificent view of the coast, cliff, and sea. After climbing a bit, the road turned inland at the eastern tip of the island. The terrain flattened out as we drove through small tracts of ranch land. We made our way across the tip of the island and soon were among the jagged cliffs of the northeast coast. The road cut through the side of a mountain, along the way rocky debris from rock and mud slides littered the road....

We were now in the most verdant and green part of the island, truly a tropical rainforest. The misting rain and gray overcast set off the lushness of the surrounding woodland. As we drove along the deserted road, I began to feel as if I were driving through an enchanted forest.... And who’s to say that I wasn’t?

Just beyond the 27 mile marker was the end of the road – the Halawa valley. To the north was large tidal pond, a small boat anchored on the opposite shore, with two small structures just beyond. The boat and small buildings were the only clue that any other people existed at all in the world.

The solitude was exquisite.

We walked along the shoreline of the tidal pool, underneath a large and expansive banyan tree, toward the pounding surf of the north coast.

The protective reefs that line the southeast coast from which we had come disappear as you make your way around the eastern tip of the island. The sea comes crashing ashore with all her might and glory... I was sure that the pictures I took would just not convey this beauty and power before me.

Behind us the steep, green ridges of the northern coast were sheathed in lush, tropical rainforest, and shrouded in mist and fog...

My mind started to wander...

Two cascading waterfalls fell silently in the distance down the side of one ridge.

A rare peace and serenity fell lightly upon me like the mist on the hills.

We had come to the end of the road, and it seemed like the end of the earth...

The precious commodity of solitude, so hard to find in this modern world full of distraction and noise, was abundant, standing on this lonely corner of a small island, far out to sea...

About the Author:

Thomas Schueneman may be contacted at www.touristtravel.com or by email at tom@touristtravel.com. Tom lives in San Francisco and works as a sound engineer, freelance writer, and entrepreneur. He enjoys traveling, nature, reading, photography, and music.