Or so goes the song by Kalapana.
And so continues our trip to Hawaii with a week long diversion to the Friendly Isle -- Moloka'i.
Of course, that meant another plane flight. Fortunately, the ride itself is only about 20 minutes in the air from Honolulu to Hoolehua.
Unfortunately, it's on a very small propeller airplane...
Yes, those are people walking up steps to get on the plane.
As you can see below, the enthusiasm of our children was just overwhelming...
Actually, David and Bretty enjoyed the bumpy ride, likening it to a roller coaster...
Flying out of O'ahu (the island on which the City of Honolulu is located), you can see how much an urban center Honolulu has become. The picture below is of the incredible density of resorts lining the famous Waikiki Beach...
On an aside, the area bordered in red above is the campus of Iolani School -- the place I attended from 7th through 12th grade. Check out how close it is to Waikiki!
Anyway, after flying over the ocean for a few minutes between the islands, you get your first look at the densely populated areas of Moloka'i...
Our son Bretty kept saying, "I think I see the city up ahead. It's coming up any minute."
After we landed, David then asked, "Daddy, where are all the houses?"
With just under 7,000 residents, Moloka'i is a small place indeed! Thankfully, we climbed out of our little plane and everything was just fine...
Moloka'i Airport is known for it's incredible use of the most cutting edge technologies. If you remember when Denver International Airport opened a few years ago it was plagued by enormous problems in their automated baggage scanner systems. It kept sending the bags to the wrong places.
Moloka'i has figured out a way around this.
Look at their high technology answer to the baggage claim system...
Yes, that's just two guys (one of which was a friend of my sister's who is the short woman in the picture above in the brown shirt) who put the bags on a table and then you as the passenger pick them up.
To give you another idea of how laid back everything is on Moloka'i, consider our car rental company.
Dawn owns a truck, which is great for the baggage, but doesn't accomodate 6 kids -- so we rented a van from Island Kine Auto Rental. Their shuttle (a guy and a van) picked me up and took me to their rental office (literally a guy's house).
I asked what I should do when dropping off the car next week. Do I return it to the office and they'll shuttle me back to the airport?
The lady at the desk said I could do that if I like. But it's probably easier if I just leave the car at the airport parking lot.
What do I do with the keys then, I asked.
She said I should stick them under the carpet mat and be sure to leave all the doors unlocked so they can get in.
You gotta love Moloka'i.
As I said previously, many of the people are relatives or extended relations of the Bicoy family. The official Bicoy Family Reunion doesn't launch until Friday, but Thursday marked a really big pot luck dinner...
My father is the oldest of 12 kids, and many of them were out in force.
Aunty Kani was carrying around a picture of Grandma Bicoy that she framed with a blanket Grandma once made out of rice bags...
My cousin Byron decided to share with my wife Cari his most guarded hair-care secrets...
My cousins Dathan and Perry couldn't stop talking about the pig they just duck-taped (don't ask) which will be dinner on Saturday for us all...
For a pre-reunion event, easily over a hundred folks showed up.
The Bicoy Family Reunion itself is a three day affair in which some 400 or so people will gather at a camp grounds on the East End of Moloka'i.
Many of them set up tents and other camping gear outside of the pavillion which is the center of activity (activity=eating to a Bicoy)...
And since I am such an accomplished and enthusiastic camper, we're staying at the condo complex Wavecrest just down the road.
Here's the view outside the living room of the condo...
We're right up against the beach. The following pictures are taken from the patio just outside the condo.
If you look to the right you can see the Island of Lanai across the channel...
And to the left is the Island of Maui...
The condo we're staying at is a corner unit. The kids went around the side of the building to enjoy a little sitting area...
And just in case the day wasn't already good enough, just look at this lovely little girl...
Nalani picked the flower all by herself!
Tomorrow, we're off first thing in the morning tagging turtles with my cousin Eddie so it's an early bed time for us tonight...
Posts
