Waipi'o Valley-Valley of the Kings

Here's Wikipedia's take on this magical place we visited today......

"Waipiʻo Valley is a valley located in the Hamakua District of the Big Island of Hawai'i. "Waipiʻo" means "curved water" in the Hawaiian language.  It was the capital and permanent residence of many early Hawaiian aki'i (kings) up until the time of King Umi'i.   A place celebrated for its nioi tree known as the "Nioi wela o Paʻakalana" (The burning Nioi of Paʻakalana). It was the location of the ancient grass palace of the ancient kings of Hawaii with the nioi stands. Kahekili II  raided Waipiʻo in the 18th century and burned the four sacred trees to the ground.

The valley floor at sea level is almost 2,000 ft below the surrounding terrain. A steep road leads down into the valley from a lookout point located on the top of the southern wall of the valley. The road gains 800 vertical feet in 0.6 miles at a 25% average grade, with steeper grades in sections. This is a paved public road but it is open only to 4 wheel drive vehicles. If classified as a road, it would be the steepest road of its length in the United States and possibly the world. The shore line in the valley is a black sand beach, popular with surfers. A few taro farms are located in the valley. Several large waterfalls fall into the valley to feed the river which flows from the foot of the largest falls at the back of the valley out to the ocean. The valley was the site of the final scene in the 1995 sci-fi film Waterworld, at which the main characters found dry land."

There was a pretty substantial fog goin' on and a light drizzle most of the day, this was nonetheless one of the most beautiful places we've seen.  Our imaginations are well-developed enough that we could just picture what it would be like under sunny, blue skies.....which is what we've experienced for the majority of our blessed two weeks here.

It was a very small, personalized tour....just us and a lovely Indian couple from Arizona and their teen-aged son, along with our guide, Hele.  He's a native of the area and he and his wife lived in the valley until her tsunami concerns, following a couple of earthquakes in 2007, motivated a move to higher ground.  You could tell that his heart is very much part of this idyllic place.  (Yes, Ronna, you're right......'stunning' for sure!)

 

Our view from this 'scenic overlook' was over a sheer cliff of 1,000 feet down into the valley to a black sand beach adjacent to acres and acres of verdant farmlands and homesteads.  There is no U.S. mail service to the valley or any delivery service of any kind.  As the Wikipedia article states, only 4 Wheel drive vehicles are permitted, no one is exceeding 15 mph, and EVERYONE is generously sharing the very narrow road.  Hele greeted most of the drivers we met by name.

 

 Occasionally.....there were guardrails.  Hele said there are some cars planted firmly wherever they'd 'landed' on the mountainside, entwined with trees and vines.....he said it's impossible to recover them.

 

No guardrail here......no, 

I didn't get out for a photo-op;)

 

Several waterfalls feed the valley and irrigate the many farms

and edible vegetation that just grows wild. 

 

We tasted 'sleeping hibiscus'!  The mildly flavorful red petals were delicious!  Thankful that we could trust Hele, not only for his driving, but also for eating whatever he pulled off of trees and vines growing by the road.

                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

colorful trunk of the 

eucalyptus tree 

trumpet flowers

 

 

A taro field.....taro (like a sweet potato) is a staple of the area.  The taro plants are cultivated in about a foot of water, so to harvest them.....yeah, you need a boat......like the blue and white one overturned under the tree.

 

Another taro field with a scenic little waterfall at the edge.  Hele said the residents of the valley set out basketsful of their excess produce (taro, bananas, papaya, guava, avocados, oranges, lemons) on the road and anyone who passes through (hikers, tourists, other valley residents) are welcome to take what they need.  Now that should make us all smile.

 

 Crossed countless small streams today........

 

 Hele cut into a fresh valley orange for us all to sample....and oh. my.   We've never tasted an orange that sweet before!  In fact, this guy would say a few words, but HIS MOUTH IS FULL OF WAIPI'O VALLEY GOODNESS!

 

And you'll recognize these.....oh, no?......then picture them yellow with a Del Monte sticker on them.

We made a slow trek back up that very steep, narrow road (with Hele musing that the smiling hikers that we were passing, who were descending, weren't going to be smiling on their way back up)...bid 'aloha' to Hele and our travelling companions and drove safely back to Waimea in 'pea soup' fog.  Even though rob/your dad and I share responsibility for what goes in this blog, I want to give him a 'shout out' for his excellent, safe driving in unfamiliar territory for the past two weeks (and today in WAY less than favorable conditions.)

 

After a delicious pasta lunch near the Waikoloa Beach community, we were excited to find a 'guava juice' stand that also was serving up some coffee for the drive back to Kona!