Oahu, final day

Another day that brought unexpected broadening of perspectives our way.  We’d planned a tour of a local citrus farm—Lokoea Farms—and had a relaxing and tasty day, enjoying more after the tour with some new friends.

The tour itself was led by Noe, who runs this spread next to her father’s farm.  After time in the states teaching, then running a pet store, she took advantage of the opportunity to take over this land, build a house, and be back home on this land.

Not unlike the previous night’s time exploring a tidal pool with a marine biologist, this time spent with a small-scale farmer who’s constantly trying to find new and/or more efficient ways to get things growing most productively, trying new crops to test viability, etc., was a good chance to see and think about things we’re usually oblivious to.  Noe’s farm is actively growing oranges, grapefruit, limes, guava, papaya, mango, guava, passion fruit, bananas, dates, soursop, coconuts, kui nut, coffee, macadamia nuts, and nurturing bee hives/honey. 

Lots to see, and lots to learn about; most humbling to hear Noe talk about how much new she seems to learn every day, how many ways she’s stepping into and exploring the unknown.  What a way to make a living; every day a leap of faith re the crops, the weather, the choice of fertilizing, and so much more.

The tour ended with a delicious picnic of most all of the fruits I listed above.  So fresh, so tasty, and so hard to resist having too much.  Alongside our picnic area was a Hala tree; just magnificent.

On the tour we met two young ladies, Emilie and Jackie, from Stockholm.  They’re in Oahu for two weeks, couch surfing their way around, though mostly in Honolulu.  Post-tour Pattie and I were heading to Old Hailewa and they asked to hitch a ride.  We took a little detour to explore Wameia Valley, a site we’d passed many time on our drives.  We walked the trail there for about 90 minutes, awestruck by the lushness and variety of leaf design and flower colors along the way.

At the turnaround point of the trails was a waterfall with folks enjoying the water.

And at the very end we saw this Eucalyptus tree with multi-colored bark, new to us, and a new kind of Hawaiian rainbow to apprecaite.

Then we did head to Old Haleiwa, and enjoyed a sumptuous sushi meal at Banzai Sushi with Emilie and Jackie.  They’re tattoo artists, likely in their early 20s, eager to explore the world and continue their travels.  Their English was just perfect, so conversation was free, easy, and wide-ranging.

We left them to continue their journey, and we headed home to begin the final laundry and pack for Saturday’s early flight to Kona.