Waipi'o

Waipi'o Valley is on the northeast coast of Hawai'i and interrupts a long stretch of sheer cliffs facing the ocean. Portions of the lava coast fractured, separated and slid into the sea, leaving these sheer cliffs above a submarine lava plain. Waipi'o may have been the first area settled by, as current research would have it, sojourners from the Marquesas Islands who became the first Hawai'ians. The valley has been continuously inhabited and cultivated since. It was the most important convocation point for the tribal kings of the various islands. When Kamehameha was born, this newborn of royal lineage was seen as a threat by the standing king, who wished to kill him before he attained recognition. Kamehameha was hidden in Waipi'o, saving him to mature to become the rightful king later (where have I heard this story before?). Several battles of significance in tribal history occurred here, or just off the coast of the valley mouth. Missionaries in the early 1820's saw promising evangelical possibilities here (largely frustrated). The great tsunami of 1946 emptied the valley until the 1960's and early 1970's, when it was sparsely repopulated by hippies and disaffected Vietnam War vets, looking to get "off the record". Today about 50 people live here, with no public water, electricity, telephone service, or sewer service. The valley away from the beach is mostly private, and inaccessible. One chronicler has described the population as ranging from the friendly to the hostile to the frankly weird, with an inordinate number of people named "Dave". The road down into the valley is restricted to 4WD vehicles.

We took the old highway back up the mountain through forest and ranch land to Waimea, where we could gain internet access to post these pictures and videos, and ate at the Big Island Brewhaus.

The afternoon was for relaxation, reading, soaking, and watching the fog come in on the trade winds.

 

Tomorrow, south to Hilo and Volcano Village.