Molokai Day 1

Elton had packed snorkels, fishing poles and all the equipment to go fishing and dive for octopuses. We were excited as this was the first time to Molokai for the both of us. The adventure started with us going on a Cessna plane for our first time. We were actually made to stand on a scale when we checked in. It was weird getting on the plane with only four other people and the pilot turned around and started giving us the seat belt and emergency exit spiel that I’ve only heard air stewardesses make. Elton turned to me and said, “I think we need to go outside and push it now.” The 30 minute flight from Oahu to Molokai was amazingly smooth for a tiny mosquito in the air and the landing was not too shabby.

It was interesting being on an island with only one paved road which ran from east to west hugging the south edge of the island. It's only 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16km) and no traffic lights on the entire island. The roads were so windy than we only drove on an average of 30m/hr. There’s no chain restaurants or supermarkets of any kind other than Subway, not even a McDonalds. Didn’t take us long to realize people here supported local businesses over big business with the number of “Save La’au” signs we passed. It's a movement to stop high-end development and support prevailing Hawaiian culture and values. With a population of less than 8,000 people, it is said that 70% of the population on Molokai live on unemployment with the vicious cycle of children of people who live by those principles when they’re adults. 


For Day 1, we just explored the southeastern side of the island driving on the only highway it has. It was interesting driving around a place without any cars on the road. In three hours, we probably drove passed less than five cars.

Flying out to Molokai on a 8 seater Cessna

my first time on a Cessna taking off

view of Molokai and the only highway on the island

Opihi picking on a beach near our condo on the southeast side of the island

view of Halawa on the southeast side of Molokai from the road

View of Halawa valley (southeast edge of Molokai) from the sea level

Misti and James looking for opihis at Halawa

picking Opihi for the first time

the one lane road which hugs the southeast side of Molokai

BBQ by the pool for dinner with fresh juicy Molokai shrimp 

Apparently the hottest night spot in Molokai is this Bread bakery downtown which bakes fresh bread loafs at 9:30pm. Yup, and there's no nightclub on the island. That IS it. So when the clock struck 9:30pm, we headed out to make a run to discover the spot. It was literally a hole in the wall behind a non-descript alley without so much as a sign. But we found it. The bread was fluffy and sweet, nothing too special but at least we can say we did it. I had so much bread, I'm all breaded out for the next month or so.

Molokai Bread shop in the alley - hottest night spot on the island

funny sign by the bread house that I had to capture

the cinnamon butter bread to the right and strawberry creamcheese to the left