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Moloka'i - Our Wwoofing Adventure!
After a couple of crazy days in Honolulu, we arrived in Moloka'i to start out wwoofing adventure.
We were very grateful to stay with a very loving and fun family. Peter, Minka, Colin and Makana live on a beautiful family farm right in the rainforest. At night you can hear the ocean and at the moment, you can hear the whales breaching in the water. The whales are currently down from Alaska to have their babies (and to make babies!)
We lived in a tent underneath a tarp, directly in the forest. We had everything we needed - bed, sink, stove and a lamp. It was nice to live with just what you need, rather than what you think you need. Our water came from the river that flowed through the farm and the whole place ran on solar electricity and oil lamps. Most days we did several hours of work which included looking after the chickens, caring for the pineapple and banana plantations, weeding, cutting long grass with a scythe, helping with the goats and various odd jobs. Most days we would walk down to the beach and every few days we would walk to the local shop to use the Internet.
Moloka'i is one of the smaller islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 61 x 16 kms and the islands of O'ahu, Maui and Lana'i can be seen across the channels, which is pretty cool. Molokaʻi is separated from Oʻahu on the west by the Kaiwi Channel, from Maui on the southeast by the Pailolo Channel, and from Lānaʻi on the south by the Kalohi Channel.On a good day, you can see the snow capped peaks on the Big Island! Moloka'i has the highest sea cliffs in the world and is thought to be where hula originated from.
The island is famous for Father Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest, and Mother Marianne Cope of the Sisters of St. Francis. Both have been canonized Saints for their treatment and care of long term sufferers of Hansen's Disease, also known as leprosy, at the Kalaupapa Colony. Sufferers were placed in quarantine at the colony by the government. Several people continue to live in the settlement whom chose to stay after the segregation policy was lifted in 1969.
Molokai has a wonderful, laid back way of life, where everybody knows everyone, and everyone is willing to give you a hand. We made some great friends and met some really lovely people. Uncle Brian had us over to his farm and we helped out at his pineapple plantation. He also lent us his truck for a couple of days and we explored Halawa and visited the west side (which is the dry side). We also joined in on Sunday volleyball which was really fun, and very cool as the garden went straight out on to the beach!
We are very grateful for what we learnt about sustainable living and our individual impact on the environment, and how we can care for the environment better. We think that wwoofing is a great opportunity to learn some of these skills and broaden the way you think about things.
We are very grateful for the generosity and love that we received from our wwoofing family. We do miss them all very much
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