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Published: February 5th 2009
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Cliffdiving near Queen's Bath
I am jumping into churning waters. Two girls died here a month and a half later during a northwest swell. I landed in Lihue, the county seat of Kauai, in the same plane as Rob and Danielle. It was dark when we arrived but the weather was pleasant. i didnt get to see anything on the way to Rob's place. they put me up for the night. i awoke the next morning while it was still dark. i followed the sound of waves crashing on a beach. i found myself in the middle of a huge bay(hanalei bay yes this is where puff the magic dragon lives seen from heights curled in the landscape of the hills and mountains around the bay). i watched the dark sky take on reds and oranges and yellows and eventually blue as the sun rose on the horizon. the dark shadows behind me took the shape of kauai's mountains. rippling waves of bliss washed over me. hope warmed me as the rising sun warmed my face. my only regret in that moment was that i had noone with whom to share the feeling. i called zach because he was the closest distance and time wise and he was on his way to work at the time. i had breakfast with rob and danielle and met
up with rob's brother. rob and danielle dropped me off in kapa'a where i was to begin wwoofing. Geo(george hoffberg) as he liked to be called, showed me around and introduced me to karyne. karyne was 2nd in command, maybe 1st. karyne lived in the better airstream with her boyfriend jacob, their 2 dogs, and numerous rabbits. i discovered my shiny '60's airstream trailer had fleas in the carpet. i wanted to replace the carpet. karyne promised to back me up but told me i couldnt tell geo there were fleas because he would think it was from her dogs. only hours there and i was already caught up in drama. i ended up vacuuming the carpet at least twice a day for the next month. i met the farm crew at the olympic cafe that night as every friday night is 'all you care to eat fish tacos' night. i also saw travis kirk and julio salazar who are from wooster. so within 24 hours of being on the island i had run into all 5 previous wooster residents. danny, closest in age to me, is from utah and BC. he was in the peace corps and had arrived
Wai'oli Hui'ia Church
This is the church i attended with Rob and Danielle on Sundays. Hymns and some prayers in Hawaiian are hard to follow. earlier in the week. he was still driving a rental. jon, in his 50's, is a starbucks manager from new mexico and sedona, arizona. allisyn(early 20s) is from alaska and follows the patterns of the whales, travelling from alaska to kauai. the rest of the weekend was spent at beaches getting to know my new coworkers. jon, danny and i hiked to hanakapiai which is the first 2 miles of the kalalau trail on the na pali coast beginning at ke'e beach where the road ends abruptly on the counterclockwise route around the island. we swam in the ocean ignoring the posted sign recounting the number of deaths that have occurred on the beach due to high waves, strong currents, and the undertow sweeping the unlucky out into the deep.
i started working in the morning. i worked 20 hours a week for the airstream, the fleas, and all the avocados and bananas i cared to eat. the first day i almost passed out. i was too eager to work. i dug a 50ft trench. then i went straight to a 50lb fork with reinforced 14in tines used to breakup and turnover soil. i was dehydrated, cold and hot
Sunrise at Aina Wai geofarm
Looking toward Kapa'a from the farm. Sleeping Giant and Wailua are to the right and Kapahi is to the left. and had a bit of nausea. i sat in the shade. i finished my 20 hours half way through wednesday. i went to hanalei and worked with rob for the rest of the week doing landscaping and maintenance on his cousin's property. we went cliff diving that weekend. we ate meals together and hungout with his girlfriend and mynah, their talking bird. i began to meet and hangout with robs friends. rob took me back to kapa'a early monday morning. a routine formed. we usually went to the beach for a swim and a coffee at sunrise. we had a meeting, recieved our duties and went to work. i dug ditches, planted and weeded a huge garden, laid down weedmat, ran plumbing, scraped and painted a dump trailer, repotted plants, fertilized good plants and cleared bad plants. i was always done by wednesday afternoon in time for the kapa'a farmer's market. then i would hitchhike to hanalei to work and hangout with rob for the rest of the week. we did landscaping, setup airconditioners, cleaned out a garage and redesigned and reconstructed a billiard table with hand carved head for legs and an intricate inset. it was missing half of
Ke'e Beach
From the kalalau trail on the way to Hanakapiai Beach. Ke'e is the end of the road and good for snorkeling its parts, but we didnt know what was missing. so we had to come up with our own support design. there were no billiard table experts on the island. we searched for wood of the same color and density. we had to find a wax to seal the joints of the heavy slate. surfboard wax didnt work but luckily we had also found a brick of beeswax at a craftstore. we grilled at robs place and ate out. we hung out with friends at beaches, at other houses, at bars. i had a good base for networking. i began looking for a car and an apartment and another parttime job to replace the farmwork. i was very fortunate. everything was working out so well.
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