Day 19 - Darren chopped up some fresh coconuts and we drank the water straight from the shell. Mongoose, enormous spiders, geckos, butterflies, white herons, gorgeous flowers... life on this remote cliff edge is pretty darn spectacular! It was another day of lounging about until heavy rains drove us inside for the evening.

Day 20 - Torrential rains, strong winds and flashes of lightning defined the night. The power was out in the morning. We relied entirely on solar with no battery storage, so if we got too many clouds for too long... well, fortunately the gorgeous weather returned quickly. We drove out to Kaihalulu Red Sand beach. The trail down was quite treacherous (slippery and steep) and the paramedics were already flying out their fourth injured person of the day. We then visited Hamoa beach where we managed to lock the key in the van! But who should immediately drive up? It was none other than Rico, our recently-made local friend. He drove me back home to get the spare key. I'm learning more about island life, the locals, and the way things work (or don't work) around here. The evening brought a spectacular moonrise.

Day 21 - Even though we aren't doing a work exchange, we volunteered to wash windows (there are a lot of them!). We picked tangelos, had some more fresh coconuts and lounged. In the evening, we had a vegan dinner at Cafe Attitude and listened to a bit of live music.

Day 22 - Donny (one of our fellow residents) showed us where to our water bottles from a pipe emerging from the dense foliage that feeds from a natural spring about 1/4 mile from us. Later, we walked along the road a bit, heading deeper into Kipahulu, sampling various fruit (tangelos and liliquoi or passion fruit) from the trees lining the way. Our trip included a visit to Palapala Ho'omau church (built in 1864, with 65-year-old Hawaiian hymn books) and a cemetery, which included the grave of Charles Lindbergh.

Day 23 - There's no hot water inside the house, nor is there any way to do laundry except the old-fashioned way... in a bucket. And so we did, and then hung it on a line outside our bedroom to dry. It's been (mostly) fun adjusting to life "off the grid." The closest power lines are about 5 miles away.

Day 24 - The trade winds ripped across the island, churning the sea and thrashing about the trees. Apparently150 people die worldwide per year from falling coconuts! That's 15 times more than by sharks. We decided to skip our stroll and instead loitered about the property, enjoying the view from the spot at the cliff edge that we named 'the point."

Day 25 - I strolled a couple miles along the Hana Highway to some old taro fields. Unfortunately there aren't many places to walk out here other than the road. Everything is private property. But even if it weren't, the landscape is VERY steep (we're technically on the side of a volcano) and the vegetation is VERY dense... although I did find a way down to one of the waterfalls flowing under a bridge.

Day 26 - Donny showed us some of the secret spots of the area, including May's Landing (with a massive banyan tree) and a black rock beach. Humpback whales use the Hawaiian islands as a safe place to raise their calves, so we often see them spouting as they pass our place (no breaches yet!).

Day 27 - A life of leisure and access to countless coconuts, bananas and avocados is starting to take its weighty toll, so I have added a daily morning hike on the Pipiwai Trail up to Waimoku Falls in the adjacent Haleakala National Park. It's not a super long trek but is nice and steep. In the evening, Donny hosted a local open mike evening. He used to be a member of The Lettermen.

Day 28 - I've never lived anywhere before to see the sun rise from the sea on a regular basis. It's quite charming. I suspect the stream water isn't as pure as it is claimed to be as I feel I have picked up some kind of unfriendly intestinal fauna. Unfortunately this is the only water available (the ocean doesn't count).

Day 29 - The light for my morning waterfall hike was spectacular! I took an evening walk as well, but to the seaside section of the park instead. Again the light was sensational!

Day 30 - We walked down our Kipahulu road and discovered another hidden jem... an early 1900's sugar cane processing plant. We continued on to May's Landing again to spend time under the enormous banyan tree whose branches were woven into amazing art.

Day 31 - I've travelled Asia, Africa, and even inadvertently consumed water from the Ganges River, but this is the first time I've ever suffered from any type of gut bug. Go figure! Suffice to say, it's slowing me down. While I still do my morning outing to the waterfall, it has changed from a hike to a crawl. That said, I'm being more bold about tasting random fruit on the ground and trees (how much more damage can I do, after all?). Some are amazing; others not so much. Today, the island was covered in a thick vog (volcanic smog) from the big island. Not good. I did an evening stroll along the national park shore again and discovered opihi (these are limpits that are considered a delicacy by the locals).

Day 32 - Today the whales put on quite a show... even the baby did a breach!

Day 33 - Watch spectacular sunrise, eat delicious fruit, scan for whales, nap, repeat. Even Grayson the cat joined in with a snooze on the toasty solar panels.

Day 34 - Ditto (but without Grayson)

Day 35 - We went to Hamosa beach (towards Hana) with the intention of snorkeling and making a GoPro movie, but the water was too churned making for terrible underwater visibility. So we just swam for a bit instead. We treated ourselves to a nice Thai lunch afterwards. Back at home, a rainbow formed right next to us!

Day 36 - There is lots of evidence of wild pigs on my waterfall walks but I still have yet to see one. Today there were many bamboo roots dug up.

Day 37 - We had an exciting drive to the other side of the island via the Kaupo back road... the engine started smoking again! We pressed on after giving the van a rest and eventually made it. We spent the day taking care of various chores and shopping. In the evening, we had fun with the setting sun. We spent the night in the van back at our favorite lava beach at Makena.

Day 38 - After a morning beach stroll and a few more errands, we visited the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Society visitor center. Very friendly, informative and fun! We took the less hilly front road back (via Hana) but the van still overheated (not as bad though) and we got stuck in road construction.

Day 39 - From bed, I could hear the whales slapping their tails on the water (they have come very close to shore!) and the squabbles of mongoose fights. In the afternoon, we cooked up bananas with white chocolate and roasted some macadamia nuts.

Day 40 - After my daily waterfall hike, we picked tangelos and made juice, then picked spinach from the garden for a salad. In the evening, we went into Hana for pizza night.

Day 41 - There is a drought going on. The lower falls (Makahiku) has stopped running and the Seven Pools are drying up. In the afternoon we visited a fruit stand and got various new things to try... Jamaican and regular liliquoi (passion fruit), regular guavas, banana and strawberry guavas and noni. The evening presented us with a massive rainbow!

Day 42 - We went to Hana to do some food shopping as well as get some Thai food from our favorite food truck. It started to rain which later gave us a spectacular rainbow which lasted for hours.

Day 43 - It rained all day, plus the wind kicked up. So we just loitered about inside. There was a large shelf with all sorts of interesting books to choose from.

Day 44 - We took the Road to Hana back to Haiku. There was a lot of waiting and traffic as they re-tarred sections of it. Some of the bridges showed evidence of all the heavy rain. We did a bunch of errands then stopped by the red beach in Sprekelsville.... which was located right next to the Kahului airport. We slept at our favorite lava beach in Makena.

Day 45 - In the morning I strolled around Kalama park in Kihei where assorted surf lessons were taking place. In the afternoon, we visited Maui Tropical Plantation. It was filled with native trees and plants as well as historic sugar cane processing equipment. After running some errands, we grabbed a mango custard from Stillwell's Bakery. We drove back the front way (the Road to Hana) since the van struggles with the back hills of Kaupo.

Day 46 - My morning hike was as gorgeous as ever, especially in the dawn light... although all the falls have all but stopped flowing. This, however, was a wonderful (and safe) opportunity to explore the 'Ohe'o pools.

Day 47 - In the morning, I helped with cleaning up fallen palm fronds on the large property. Later, we drove to Hana and visited the Wananalua Church and wandered some trails around the bay. We then visited Michael, a friend of a friend, who owned some amazing property off one of the points with a view of Alau island.

Day 48 - I did my morning waterfall hike. The wild fruit must be changing seasons as it's getting harder and harder to find liliquoi (passion fruit). The rest of the day involved chopping coconuts with the machete, meeting some neighbors, reading, and watching the wildlife (whales and egrets) and the beautiful sunset.