Kaiwi Shoreline Trail
Sunset on the Kaiwi Shoreline | September 2018
Before moving to Oahu, I had read about people complaining of “Island Fever.” I’m not sure if there are specific ‘symptoms’ for this, but I imagine we’ve experienced it from time to time here. For me, it usually comes during the week when I’m home alone and thinking about how small and congested Oahu is, looking over expenses and bemoaning the cost of living, or feeling isolated and so far from home.
The best solution for Island Fever is honestly just getting out of the house and appreciating the beauty of this place. It doesn’t matter if it’s a new-to-me spot or one I’ve visited dozens of times, all it takes is being somewhere peaceful and scenic, where I can stop, take a deep breath, and just admire the beauty. The way the waves crash into rocks. The way the clouds change from white, to yellow, pink, purple, and blue as the sun sets behind the mountains. The clear turquoise water on a sunny day. The sharp ridges of the Ko’olau Mountains when the clouds pass and the sun hits them just right. It’s in these moments that I think I’m crazy for ever wanting to leave this place. It’s been a year, and the views still never cease to amaze me.
A few weeks back we decided to go out for a sunset stroll to a very familiar place: Makapu’u Point. This time, however, we took the Kaiwi Shoreline trail out to the coast, to a small beach known as Alan Davis Beach. There’s a rock formation overlooking the inlet called Pele’s Chair. This is a spot mainly visited by locals, and people visiting enjoy jumping off rocks into the ocean, which has calmer waves compared to its neighboring beaches — Makapu’u and Sandy Beach, which aren’t meant for swimming. The trail is just a quarter mile long on a dirt and rocky path. Since we were here to enjoy a new perspective on this corner of the island, we bypassed the beach and continued on the Kaiwi Shoreline trail along the South shore. We admired the way the giant waves crashed into the rocks, and how the water in the tide pools stayed perfectly still, reflecting the rocks and purple clouds.
After that, we hurried up the paved path to the first lookout on the Makapu’u Trail to catch the sun slip below the mountains and enjoyed the last colors of the sunset. We hurried back to our car to get out before the gates closed and drove home in the dark, Island Fever successfully cured…for this week, at least. 😉 You can check out our short hike recording here. While there’s no denying that the sunset colors are beautiful here, they’re having us reminisce the extra colorful hikes we enjoyed 2 years ago together in the Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, and Upstate New York. We miss you, Fall!
