Grand Canyon 2.0

Dear travel diary

Friday, July 23, 2021

Oh my, this weather is something else. How are we supposed to enjoy the last two weeks with a scooter in Hawaii when it's constantly raining?

Today, Tunnels Beach was on the agenda, but with such weather, it's not fun at all. Nevertheless, we set off around 11:00 am when it stopped raining for a few minutes. Just five minutes into the drive, we were already stopped by roadworks and had to turn around. The road is only open at certain times, and of course, not at 11:00 am.

So we turned back and tried our luck at the pool. The sun still managed to shine for a few minutes before being chased away by the clouds. Around noon, we returned just before the heavy rain and had some food. The weather didn't improve in the afternoon, so we decided to go to Tunnels Beach for the sunset.

We spent the afternoon emotionally eating in front of the TV. When it was time to go, we still didn't leave. After all, how can there be a sunset without the sun?!

So we spent the evening playing badminton and doing gymnastics on the laptop.

Saturday, July 24, 2021

I woke up just before the alarm (7:15 am) and got ready for the day. We have a long scooter ride ahead.

We left with a delay of almost half an hour at half past eight without rain. The weather held up until Lihue, then it started raining like crazy again. I could feel the water spreading on the saddle and soaking my pants more and more. I could already sense my underwear getting wet too.

Throughout the journey, I hummed "Oh du goldigs Sünneli" and "Vom Aufgang der Sonne" hoping that the sun would listen to me. Unfortunately, no.

I even felt some cold drops on my upper body that penetrated through the rain jacket.

When we arrived in Waimea, the weather improved slightly. But while looking for a restroom in the shopping center, it started raining again, and my rain jacket, which I temporarily placed on the floor to dry, got wet again. We continued driving through Waimea and were greeted by a warm breeze and some sun rays. The warmth felt so good and pleasant that we didn't want to leave.

Finally, on the road leading to the canyon, the weather worsened again. It started drizzling, the sun came out again, and the clouds appeared.

Our first stop was at the Red Dirt Waterfall, which is more like a stream. The sight was beautiful, though, as the water finds its way among red stones. It looked almost artificial and like a painting.

Next, we arrived at a viewpoint where we had to pay an entrance fee per vehicle. Even though we were traveling with two scooters and not taking up any parking space or anything like that. This annoyed us for a moment because it ended up being more expensive than if we had just paid admission with a car. The lady then asked stupidly if we were together on the scooter. Obviously not, as this is not allowed in Hawaii.

However, the view was stunning. The view into the canyon, which is also known as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. In my opinion, it was even more beautiful as it shimmered in many different colors, and occasionally a waterfall flashed.

After our lunch break, we drove to the end of the road and went on a short hike for the last time. It led us further down to a viewpoint overlooking the Na Pali Coast. I thought to myself how beautiful it must be from below if it was already breathtaking from up there. The view even made up for my little fall on the way down. But fortunately, neither I nor my camera were harmed, although it lived quite dangerously.

After cleaning up in the restroom, we drove towards Princeville to go home. When we arrived at the main road, it felt like we couldn't make any progress. It was really windy, so I had to steer against it several times to avoid flying off.

We were spared from the rain until just before Lihue, where it rained for about a minute in our favor. When we arrived in Lihue itself, we made a short stop at Walmart and then continued rolling.

It started raining again only when we arrived in Princeville. But we were able to take shelter in the apartment in time, shower, and warm up.

My phone lit up, a message from Dwayne. He asked how we girls were doing and if we were coping. When we replied that we were doing fine, just a bit unlucky with the weather during the scooter ride, he promptly laughed at us. However, we were still very happy about his inquiry.

And so ends a day with lots of rain, sun, insects, and six hours of driving.