Kokee State Park

After 7 weeks on Hawaii’s NorthShore we decided to go on a little ‘holiday’ and explore the south and west coasts. First stop was the Kokee State Park, the land of the canyons, one of the wettest places on earth and a region of pig hunting.

We arrive at the camping ground and instantly feel peaceful with smiles stretching across our lips. We enjoy the sounds of the birds chirping, the fresh air, the sunshine filling our bodies and the lush green landscape.

We set up our tent in a semi-secluded beautiful spot surrounded by sweet smelling flowers. The sun starts setting and we soon realise its not as warm as the coast.

At 1200m elevation we soon feel the ultra crisp air. So we don our socks, pants, and extra layers. We find any extra bedding material, and spoon all night to keep warm. We were not expecting this and were still a little cold overnight. We estimated it was probably 5 degrees Celsius, but we disclaim that this may be unreliable as we are now acclimatised to warm temperatures.

The next morning, with our friend Josh, we set off to hike some trails to see the Waimea Canyon. In the crisp air we follow the trails and are intrigued by the juxtaposition of bush trees such as the Eucalyptus, then tropical plants, upside down flowers and pine trees. It was so bizarre but made sense with the quickly changing climate in these mountains. One minute it’s cloudy, then sunny, then raining and changing within a matter of minutes.

We made it to the canyon trail and admired the cliffs, the red dirt and some trees precariously growing on the edge. We observed pervious landslides, and on this occasion did not witness any. I loved looking at the carvings in the mountains formed by the wind erosion, landslides and the hurricanes.

A few times we have likened Hawaii to Australia with the red dirt, bush trees and the Kokee State Park proved to be another example reminding us of our home country with Western Australia and Queensland combined.