Ha'upu Tunnel Ride

I know it's been awhile since I posted, but we've had guests in town, I've been working a lot and traveling some too.

We went to the beach, but had to dodge the crowds at Hau'la, where it was packed as full as I've seen it.

Some pictures of Em about to get crushed by some 6-8 footers at Ha'ula beach

A couple weeks ago, I went for a MTB ride a little east of Kalaheo on some of the sugar cane roads. My goal was to find and ride through the tunnel in the mountain range visible from our deck. As usual, the land is private property, but typically the no trespassing signs are for liability reasons rather than truly restricting people from using the roads.

The ride was probably the best I've had here on the island with good terrain, excellent pasture and mountain views as well as a 2/3 mile long tunnel.

It starts with a couple miles of relatively flat riding, a couple turns and then you arrive at the tunnel. It was surprisingly large, easily large enough for a dumptruck to pass through (probably the original purpose for transporting sugar cane).

I brought a headlamp, but figured I wouldn't need it since the the bore of the tunnel was so large and I could see the other end easily. About a third of a mile into the tunnel when I couldn't see anything and the light on the other end had moved only imperceptibly closer, I realized something...I need that light...NOW! I put the light around my helmet and at least now I could see for a few feet ahead of the bike. Luckily, the riding surface inside the tunnel was actually very nice so I didn't take any spills in the dark.

I continued on the cane roads all the way to the base of Ha'upu (Hoary Head in English-which sounds much cooler) near the Maha'ulepu beaches. I encountered a couple bulls on the open range, but they didn't give me any trouble. I even managed to get a picture of the place that processes your sugar. Mmmmmmmmm, I'll have TWO teaspoons.

Once on the other side, I was excited to go through on the way back.

Back through the tunnel with the light on the whole time made the trip much easier.

On the way back I encountered a couple ATV tours. I was a little concerned since I was trespassing, but they gave me the Shaka (which is very different from the Shocker) and I returned the expression, so everything was cool.

There are a lot of options for this bike trip, so I'm sure I'll do another version soon. I headed back home and worked on my recipe for Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Actually, that is a knee-high stocking filled with Li'li'koi that I was squeezing for juice to perfect my recipe for fresh, ultra-premium passionfruit margaritas. C'mon out and have one sometime!