South Point (Ka Lea)

Tuesday we headed to South Point, the most southerly point of land in the United States at 18 54.067 N  (Key West at 24 32.657 N is further N by approx. 340 NM ).  According to the morning's weather forecast, the 20- 25K winds had turned light and variable, but someone had forgotten to tell the wind god who was still honking 20-25, at least where we were.  South Point extends about 12 miles beyond the end of the big island, and after the first few miles, was a barren wind swept plain that looked more like western Montana but for the fences, and a view of the ocean.  Dry, wind blown grass land, home to a series of cattle ranches, not quite what we'd expected!

Heading down to South Point

Much of the road had been upgraded to 2 (narrow) lanes, except for the culverts which hadn't.  The last stretch was a single lane, with shoulders several inches below the pavement.  We've noticed there seem to be 2 predominate  rental cars on the island (given their significant numbers) Jeeps  for the off road types, or Mustangs for the sport car enthusiast, and we've wondered how those fare on the less than smooth paved roads.  Although this wasn't indicated as 4WD (it was paved) they tended to be hesitant to yield the paved portion of the road.  Luckily, in spite of it being a popular tourist site, we didn't encounter a lot of traffic, and we had no problem dropping off the paved portion of the road as required.

Pakini Nui Wind Farm is situated on the W side, about halfway down the point, where it appears the wind blows most of the time. The few trees on the point were proof to this, all with a strong westerly tilt.  A bit further S a short segment of road, dubbed 'Broken Road', led to a cliff with views along the western side of the point.  The road and a concrete landing were built in 1955 in the lee of the point to service the fishing community.  However, nature being what she is, a chunk of the road and the landing washed into to sea in less than a year.

Wind blown  trees

West side of South Pt and the 'broken road' to the water,  Wind farm is upper left

It is believed South Point was the first place the Polynesians came ashore and settled when they discovered the islands.  Artifacts have been found in the area dating back to 300 AD.  Although there is no reliable source of fresh water, the fishing grounds off the point are incredibly rich, providing a reliable food source.  Ancient Hawaiians found the wind and offshore currents made it difficult to harvest the fish, and worked out a system of carving holes into the rock edge and utilizing ropes, fed through the holes, to tie their canoes to shore while fishing (better than drifting to Antarctica).

Today 2 steep, wobbly ladders go down to the water on the W side of the point, along with a hoist. Snorkeling is reported to be excellent in the very clear waters by the ladders, but given the conditions no one was snorkeling.  We saw one young kid who'd climbed down one of the ladders to go for a dip.  There were a number of fishermen plying their luck along the W side of the point, and even saw one land a small fish. Perhaps fishing is better with less wind.

Two ladders and the hoist

There were several ancient burial grounds that were restricted on the point, which we skirted to walk out on the actual point.  Given an incoming tide, strong winds and big waves, we didn't attempt to get to the ultimate end of the point.

Memorial to original Hawaiians

South Pt (Click here and zoom to find Lynnea)

South Pt Light

Another highlight of the point was a green sand beach, reachable either via 4WD or walking, about 2.5 miles each way.  The guide book indicated the track could be iffy, sometimes with deep ruts in the sand, giving us mixed feelings about making the trek.  We hadn't brought along any boards to help extract us if we got stuck, and when we arrived at the parking area, a couple of locals were 'requesting' a $20 road maintenance fee (suspicious and illegal) if we wanted to drive.  They were also running a shuttle service, but we didn't inquire as the price.  Rather than reinforce their arm-twisting tactics, we departed, having already had enough wind and sun for the day.

We explored 2 small towns, Waiohinu and Na'alehu, we'd driven through on the way to our new digs.  Waiohinu's claim to fame was the Mark Twain Monkeypod Tree, planted when he visited the area on horseback in 1866.  The original tree blew down in the 1950's, but shoots have since grown into a respectable new tree.  It took a couple of passes and some directions (blink and you're past it), but we found and documented our visit.

Mark Twain Monkeypod Tree

Na'alehu, a bit larger town, holds the record of having the southern most just about everything in the US.  We stopped at a deli/bakery which was packed with a tour group, to pick up a loaf of bread. Although they're known for their sweet rolls, we resisted the temptation to indulge.

a 3 ft diameter ball of barbed wire - we've seen these several places

We made a detour on the way home to stop at a small farm that offered coffee, honey and macadamia nut tastings.  We also checked out the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates that's uphill of a small shopping center, home to the closest market.  About 11,000 1 acre parcels on harsh lava were on a series of paved roads, someone's dream community started back in the 60's.  From what we saw, the name was misleading, there were no ocean views; the palm lined beach was 6+ miles down slope and yacht club promised in the original brochure never existed.  Electricity arrived around 1998 and rain catchment is the source for water.  There were a smattering of homes in the development, but nothing new appeared to be in the works.

Don't know what this machine does - seen in Ocean View Estates

We made a quick stop at one of the small roadside fruit stands.  The women were in the process of packing up, but were more than happy to bring their produce (freshly picked that day) out for me. We needed a few things  not available at our farm to tide us over until we leave.   I prefer to buy from the locals when possible as the produce is both fresher and less expensive, and t helps support the locals. They sold me some chocolate sopate which they claimed tasted like chocolate pudding, and  had to be very soft (squishy) to be ripe.  I bought one and was given another.   We tried one for dessert with ice cream, and it did taste and look like chocolate pudding, with a soft, smooth texture. I liked it, Leonard was a bit less impressed.