On friday afternoon I travled back to Waipio Valley with 3 friends, Nate, Leif, and Maya. We set out to hike 8 miles along the Muliwai Trail from Waipio Valley to Waimanu Valley. Waimanu is a beautiful uninhabited valley only accessible by hiking or kayak. The hike took us up and over several scenic valleys before one final steep descent into Waimanu Valley. We swam in the ocean and as the sun began to fade we set up our campsite. We planned to camp friday and saturday evening and then hike back on sunday.
On saturday morning around 6 am we were awaken by police who were there to notify us a tsunami warning was in effect as a result of the earthquake in Chile. They were also there to evacuate us by helicopter. We quickly packed up our belongings and headed over to the first campsite where the helicopter was waiting. My friends took the waiting chopper back to Waipio Valley and I waited a few minutes to take the last ride with the emergency personnel people.
The helicopter ride was quite a thrill as we rode out over the water along the coast. I could see the cliffs and valleys we had hiked the previous day and then enjoyed a birds eye view of Waipio Valley as we returned to high ground. We now had about 4 hours to wait before the arrival of the tsunami so we went into town to eat breakfast and relax. We then returned to the Waipio Valley lookout to see the tsunami. We waited until 11 am and then waited longer but the tsunami never came. It was an anti-climactic conclusion but a definite relief to know the lives of many Hawaiians would not be turned upside down.
On monday we had a Goodbye Sushi party for Nate, Moze, Natasha, and Tookah. These are 4 people who have been at Kipuka since November. They've grown into good friends and for me the community won't be the same without them. Here's Nate and Moze doing the sushi preperation. Below I'm doing a little pre-party Xigong with Leif. 
