There is a "hidden" beach of the south coast of the big island that is home to some green sand (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papakolea_Beach). Its about a 3 mile hike just to get there though there isn't a lot of elevation gain to deal with. It was a bit rainy throughout the day and it seemed as though the further inland we were, the rainier it got. The drive to the trail head from home was about an hour and ten minutes. After some child travel grumpiness we eventually made it and I had decided that since we drove all the way here we may as well make the 3 mile hike to see the beach.
We rented a backpack so that we could take the little guy with us on this hike and initially he did seem to enjoy it. We were like Luke Skywalker and Yoda in Degobah running through the swamp training to be a jedi. Ten minutes into the hike he started to get bored and wanted to walk around, be held and go back to the minivan. We gave him some chocolate granola bar which he seemed content enough with that we were able to get him back into the backpack. Soon, he dozed off and was quiet the rest of the trip.
The beach itself was pretty small and not as green as the wife would have hoped (it definitely was green). I took off my shoes and went wading into the water. It represented the conquest over travelling with a toddler. A triumph over tantrums and stress and poopy diapers and inconvenient nap times. It was a humble and silent victory as I didn't want to wake up the sleeping menace. I was hoping to make it at least half way back to the minivan before he woke up, but that would have been too good to be true. Five minutes after we started heading back, the menace woke up. And it started to rain. And we ran out of chocolate granola bars. And he wanted nothing to do with the backpack.
All seemed to point to a patience exhausting hour long walk back to the minivan, but some locals took pity on us and offered Mom and son a ride back to the parking lot in their 4x4 trucks. I noticed later how these locals had caught me in a moment of weakness, where I agreed instantly at the offer. Normally I would have been much more suspicious and would attempt to make character judgements of strangers offering "candy". But given the circumstances, it hardly crossed my mind.
Fifty minutes later I was reunited with family at the parking lot, weary from the rest of the hike. We drove to a nearby town and had dinner then went home. I think its important to celebrate the small victories - the ability to accomplish such adventures with a headstrong toddler. I wonder if similar but different travelling challenges await when he becomes a teenager...
Pictures forthcoming
- mp
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