Drone aerial shot of the Lana'i coastline, and our boat anchored in the distance.
Here in Hawaii, Lana'i is a unique place. This island has been privately owned since the early 1900's. First used as a ranch, then as a giant pineapple plantation by Dole, now it is the home to two exclusive resorts and a small town of 3,000 or so residents that call Lana'i home. The only ferry in the islands visits here from Maui three times a day. And a small airport services flights from Oahu and Maui as well. A barge brings in supplies and groceries to the island once a week. The pace is slow here, and places to sleep under $1000 are very limited. So not many tourist ever make it here. But that is just the kind of place I want to expose my guests onboard the expedition cruise ship, Safari Explorer, to. The unique history of the island makes this place unlike any other spot we visit in the Hawaiian islands.
There aren't many paved roads here, but old plantation dirt track roads crisscross the island. We plan on using this network of tracks today to go explore with some seriously awesome mountain e-bikes. The Lana'i adventure center had everything set up for us, including helmets for everyone. We had a quick lesson on how to use the e-bike pedal assist feature, how to work the dropper post, and to get a feel for the hydraulic disk brakes. They emphasized, 'ease and squeeze' on the brakes, so no one ends up going over the handlebars and turning their vacation into a paincation.
I went with a small group of hard charger bikers, to explore the farthest reaches of the island. We took a different direction than last time, and blasted our way out to several beautiful overlooks on the northwest side of the island. We could see Molokai across the channel, and whales splashing in the water way off below us. The landscape became a red kaleidoscope of colors as we made it to the windy and eroded northwest section of the volcano that makes up Lana'i. It is a part of the island that few venture to, but the off-road ebikes made it accessible.
Everyone did great, and stayed on their bikes. The only big glitch came when I ran over a barbed wire jack that had been left, half-buried in the red dirt. It punctured my front tire about a half inch deep. When I pulled it out, the tell-tale sound of air, swooshing out of my tire confirmed my fears. Here I was, as far from the Adventure Center and town as possible, and my bike is totally unusable.
However, after a quick radio call, a new bike was being rushed in my direction. I told the rest of the group to continue on, and I would catch up after meeting the rescue crew. Unfortunately, the truck wasn't able to make it all the way to me. So I jogged my bike, back up the side of the volcano and met them about a mile later. I did find about eight more of those barbed wire booby traps on my way. After a quick bike swap, and hitting the boost mode e-bike function, I caught up to the group in no time.
It is always an adventure out here with UnCruise.
These Kona mountain e-bikes are legit. Check out all the gadgets on this brand new one they let me ride.
Hydraulic disc brakes...oh yeah! Just don't squeeze the brakes too hard or you will fly right over the handle bars.
Well this was unexpected. Who left a piece of barbed wire in the middle of the path? I went back and found about eight more of these bike-killers in the same area.
I'm pretty sure that no bike tire is going to survive this. This was hidden in the red dirt with the top part sticking straight up. The second I pulled it out of the bike tire, all the air swooshed out. And I was at the farthest point away from the base camp. Oh man.
I snapped this photo as I was walking my bike back up the volcano. The rest of the group rode by after calling a support vehicle for me. Unfortunately the support truck couldn't drive down here, so I pushed my bike for about a mile before meeting them towards the first lookout. They put me back on a new bike and I was ready to go!
Biking past the Lana'i Ranch. I'm going to have to try out their horseback rides at some point.
This is where we started our off-road portion of our bike today. Most people who visit Lana'i never get to see what is out here.
Our first stopping point was this beautiful overlook. Molokai can be seen in the distance past the Pailolo Channel. We even saw some whales splashing in the ocean below.
I caught up with the group after my flat tire and bike switch just in time to check out the ancient ruins of the old church and school house.
I had to pause and take a photo of the little green Hawaiian church that we biked past.
Some of my group wanted to bike this part of the trail, but better safe than sorry.
I tried to find some offroad spots even as we biked through town.
A giant fig tree dominates the area around the old ruined church.
This stone church would have had a thatch roof on it. According to the sign, everyone inside would have been wrapped up to fend off the cold.
Sunrise this morning from the ship.
Entering the Mahana district on Lana'i. Few folks ever make it this part of Hawaii.
We biked through a forest of Australian pines for a ways.
And then made it out to some beautiful overlooks. The cliffs here looked like they had been painted.
Not quite as crazy as it first looks. You've gotta have some fun with the guests while on adventure. This is for the blooper reel in our end of week slideshow.
Jesse, part of our camera crew, ready to go offroad.
View over the North side of Lana'i, all the way out to Molokai.
As always, keep traveling and keep posting!
- Dai Mar