Saturday January 17th 2009

The alarm went off at 6am so we could get back to the airport for our 8.20am flight to Molokai. The plane was a Dash 8 with only 40 to 50 seats and it was open seating - like getting on a bus. The steward told us what we could see looking out the window (white caps, clouds etc) and then came around offering coffee. I preferred not to use the powdered creamer so when he came round again to collect the garbage I had only had a few sips of the hot coffee and had to throw it away in his plastic garbage bag! Memo to self: don't accept the coffee on a 20 minute flight!

The airport in Molokai is very small with a long table in the open air instead of a baggage carousel. We soon found our luggage, picked up our rental car and headed into the main town of Kaunakakai to get some food and wine to take to the condo. Although it is the main town on Molokai with the only 2 gas stations on the island it is just one main street and looks like an old west town. We got what we needed and then had a walk round exploring the Saturday market and checking out the other stores. We saw St Sophia's Catholic church and noted that there was a Mass at 6pm on Saturday or 9am on Sunday.

It took us about 30 minutes to drive out to the condo on the NW corner of the island and meet Cathy who let us in and made us welcome. The office did not open until later so we settled in with a drink on the lanai and later we went to the office to register and get the code that would let us into the pool area where we spent the afternoon. In the hot tub I met Carol who was escaping from Alaska with her youngest daughter while her husband stayed home with the school age kids - great plan!

We headed back to Kaunakakai for the 6pm Mass where we were made very welcome. A lady on the steps outside asked if this was our first visit to the church and greeted us with a shell lei and a kiss. She asked us to sign the guest register and then just before the Mass started she asked us to stand up so the congregation could greet us. We recognized the priest because he had been in the boarding lounge in Honolulu waiting for the same plane as us.

On the way back to the Ke Nani Kai condos we marvelled at the cat's eyes illuminating the road - a brilliant invention that cannot be used on our roads in Alberta because the snow plows would rip them up.