Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Moloka'i Museum and Cultural Center
Off Highway 470, two miles north of Kualapu'u sits the
Moloka'i Museum and Cultural
Center
(808/567-6436, 10am-2pm Mon-Sat., $5 adult, $1 student), a simple museum pre-
dominantly focused on the history of Kalaupapa. There's a small exhibit on Hawaiian ar-
tifacts as well as a basic gift shop, but where you're going to get your money's worth is
watching the documentary videos and reading through old newspaper articles pertaining to
life on the Kalaupapa Peninsula. On the same grounds behind the museum sits the
R.W.
Meyer Sugar Mill,
which was constructed in 1878 during the island's short-lived sugar
era. Although the former mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, creaky
floors and rusted machinery add to the creepy atmosphere. It's a good thing this place
closes at 2pm, because you wouldn't want to be stuck here at night.
Pala'au State Park
Above the residential town of Kala'e and past the mule barn, Highway 470 eventually
dead-ends in the parking lot of
Pala'au State Park.
The park offers decent camping, and
there are public restrooms available at the parking lot, although there is no potable water
and very basic facilities. The air up here is noticeably cooler than down on the shoreline,
and by the midmorning hours the northeasterly trade winds are usually blowing when you
head out toward Kalaupapa Overlook. To reach the lookout, follow the paved path at the
edge of the parking lot until it reaches a terminus at a low rock wall perched at the edge
of a cliff. From this vantage point you can take in unobstructed views of the town of
Kalaupapa, the former leper settlement, which still houses a handful of patients. Unless
you have booked a mule ride or plan to hike in to meet a tour group, this is the closest to
Kalaupapa that you can get, so drink in the view and take a moment to reflect on what life
on the peninsula must have been like.
Back at the parking lot, an unpaved trail leads 200 yards through a cool canopy of trees
before emerging at a sacred spot by the name of
Ke Ule O Nanahoa,
also known as “Phal-
lic Rock” for obvious reasons. According to legend, Nanahoa, the male god of fertility,
once lived nearby in the forests surrounding Pala'au. One day when Nanahoa sat to admire
a beautiful young girl who was looking at her reflection in a pool, Kawahua, Nanahoa's
wife, became so jealous that she attacked the young girl by yanking on her hair. Nanahoa
became outraged in turn and struck his wife, who rolled over a nearby cliff before finally
turning to stone. Nanahoa also turned to stone in the shape of an erect penis, and there he
sits today still pointing toward the sky.
