While in Oahu we decided to hike the Waimea Valley. The 2 mile hike is deeply rooted in Hawaiian history with lessons on Hawaii’s culture, traditions, flora and fauna – ending in the beautiful Waimea Falls. Half way into the hike Vea’s flip flops had a blow-out. That essentially means that the strap which connects between the toes breaks off and renders the flip flops useless. This is a problem in the middle of a hike through historic Hawaiian trails. What follows is a lesson in improvisation and making use of the materials at hand to solve a problem…
At the time of the flip flop blowout, we were half-way into the hike – and turning back would mean missing the best parts of the trail. So Norrie looked around at the surrounding endemic and native flora and decided to improvise with some custom flip flop designs for Vea …
Design #1:
Flop Flip Design # 1
With a Banana leave and a Hawaiian Ti plant leave, this design was initially very comfortable – but proved to be fragile on the rocky trail and quickly fell apart after only 5 minutes.
Design #2:
Flop Flip design #2
A variation of design #1 – with all Hawaiian Ti leaves used for both underfoot and uperfoot support – this design proved to be longer lasting, but not very aesthetically pleasing – so Vea asked for another variation…
Design #3:
Flip flop design # 3
This iteration now includes a tree vine between the toes to mimic an actual Flip Flop feel, with a Banana leave wrap around for support and style. This was overall durable and good looking – however the between toes feature ended up being a weak point and eventually blew out just like the original flip flops that Vea started with.
Design #4:
Flip Flop design #4
This final design made use of recycled materials (the blown-out flip flops) and a strong tree vine to re-enforce the original flip flop to fix the blow-out issue at the toe-strap. The design proved to be durable and Vea’s favourite option since it most resembled the original flip flop. Natural support features were balanced well with the synthetic base – which proved to be good combination of old vs. new.
Final iteration:
Flip Flop blow-out resolution
Eventually it turned out that the best solution to the flip-flop blow-out was a simple piggy back from Norrie. Sometimes it’s better to carry through than improvise.
All for now – Norrie
You know I have a foot fetish, right?
Perhaps someone will start a reality TV series in which people are stranded naked on a tropical island and have to make clothing and footwear from native materials. Petra may remind you of the old MacGyver series in which the hero always carries a generous roll of duct tape, and did on one occasion make duct tape shoes for a lady whose footwear fell apart on a mountain escape from something or other.
Thanks to all for the blogs, which we follow with interest, and for the most part, with envy, although high zip-lines are not my personal cup of tea. All the best in your subsequent adventures. Chris
I think you’re on to something Norrie with Design #3 and #4! 😉 Great post! 🙂
Love it!!!! Vea, I know you wanted that piggy back ride all along HA HA! You’ll be interested to know that your cousin Brennan had a “slipper” blow-out in Australia and travelled throughout Asia with a unique improvisation…he used Courtney’s bobby pins to reinforce the toe strap from the bottom side. Not as stylish as your designs!!! Great blog post!!!
Bread tags and bobby pins are what I used these past 7 months, work like a charm!
Too funny – I love this post!
You are a regular Magivor Norrie. We are totally impressed.
One of our favourite blogs so far. Espen went to the piggy back ride after variation #1, but he is a guy that would choose that while sporting a new pair of shoes. Awesome memory
You guys are amazing! Beth showed us your blog/photo’s which we really enjoyed seeing. Lucky kids, lucky parents ! ( nice chatting with you on f/t with the Rogers 🙂