Blogs from Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 8

Sunday morning our dear friend Pat offered to take Joe, Alberto and I on a lovely hour long hike thru a jungle in Waimea Valley to a waterfall. It involved climbing, slipping, wading chest deep thru a stream and several bruises but all together it was this amazingly spectacular hike to a 1,450 foot waterfall. I fell behind a little but waded thru the stream and several little waterfalls to see Pat yelling at me to hurry my ass up. I see this picturesque water scene...a pool at the base of a waterfall. The boys are all ready swimming out to put their heads in the pounding drops of water. The water wasn't flowing as much as usual so Pat and Joe start joking about “What if the water starts going at full speed???” Pat laughingly ... read more

Hurrah for Hilo! Wednesday 8th October 2008, 10.30 a.m. Yesterday morning our flight left Honolulu at 9.20 a.m. and by 10.05 we were banking sharply down over crystal clear seas, fringed by rain forest to the old town of Hilo on the east coast of Hawaii, otherwise known as Big Island. We got off the plane in high humidity and heat at a pretty little one-storey airport planted with tropical flowers and surrounded by palm and banyan trees and we just knew that this was going to be good! Hilo is known as one of the wettest places on earth. It rains roughly two out of every three days; warm rain, cleansing rain, life-giving rain and we love the green lushness of it all. This is Hawaii, unspoilt and friendly. We have been here just twenty ... read more

This morning we got up to an early start. Our group left the house at 7:15 a.m. meeting Lehua at Richardson's Ocean's Park to print designs on our Kihei (robes for ceremonies). Using our imagination we created different patterns and sketched down our ideas onto our Kilei with the tools of nature's plants. After our Kihei's dried from the paint, we ate lunch and drove to the cultural school. At the school we took samples of water in one of the largest fish ponds. The fish pond was cold because majority of the water comes from the mountain. There is a low percentage of salt in the pond. The students of the Charter School blocked the ocean's water that comes into the ponds with a rock wall. Each pond has a gate to close out fish ... read more

Today was another beautiful day on the island of Hawaii. We had a late start around 9ish, we all gathered in the van to go to the Volcano National Park. We drove 6,000 ft up Mauna Loa with Lehua and Kaumakaiwa Kamara'ole. They talked to us about their culture and lifestyle. After we drove half way back down we stopped to make a lei made of ferns, as an offering for Pele, the Goddess of Fire. Then we drove to Kilauea Caldera Crater. Kaum sang a permission song to ask if we can be on the island. Then we threw the lei into the sulfer smelling crater. After we got permission to be on the island we drove to the steam vents. Steam vents are water in the ground that gets heated up by the lava ... read more

We wanted to celebrate our first Valentine’s Day after the wedding in style… something different… and the answer was - Hawaii Volcano National Park! It is the home to one of the most active volcanoes in the world - Kilauea. This national park is located on the Hawaii’s Big Island. The Big Island, also known as the Island of Hawai’i or the Big Isle, is the biggest island of the State of Hawaii and still growing! It is also the youngest amongst the all. Nearest airport from the national park is in the city of Hilo. Hilo is approximately 36 miles away from the national park. Hilo airport is a very small airport. However, it has number of flights operating quite frequently everyday between Hilo and other islands (mainly Oahu). There is also a commuters’ terminal ... read more