A Week on the Big Island

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On Sunday, March 25, Tom and I took a short flight from Honolulu to Kona on "the Big Island" of Hawaii. Our first impression upon arrival was that we were landing on the moon! This is because the airport is built on a huge field of lava that gives it a bare, moon-like, appearance. We discovered that Hawaii is an island of 5 volcanoes, 3 of them now extinct. Kilauea is still very active, and because of this, smoke, or what the locals call "vog"( volcano smog), covers the southern part of the island, as you'll see from the photos.(Note: There are 50 photos in all, so please scroll down to the bottom of this page and go on to subsequent pages to see them all.)

We also learned that the island is very agricultural, growing such things as oranges, papapayas, avocados, macadamia nuts and coffee. We were very lucky because staying with our friends Bob and Evie, who own a coffee farm in the Kona region, meant we got to see coffee, as well as papaya, banana and avocado, plants close-up. And Tom even got to help Bob skin and butcher two feral pigs that were captured on their property! While on Hawaii, we also got to discover some lovely beaches and do a car-trip around the island. We didn't get to the top of Mauna Kea (13,794 ft.), where Tom wanted to visit the astronomical observatories, but we did see the crater and smoke of Kilauea; and we visited the city of Hilo on the east coast and some nearby waterfalls.

We spent our last day on the Big Island with Georg and Leslie (the father and step mother of one of his daughters-in-law), who very graciously took us out on the water in their boat and then had us to dinner and to spend the evening in their lovely home up in the hills.

All in all, we feel we had really unique experiences while visiting "the Big Island." You'll see!

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Photos

near deserted beach along the coast
Just to give you a glimpse of what we discovered on the island!

where we stayed
Bob and Evie's coffee farm. It's in Holuahoa in the Kona region of the island. Kona coffee is world-famous for its strong and rich flavor

our first lunch on the lanai
Tom, Evie and Bob. Evie is an excellent cook!

the final product
Bob + Evie sell their coffee berries (or "cherries") to a local mill, which produces their coffee

Tom and the Pig
Our first morning, Bob found 2 feral pigs in traps on his land. He shot them before we woke up and decapitated them to get them ready for cleaning and butchering. Tom is holding up the head for this photo.

Evie went right to work, too
She helped butcher and package the meat. I was too squeamish to do either! (In fact, it was even hard for me to take these photos.)

HK peeling bananas
helping Evie make dried bananas. Step 1.

Evie slicing bananas
Step 2

the dehydrating machine
Step 3. After 24 hours on trays in this machine, the bananas are dried and delicious! Evie uses a similar machine to dry pork and make "pork jerky".

food at Evie's
homemade sushi, macadamia nuts, and some local berries

Comments

[Annick]

Quelles belles vacances !

[Pam Steel]

Enjoying your travels!
Very much enjoying your travels with Tom in Hawaii! The photos and commentary make it very interesting—you do a great job.. I have an idea for you to maybe market your travel blogs...a long shot but nevertheless let's talk when you get back to CA. Any plans to come to Boston?

[Peter J.]

A little matter
Hi Hilary. Do you know why they are called coffee berries and not beans? Looks idyllic. Hugs, Peter