April On The Big Island - A day-by-day journal

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Hawaii Trip April 2009

Weds, Apr. 1

April fool’s day! I kind of got fooled this day. Set out to go south from Kailua (We’re actually staying in Kailua, not Kona. There is a Kona, but Kona is a designation of the area, as well as a town. The island was divided by the natives into mokus, or districts. Kona was one of those districts. The larger town into which everyone flies and in which most visitors reside is actually Kailua.

Anyway, got a bit of a late start, heading south on the Hawaii Island beltway, HI hwy 11. Passed through the old coffee and cane growing towns south of Kailua: Kona, Laa-something, Kealekekua, Captain Cook. I was headed for the famous green sand beach at the south end of the island. It was 50 miles’ trip, though and, after an hour of the traffic on the 2-lane road, road crews at work, and the extreme winding quality of the road that hugged heights on the mountainside, I had made only 25 miles. Turned around and went for plan B.

Plan B was to hike down to the Captain Cook monument on Kealakekua Bay. In 1778 Capt. James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands. He contacted the islanders on the Big Island and anchored at a village called Ke’ei on Kealakekua Bay. The British sailors overstayed their welcome and eventually relations soured. In a fight over a stolen ship’s boat, Cook was killed outside the village. The Hawaiians boiled his body and kept his bones, that later were buried (Can’t recall where…). The ruins of the village are still there - crumbling stone walls and platforms half-hidden in the trees and bushes. It seems ancient, but the village was occupied in 1778 and certainly for some time after that. We think of the ‘ancient’ Hawaiians, with their horrific religion and oppressive social structure and stone-age technology, but it was that way until a scant 180 years ago. In 1871 the Brits received a plot of land on the bay, outside the village that is still sovereign British territory, where they put up a monument. One can access the monument by boat, sea kayak or hiking down from the heights above. I did the kayak thing several years ago. It’s a great place to snorkel. This time, I did the hike, which is an elevation change of 1350’. Going down, it wasn’t so bad. Coming up was every bit as miserable as I had feared it would be. There was only about 400 ft. of sharp incline. After that it was just a steady grinding climb, made worse by mid-day heat, and the 10’ high tall grass on both sides of a lot of the trail that prevented any air flow to the trail. Made it, and glad I did the hike, though.

That evening we did dinner at a wonderful Thai place - I had yellow mango-coconut curry. Excellent!

Thurs. Apr. 2

Tuesday was better. Tried the trip out to the green sand beach again. This time I got within a mile or so of the turnoff for it and was stopped by road construction. I don’t recall there being so much screwing with the roads on previous trips. So, headed a bit farther east to the black sand beach at Punalu’u. The sand is, indeed, black. The trip there was beautiful. After the nasty winding roads of the south Kona area, the trip through the Ka’u district was lovely. Wherever the road didn’t cut through broad a’a lava fields, views from the high points were of broad coastal plains and rolling grassy hills and forest above the ocean that reminded me rather of Cornwall. The air all over the southern parts of the island is hazy all the time from the 13-month-long gas eruptions from the volcanoes. The locals call it ‘vog’ - volcanic fog.

The sand at the black sand beach was as black as advertised. What was really fascinating, though, was the low promontory above it. An obscure, unmarked trail through some bushes at one end of the beach led up to an a’a lava field where there was an ancient heiau. There was a wall, at least 200 ft. long on one side that had been at least 10 ft. tall when in use. The natives still use it to some degree, as there were a couple of small collections of stones sheltering relatively new offerings.

(Terminology: two kinds of lava - a’a, which is the really nasty broken-up lava. It’s the result of rapid cooling and breaks into spiky, sharp formations. Pahoehoe is ropy, layered lava that looks kind of like cow patties. Comes from slow cooling. A heiau is a religious spot or structure from the ancient Hawaiian religion. It can be a spot where some rocks are piled up and offerings left, a ‘lele’ or two or three level wood platform, also where offerings are left or a large, ambitious structure of dry-laid stone walls and platforms.)

The rest of the day was spent in a hike. I started from a trailhead on the south side of the island that took me 1400’ elevation change up the slopes of Mauna Loa. The trail followed a line of fences that divided grazing leased land from state forest preserve. On the forest preserve side the lower canopy was 20 ft. tall tree ferns and lots of wild ginger and other ground growing plants. Under that lay old lava fields, so it made for pretty nasty going. On the side I was walking on the cattle had gotten rid of the ginger and the ferns, leaving beautiful wooded park lands that rolled endlessly, climbing rounded level upon level upward. The guidebook mentioned interesting ancient native sites, but I never found them. I did find an old, small caldera, though. Also spotted a pair of Mufflon sheep. They are imports from Europe. They look like civilized versions of Bighorn sheep, with somewhat shaggy brown coats and curled horns on the males. Went about 3 miles in before turning around. Thank G-d for the GPS: I had marked several waypoints along the way and used the ‘backtrack’ feature to navigate back. But for that, I expect I’d have ended up taking at least one wrong turn and been wandering for hours, if not days longer before finding the trailhead again.

We wanted to try the local fresh fish. Last time here we had bought our fish from a shop out at the small boat harbor where the fishermen sold their catches. That place was closed for renovation, but we found out that the local supermarket chain (KTA) was good for fresh fish sales. We had visited the local farmer’s market and bought breadfruit and local purple sweet potatoes to go with. First time for trying breadfruit. It’s a knobbly yellow globe from 5-10 in. diameter with a solid white flesh. We steamed ours. They can be prepared any way one does potatoes and taste almost exactly the same. Purple sweet potatoes look like light gray-brown yams with white flesh. When cooked, however, the flesh turns a deep purple. Nice flavor, but dry. We sampled moonfish, shark, striped marlin, and ono (wahoo). All were excellent. I liked the moonfish and shark the best.

Friday, April 3

A long day driving, but rewarding. Plan B again: I had intended to hike in the famous Waipio valley on the northeast coast, but was raining over there, so I headed to the far north end of the island, the Kohala district. I drove across ranching country to Waimea, the ‘cow town’ of the big island. North central Hawaii, near the feet of Mauna Kea, looks almost exactly like northern New Mexico: a rolling grassy landscape populated by volcanic domes and cones. It is the home of the Parker Ranch, the largest private ranch operation in the US. From Waimea I took the Kohala Mountain road up to the quaint old town of Hawi. The road climbs the slopes of the long-extinct Kohala volcano, winding across the summit through high altitude grassy pastures and stands of windblown trees before dropping down to the coast of the northern tip of Hawaii.

The trip was to revisit Mo’okini heiau, which sits on a bleak, windswept knoll above the ocean where one can see the mountains of Maui. The heiau is particularly old, possibly dating back to about 1300 when a new wave of Tahitian immigrants brought with them the social system that dominated the islands until 1819. Along with a brutal social hierarchy and the vicious ‘kapu’ system of laws and taboos, religious practices also included fairly frequent human sacrifice, carried out at this unique heiau. Unlike other heiaus that are platforms for smaller wood and grass structures, this heiau is a huge rectangle surrounded by a stone wall that was up to 20 thick and 10 or more feet high. It is a spooky, evil-feeling place, hulking as it does on a gentle rise. One feels that there is still a lingering inimical force or spirit there. I got proof of that the last time I was here.

In 2005 I visited the island for the second time. I had plans for all kinds of activities. I had read about the heiau and went to check it out on the first day of my trip. You have to walk about 1.5 mi. to it unless you have a very capable 4WD vehicle. About a mile in on the hike, within sight of the heiau, I tripped and broke a bone in my foot. Was on crutches the whole rest of the trip. This time I intended to defy the evil spirits there. I made the trip in OK, but as I was leaving, I slipped on the muddy road and fell. This time, though, I didn’t injure anything, just got dirty hands and butt. They tried to get me again, though….
Ate dinner again at the Kona Brewing Co. brewpub. Superb! I’d consider it the best place on the island for food and beer. The atmosphere is always lively and active, the pizza is unmatched, as is the beer.

Sat. April 4.

Spent the morning finding geocaches. One took us to the old Kona airport, now a park. The airport was shut down in 1984 by a lava flow that destroyed part of the runways. Others were various places around the town. The old airport runway forms the huge parking lot for the park, which surrounds it. Some nice beach area fronts on a small bay. There are some picnic areas under trees to the north. To east and northeast, though, huge blocks of lava make up the landscape. Not much fun for wandering about, esp. when looking for a geocache.

That afternoon was diving. It was a two-tank afternoon dive off the coast by the new airport. On the first dive we saw some neat local creatures like garden eels - they live in colonies in the sand flats. They extend their bodies vertically out of their holes like thick grass stalks. As one approaches, they disappear into the holes in a wave that moves away from you, reappearing as you pass.

The second dive was a night dive to see manta rays. Mantas are the largest of the rays. Gentle giants with wingspans 6-10 ft. across, they are plankton eaters. They fly gracefully through the water, sucking plankton into their huge oval maws. The dive started quietly. The dive operators put big lights on the bottom to attract the plankton, which attracts the mantas. We didn’t see any for a while and started checking out other stuff. Then, we looked toward the light and they began to appear like ghostly, otherworldly spirits sailing into the light. We watched for some time as they sailed, somersaulted, dipped, swooped with an ethereal grace through the beams of light from the bottom and from our dive lights.

After a while Ange ran low on air and needed to go back to the boat. She went w/ the dive guide back and I followed, figuring I’d seen what there was to see, although I still had about 1/3 tank left. She went on up and I hung below the boat to do a 3 min. safety stop. While I hung there in the water with my powerful dive light still on, one of the mantas came over to me. I had my own personal manta for several minutes. It would swim toward me, the huge, oval mouth looking like the entrance to a living cavern, then glide past me, turning and passing back over, once doing a complete somersault, then swooping by again. Finally, the silent, gentle monster drifted away into the night.

Sun, April 5, 2009

A mixed day. The idea was to spend most (but not all) of the day at the Place of Refuge (Pu’u Honua O Honaunau - Place of Refuge at Honaunau). The Place of Refuge is a National Historical Site. For the ancient Hawaiians it had two purposes. A residence for the ali’i, it was a lovely, tranquil place on a small cove with houses, work structures and heiaus in a pretty grove of coconut trees. A huge wall divided that region off from the Place of Refuge. Within that area people could take shelter from disasters or war - a frequent occurrence. If someone broke one of the countless kapus for which the penalty was death, and he or she could make it inside the wall, then the crime could be forgiven and he or she could go free.
The historical site now has the amazing wall - 10 ft high and thick that goes around two sides of the Refuge. Inside it is a large heiau platform and at one end, by the shore is a haleawi, or large thatched house that was a mausoleum for bones of past ali’i. Outside it are 7 huge wooden idols arranged in a semicircle, plus more placed on the platform and outside it. A place of mystical beauty.

We intended to do shore dives from the little cove next door. Ange, however, found the concept a little trying. Neither of us had enough weight on, so she, as usual, just floated to the top. She got frustrated getting out, so it rather ruined the diving for her. I continued after helping her out, doing two dives. On the second I saw a spotted snake eel. It looked just like a snake, off-white with oval brown spots, making its way along the base of an outcrop.

After the dives we had lunch in the lovely picnic area overlooking the surf on the rocks, then hiked out about a mile to the remains of a village called Ki’i. It’s nothing but some tumbled stone walls hugging the rocky cliff above the ocean, now.

Monday, April 6

A great day. I had two tanks from Sun. to use up, so went back out to Two-Step (Place of Refuge). The sun was out that morning so the water was bright. Did two dives. Neither yielded any remarkable sights, but both were top-notch in that the water was clear - at least 100’ visibility and every kind of colorful fish one can imagine was there. Just like being the little diver in a tropical fish tank. I was that, kind of, for the hordes of snorkelers above me. Did see a lone barracuda. Love those guys. They look so scary and have that rep., but are just curious, like cats. First dive was shallow, as I was playing with Ange’s camera in its nifty underwater bag, but it didn’t work so well, as the bag is not well designed. Kept it dry, but I had to stay above 55’. So, second dive went beyond the reef and sank down to the sandy bottom at 85’, just to do it. When I was here in 2002 I was snorkeling out at Kealakekua Bay. I looked out into the blue depths beyond the reef and wanted to be able to go down there. Finally got to.

In the afternoon I made the mad drive up above Kawaihae, the port town for the island, to a navigational heiau. The trail to it started at Makukona, a former port for the sugar industry. It’s now a public beach, but some of the concrete structures are still there. Interestingly, there’s also a building from the 20s-30s with the words, ‘West Hawaii Railway Co., 1930’ on it. The trail to the heiau is the old railroad right of way, following the coastline. It’s about ¾ mile walk to the heiau. It was the most fascinating heiau I’ve seen yet. It was a navigational heiau. Very small, only perhaps 50’ on a side, it’s perched on a knoll right above the ocean. At the north end by the entrance is a depression with a roundish flat stone in the middle. This must be the base point. Standing stones, varying in height from one to 6 ft. tall are arrayed in various places on the platform. It appears that a sighting from the baseline through a particular stone marked the line to another island. The guidebook says that there are courses to places as far away as Tahiti marked there. A standing stone down the slope seemed to be the guardian. It had small offerings of coins, beads, etc. around the base. In the hope of receiving the privilege of safe trip home and a return to the island, I left a coin myself.

Bought moonfish and veggies for stir-fry, plus a tray of salmon poke. Along with mashed purple sweet potatoes, made for a great dinner, topped off with superb pale ale from the Hilo brewery.

Tuesday, April 7

Moving day. Took Ange to work, then came back to the apt. to get us packed up. Accomplished that by 1100, then off on the progress to the Hilo side of the island. The Big Island has such a surprising variety of climates. On the north side the extinct Kohala volcano is a wild, windblown region of grassy meadows and tree-lined roads, looking rather like northern England. Central north is open short grass and volcanic features, like northern New Mexico. Down at the south end of the Kona district, it looks kind of like the mesquite forests of south Texas. South point region of Ka’u district reminds one of the grassy, rocky coast of Cornwall. Over here in Puna district in the southeast, it’s tropical rain forest.

We made the nearly 100-mile trip this afternoon, stopping a few times. Dropped into the wonder Hana Hou bakery and restaurant in Na’alehu, an old sugar cane town. The building had to date at least to the 1940s. Furniture probably from the late 50s. The guidebook recommended it, and rightly so. We had sweets: Ange, a chocolate lover’s cake and I, Ka’u lime pie. Both with local coffee on the side.

Stopped in at Volcanoes NP to see what there was to see, and not see. I had feared that large portions of the park were closed because of recent eruptions. Turned out that not as much as I had feared was inaccessible. When we were here in 2002 we walked across the larger Kilauea caldera. It was a more or less flat expanse of old lava studded with some spots of broken, fantastic formations and small steam vents. At one side as a deeper crater called Halema’uma’u. There was a walkway to the edge with a picket fence to keep people from walking on over the edge. Last year a hole opened up at the edge of Halema’uma’u right by the fence and it exploded, burning the fence, engulfing it in poisonous sulfur dioxide gas and pummeling it with volcanic bombs up to a meter across. So, now you can’t walk across the caldera. Gas is still roiling up out of the hole, now 400 ft. across, and the bottom seethes with lava, although you can’t see it for the clouds of gas. We were amused to think we were there where it’s happening just a few years ago.

Found the rental house with no problems. It’s a cute 30-year-old house on lovely grounds with all kinds of grass and plants. Idyllic. Except for the tree frogs. When we returned from shopping and dinner we were greeted by a cacophony of strange beeps and chirps. Couldn’t figure what it was. The noise was almost deafening. Then, Ange recalled reading about them. They are dime sized little buggers called coqui, an invasive species from the Caribbean. Can’t see them, as they’re too small.

The town nearest is Pahoa, the Big Island’s hippie colony and Obama supporter stronghold. The ‘downtown’, is a block long and as quaint as Hawi. Obviously it was a former sugar cane town. Buildings all look like they date from about 1900. The assortment of odd people in the supermarket was quite amusing. Doubtless they were all Obama voters...

Interesting note about living in the Puna district: This part of the island is the newest geologically. Therefore, there are no streams, ponds or lakes occurring naturally. Apparently, rainwater percolates deep into the rock. The natives used to find water in little pools of fresh water or, more often, mixed pools near the shore where the lighter freshwater percolated up and lay on top of the heavier salt water in the pool. They would skim the fresh to use. Because the rock is too hard (expensive) to drill for wells, I suppose, they use ‘catchment tanks’. Rainwater flowing into the rain gutters is piped into the tank behind the house. When someone draws water from the pipe system a pump outside turns on to pump the water into the house. You can’t drink that water, although it’s fine for all types of washing and in food if boiled. We have to buy purified water for drinking and tooth-brushing.

Weds, April 8

Long day today. Started way too early, from a rather troubled night. The %&$$@#$ coqui tree frogs were at it all night. The cacophony is deafening! The story goes that the species was introduced accidentally some years ago. At that time they were limited to a small area down here in the Puna district. The state moved to eradicate them but PETA or enviro-whackos fought it so hard they gave up. Now it would cost too much to eradicate them because they’ve spread over such a large area. This is, remember, an invasive species. All life is not sacred, esp. when it’s out of place. That’s what makes weeds, weeds: plants not where they’re supposed to be.

Started the day by shopping at the Hilo farmer’s market. It’s wonderful! Unbelievable variety of both mundane and exotic fruits, vegetables and prepared foods; not to mention the flower sellers. Bought stuff for stir-fry: Tak soi - like baby bok choi, skinny Japanese eggplant, tomatoes, fresh onions, tiny stalks of fiddlehead ferns and some sort of leaf and tendrils that looked like they’d been pulled off a fence. All combined to make a great stir-fry.

Hiked two trails in Volcanoes National Park. First was the Kilauea Iki Trail. In the park there is the two-mile-across Kilauea Caldera. It has seen much activity. Mark Twain was here in the 1870s and reported seeing a lake of fire down there. Within the Caldera is the Halema’uma’u crater, smaller and deeper. It began erupting again last year. It now constantly emits SO2 gas, steam and other gasses, along with occasional showers of rocks and bombs.

Kilauea Iki is a smaller caldera a few miles away, in sight of the Caldera. It last erupted in the 1980s. The trail begins at an overlook then circles around one side through tree fern-ohi’a tree rain forest, switch-backing into the crater at the opposite end. The trail took me down the middle of the crater. At the far end, where the liquid lava pooled up, the surface was broken, part smooth, ropey pahoehoe, part spiky a’a. Like mud in a puddle that dries, it sank in the middle, leaving a cracked rim. In the middle of the crater the lava heaved up, forming elevated structures. One of them was an oval dome that split down the middle when it cooled. On the slope of it I found beautiful pumice, light in weight as Styrofoam and iridescent blue-green and orange-red. Steam vents were scattered around the crater floor. Water seeps down through the rock to the still-hot depths of the crater to create them.

Second hike was to a couple-of-hundred-feet-high old cone called Pu’u Huluhulu. The trail was across a flow from 1959. It was interesting for a couple of features: It was a fairly fast flow through old forest. Scattered about the fairly level pahoehoe lava field were monument-like blocks and humps of lava. That was where one or more trees or large bushes had held up the lava. They withstood the flow just long enough to cause the lava to pool around them before they burned up; that created formations of piled up lava with holes that are casts of the long-gone trees. The massive eruption and lava flow formed a ‘lake’ of lava in that area. On the edge of it, the lava cooled quickly, forming a dike of broken a’a lava that held the rest in, at least for a while. Imagine it looking like a scene from ‘Fantasia’ - the fiery lake spread over the land. There were some patches of original forest that survived when the rivers of molten rock flowed around them. They are still standing and are called ‘kipukas’. The cone was covered in ohi’a and other vegetation. A fine old stone pavement and wall surmounted the peak. At one corner was a cast bronze compass rose with arrows pointing to other formations - none of which was visible through the rain clouds and mist. The whole installation was the work of ‘Roosevelt’s Army’ - the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930s.

Thursday April 9

A very long day. Headed north on the Hawaii Belt Road. That’s the highway - mostly all 2-lane - that circles the Big Island. There is only one highway that goes more or less directly across the middle of the island. It’s called ‘Saddle Road’, perhaps because it crosses the saddle-like area between the bases of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Used to be that rental car companies would forbid taking their cars over the road because it was so rough, despite being paved. However, they must have improved it or the rental firms just gave up because they don’t say that anymore. It’s not as convenient a route as it might seem, though, because it connects to the belt road way north of Kailua-Kona.

The goal today was to hike down into the Waipio Valley. It’s one of two deep rift-like valleys that open onto the ocean in this area. The other is north over the next ridge and is called Waimanu. Waipio was one of the many places on the island reserved for the ali’i. Kamehamaha I, the great king who united all the islands, spent much of his youth here. Now it’s a beautiful green enclave where various recluses and decrepit hippies keep horses, surf and grow taro and pot. There’s a lookout point at the top of the valley for tourists that gives a good look. What brought me was the walk down into the valley. There’s one way in and out: a paved road that snakes down the cliff face with a 25% grade. You can’t take a regular car in, only 4WD. It’s about a mile each way down the 1000’ ft elevation change. I felt I needed to do it. Made the walk down and hike up the valley to get a look at the waterfall at the east end. It’s a double, with one larger cascade and one smaller. They both drop from the top of the cliff straight down, unbroken, 1000’ to a pool hidden by a low ridge. Very pretty. Looked around some the started the hike up. Not as grueling as the death march out of the Captain Cook Monument, but less than a grand time.
Cached my way back south again, but was unsuccessful in finding the three I tried. Stopped for lunch in the very pleasant, rather quaint town of Honoka’a.

After getting home, Ange changed and we drove out to do the only way to observe flowing lava right now. It’s only a few miles from here. Unfortunately, unlike in 2002, when the flow was on US National Park land, the flows are on private land. So, people can’t go right up to the flow as we could back then. I suppose the landowners are concerned about liability. Yeah, it’s silly - what’s their land worth now?. Thanks to those ^$$#@ lawyers…

Anyway, the Hawaii County (that being the Big Island) authorities have done quite a bit to make it as accessible as possible. They paved a narrow road across the older lava fields from where HI 130 was covered and set up a parking area. Folks can walk about ½ mile to the shore and observe where the lava is flowing into the sea. It’s best done after dark. The closest is about ½ mile away. Once dark, one can see, in the billows of steam at the shoreline from three separate flows, the glow of the flowing lava. Frequently, the lava meets the water and explodes in a burst of hot steam and flying gobbets of lava, creating a very impressive fireworks display. It’s also possible to see glowing red spots uphill where lava breaks out to form new layers of pahoehoe.

Friday, April 10

The best day possible, given… The day dawned gray with the sound of rain on the roof. The other day Ange observed that she saw a house that looked out of place. The reason it did was because it had an asphalt tile roof. Every other house we’ve seen here, along with all pitched-roof buildings, has a metal roof. We think it’s because metal is lighter and cheaper to transport and doesn’t require the full substructure asphalt shingles do.

The destination today was Volcanoes National Park. We spent quite a while in the Thurston Lava Tube. A lava tube ranges in size from an inch in diameter to 10 feet or more. They’re formed when flowing lava crusts over the top, but continues to flow underneath. The flow may continue until the eruption shuts off the faucet. When the last of the molten lava flows out, the tube is left. There are hundreds around the island, some miles long. This one is probably ½ mile. There is a short portion that is lit for the general public. If one has a flashlight, one can explore the larger portion of it that is unlit.

Walking down it is spookier than a cave, but not quite as interesting. Thurston tube has no debris to speak of on the floor, except for a couple spots where falls are more recent, I suppose. Lava tubes do have a form of stalactite, caused by molten lava dripping from the ceiling after the flow stops, but before it cools entirely. The walls can have interesting patterns from the flow of the lava. The creepiness comes from the still silence and the feeling that you are walking down the gut of the earth.

The rain continued, so we decided to have an early lunch. Dined in the dining room of the old Volcano House hotel in the park. An elegant old structure from the 20s or 30s, it has a nice dining room, lovely sitting room/lobby with fine lava stone fireplace. The view from the dining room out over the Kilauea Caldera was worth the price of lunch. Through the rain haze we could watch the steam from the vents all over the floor of the crater and broad column of steam and gas venting from the year-old eruption down in Halema’ma’u crater at the other end of the Caldera. While we ate, the rain finally stopped and the view cleared. Otherworldly - hinting at the mysterious and lurking power of the volcano.

Drove from there all the way down the cliffs to the ocean on Chain of Craters road. The road used to connect with HI highway 130 that looped down by the shore then up to Pahoa (where we’re staying). The highway was cut years ago by the most recent, continuing eruptions. It now ends at a wall of lava. Out near the shore is Pu’u Loa, or Long Hill. Ancient Hawaiians lived down there on the incredibly inhospitable lava beds, eking out a living fishing and growing sweet potatoes and such in little soil beds built up by walling in a corner in the pahoehoe lava and filling with what soil they could collect. The life was so harsh there that we suspect the folks who lived in the area must have been outcasts or outlaws.
They believed that if they deposited the umbilical cord of a newborn child in a ‘puka’, or hole, hollowed out of the lava rock, that it would give the child good fortune. At Pu’u Loa, there are thousands of these ‘piku pukas’. Along with them are other petroglyphs of people, honus (Hawaiian sea turtle) and other abstract designs. It’s a .7-mile walk each way from the road to the site. In 2005 I made the trip over the pahoehoe lava to look at them when I was in cast and on crutches from my first encounter with the evil spirits at Mo’okini Heiau. Wore the pads out on the crutches.

We came back up to the heights and made the 9-mile drive out to Hilina Pali overlook. (Pali means cliff) The drive is a one-lane paved road that snakes through dry forest like nowhere else that we’ve seen on the island. The cliffs are about 1500 ft. high, overlooking the flats below, a mosaic of old forest, kipukas and lava flows in shades of black, gray and brown. Encountered a bird we’d not seen before: Stood about 12 in. tall at the top of its head. It appeared to be mostly a ground dweller, with a heavy-ish body. Mostly brown with light brown spots. The closest thing we found to it in a bird book here at the house identified it as an ‘Asian jungle fowl’, i.e. a chicken. Interesting that it was so far from civilization - a feral chicken.

Stopped to take a look at a deep, conical crater from an eruption in the 20th century. It was remarkable for being narrower and more steep-sided than others in the Park. Interesting also was an offering to Pele, the goddess of volcanoes that had been left by a native on the rim. It was two lovely stalks of flowers and two oranges.

The presence and power of Pele is felt and observed by anyone who visits the Big Island, from the glow of flowing lava to the empty, desolate, devastated square miles of evil-looking a’a lava. Of all the old Hawaiian gods and spirits, Pele is the one who seems to hold real sway over this land. One dare not take a piece of lava home from the Big Island or bad luck will result. This is proven by the thousands, literally, of such pieces returned to the Park Service and other authorities with accompanying letters listing the terrible things that had happened to the writers. We read an account of the 1959 eruption at Kilauea Iki. As it was happening a non-native couple told, in a sworn affidavit, that on Saddle Road they had encountered a beautiful native woman wearing native dress with ohi’a flowers in her hair. She spoke to them, telling them that the eruption was a warning to respect the land. Kind of makes one chill a bit.

Sat., April 11

Last full day here for me. Ange will be here until next Friday. I fly out tomorrow night @ 2300, arriving about 1100 on Monday. Then work on Tues. Yuck….

A strange thing occurred this morning - this strange brightness came over the land. It hurt our eyes…. Then, we realized that it was the sun! Hadn’t seen it since we came to this side of the island. Hilo, if I hadn’t mentioned it before, claims to be the rainiest city in the US.

Breakfasted at the Hilo farmer’s market. It occurs Weds and Sat, at the east end of the old downtown. That’s a neat area anyway. Despite two major tsunamis, the old buildings of the bay front business district are still there. They keep that tropical charm that makes them look like they’re straight out of a movie. Many have dates on them like 1910, 1922, 1912, etc.

Breakfast was a ‘bento’ - a little plastic box with fried rice, Portuguese linguica sausage slices, a couple rashers of bacon and slices of some odd, red, hotdog-like sausage. Also had an empanada- big, bright-red crust around eggs, sausage, onion, etc. There was a rice flour ‘muffin’ - about the size of a cupcake, wrapped at the base with a leaf; also a wedge of purple sweet potato mixed with rice starch like mochi. Later on sampled wonderful samosas and chapattis with tamarind sauce.

On our first visit to the Big Island we encountered an earth-mother-like woman in the parking lot of Akaki Falls. She was selling her husband’s wood block prints. The work was excellent - bold, angular depictions of Hawaiian themes. We bought one there, then another in a shop in Hilo. The artist’s name is Belski. When in Hilo in 2005 we bought another two prints by him. Today, Ange wanted to find the seedy little shop where we’d bought them before. Found the shop right away to discover it had moved a block away. Ange walked in and asked about Belski prints of the old fellow in the shop. Turned out he was Belski. We had the chance to talk w/ him for quite a while. Neat fellow. Bought three more prints - so now we have seven.

Did some caches around Hilo then lunch at the ‘Puka Puka’ Café. Ate Ahi Don - tempura-battered chunks of ahi (yellow fin tuna) over curry rice with lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers on the side. Then we headed back southeast to the far corner of the Puna district. We drove through an area of tall trees that arched over the road, making a green tunnel. Stopped in for a short stroll in Lava Trees State Park. Long ago, a deep river of lava wiped out a forest of tall, substantial trees. Some of the trees resisted the lava long enough for it to cool a bit around them. After the rest of the lava flow stopped, the casts of the now-burnt-up trees remained as columns from 3 to 12 ft. tall. Checked out a neat pool by the sea. It’s a salt-water pool, fed by surf from the ocean right on the other side of the sea wall. Subterranean heat, however, tempers the cold ocean water to a nice lukewarm.

Came home to have some pasta and fresh farmer’s market tomatoes and local ice cream. Nice day - listening to the rain start up again outside.

Sunday, April 12

Last day on the island for me. We started the slow progress around the island back to Kailua-Kona about 0800. The idea was to make a full day of sightseeing out of the trip, since my plane didn’t leave until 2300. We decided to make it a counterclockwise trip on the Belt Road.

Right down the road, though, we stopped in at the superb Maku’u Farmer’s Market, held every Sunday outside Pahoa. As with the Hilo market, it was a wonderful mixture of booths selling both mundane and exotic vegetables and fruits, along with prepared food sellers, artists and artisans and even ‘flea market’ sellers offering used tools, car parts, books, etc.

We sampled ‘pasteles’. Interesting dish that we were told comes from Puerto Rico. They are a sort of tamale: pork filling seasoned with chili, cilantro, onion, garlic, etc. but instead of corn masa, the matrix is made of ground-up green bananas. Instead of a moistened cornhusk, the pastele is wrapped in a fresh leaf (probably ti, or pandanus) and steamed. Great!

Next up the road was a stop at Akaka Falls. One of the nicest, easily accessible waterfalls on the island, it’s 3 miles off the Belt Road north of Hilo. It’s located in what used to be sugar cane country in the Hamakua district. The country there is gentle: rolling hills covered in grass or crops interspersed with stands of tall or spreading trees. The falls drop water about 450 feet to a hard-bottomed round pool, making a constant cloud of spray at the bottom. The narrow gorge in which it’s located is filled with tall bamboo, ohi’a and other towering trees.

Did some caches in the area; one (no find) was next to a pair of derelict warehouses with ‘1920’ and ‘Hakaha Sugar Company’ on them - standing as they did on a promontory above a lovely rocky cove, they were a picturesque reminder of Hawaii’s varied history.

Had a simple lunch at Tex’s outside Honoka’a. It’s a retro-looking lunch stop, also overlooking the ocean at the north end of the Hamakua coast. The menu is a reflection of the most typical Hawaiian fast food: ‘plate lunches’, bentos and such. Ange had ‘Portuguese soup’ - a rich, chili-like thick soup with vegetables and linguica sausage. I had saimin - a type of soup unique to Hawaii. It’s thin noodles, slices of fish cake, scallions and other thin-cut veggies in fish broth.

We did one more trip to Crazy Shirts - the best purveyor of souvenir T-shirts on the island to pick up one more for Tirza. Had a nice, nostalgic moment looking out over the shore where kids were body surfing on little curlers on boogie boards.

One last trip to Kona Brewing Company brewpub. I tried one of their oak barrel aged private stock beers. It was an IPA aged in bourbon barrels. Subtle, complex flavors that impressed even Ange.
Ange had to make the drive back to Hilo and wanted to do it in daylight, so she dropped me at the airport about 1700 - to await my flight at 2300. I had to baby-sit my checked bags until 2000 when the US Airway ticket desk finally opened. The minions of the USDA enhanced the quality of the departure experience. They run inspections of all baggage. This, apparently, is to ensure that no one sneaks any invasive species of plant back to the mainland. You know what a serious problem plant terrorism is... So, all checked bags are inspected before you check in. Then, just before you board your plane, they run another inspection point inside the secured area for carry on bags.

My take on US Airways, based on this trip: They run their flights on time, or early. The people are unfailingly pleasant and efficient. However, I came away from the experience with them with a bad taste. The company is unabashedly money-grubbing. They charge $15 for one checked bag, another $25 for a second and up to $100 for three bags. On board the plane, there is limited drink service and anything else is $7-$8. They even sell their blankets and pillows in a ‘Nap Attack Pack’ for, you guessed it, $7. While all other airlines had people manning their desks through the evening, US Air only opened their ticket desk at 2000 (although their usual time is 1930) for the 2259 flight, and then only with one person to check in a planeload of passengers. The boarding process was the topper: before we proletarians could board, they called for (in this order) first class, platinum, gold and silver fliers, Visa and MasterCard holders (presumably US Air sponsored cards), then all the rest of us bovines.

Kona’s airport seems charming if you’re just arriving for a vacation. It’s an open-air courtyard surrounded by roofed waiting areas, gift shop and news stand. It has few comfortable seats. A 5-foot stone wall with gates separates passengers from the planes, so all exhaust and engine noise of the planes, right on the other side, is smelt and felt throughout the terminal. All boarding and deplaning is done on old-fashioned stairways on the open tarmac.

Mainland departures go from Kona at night. My flight was at 2259 to Phoenix. 5:30 min. flight time for a 0730 arrival, PDT. The flight to COS was lovely in a small Canadian-made jet. We passed over the snow-covered San Luis Valley and right over Pueblo on the approach (I could see my house!).

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