The Tradewinds are Back

The weather is finally looking a bit more like the Hawaii I know. Mind you, it's still a bit cool up here at elevation in Holualoa, but down by the water, it is pretty nice now.

We wanted to have another go at those valleys we missed, of which Waipio is the best known, and Pololu is furthest north, near Kapa`au. Since we're already near the upper highway of Kona (called the Mamalahoa Highway) we elected to drive over to Kamuela (Waimea - still feels weird to call it that) and from there catch the upper road over to Hawi-Town.

It was windy in Kamuela... picked up some petrol and had a chat to a local guy who reassured me that Waimea is still known by the locals as Kamuela, "still-yet".

Then, we headed up and up and up - didn't remember Hawaii as being so *steep* everywhere - through tundra-like, wind-buffeted terrain and then finally we were greeted with the ironwood wind-break stretch of the highway that I'd always found so magical. We were now at elevation again, and the clouds would flail the jeep with spots of pelting rainy mist, which you couldn't really call rain at all. It didn't even properly wet the road. We arrived in "Hawi-Town", the weather still undecided what it wanted to do. Near the Visitor's Centre was a guy selling roast chicken and ribs that he was roasting right there:

We were all feeling a mite peckish, so Julia and Nanny got pork ribs and I got beef ribs... came with rice and macaroni salad. The tucker was brilliant, if a bit chewy (my ribs were, at least)... so it totally hit the spot. We had a wee chat to the Visitor Centre guy - apparently the main industry growing in Hawi was something called 'zipline' which catered to people who liked riding and adventures. Nothing had replaced the sugar cane, at all. Hawi did look busy - lots of non-locals milling about in the little shops and everything - so tourism must be doing reasonably well.

When we arrived in Kohala just a bit down the road, it was doing that heavy misting/almost-raining thing again, hence the somewhat blurry-looking Kamehameha statue image:

As we drove out to the Pololu Valley, the weather magically cleared, so we got some excellent views into the valley:

Click on image for larger version

Click on image for larger version

We finally tore ourselves away from the enchantment of Pololu Valley and resigning ourselves to the fact that Waipio Valley was going to be a "next time" thing, we drove the seaside road from Hawi to Kawaihae.

The vegetation quickly went from lush tropical to survivalist lava hang-in-there scrub plants like keawe - those nasty trees that dump dead branches with spikes (thorns) that go through armoured vehicles. Don't go on a stroll through that: you'll think you were ambushed. Those thorns are over an inch long and will go through shoe leather!

We ended up at Spenser Park.

Spenser park has seen some significant face-lift since I've been there last "small-kid-time". It was a relaxed, very family atmosphere. We wandered over to the pavilion:

...and watch kids play where we played and... okay, i was probably the ONLY one of us who pretended this was like a castle and we were the inhabitants... yep, sure, it was just me. :D

Spenser Park is definitely good value.

I'd played up Hapuna Beach as this end-all, be-all beach:

It's different, somehow. The rocks are still there, in the middle. Are there cowries? Would it all be the same? Am *I* the same?

No.

Things are different. It's all quite inexplicable, but definitely I'm a local of Brisbane and Queensland now, not a Kamaaina.

"How you feegah?"

We went 'home' to Holualoa...

A rest day...julia

Today we thought we would have a day off and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Words can not describe and pictures do not capture the sheer beauty of this place. The accommodation we have is second to none, we have everything we could  possibly need and more. We were lucky enough to find this bit of paradise on airbnb. For those of you who have not heard about airbnb check out the website  airbnb for us it has been a wonderful experience.

So yesterday Robin took us on another adventure to a part of the island, just south a little way to Kealakekua Bay we pulled into the little car park and the Local Boys made a beeline to the jeep, they wanted to take us on a Kayak ride one mile across the bay to the Captain Cook Monument, we decided that we would just view from the beach this time! It was great to hear Robin talking pigeon Hawaiian to the locals, something I have only heard him talk with his siblings.  Its so good having our own Local tour guide!

Along the drive we passed a Plumaria (Frangipani) farm, I just had to stop and buy Nanny a Lei .... couldnt go to Hawaii without having one..  I think she looks beautiful dont you!..

Today we hit the shops again,after a nice drive to see Captain Cooks memorial. The view from our balcony is really lovely at night when we look down on lights of  Kona. Every day we watch the bird life here, the birds are so pretty, I know Den would just love it here...except for the ROOSTER and I think he would have rung his neck by now. Robin and Jule are so good to me, the 9 kilo I lost before I started this holiday will be back on before I get to the UK....Oh well I'll try again when I get home.  

A Biggish Day with All the Rain you could Want

It all started off brilliantly... we met up with Becky, Meg and Murphy at this really rustic breakfast thingie by the water. They've had a blast so far, so we had a bit of catching up to do:

So, we set out for Kamuela (you only see signs for Waimea, though) at around ten-ish. Stretches of the road are in pretty good nick but you can't really go all that fast, particularly with a jeep. We drove out of the haze of Kona into the blustery wind of Waimea. I don't ever remember driving through Waimea without there being fog somewhere and/or wind, nor did it disappoint this time. As we drove down the hill towards Honokaa, in the back of my mind I'm going: "ooo, so close to those malasadas!"... never ended up getting any, though. The girls weren't hungry so instead of messing around waiting we decided to press on to Waipio Valley. The closer we got, the harder it rained. We got there and parked on the edge, peering through the downpour, only just barely making out the breaking surf at the bottom.

Waipio wasn't going to happen. Oh well.

So, we continued down the coast. Much to my astonishment, where were once huge fields of cane, there now stood TALL forests of eucalypts. And I mean tall! I felt like we were driving through the forests between Eureka and Crescent City. Seriously! It was eerie.

Our first foray off the beaten path was Lapahoehoe Point:

I dashed off for the loo whilst the girls braved the blustery wind and spray:

And... it started to rain, again. As it does. We saw stunning hibiscus in an incredible variety of colours. The rain-forest was as it always is: impenetrable, mysterious, unchanging: with that sweet-smelling mixture of wet leaves, rotten fruit and invisible flowers we will never see.

We drove on through the rain. The three loops through valleys were as gorgeous as I remember them.
We finally turned off at Pepeekeo and took the scenic route through old town Pepeekeo, passing this new tourist-thingie called 'something' Botanical Gardens before we got into the windy drive through the jungle, over ancient bridges alongside the ocean in our jeep:

...

No, it didn't rain. Wow.

I'll tell you about Hilo in the next instalment: been driving pretty much all day and I'm knackered. This pint of Guinness is probably contributing to that eye-lid-drooping effect....

So, where did I leave you? Somewhere on the Hamakua coast?

So, let's move on from Pepeekeo. We drove into Hilo, with Hilo looking very much like Hilo has looked from time immemorial. Rain on the slopes, puddles on the ground, sun peeking through here and there, steam rising from the streets where it just rained. We went up Waianuenue, then left along Komohana, down Kawailani, had a stickie-beak at Nohea Street - I'm convinced I saw the lychee tree in the back of the house, one we used to pick lychees from to take in to church to share with folks. We drove down to Awa Street. Things haven't changed there much either - "no stay dee-feren, aftah all".

Hilo itself hasn't really changed much. Apparently, it doesn't. We drove along Banyan Drive: the place looked deserted. I treated the girls to Queen Liliuokalani Gardens:

Yeah, some roads are wider, some stuff is new, what was Mamo Theatre is now a vacant lot, but Hilo still looks fairly the same, a wee bit run-down, overall. The people are pretty nice. Actually: really nice. We had lunch at this place on the waterfront called Cafe Pesto - nice food. Good service. Had a local feel, but up-market.

I spent a fair bit of time immersing myself in the whole feel of Hilo. After all: this is/was home. And it felt no different. Not one tiny bit. And a lot of it, I sorely missed.
The whole rain thing:

sheesh, this is what brings life. SE-Queenslanders get depressed when it rains more than two days running: I learned to love the rain "small-kid-time"... learned to love it here in Hilo. To me, rain is a normal, even essential part of life. It was what I hated most about California: no rain 9 months out of the year.

Julia and Nanny found a Ben Franklin to get stuck into (crafting ribbons and other delectable items) and I had a stroll down to the KTA (K Taniguchi) store to pick up some essentials: Chernoble-orange cheese Americans know as 'cheddar' for the morning omelette... and a Guinness.
Can't believe for the same exact bottle of Guinness it's $2.99 here in the islands: in Queensland it's $5.99. Hope Canberra are enjoying the profits!

Finally, it was time to head back. I'd heard they'd fixed up the Saddle Road, and besides, we were in a jeep, so off we went up Kaumana Drive. Nothing was different, except Bill Wilson's "House by the Roadside" was called something else. And further up, above the caves, it seemed things were more built up.

Initially, Saddle Road didn't seem much different and I was sort of dreading the wind-y drive through fog and rain ... and then suddenly, there's this brand-new *wide* straight road, going up and up and up and we're flying along at 55 mph on a stretch of terrain you could only ever go 30 - 35, tops. I was flabbergasted. In no time we found ourselves back on the Kohala Coast (where the road did go back to narrow, winding and lumpy-bumpy for a little bit.

It was a big day.

Had a day of slumming / chilling yesterday. Think we all sort-of needed it. Today we meet up with Murphy, Meg and Becky for brekkie and then it's possibly off to the other side of the island, including Waipio Valley and Hilo. We'll see how we go. It's all island time, no agendas. It's a bit hazy and overcast today - so what else is new on Hawaii?

Getting really addicted to this Kona coffee... how am I ever going to go back to Moccona?

typos

just realised that i didnt fix up my typos on the last post...  ooops sorry

Aloha from Julia

Well, it's taken me a few days to get this started, mainly because I have been nursing a migraine that I got at 3am the day we left Australia, today it is nearly all gone, and also we are having a day of just chilling, no planes to catch and we are safely tucked up in our plantation house on the Big Island of Hawaii...

Our flight was uneventful, all of us managing to catch a few z's.  Because Robin still travels on an American passport it meant we flew through immigration and customs... Yay. A quick Taxi drive to the hotel and we were soon having a cup of tea. A cat nap was in order before we hit the town via the bus... Robin has already mentioned that.

For Mum it was a time to revisit places that she had been to on previous trips to Waikiki with dad. Happy memories :)  After being fed and watered we headed back to the hotel promising ourselves that we would have that MaiTai tomorrow!

A trip to the airport on Saturday morning before the crowds on our way to the Big Island of Hawaii,  Robin has been wanting to take me here for years and years. A lovely short 45 min flight and we touched down on the Big Island. I was left at the terminal while Mum and Robin went and got the hire car, we had pre booked before we left home, a normal size sedan  imagine my surprise when they rocked up in a black shiny Jeep and Nanny grinning from ear to ear!... the memory is priceless, the pair of them looked like Jethro and granny Clampit! Bless them!

We drove into Kona and found a nice place to have lunch. The Kona Inn overlooks the ocean, a place where Robin's father had worked as a maintenance man for a while. Mum and I had a pulled-pig sandwich and Robin had a pastrami with about half a kilo of meat on it (as is the American way). We strolled across the lawn to the sea wall: it had been damaged in the Japan Tsunami of last year.

Time to do some shopping before we made our way up to the coffee plantation. We stopped at Safeway, got ourselves a club card which entitled us to many items at half price.... cant imagine Woolies or Coles doing that....  and so off we went with our jeep packed with supplies and of course the ingredients for our MaiTais!

I will close this one for now and let Robin talk some more, also some pictures to be put up....  Aloha!  xxxx