Hi everyone, Sus and I have left our temporary home at Pohoiki beach in Puna and successfully hitched the 100 miles to Spencer beach in about 4 hours. Before we made the move we decided to take a hike out to where the latest lava flow from Kilauea meets the ocean. Kilauea has been continually "erupting" to varying degrees for over 27 years, so lava is nothing new to most people who live there (in fact the area is overrun so often that they don't bother to repair many of the melted roads and highways). Boston on the other hand is nowhere near a volcanic hotspot so we wanted to see it firsthand.
There is a sign on route 130 past Pahoa that used to have town names and distances printed on it, but now they are all taped over and it just reads: END OF ROAD - 1 Mile. After the road ends there is another gravel road that winds through the debris of older lava flows and eventually leads to a strip of vegetation spared a fiery death. There is a path set back from the road that leads to the rocky coastline and from there it's a ten minute walk to the lava.
As we walked toward the plume of steam rising from the ocean the rocks beneath our feet got hotter and hotter until I thought they were going to melt the soles of my sandals. Pieces of pahoehoe were flaking off and blowing away on the sulfurous breeze. Our hearts were pounding as we approached the outlet and began to worry that any of the rocks we stepped on could give way and drop us into a cauldron of magma. At some cracks in the rock we looked down and saw them glowing hot just two feet beneath our two feet. It was exhilarating to see how these islands were formed and continue to grow inch by inch. Yesterday morning we could honestly say that we were standing on the newest land on the planet.
I'm not able to post pictures of it right now but you can see some of what we saw online at hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/images.html
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Beach bums
Hi everyone, I'd like to give you the latest on what we've been doing since we set out on our own Hawaiian vacation, unattached to farms or daily work schedules. After bouncing around a couple of friends' places for six days, the X-Crew decided to rent a car for a week and see the parts of this island that we hadn't been able to reach just by hitchhiking. The car was just large enough to fit four people and their stuff, but just small enough that we were glad to get out and stretch whenever we got the chance.
We set out from Hilo planning to make our way around the island clockwise. The first overnight stop we made was the same campground Sus and I found on our midnight voyage to Volcano National Park. We awoke to the sound of chainsaws, as a park crew was cutting down old trees and dead branches that might have fallen on unsuspecting campers. After a delicious breakfast and a peaceful stop at a museum of local artists' work, we set out for Ho'okena Beach where we planned to spend the night camping with our friends Tim, Luke and House. On the way, we stopped in at Green Sands beach, a tiny cove at the southernmost tip of the island, and consequently, the US. The wind blows so hard there all the trees are permanently bent over to the point that they almost grow sideways, and there is a giant stand of wind-power turbines in various states of disrepair along the road. We also made a quick visit to a Buddhist temple near Na'alehu where the only sound was the melody of windchimes and the occasional outburst from one of the beautiful peacocks roaming the property.
Ho'okena Beach had no open campsites that night, as two class field trips had reserved the whole beach for two nights. Tired of driving and undeterred, Sus and I set up our sleeping bags in a concrete pavilion while Wendy and Aubray sneaked onto the beach and hid behind a rocky outcrop, House slept in his truck, and Tim and Luke walked away from the beach down the coast to hide overnight. Only Sus and I were discovered in the morning and made to pay $5 each for our transgression. House was told to leave but not charged, and the other four were never found. We figured $10 was a small price to pay for a sleeping spot.
The next day we drove north up the Kona coast, stopping in Kailua for lunch and a free tour of the Kona Brewery. They make some delicious beers there, including one flavored with lilikoi juice, and they distribute through Red Hook Brewery in New Hampshire if you want to give it a try. The next 30 miles or so are rocky coastline with no real landmarks except tall palms marking the swank resorts set up in the middle of the desert to take advantage of 363 days of sunshine a year. We stopped at an internet cafe and booked a couple nights at Spencer Beach, not wanting to keep sneaking around at night to find camping. Spencer is beautiful and only a few miles from some of the best beaches on the island, plus there are indoor showers and plenty of outdoor sinks and brick ovens for cooking.
Those few days we spent lounging on the beach during the day (actually, the girls did plenty of lounging while I went to the library and post office to send my dad a birthday present - happy birthday dad!) and one night we made the long drive up to the visitors' center on Mauna Kea for some stargazing. Its cold dry air and lack of light pollution make the summit of Mauna Kea one of the best places in the world to see stars. We didn't drive all the way to the observatories at 14000 feet, only to 9000 feet or so, but it was a humbling experience to look through telescopes at other stars, planets and galaxies. I highly recommend the stargazing to anyone visiting this island, but wear warm socks and shirts when you go.
We also ended up meeting with our friend Mohamed from Honoka'a, now living in Waimea. This was fortunate as our permits for Spencer were going to expire and our next intended destination was booked for campsites. Around 4pm on "moving day", we still had no idea where we were going to sleep, so we retired to happy hour at a local bar do discuss our options, which included: sleeping in the car, sleeping in a public park, and setting up large hammocks between trees deep in the woods surrounding Waimea. Mohamed to the rescue! He graciously let us all sleep on the floor of his room, which measured 100 square feet and wasn't really designed for five people. It was around this time we really began to appreciate our rental car as not just a vehicle but a closet and changing room.
We knew we couldn't stay all weekend though, we still had a lot we wanted to see and do in our last two days with the car. We managed to visit Pololu Valley, which is picturesque and easy to hike down into. We also hiked into Waipio Valley, which is equally gorgeous but much harder to reach. It's a 30-minute walk from bottom to top, most of it at a 40-degree grade. Plus it's either raining or scorching hot. Well worth it though. We then headed down to Hilo again and through to Isaac Hale campgrounds at Pohoiki Beach. We unloaded all our things and spent the night, returning the car the next day.
And that's where we are now, living at Pohoiki until Sunday, just a few steps from a warm soothing ocean and an even more soothing natural hot tub. We are happy and healthy (and somewhat sunburned) and look forward to the next few weeks of living at the beach. Talk to you soon!
We set out from Hilo planning to make our way around the island clockwise. The first overnight stop we made was the same campground Sus and I found on our midnight voyage to Volcano National Park. We awoke to the sound of chainsaws, as a park crew was cutting down old trees and dead branches that might have fallen on unsuspecting campers. After a delicious breakfast and a peaceful stop at a museum of local artists' work, we set out for Ho'okena Beach where we planned to spend the night camping with our friends Tim, Luke and House. On the way, we stopped in at Green Sands beach, a tiny cove at the southernmost tip of the island, and consequently, the US. The wind blows so hard there all the trees are permanently bent over to the point that they almost grow sideways, and there is a giant stand of wind-power turbines in various states of disrepair along the road. We also made a quick visit to a Buddhist temple near Na'alehu where the only sound was the melody of windchimes and the occasional outburst from one of the beautiful peacocks roaming the property.
Ho'okena Beach had no open campsites that night, as two class field trips had reserved the whole beach for two nights. Tired of driving and undeterred, Sus and I set up our sleeping bags in a concrete pavilion while Wendy and Aubray sneaked onto the beach and hid behind a rocky outcrop, House slept in his truck, and Tim and Luke walked away from the beach down the coast to hide overnight. Only Sus and I were discovered in the morning and made to pay $5 each for our transgression. House was told to leave but not charged, and the other four were never found. We figured $10 was a small price to pay for a sleeping spot.
The next day we drove north up the Kona coast, stopping in Kailua for lunch and a free tour of the Kona Brewery. They make some delicious beers there, including one flavored with lilikoi juice, and they distribute through Red Hook Brewery in New Hampshire if you want to give it a try. The next 30 miles or so are rocky coastline with no real landmarks except tall palms marking the swank resorts set up in the middle of the desert to take advantage of 363 days of sunshine a year. We stopped at an internet cafe and booked a couple nights at Spencer Beach, not wanting to keep sneaking around at night to find camping. Spencer is beautiful and only a few miles from some of the best beaches on the island, plus there are indoor showers and plenty of outdoor sinks and brick ovens for cooking.
Those few days we spent lounging on the beach during the day (actually, the girls did plenty of lounging while I went to the library and post office to send my dad a birthday present - happy birthday dad!) and one night we made the long drive up to the visitors' center on Mauna Kea for some stargazing. Its cold dry air and lack of light pollution make the summit of Mauna Kea one of the best places in the world to see stars. We didn't drive all the way to the observatories at 14000 feet, only to 9000 feet or so, but it was a humbling experience to look through telescopes at other stars, planets and galaxies. I highly recommend the stargazing to anyone visiting this island, but wear warm socks and shirts when you go.
We also ended up meeting with our friend Mohamed from Honoka'a, now living in Waimea. This was fortunate as our permits for Spencer were going to expire and our next intended destination was booked for campsites. Around 4pm on "moving day", we still had no idea where we were going to sleep, so we retired to happy hour at a local bar do discuss our options, which included: sleeping in the car, sleeping in a public park, and setting up large hammocks between trees deep in the woods surrounding Waimea. Mohamed to the rescue! He graciously let us all sleep on the floor of his room, which measured 100 square feet and wasn't really designed for five people. It was around this time we really began to appreciate our rental car as not just a vehicle but a closet and changing room.
We knew we couldn't stay all weekend though, we still had a lot we wanted to see and do in our last two days with the car. We managed to visit Pololu Valley, which is picturesque and easy to hike down into. We also hiked into Waipio Valley, which is equally gorgeous but much harder to reach. It's a 30-minute walk from bottom to top, most of it at a 40-degree grade. Plus it's either raining or scorching hot. Well worth it though. We then headed down to Hilo again and through to Isaac Hale campgrounds at Pohoiki Beach. We unloaded all our things and spent the night, returning the car the next day.
And that's where we are now, living at Pohoiki until Sunday, just a few steps from a warm soothing ocean and an even more soothing natural hot tub. We are happy and healthy (and somewhat sunburned) and look forward to the next few weeks of living at the beach. Talk to you soon!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Lion's Den
The Arch
Sus at the Arches just before leaving the farm
Greg plays Poseidon as the waves crash against the rocks
Greg at the Arches
After leaving Josanna's Garden Greg, myself, Aubray and Wendy dubbed our fleeing group the Exodus Crew (or the X Crew for short) because we were the last of the Exodus from the farm, leaving only one WWOOFer behind. Excited about our proactive decision to leave the farm but having nowhere to go, we gathered around a table at the local joint in Pahoa with about ten others who had all been "evicted" from the farm or left on their own accord. Within the first minutes of sitting down we received offers to stay with a few different friends while we figured out the next step. We decided to take up one offer to stay with our friend Lion on his undeveloped land.
The next day the four of us packed our many belongings and got a ride from a friend on the farm to Lion's place. He is living on 18 acres of jungle, just up the road from the farm, with the purpose of developing it for friends. We arrived and immediately got to work machete-ing spots for our tents in the cane grass. It's very satisfying work when you know that it will allow you to be able to set up shop for the night in your portable home. We also cleared a path to be able to walk to our tent sites. Lion was very hospitable and kept reiterating that we were doing so much for him by just being there and walking around and living on the land. The spot that Greg and I cleared for out tent was right near a tree that had fallen into another tree causing it to make very loud talking noises, so we named our campsite Talking Tree. We also named the area where Lion lived on his tent platform "Lion's Den" because it was just that. We stayed with Lion for three nights before deciding to move on to our friend House's house for the weekend. He has a place in Hawaiian Acres outside Kea'au, a real fixer-upper that has just about every pest infestation known. Still, we were comfortable. After leaving House's house the four us decided to rent a car for a week to travel around the island camping and seeing all the last sights before leaving the island. The car would also double as a great storage facility for all of our belongings, which we found to be very true! More to come about our week's adventure soon!
Sus using the toilet seat cutting board at Lion's Den
Aubray Sus cooking
Lion's Den
Wendy & Aubray
This face gets us the rides when we are hitching ; )
Josanna's Garden pictures
An aerial view of some of the farm from a precarious treehouse near the road.
Jackfruit can grow to the size of large watermelons and taste just like bubblegum, or rather, bubblegum tastes just like jackfruit. The seeds can also be baked and taste a lot like chestnuts.
Mountain apples hang like little red bells from the tree and taste more like pears than apples.
A rollinia the size of my head. When ripe, this spiky yet soft fruit will turn yellow with black spots and taste sweet and milky.
Mamey sapote. The way to test its ripeness is to scratch the skin to see the color of the flesh beneath. Green=not yet. Orange=ready.
Soursop
Jaboti caba, a tree native to Brazil that is reminiscent of grapes but also nothing like grapes. Definitely a fruit you have to try for yourself, this is one of my favorites.
White pineapple, apparently extremely rare and even sweeter than regular pineapples.
Vanilla hanging from an eggfruit tree. The bees that pollinate vanilla in its native Central America do not survive in other climates so it must be pollinated by hand, often using a toothpick or, more romantically, a paintbrush. Eggfruit is a starchy orange fruit the size of an orange that tastes a lot like yam with syrup on it. For this reason we often mashed it to make pancakes for breakfast.
The "jungalow" (our temporary home).
It's just what it looks like: a bass made from a gas can and rope. Sounded real good, too.
A lone papaya tree towers over a row of plantains
Bananaland
That's just cool.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A long story...
Hi everybody. The last time we posted we had just arrived at Josanna's Garden in Kapoho. It's been so hard to get computer time in town that a month later we haven't been able to tell you anything about it.
The farm is so beautiful it's like paradise, with dozens of fruit trees spread out over six acres of rich volcanic soil. It's well off the grid, with no electricity except what can be generated on a solar battery system and no water except rainwater they catch and filter, with a deep well for backup. It's less than a mile from the easternmost point in Hawaii, where the trade winds and ocean currents bring us the freshest air and water anywhere in the world.
The land here is shaped by the temperament of the active volcanic region to the west, where spontaneous lava flows sometimes emerge and meander across the landscape heedless of road or farm until they reach the sea. The result is islands of lush jungle between reefs of jagged lava rock and steam vents. The active earth also provides some wonderful features, like ponds and caves where heated fresh water seeps into ocean tide pools, making natural hot tubs and saunas. Floating in one of these ponds looking up through the trees at blue sky is one of the most relaxing experiences I've had in this life. There are also tide pools cut off from the sea by a'a rock, where we can swim with tiny tropical fish while giant waves break on the shore just feet away, sometimes rolling over us and turning the water into a roiling whirlpool for a few seconds.
Josanna's Garden has 60 varieties of fruit and vegetables, some of which I've never seen in bloom or even heard of before. A partial list includes: coconut, pineapple, white pineapple, ten varieties of banana, tangerine, orange, lemon, meyer lemon, coconut, lime, tahitian lime, avocado, papaya, cacao, coffee, mango, brazilian cherry, plantain, mulberry, vanilla, cashew apple, mountain apple, star apple, turmeric, blue olena turmeric, galangal, ginger, lychee, summer lychee, soursop, white sapote, mamey sapote, rombutan, rollinia and more... If you've heard of all of these, give yourself ten points. Needless to say we've had some amazing meals recently. The setup is also gorgeous, with cabins and yurts for workers to live in strewn around the property under and between the fruit trees. Our home was affectionately dubbed the "Jungalow". The weather is often sunny and warm.
The downside to all of this is that the woman who runs the farm is what some would call a quirky personality and what others would call unstable and verbally abusive. Susannah and I arrived at what seems to be a stressful time at the farm. They are thinking of selling most of it to a man who came from California to live there for a while, and his arrival started a spate of rumors and seemed to create a rift between workers and management. There was no communication of goals or a real work schedule. No one cooperated or collaborated on projects but did whatever they felt was best. In short, Sus and I felt that as much potential as the place had to be a learning and nurturing place, we were not learning anything or being productive. Of course we want to enjoy ourselves while on this Hawaiian adventure, but we also want to gain organic gardening skills and apply them. Because of this, seven days ago we decided to leave the farm.
We teamed up with Wendy and Aubray, a couple from Winnipeg who had come to the same decision, and set out on a brand new adventure, which I will have to relate in future posts. For now know we are happy and healthy and having fun. Stay tuned!
The farm is so beautiful it's like paradise, with dozens of fruit trees spread out over six acres of rich volcanic soil. It's well off the grid, with no electricity except what can be generated on a solar battery system and no water except rainwater they catch and filter, with a deep well for backup. It's less than a mile from the easternmost point in Hawaii, where the trade winds and ocean currents bring us the freshest air and water anywhere in the world.
The land here is shaped by the temperament of the active volcanic region to the west, where spontaneous lava flows sometimes emerge and meander across the landscape heedless of road or farm until they reach the sea. The result is islands of lush jungle between reefs of jagged lava rock and steam vents. The active earth also provides some wonderful features, like ponds and caves where heated fresh water seeps into ocean tide pools, making natural hot tubs and saunas. Floating in one of these ponds looking up through the trees at blue sky is one of the most relaxing experiences I've had in this life. There are also tide pools cut off from the sea by a'a rock, where we can swim with tiny tropical fish while giant waves break on the shore just feet away, sometimes rolling over us and turning the water into a roiling whirlpool for a few seconds.
Josanna's Garden has 60 varieties of fruit and vegetables, some of which I've never seen in bloom or even heard of before. A partial list includes: coconut, pineapple, white pineapple, ten varieties of banana, tangerine, orange, lemon, meyer lemon, coconut, lime, tahitian lime, avocado, papaya, cacao, coffee, mango, brazilian cherry, plantain, mulberry, vanilla, cashew apple, mountain apple, star apple, turmeric, blue olena turmeric, galangal, ginger, lychee, summer lychee, soursop, white sapote, mamey sapote, rombutan, rollinia and more... If you've heard of all of these, give yourself ten points. Needless to say we've had some amazing meals recently. The setup is also gorgeous, with cabins and yurts for workers to live in strewn around the property under and between the fruit trees. Our home was affectionately dubbed the "Jungalow". The weather is often sunny and warm.
The downside to all of this is that the woman who runs the farm is what some would call a quirky personality and what others would call unstable and verbally abusive. Susannah and I arrived at what seems to be a stressful time at the farm. They are thinking of selling most of it to a man who came from California to live there for a while, and his arrival started a spate of rumors and seemed to create a rift between workers and management. There was no communication of goals or a real work schedule. No one cooperated or collaborated on projects but did whatever they felt was best. In short, Sus and I felt that as much potential as the place had to be a learning and nurturing place, we were not learning anything or being productive. Of course we want to enjoy ourselves while on this Hawaiian adventure, but we also want to gain organic gardening skills and apply them. Because of this, seven days ago we decided to leave the farm.
We teamed up with Wendy and Aubray, a couple from Winnipeg who had come to the same decision, and set out on a brand new adventure, which I will have to relate in future posts. For now know we are happy and healthy and having fun. Stay tuned!
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