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!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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