buzzville

land of diversity

Here's the latest in my Big Island travelogue... I write all the details in the hopes that it might be useful to someone in the future.

After dinner on Tuesday, we walked to the Malama Petroglyph Trail in Puako, which just happens to be next to our hotel. The trail begins with a decorative display of some nice examples of petroglyphs like these:

and then winds through an incredibly bizarre landscape of kiawe forest:

A short 15-20 minute walk ends at an expansive pahoehoe lava (smooth and ripply - looks like cake batter) field, that is completely covered with hundreds of petroglyphs. It's a really fascinating spot, and super easy to get to.

Wednesday morning we got up at dawn for some snorkeling before Jerry had to get to work. We found lots of great fish (pufferfish, triggers, pipefish, butterfly fish, etc.), and two fantastic honu let us stare at them as they had their breakfast. In my ideal world, I would be able to wake up each morning and get in some snorkeling - the perfect start to the day. The visibility at the hotel beach wasn't fantastic, but we managed to see plenty anyway.

We were lucky that Jerry had Wednesday afternoon off, so we set off to explore Waimea and the northeastern part of the island. We arrived in Waimea in time for a nice lunch at Merriman's, where I had a barbecue pork sandwich and Jerry had a braised lamb sandwich with arugula and goat cheese - yum! From Waimea we headed to Honoka'a and the Waipi'o Valley. My plan was to hike down to the Valley, see the sites, and hike back up. I had read that the hike down was at a 25% grade, but I tend to think I can handle just about anything. By the time we got about 2/3 (I think?) of the way down, our legs were trembling and the calves were doing a little dance. Both of us feared our ability to get to the bottom, so we decided to cut our losses and hike back up. (In retrospect, we should have walked down doing switchbacks to save our legs... I think we could have made it that way.) Now we understand why most folks do the tours in a 4WD vehicle that takes them down into the Valley. Despite the fact that we didn't make it to the bottom, we did get to see the view from the top:

An odd set of circumstances is allowing me to be on the Big Island again in August, so I'm placing the Waipi'o Valley on my list of things that we'll do then. But, let this be a fair warning to anyone who attempts the hike - it's a nasty downhill grade. I tend to handle strenuous hikes without much trouble, but this one had me fearing that my legs were going to spontaneously combust!

From Waipi'o we headed east to Akaka Falls. It's a pretty crazy scene: we're walking along a paved path (complete with hand rails!) in a gorgeous, tropical forest, admiring the incredible plant life (who knew these "houseplants" grew 150 feet tall?!?), and then we start to hear a crashing, thundering sound. Around the bend we turn to see this:

There's no way I can describe this incredible waterfall, other than to say that this photo in no way does it justice. You have to see it for yourself, hear the thundering water, feel the spray on your skin, and see how this water has carved a chasm in the side of this cliff. It's so incredibly easy to get to (and free!) - definitely a must see.

From Akaka Falls we continued south to the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, we arrived there at 4:15pm to learn that they let the last people into the garden at 4pm since they close at 5. The man must have sensed how genuinely disappointed we were, so he let us in but reminded us that we had to leave by 5. So began our jog through the garden in an attempt to see as much as we could in the short time. It's amazing - bizarre, alien plants, orchids galore, a view of the ocean and rocky cliffs, and lots more. We certainly didn't see it all (allow at least 1.5 hours to see the garden), but we loved it nonetheless. This too is going on my list for August - to see the garden at a more leisurely pace. We saw incredible plants and flowers, but we both agreed that this was the most bizarre:

white bat plant - if this isn't alien, I don't know what is!

It was getting close to dinner time, so we decided to grab some dinner in Hilo, which was just a few more miles south on the highway. We had been eating at plenty of fancy places, so we decided to go local, and go local we did! We ate at Cafe 100 - where the Loco Moco may have been invented over 50 years ago. Jerry got the Super Moco (bed of rice topped with a hamburger patty, slice of spam, Portuguese sausage, 2 fried eggs, and gravy with a side of potato-mac salad):

I go the combination (katsu, meatloaf with gravy, miso soup, pork and bamboo shoots, and a side of potato-mac salad):

Needless to say, this is probably not the healthiest eatery on the island!

With our bellies full, we drove to Banyan Drive on the waterfront and had a nice stroll through Lili'uokalani Gardens. In addition to the astounding banyan trees, the garden is unusual because of the manicured Japanese Garden elements interspersed with lava beds. Here is one of the banyan trees:

click on the photo to see the tiny person with white legs (that's me!) for scale. Remind me not to plant one of these in my back yard!

By this time, our feet were aching, so we headed back to our hotel in Kohala for some much needed rest. It was interesting to get a view of the other side of the island where rain and plant life are plentiful. It's incredible to see how quickly the landscape can change on this island!

Today is a quiet day of work for Jerry, followed by a lua'u tonight. Tomorrow we head to the northwest part of the island, up the Kohala Mountain Road to Hawi and back down the Akoni Pule Highway. So much to see and do! Here is today's picture postcard:

 

Aloha from Kohala!

This place can sure make a big impression quickly... I realized that I haven't even been on Hawai'i for 24 hours, and already I'm in love. We are staying on the southern part of the Kohala coast of the big island (northwest side). The natural scenery here is primarily a desolate landscape of lava, with a hardy grass that somehow finds a way to root itself through the rocky landscape and grow. The manmade landscape, on the other hand, is probably what you expect when you think Hawai'i - lush, green oases with palms, hibiscus, plumeria (do you know how incredible those flowers smell?!?), and other exotic plants I haven't yet learned to identify.

This morning I drove down to Kailua Kona to get some basic groceries for our mini fridge - we really don't need these $30 hotel breakfasts every day! I was on a pretty tight schedule, but I managed to fit in a couple of quick sites in Kona. I found parking (somewhat of an ordeal - maybe because I just didn't really know where to look!), and walked along the main (tourist) drag: Ali'i Drive. I'm quick to ignore strips like this, but I know some folks live for the Hard Rock Cafes and the Bubba Gumps in the world (at least these are some of the best located versions!). But, I did want to hit some of the major cultural locales that happen to be neighbors to the many vendors of schlock.

I first went to the Ahu'ena Heiau, which was King Kamehameha's personal heiau. The area has been restored, and one of the structures was currently being worked on (not the heiau, but an adjacent structure) with scaffolding about. Walking on the structures is kapu (forbidden), but you can get reasonably close to get a feel for them. Unlike most of the heiaus I've been reading about, this one was not a sacrificial site. I've been reading a bit about the history of the island (so incredibly interesting!), and it's worth noting that one of the ki'i akua (statue of a god) at this heiau has a plover atop it's head. It is thought to make reference to the theory that the first Polynesians to find the Hawaiian islands may have been guided by the golden plover on it's annual migration. Here is a pic:

Right next to this heiau is a small, calm beach that is quite nice for little ones, and there's a snack shack and equipment rental there. The hotel adjacent to the heiau is King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, which I think was just acquired by the Marriott company. I was on the same flight as three Marriott folks, and then I saw them today at the hotel discussing new paint colors and such.

I walked up a block to see the Hulihe'e Palace (built in 1838), which was suffered severe structural damage in the earthquakes in 2006. As a result, the viewing is limited to the first floor (and the admission lowered to $4), but it was still worth going through to see examples of the beautiful furnishings and architecture. They also had a pretty interesting movie playing about the Palace and the people associated with it. Just outside the Palace is a Pohaku Likanaka, which is a black lava rock with a hole toward the top. Sacrificial victims were forced to sit in front of it while a rope was fed through the hole, around their neck, and then back through the hole. They would then be strangled... probably not a nice way to go!

Of course, amidst the remnants of a rather violent and bloody history, there are incredible reminders of mother nature. Somehow, despite a rather violent natural history, life here is abundant and remarkable:

Birds here are beautiful and not very timid! I don't know what these are, but I love the orange!

Umm, yeah... I really need to start snapping more flower photos. Aren't these gorgeous? For scale, each one of those is about the size of my hand!

It's going to be really hard for Jerry to talk me out of bringing one of these cuties home in my pocket! Although the colors in the photo may be astounding, it doesn't even come close to the irridescence and vibrance that you see in person.

Honu (green sea turtles)... I'm completely entranced by them. I can stand there staring at them while they rest, not moving a bit, and I'm still fascinated. We're incredibly lucky in that these guys have a resting area on the beach at our hotel. We're getting up early tomorrow morning to see if they'll let us snorkel with them for a bit - I'll let you know if we get lucky!

and, of course, I couldn't leave you without your picture postcard, could I? This is the hotel pool. We haven't tried it out yet, and I'm not sure that we will. It's lovely, but I'm pretty partial to the "pool" just beyond teeming with fish, sea turtles, nudibranchs, and other delightful flora and fauna!

Hawaii bound

Now that I've finally gotten a bunch of work behind me, I'm finally able to start thinking and preparing for our trip to Hawaii next week! Jerry and I are going to the big island where he will be attending a work conference. Lucky for me, the conference is taking place at an incredible resort on the Kohala Coast, the Fairmont Orchid! He'll be doing conference stuff during most of the days, and I'm taking a new tablet PC along so that I can keep up with superbuzzy business. Of course, we're still hoping to find plenty of time to do some sightseeing and adventuring.

Every time I look at the travel guides, I'm totally overwhelmed by the descriptions of things to do. Everything sounds fantastic. Not having been there before, I'm having trouble prioritizing what we should do during our limited free time. Can anyone offer suggestions for "must-see" and "must-do" on the big island? We're not so much the lounging on the beach types... more hiking, snorkeling, and climbing volcano types. I know there's lots of this to do, but I'd love to hear what people think are the best spots to see. We'd also appreciate any suggestions for cultural sites, restaurants, any great shops, etc. I know the big island is relatively quiet, but I think that might be exactly what we need!

This will be our first time alone together since Brynne was born - she's going to grandma's house! We'll have to see if we still remember how to talk to each other without constant interruption and Brynne-related crises. I'll try to take lots of pictures to share while I'm there, and I'm also *really* looking forward to some time to get caught up on my Bloglines! Hope everyone out there is having a fantastic summer!

whoa, dude...

Well, it appears that the momentum to not blog can be just as powerful as that to blog. That was a long break, and it was even somewhat unintentional. The longer it went, the harder it was for me to jump back in to say anything. So, I finally decided to just write something - interesting or not... at least then I can try to get back in the swing.

It's been a busy month or so. Brynne turned 4 on May 15, and in celebration we had a 3-day Disneyland extravanganza. I'm hooked all over again - going with a child is so different than going without. We had a truly fantastic time, and I can't wait to go again. Luckily, we live close enough that it's not such an ordeal... I'm exploring those southern CA annual passes.

I've also been working a ton - for both superbuzzy and my old job. It seems I couldn't completely quit the old job, as I'm now working for them as an independent contractor. It's hard to say no when I can actually make some decent money working for them in this capacity. Jerry says that the money I make from them now is blood money to help make up for 5 (tortuous) years.

And, of course, superbuzzy is zooming right along. We continue to be surprised (and thrilled!) at the number of people who like what we're doing. It's been tough to keep up with everything and grow at a rate that will keep our valued supporters happy. We're approaching our first year anniversary (August 21!), and that is tremendously exciting for me. Of course, the other big surprise in all of this is that neither Mariko nor I can find the time to actually make anything anymore! I'm sure, like anything, we just have to find the right balance, but it's tough seeing all this fantastic fabric come through the shop and not have any time to do anything with it!

Brynne is now out of preschool for the summer, and we're trying to fill the empty spaces with good times. We're also a bit stressed about the fact that we must start researching kindergartens in a few months! Ack! Jerry and I leave for a work/vacation trip to Hawaii early next week, and Brynne is going to grandma's house. Yes - you read it right - it's the first time we'll have been without her since she was born! I'm wondering how long it will take for me to miss her terribly... I'm sure she is going to be just fine without us!

I guess that's the long and short of the past month. This morning Brynne and I met some of our co-op preschool buddies at Underwood Family Farms where u-pick blueberry picking is in full swing. Brynne had a fantastic time searching for the biggest and juiciest specimens to add to our bin.

They also have some cute farm animals there to pet and feed, including a llama tolerating a very bad summer haircut:

They also had an elaborate series of ramps and towers constructed to allow their goats to climb. I guess goats really do want to be at the top!

see the goat on the first tower, and the other on the way up?!?

Needless to say, the kids were quite impressed with all of this. But, the true reward was this:

These have already been dipped into a bit, but we picked this huge container (2 pounds worth!) for less than $8. Now I'm trying to get creative as to how we can use these up quickly and go picking again!

Waiting at home was this:

reminding me that I need to get the yarn asap to knit in Hawaii - something cute for a little nephew on the way... I'll have to get over this blueberry induced stupor so that I can start considering yarn possibilities!