Gigi on Tour » Hawaii – Big Island

Big Island – Kona Coast

gerry — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:00:30 +0000

The Big Island is larger than all other Hawaiian islands together and is unique on this planet as it contains 11 of the 14 climatic zones found in the world. It is also the youngest one of the Hawaiian islands and will be joined by another one bubbling up just to the South East in about 100,000 years. From dry desert to rainforest to snow to tundra to cool farmland, the choice is yours. Causing all this is all the exciting volcanic activity of the past 500,000 or so years, with the two largest peaks Mauna Kea and Mauna Lea towering in the center of the island. Kona on the West coast, home to the world famous Ironman triathlon, is usually dry and calm. Our home was the Kona Sugar Shack (www.konasugarshack.com) which gave us fresh bananas, papayas, tiki torch sunsets by the pool, a great boogie boarding beach across the street (also popular with turtles), inspiring art, and spinner dolphins just offshore, and very pleasant hosts.

Sugar Shack couch

Kona sunset

The coast is rocky and hot and it is not easy to find good spots for swimming. To the North the 5 star resorts are lined up along the coast. We went to see the Hilton and felt like we had arrived in Disneyland, except the fun was missing. Here is a quiet beach we really liked, Kukui Bay (enter across the Veteran”s Cemetary graveyard):

very very kid friendly

Another favourite with the kids were the tidal pools:

lots of room to explore

Check out this grave, not a bad spot to be buried, with clear views of surf, dolphins, whales, turtles …

a peaceful place

Across one of the surfbreaks is this little church, very popular with weddings, but only holds 20 guests (need to have small families).

On the North part of Big Island you enter lush hills and the sleepy little town of Hawi, home to people who believe in fresh food and sustainability. The drive back through the mountains winds through farmland with real cowboys – Parker Ranch was once the largest ranch in North America. And, as always, sun and rain played games with each other, see for yourself:

Surfing has been so important to the Hawaiians, such an essential part of everyday life, that they actually built temples for the surf gods. I am quite certain that this is the only place in the world where such temples exist.

pray here for clean 6 foot barrels

Volcano: meeting Pele, goddess of fire

gerry — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:04:40 +0000

If you want to get in touch with Mother Earth, you will not get much closer than at the volcano on the East side of Big Island. This is where you get close to Pele, the goddess of fire and creation. The volcano is very active, it has been actively expelling gases, fumes, and lava for the longest period longer than any other active volcano currently on the planet (since 1984). To see earth being created and new land being formed is a truly breath taking experience, it is so real, so raw, so fundamental. This place seems to be one where you get the experience up close, without the usual risk of getting hit by an expelled rock, being put to sleep by toxic gases, lava spitting on you, falling into a crack in the earth etc. which seem to be part of exploring volcanoes in other parts of the world such as Indonesia or the Philippines. There is actually a town of 4000 or so souls called volcano (no one really knows because of the “off-the-grid” thing, which has attracted an eclectic mix of hippies, eco-freaks, artists and athletes who like being close to Pele. It is cool up here and we were very fortunate to stay in Oma’s hideaway, which featured a fire place, a very cozy place to have our cup of tea after long volcano hikes:

Due to the toxic gases, the main crater in the park can only be viewed from afar, but you can see it spewing and boiling at day and night from the museum in the park:

This is a lava tube that you can walk through for about half a kilometre, sort of like a pipeline that the volcano has formed to get rid of his pressurized magma:

The museum is very cool and explains the whole creation process of the Hawaiian islands very well, here is an example of Mauna Kea, the largest peak in the chain with over 4000 meters above sea level.

The IKI loop hike takes you through rainforest and straight down into the crater, where you walk across the cold lava, which has cracked over the years:

crater temple

The chain of craters road takes you through massive lava flows from the past decades, very fresh land that has formed, all the way down to sea, where you can see the ocean lava flow in 2 km distance.

From the North end you can walk at night to within about 1 km of the ocean entry, across broken lava with a flash light. We brought a picnic and watched Pele push her fire into the ocean, constant explosions and fumes going into the night sky.

The best way to experience the volcano is actually not a privately guided walk or the helicopter, but a trip on a boat, especially when it is blowing East, which means the steam and fumes are being blown inland. The trip on the Lava catamaran was one of the most breath-taking experiences I have had in my life. It starts with your alarm clock going off at 3 am, so you can meet the captain at 4 am to drive down to the jetty where you then step up onto the catamaran. With everyone on board the boat is launched into the sea, and then we crashed through the rolling seas for about 40 minutes in the dark, an experience which put any roller coaster I have ever been on to shame. Hold tightly onto your seat and stretch your back at 3 in the morning are the two big pieces of advice I have for you! Oh yes, and bring a rain jacket as you will likely be soaked by the time you get to the lava flow. The reward is gigantic: captain Jack brings you within 3-5 meters of the actual lava flowing into the sea. I was amazed that the huge surf did not wash our boat onto the black sand beach that had just been created the night before. The lava flow is constantly changing, every time you look at it something has changed, a column has collapsed, a new flow has started, another ones is slowly turning black, lava rocks flow in the ocean, rocks explode in the ocean, there are hissing sounds everywhere. The water actually heats up to nice shower temperature. For the next hour all you do is watch in awe as the captain manoeuvres the boat back and forth from the lava walls in raging seas. This is raw pure mother earth energy within spitting distance. Even though static images are a poor representation of the experience, here is a sample of what I saw:

Exquisite taste sensations

gerry — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:26:59 +0000

There are incredible things that grow here in Hawaii and the locals have come up with ingenious ways to make your taste buds scream with joy. The air is filled with tempting sweet smells of fresh flowers such as the plumeria leaves, which are everywhere on the ground in various colour shades and are often used for making lei’s (the flower necklaces locals and visitors often wear), and all the exotic fruit you can imagine, all mixed with fresh ocean air, that is thousands of miles away from polluting factories and traffic jams. I enjoy eating so much more than I ever have, often every little bite gives me a rush, a mind-boggling sensation that elates joy and peace for my soul. The taste is so rich and pure and full, it must be related to the fact that it comes directly from one of the earth’s most energetic pieces of soil, the Hawaiian volcanoes. So here are some examples:

Lilikoi: They come on green, yellow, red, brown, purple, but have one thing in common: the inside mix of juicy flesh with seeds must have been made in heaven on a day where the gods thought: “what can we do to make the human soul feel ecstatic?”. Also known as passion fruit or maracuja, but trust me, this is much much better. It is like kissing an angel. Cut in half, hold the edge to your mouth and just suck in the juice from heaven…
Coconut macademia brittle: The only brittle I know that does not stick to your teeth but melts in your mouth before it gets there. Absolute bliss.
Taro, mango, guava sweet bread: Made by the Southernmost bakery in the United States, Punalu’u Bake Shop in Na’alehu on the Big Island, this is colourful sweet bread: purple for taro, pink for guava, yellow for mango.

Rainbow bread, good in any of the 11 climatic zones of Big Island

Sirloin steak from Keahu: The cattle here roams freely on green pastures that slope down to the ocean. These specific ones come from near South Point on the Big Island, with a clear view towards Tahiti and fresh warm salt air.
Mango: large, sweet, organic, no strings, everything a mango should be. They grow everywhere in Hawaii but you need to be aware of seasons

Unbelievable: two large bowls of juicy cubes, all from one large organic mango

Ono: Our favoured fish, white meat, very tender and tasty, my favourite is baking it with lilikoi
Avocado: OK, you will not believe this, they grow to the size of footballs. Most of the ones we ate are actually round rather than egg shaped and about the size of a online casino spiele large grapefruit or pomelo. Love it on sandwiches or salads.
Kahlua pork: the main meat before cattle was introduces to Hawaii. Cooked slowly and very tender, strips of meat that taste very unique with rice and seaweed flavoured spinach
Papaya: this is one food I will always associate with Hawaii, we would have half a papaya with lime on it pretty much every morning, it gives you the best start into the day…
Apple bananas: the small kind which grows everywhere and is very yummy, with a hint of apple flavours, the kids love these and have one almost every night before they go to bead.

All-you-can-eat bananas and papayas at our cute little Dolphin Bay Hotel in Hilo

Kona coffee: from the Kona coast on Big Island, ok I am not a big coffee expert, but this tastes great and makes me stay awake on long drives around the volcanoes
Ginger macademia nut cookies: from Punalu’u Bakery, very tasty
Tropical summer honey: Wao Kele Honey Company, the nectar from the most beautiful flowers
Pineapple: fresh, large and juicy, these grow everywhere
Mango bread: sort of like banana bread, except much better and spreckled with macademia nuts and walnuts
Taro: sort of like potato, comes in all kinds of versions, including poi which is sort of like a big mush (like oatmeal), but the one I loved best was coconut milk cooked taro in taro leaves

Breakfast time:mango, papaya and a fruit that looks like an artichoke, is very tasty (more like banana) and has a name that sounds like the monkey from star wars

Big Island South Coast

gerry — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:33:08 +0000

The further you move away from Kona on the West coast or Hilo on the East coast, the more you get „off the grid“. There are plenty of places deep in the lush vegetation or high up on the mountain or far down in the South were people live completely undetected: no visitors, no telecommunication, high independence from the outside world due to self-sustainable practices (direct access to energy, water, food). Basically, nobody knows that these people are there, and they just love that, in fact they thrive on this fact, they truly try to “get away from it all”. Not quite the life of a hermit in Bhutan, but as close as you will get in the Western world I guess.
All kinds of fruit grow South of Kona, which makes sustainability that much easier. It is lush and green and very laid back. In Kahanamoku Bay Captain Cook was stabbed to death when landing on the shores of this beautiful bay and things got a bit out of control. Across the way is a beautifully restored Hawaiian village by the sea, the city of refuge.

old Hawaiian settlement

Gesine tried to be a Samoan to get a coconut, but even on this very slanted palm tree it proved very difficult. Samoans are experts at this and are actually hired everywhere to cut down palm tree leaves and coconuts. They will climb straight palm trees to the top the trees, which are in some cases higher than ten meters, with only a seat harness and a machete. The reason for this is that quite a substantial number of people get seriously injured and killed by coconuts, more than the annual mortal shark attacks.

The Hawaiian settlement features a temple with some beautiful wooden carved god sculptures, male and female:

temple with statues

feeling the power of the gods

nice form

more gods

South Point is the Southermost point in the US. You face Kiribati, Tahiti and the rest of the tropical South Pacific Islands, but there are a few thousand miles to go. It is commonly believed now that the Polynesians ventured North in voyaging sailing canoes that held a crew of 10-20 with enough supplies to last for months, with navigation only by stars, without any of the instruments that James Cook and his fellow explorers would have on board (sextant, compass, clocks etc.). The point is rugged, bare, windy, and it feels a bit like the end of the world. Fisherman pull in big fish off the edge of the cliff, they have even built special pulley systems to pull in the very big ones.

serious fishing

for the really big fish

Around the corner is Punaluu, home to a bakery that makes very tasty rainbow sweet bread.

great sweetbread here

And just a few miles North is a very welcoming Punaluu beach park, not far from the raging volcanoes…

Punalu’u Black Sand Beach

Gesine — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:37:42 +0000

If you think “beach is beach” have a look at this spectacular beach: Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. There is a wonderful bay of fine black sand beach with incredibly turquoise water. In this warm sand the Hawaiian green sea turtles like to lay down and take a nap or watch us play. There were more turtles than humans at this beach, when we were there. And in the beautiful “Queen’s pool”, a volcanic tidal pool with warm water, the turtles took their bath. Black Sand Beach is located half-way between Volcano and Na’alehu on the southern portion of the Big Island.

Hawaiian living

Gesine — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:32:26 +0000

The Hawaiian living was simple and joyful. The loved the lu”au, a traditional Hawaiian feast. FOOD They have had a variety of food, which they prepared all together. Poi is made by cooked taro fruit Mit an Bord ist Software Entwickler Net Entertainment, der bereits fur einige Klassiker gesorgt hat und Sportingbet regelma?ig mit neuen casino spelletjes spelen versorgt. mashed with water. It looks like purple grey glue…A much more tasteful way to eat taro is to take the leaves, fill them with fish or meat and cook them in coconut milk. Ulu is the breadfruit, which was one of the first plants, that Polynesians brought to Hawaii Kalua is typically pork cooked in a pit oven to delicious tenderness.