A NEW Big Island Thread

[realarch]

Ahhh...brings bac memories. The walk from the cafe to the beach is really something with the thousands of cocos seedings people have planted to restore what was once before the lava flows. The small strip of black sand beach is unreal and so pristine.

Bo, nice turtle pics, a man after my own heart.

Steve....wanna come over and dig some holes for me?

Tim

[bgl]

A few more photos from the Kalapana area. A number of Hawaiian families live right next to the Kalapana Village Café, and they're catering to the relatively small, but steady, stream of tourists who find their way to this interesting place. This is just to the left of the café.

[bgl]

And just before you get to the end of the road, where the café is, you'll be passing by this tiki. It's about 7 ft tall or so.

[bgl]

Most people who end up here do so to hike out over the fairly fresh lava flow to the ocean. As I mentioned earlier, the lava flow filled up the entire bay during the late summer and fall of 1990. In this photo you can see what used to be the shoreline/beach - that's where all the vegetation (with many coconut palms) is and the open area to the right with the lava is where the Pacific Ocean used to be up until late 1990!

[bgl]

The Hawaiians have put up their flag in a couple of places here. Always upside down, to indicate "distress". They're still upset about the fact that some American businessmen put Queen Liliuokalani in house arrest in January 1893 and declared the Republic of Hawaii. A few years after that the USA took control of the government, and Hawaii became a U.S. territory.

[bgl]

The walk out to the new shoreline is probably about a quarter mile or so. It used to be right on top the lavaflow, but the local Hawaiian community has added red cinder to the "path" making the hike somewhat easier. This is about halfway out to the ocean, looking back. The café is not visible, but is just beyond the Hawaiian flag in the center of the photo (just barely visible).

[bgl]

Plenty of cracks and crevices all over the place, and it'll be interesting to see how many of these coconut palms that will survive in the long run.

[bgl]

This is all the way out to the Pacific Ocean (about 100 ft behind me). All the coconut palms have been planted over the last five years or so by the local Hawaiians.

[bgl]

The previous photo was facing north. Now I've turned around, facing south towards Antarctica - some 6000 miles away! This is the view to my left, towards Kehena Beach and Kapoho.

[bgl]

And the view to my right - towards Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and beyond that South Point, the southernmost point in the USA.

[bgl]

And a little bit more to my right, this is more in a northwesterly direction. Pu'u O'o, part of the Kilauea system and on top of the East Rift Zone (which runs right below Leilani Estates) is visible in the center of the photo (with the smoke). That's more or less where the current eruption is taking place (and has been taking place since Jan 1983).

[putu enjula]

I was out with the camera again!!!  Look out!!

This is out on Keahole point...  this is a blow hole.

Me with big splash.

[putu enjula]

Sorry, once again I couldn't decide which pics to post!

[realarch]

Angela, just beautiful!

Tim

[putu enjula]

Thanks Tims!

Here's more from the same area...

My parents with D.Dean givin' the shakra.

[putu enjula]

[putu enjula]

SORRY cycad lovers!

Oh! The HORROR!!

This was at the Hilton in Waikoloa...  or what we call the "Disneyland Hilton"

OH NOOO!!!!

[putu enjula]

I was wondering how many thousands of dollars worth of cycads were being run over!!

[ianedwards]

Bo, can you tell an old-timer anything about Norm Bezona and his mountain cloud-forest garden. Still there?        Ian Edwards

[bgl]

Ian,

Oh yes, indeed! Norman Bezona is still in the same location with who knows how many acres. He's actually only about a mile or so up the road (=mountain) from Dean's place. I believe Norm is around the 3000 ft elevation. He has left most of the forest intact and has numerous trails there. Definitely a very unique place.

Bo-Göran

[putu enjula]

More pics from the Hilton...

They had a captive Grey Crowned crane.

[putu enjula]

She was showing off...

It's embarrassing to have something hangin' from your nose!

[JakeK]

I don't think I'll ever get tired of the 'Big Island' threads, so post on!

Angela, what type of camera do you use? All the pictures you're posting are of really good quality. I'm looking for a new camera, possibly a Nikon D40 since I'm so attached to my Nikon N60. Also, do you record the flv files with the same camera?

[bgl]

Angela,

Great pictures of that bird! But what makes you think it's a "she"? I thought it was generally the guys that wanted to show off...! ???

Bo-Göran

And I have some more Big Island photos - to be posted soon...stay tuned!

[bgl]

Maku'u Farmers' Market is a major event that takes place every Sunday morning on Hawaiian Home Lands, about half a mile beyond Maku'u Drive on Highway 130 (about 15 miles from Hilo).

[bgl]

Plenty of locally grown fruit and vegetables

[bgl]

And lots of places where you can get a bite to eat. This is one of the more popular ones. We hired this lady some time ago for an event on our property, and she brought out all the equipment and made crepes "to order", which was a major success!

[bgl]

Lots of "local" food

[bgl]

This is the same vendor. The huli huli chicken is always popular!

[bgl]

And Samoan food for those who want something different!

[bgl]

Incidentally, we had friends from Sweden visit us for several days, and this gave me the opportunity to act as "tourguide" and take a bunch of pictures. And feel like I was on vacation as well!

Kehena Beach, about 20 minutes away from us is really the only beach nearby. It's a beautiful black sand beach, and you have to climb down a fairly steep cliff to get there. This is the view on the right. Those houses are actually pretty close to the edge and sooner or later erosion is going to take its toll. But the people living there probably know that. And hopefully they're enjoying the view until that happens...!

[bgl]

Always very impressive waves here. The beach is on my left and I DID take a photo, but in the name of decency I've decided not to post it (even though it's a great shot!). Kehena Beach is, unofficially, a "clothing optional beach" and everybody here is very laid back it. Whether someone wears a bathing suit or not seems to be completely irrelevant. When the weather is nice (which is most of the time) there's almost always live music and the whole place is like a non-stop party.

[bgl]

The next day we drove around the entire island. Left at 8 a.m., took Highway 11 via South Point up to Kailua-Kona and then Highway 19 via Waimea and the Hamakua coast back. Back home just before 11 p.m. Talk about a full day!

This is Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, about 30 minutes beyond Volcano (coming from Hilo). This beach is known for its turtles (protected) and we saw quite a few. Already posted a few photos (on the previous page I believe).

[bgl]

After a quick stop at Punalu'u Bakery in Na'alehu (not sure why it's not Na'alehu Bakery...! ??? ), where we loaded up on stuff to eat (malasadas among other things - sort of a Hawaiian donut that has its origin in Portugal), AND enjoyed the incredible aroma from the bakery! Just to stand outside the building and enjoy the overwhelming aroma is worth whatever amount you then end up spending inside. Anyway, then to our next stop: Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. For those who are linguistically challenged "City of Refuge" is an (almost) acceptable alternative!

And if you're not familiar with the geography of the Big Island of Hawaii - the two main volcanoes are Mauna Kea (north) and Mauna Loa (south). The park is almost due west from the summit of Mauna Loa. Hualalai is the smaller volcano on the west coast, just above Kailua-Kona. Kilauea is the one to the east of Mauna Loa's summit.

[bgl]

Replica of an old Hawaiian temple

[bgl]

Hawaiian chess game (or is it checkers - I forgot! )

[bgl]

View across the little bay. Quite a few turtles here as well, by the way.

[bgl]

How can you not fall in love with this place!!??

[bgl]

And a close-up of the temple that's visible in Post 157. The structure on the left (with the ladder) is where the old Hawaiians made their offerings to the gods.

[bgl]

Presumably the old Hawaiian equivalent of an IPS Board meeting!