Our Final Full Day...:(

Yesterday was the last full day here in paradise...





It's sad to be leaving friends and family and we're not all that much looking forward to New York state winter weather but we had a wonderful day of laulau burgers and a final, somewhat cloudy sunset at Makalawena with Makoto and Ira. Even though the parking area at Makalawena looked like the Costco Parking lot, we managed to steer clear of most people and enjoy a dip in the ocean.
We also learned to make palm frond crafts of fishes and roses, thanks to Makoto and all of his Asian-ness.

Christopher also fulfilled his wish of a martini and onion rings at Quinn's-Almost by the Sea.

Now we're off for a burger at Annie's (we hear they're stellar too!) and hopefully a malasada before heading to the airport......

Mana Rd

No, this has nothing to do with our new friend Mana.......:) Although I think anyone would like a road named after them......

Mana Rd is a 44 mile stretch of rugged state road that starts in Waimea and winds around the north side of Mauna Kea ending up on Mauna Kea Road only 12 miles from the 13,700+ft summit.
On Saturday, from the initial altitude of about 2500ft in Waimea we drove the entire length of Mana Rd ending up at an altitude of about 7000ft. At the end of the day we drove to Mau'umae Beach (at sea level of course) and we saw the water bottles we carried in the car constrict from the increased air pressure...kinda like what they do on a plane...

The Waimea end of Mana Rd is lush and green; most of the land, on both sides of the road and as far as the eye can see, is Parker Ranch land; pastures of wavy grasses and grazing cattle. The road starts out paved but once you're a mile off the main highway it's dirt until the other end.
Immediately after leaving the highway, Christopher got out his iPhone and opened the GPS app. to pinpoint where we were. He saw, only a short bit from us, a street called Wong Way. How could we not take a look?

A turn from Mana Rd onto Mana Place took us into a little neighborhood that was bordered with tall pines and the well kept ranch houses were each set on a few acres of land; some with small fenced pastures of sheep and others with horses. Right at the intersection of Mana Place and Wong Way was a farm with a greenhouse and a field of alternating ruby and emerald greens and lettuces waiting to be picked for the table. However, probably fearing tourists and even local gawkers out for a thrill, the street sign for Wong Way was not there...a little disappointing in that respect but otherwise a really pretty little spot.




Once you leave this tight little neighborhood and venture only a little further on Mana Rd you enter the Parker Ranch land and, even though this is a state road, farm gates and cattle grates intersect the road; there were frequent stops to open and close the gates so we could venture on...
On our first little stop to stretch our legs we took in Waimea's sunny skies (this was my sixth time to Waimea and still no rain.....) and searched for some mushrooms (they grow in cow pies)...that's Ira to the right with his nose to the ground...
I guess because it had been so sunny, there were no shrooms to be had....kinda sad...
Waimea, for all of it's supposed rain, was the sunniest part of today's road trip.

Even though both ends of the road could be driven in a regular vehicle (we were even passed by a mini van at one point) the guide books recommend a 4 wheel drive for the trip and only after we were well into the journey did I see why. On the center section of the road a 4 wheel drive (ie. the demon) is certainly required. Although the road is not as rough as the lava rock moguls that we traveled on previous days, there were some steep and heavily rutted areas that didn't look like a road at all....just farmland tracks that even tractors may have a hard time getting through.
Needless to say, I didn't get photos of these areas as I was hanging on...




For the better part of the journey we were in a fog bank so the views, other then cattle in the mist and the gnarly, lichen covered koa trees, were pretty much nonexistent. Although we did come upon a pair of Nene-Hawaii's endangered state bird.



























Once we got through the roughest portion of the road we took a road-side lunch break under one of those koa trees where the cool (almost cold) breeze forced even us New Yorkers, to put on sweatshirts.

There is so little "traffic" on this road that during our hour-long lunch stop...homemade spam musubi (woohoo!) and roadside huli huli chicken and beer...we only saw two people on mountain bikes (What in the hell where they thinking?!), a guy on a dirt bike and another on a 4 wheel ATV.





After lunch, the even dirt road winds through parts of state park as well as private lands some of which are overtaken with an invasive plant called gorse..a spiny, evergreen shrub that can get 6 ft tall. It was introduced to the island as an ornamental plant, it eventually naturalized and has taken over acres of land. Kinda pretty with it's yellow flowers but very thorny. It's probably great cover for wildlife..we even saw a very large bull duck into it as we drove past.
This is a photo that I pilfered from the interwebs...I have no idea who these people are but it shows you the scale of the plants and intensity of their invasiveness (that's I word I just made up, I like it!)....



Before the final exit onto Mauna Kea Rd, our Mana Rd journey ended with a trip through...The Valley of the Dong...as Makoto and Ira like to call it. I have no idea what these plants are but their now spent and dried flower spikes guard the landscape.






After another long day in the demon...where it was a titch chilly and damp on that mountain...we decided to end our day at Mau'umae Beach where Christopher practiced his sand etching and we watched the sun set........

LauLau Burger!

Last Thursday we wrangled our new friend Mana into showing us where the best burger joint on the island was hidden.
Just a short drive south, on the road down to Kealakekua Bay and the ancient site called Pu'uhonua o Honaunau (I did not spell that incorrectly) or Place of Refuge in English, there is a little road-side eatery with walk-up window that's painted yellow.
The place is called Kalama's and it looks a little unassuming from the road with a sign that announces some of the menu: hamburgers, hot dogs and shave ice (once again no "d" on shave...) but, once you get a look at the full menu you notice things like a kimchee burger, spinach ahi nori wraps and the laulau burger....the reason for our little lunch adventure.


After Mana's guidance with ordering (we ordered the laulau and a kimchee) I asked, "Exactly what is a laulau?"....

A traditional laulau, as I soon found out, is a little package of pork that's wrapped in laulau (aka taro) leaves, then tied in ti leaves (the kind of leaves you make leis out of). The little packages are then buried in an underground oven called an imu (like they cook the pig in for a lu'au) and is left to cook for an hour. The result is a steamy little package of meaty goodness. Makoto did say the traditional laulau also has a slice of pork fat slipped into the bundle, making the end product extra tasty and juicy.

The laulau burger at Kalama is pretty much as described above...laulau leaf wrapped pork...although I have no idea how they actually cook it. I do know you need to call ahead and reserve one as they are limited in number. These burgers were the juiciest, tastiest pork sandwiches I have ever had!
I'm not a bun person (eh-hem) but this bun is an integral part of this sandwich (soft and light) and, as I found again today--during our second trip there, this time with Barbara and papasan--the extra added chunks of pork fat were added in, and lots of 'em!...the juice ran down our arms....crazy good!

Chuck said he wasn't so much a fan of the laulau burger (too big and too close to a traditional laulau-which he's not fond of) but he ate the whole thing and all of us agreed the bun was exceptional. Should you ever get here, be sure to order the fries too, they are just as exceptional! I am a huge fan of McDonald's fries but Kalama's has them beat....hot, crisp, salty..FAB!


After last Thursday's laulau adventure with Makoto and Mana, we felt like we needed to have a little hike or we would have fallen into a major food coma. Makoto (whom I swear could be a very well paid tour guide) drove along the barren, hot and dry, four mile stretch of road that runs along to coast between Kealakekua Bay and Pu'uhonua o Honaunau where he stopped at a cattle gate that barred a path leading to the ocean. Since all Hawai'ian coastline belongs to the people (there is no private coastal ownership), land owners need to leave coastline access....so we hopped the locked gate.

Everyone we've met here in Hawai'i is always up for an adventure at the drop of a hat, and even though Mana was wearing heals she had purchased only the week before, she didn't hesitate to opt in on this last minute decision. Makoto, being the gentleman he is, gave his "slippers" (called flip-flops back home) to Mana so she would be more comfortable on the walk. This left Makoto barefoot to walk on the hot, black lava path to the coatline..without even the slightest peep of complaint...until the next day when the blisters popped and we teased him for hopping about like a sissy.


The fifteen minute walk to and from the coastline was certainly worth the moist clothes. No sandy beaches were to be found here however, only impressive, black lava rock cliffs that contrast so beautifully with the ever swaying, blue ocean. This section of coastline is interspersed with natural arches, cliff caves and blowholes caused by the surging surf.

An interesting note about the old lava flow that was under our feet.....it is chuck full of ovaline, that green mineral that makes green sand beaches. After tens of thousands of years, this area may one day be another green sand beach.
This third photo shows a few flecks of the ovaline that have worked themselves loose of the lava....it's starting!

Another fun aspect of this little hike.....Makoto did another cliff jump; this time I caught him on video. If I can get him to edit the video for me, and the blog will accept the size of the it, I'll post it here...check back!

This last photo shows Christopher and Mana standing on a cliff arch.

Makalawena

Beaches on the island of Hawai'i seem to be few and far between, especially when compared to other islands in the state. This is the youngest island and a good deal of the coastline is lava that has not yet had time to break down into sand; and a few really nice beaches can be incredibly hard to get to...thank god for the demon and Makoto's daredevil sensibility!




Makalawena is one such beach...if you have a 4 wheel drive (with very good undercarriage clearance) you can drive 15+ minutes over the intense lava rock moguls (again-check your fillings), park at the coastline and take the very short walk to this most remarkable piece of earth. You can also hoof it for 20 minutes-over a'a lava (the sharp kind)-from the state park on the other side of the beach.
This place is completely worth the effort it takes to get there. You're greeted by tall pines for shade, gobs of soft, white sand and clear ocean water in ten shades of blue.









The beach backs up to private land and there is a caretaker who lives in a shack just behind the beach. We're not sure if he's a caretaker for the private land , paid by the state or just another one of those ain't-seen-a-bath hippees! but after sunset, he will come ask you what you're up to since you're not supposed to be there at that time. Other then that, the place is very isolated and you'll probably have the entire place to yourself-like we did. The only neighbors we had that afternoon were green sea turtles in the surf, a whale breaching on the horizon, the beach rooster and a few of the local partridge called grey francolin......









As the sun was setting we were treated to colors that rivaled those in the Hudson Valley.
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

PIG!

So remember when we were in Spain and we felt the need not only to see but to eat a wild boar, or javali as they are called in Spain? With the help of Ramon and his connections our wish was granted.
Well, when we found out there are feral swine in Hawai'i, we had the same urge to eat one. So we put the in-laws on a mission and low and behold, we got pig! There's nothing as good a pork!

The difference between the wild boar and the feral swine is quite striking as far as the way they look, and from what I read they're probably different in the way they taste too. The boar we ate in Spain was the loin, roasted and with a sauce. It wasn't gamy but possibly could have been if it hadn't been killed and cooked properly; and honestly, it was just meat-nothing all that special.
The feral pig is basically a domesticated pig that's been loose and roaming about the forest; granted, it may have been loose for generations but it was still, at one time, a domesticated animal. We're told, the feral pig is not gamy because of this process of domestication, albeit from years ago.
Your pig lesson again this year...photo 1-wild boar (these are not in Hawai'i), photo 2-Hawai'ian feral pig.

The domesticated pig was originally brought to this island by Captain Cook in the 1770's and they were either turned loose (highly unlikely) or, at some point they broke loose and started populating the island.
Only two islands in the Hawai'ian chain are pig free and of the islands that are populated, the Island of Hawai'i has the largest number. They are an invasive species which some would like eradicated, yet native Polynesian groups argue that erasing the pig from the islands would negate an integral part of their culture.
There is a pig hunting season here, with limits on the number you can take but there are so many it seems no one really cares if you "harvest" out of season.
In all of our travels, we have yet to see one running about but we hear they're out there.

Last week, Barbara mentioned to a colleague at her school that we were on the lookout for some pig. This colleague didn't think getting it would be a problem and, the very next day told Barbara she'd sent her husband out the previous night and....a pig was had! Once again...Hawai'ian hospitality at work!




We had asked for a shoulder but we got this lovely ham (fresh, of course). Here it is all seasoned up with cumin and oregano and garlic, salt and pepper. I then marinated it overnight in onion, orange and lime juice (fresh squeezed of course..cuz that's what you have here in Hawai'i) and slow roasted it.
See that bowl of fat? Normally a "wild" animal is pretty lean but this pig fattened itself up on avocados!
Look what happened after 8 hours in the oven.......the meat just fell off the bone! Yum!


So you wanna know the sad part? The reason we didn't get a shoulder, as we were later told, was because "the dogs" had gotten to it. I was like...why were the dogs chowing on the carcass?. Seems the guy that got this pig, hunts with his dogs; he lets the dogs bring down the pig and then he finishes it off.
The poor thing was slow kill. Had I known the method of the kill, I would have passed but, it was already in our fridge and as the old proverb says....Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Once I knew about the kill method, I thought for sure it would be gamy (even though it was not technically game) and it was completely NOT gamy.
We toasted the pig prior to eating, and had I known a Hawai'ian prayer, I would have said that too. It didn't die in vain.

Hilo Road Trip

We tend to save our road trip adventures for the weekend since Christopher is working during the week and since these adventures can be hours long. The island of Hawai'i is the largest in the chain of islands and it can take you 10+ hours to drive the highway(s) that encircle it, that does not include and site-seeing stopping time and it's mostly because the speed limit here is never more then 55 and in a good number of places it's only 45....things move much more slowly in Hawai'i.
This day (actually last Friday), once again, Makoto took the wheel of the demon (just in case we needed her for an off-road moment) and with Ira as our guide (he used to live in Hilo) the four of us headed out to see the Hilo side of the island.



We headed north passing through my favorite town of Waimea....I was going to write an entire post about Waimea but then I realized the photos I have cannot do the area any justice and no one is as excited about that place as I am....
Here are the couple of photos that I do have and you can read more about Waimea's rich history here.

This first photo was taken along the road to Waimea, showing snow topped Mauna Kea in the background and a old, volcanic cinder cone in the foreground.
This second photo was taken from the Waimea airport, showing the town nestled up at the base of the green, rolling hills.

I guess I fell in love with Waimea because of those rolling, green hills, open grasslands and the brilliant sunshine!...I have been to or through Waimea at least five times since we've been here and, even though it's green (signaling rain!) and those big clouds are always rolling over the top of the hills behind town, I have yet to see anything but sun there. All the locals tell me that's atypical, I'm not sure I believe them.....
I will say, the area is quite windy and the temps are a full 15 degrees cooler in Waimea then they are in Kona. This has prompted me to say that we will one day own a winter house in Kona and a summer house in Waimea....guess I gotta keep making those leis.....
Waimea is known as a cowboy town (really, check out the link to the town's history), Hawai'ian cowboys, ka’ aina o ka paniolo in the Hawai'ian language, are a plenty; there are a lot of ranches and big trucks but the place has an air of class to it...those wide open grasslands, the well planned and tended town center (with only two stop lights) and it's cultural diversity along with some great (we've heard) restaurants and a really fabulous wine store have given me the impression that it's a place I could live.
One really great attribute is the area is not overly built up...the Parker Ranch, at one time the largest private land holding in the United States, topping out at over 225,000 acres, is still the largest land holder in the area though not as large as it once was. Most of the open land you see in the photos is Parker Ranch land, full of cattle and horses and turkeys; I think that's how the turkeys arrived here in Kona, through Parker Ranch.
So enough about Waimea....







Our first stop of the day (besides Tex's for a malasada!) was in the town of Honomu (population about 600) where, on the very small main street we noticed a shop called "Same, Same, But Different"..no kidding...I wasn't able to get a photo of it but from what I could tell, they sold sari's. We also noticed this Japanese Buddist Hongwanji Temple with it's Palladian windows (there are a lot of little temples and churches all over this island), and directly across the street from the temple is this ENORMOUS! banyan tree. Actually there are two trees side by side and they are immense! Christopher used his photo splicing abilities to get the whole shot. Once you enlarge the photo, notice the car and the people to the left of the tree...like I said, immense!
A banyan tree has this method of sending roots back down to the ground from other parts of the tree, clinging to itself or whatever other plant form (or man made structure) is nearby, strangling the life out of it. Notice the "tree" to the left of Christopher in the third photo. That's a coconut palm that happened to be in the wrong place, it's completely engulfed in the banyan's roots. Awe-some!






A bit further on up the road from Honomu, on a walk through the rain forest on this wet side of the island (although, once again, this entire side of the island was brilliant sunshine; barely a cloud and certainly no rain), we wandered through some HUGE! bamaboo to see Akaka Falls with it's 420 ft drop. Makoto says this falls is minuscule compared to some on another part of the island....an adventure for another trip!






























On the way out of Akaka, Maktoto and Ira grabbed their machetes from the boot of the demon and took the time to cut some sugar cane for us to chomp on...
Sugar cane, although no longer an industry here like it once was, is still farmed on a smaller scale on this side of the island and, like you see in this photo, it will occasionally jump it's field and grow "wild" along the road.
The cane is as hard as bamboo and quite fibrous to chew on but it certainly is sweet (duh) and once you carve off the outer layers you can float the inner part of the stalks in your margaritas or screwdrivers where it will soak up a little of the liquid, making it a bit easier to chew on. Yum.


























We continued making our way around the island and eventually came into Hilo, the second largest city in the state of Hawai'i after Honolulu. It's a port town with the island's supplies arriving here first before being trucked to other areas...everything from new cars to food makes it's stop here. There was a pretty park along the ocean front and some interesting architecture on the main street that borders the park but we pushed through to points further down the coast.

If you look at the map above you'll see rt 130 that shows up as a little, yellow spur near the eastern most point of the island...out in that direction we came to Ahalanui, a county park with a thermally heated, spring and ocean fed pool. The brackish water was a maximum of 6ft deep with many, shallower places, about 95 degrees and has a man-made wall and inlet separating it from the ocean. But, with every crash of a wave, a rush of fresh ocean water would flood into the pool.
Since it was a Friday afternoon the pool was full of geris (old folks) and children (think pee!-ew.) and since there were signs saying the water is not disinfected (staph runs a bit rampant on the island) and that the fish and eels can be aggressive, we decided only to put our toes in. It took no time at all for a small school of fish to try and exfoliate our feet!
This little break from driving allowed time to drink some beer and eat the huli huli chicken we picked up along the side of the road! It's all about the food, right?!











BUT! the day wasn't done yet!
On the way into Ahalanui park we tried to take the little walking tour of the lava tree forest but the sign said it was closed for renovations until the end of March. The place was torn up and there were state workers in there doing whatever it is state workers do so we moved on to Ahalanui but, on the way back past the park it was 4:30 and state workers were done for the day.....
Not one to be deterred, Makoto decided (and we fully backed him) that we were going to jump the fence and take a tour anyway. Hawai'i belongs to the people, right?!

The first photo shows the the huge canopy of monkey pod trees at the entrance to the park (with the construction accoutrement strewn about) but around the corner and onto the newly torn up foot paths, we saw the lava trees. They're kinda eerie....blackened, entombed sentries scattered about a living, breathing, green jungle. They gave me the heebie-geebies.
What is a lava tree, you ask?
These lava trees formed in 1790 when fast moving, molten lava (11 ft deep!) hit living 'ohi'a trees. The wet trees cooled the lava that was encasing them at the same time burning the tree itself into ash.
The molten lava then drained away in gashes in the earth that were caused by an explosive eruption, the slightly cooler lava surrounding the trees had already started to harden and remained above ground....weird.

As we were jumping back over the fence that was supposed to keep us from entering in the first place, a pick up truck came onto the entry road with a charcoal grill tied down in the back of the truck bed....the grill was still spewing smoke.
As the husband jumped the fence to use the restrooms of the park, his wife took tongs and reached into a pot that was in the back of the truck and offered each of us a long marinated, smoked chicken thigh! Now that's Hawai'ian hospitality!
She said they had been at the state beach, cooking her delicious chicken (which, btw, she said she loves to do) and they tried offering it to anyone passing by. They didn't get any takers so they were on their way to another park to try and feed some of the homeless (read..HIPPIES! they're everywhere down here! tent dwelling, no bath taking, dreadlock wearing, patchouli smelling hippies!).
The chicken was delicious! and with our smokey, greasy fingers we gave her a hug and a mahalo and wished her aloha.



























BUT! we still weren't done!
We were off to see the steam vents; these were totally not what I expected. I thought there was going to be a rocky outcropping with holes into the earth and steam coming out. Now that I think of it, that's exactly what we saw but it wasn't quite as I pictured it.
We parked along a highway and hiked off into a jungley scrub land of ferns and orchids all the while ignoring the "Trespassers will go to jail" signs (meant more for the naked hippies then for us) and listening for the tow truck that was going to come take the demon should a passerby have alerted the property owner.
The steam vents (there were a number of them) were rocky outcroppings that allowed steam to escape from the earth below (imagine that). Makoto said they were sometimes filled naked hippies (actually the word "dong" was used more then once) steaming themselves into a state of higher being. We found no "dong" this day, probably because of the no trespassing signs and the expletives that were spray painted on the blacktop at the entrance to the overgrown path. What we did find we, well, were steam vents. Very cool (actually steamy hot) outcroppings of rock that, somewhere in the middle of them, had a chasm into the warmer depths of the earth. A couple of them had make shift benches to sit on. One of them was a slit just big enough for a human to slip through and it opened up to a "cave" of sorts that could accommodate a few people..we took Makoto and Ira's word at this...and the last one we visited was pretty deep and also contained a small cave with a bench. Christopher did crawl into this one while I took pictures...spelunking is not my thing, especially if there's heat involved.
The second photo shows a little steam around Christopher's head and the third photo shows him in the little cave....

We still were not done with our adventure! But, I will have to write the last part in another posting...stay tuned. All-in-all it was a very full day with 12 hours on the road but so worth it!