A mind that is stretched by a new experience
Can never go back to its old dimensions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Our favorite of the three Hawaiian islands we visited: folks thinking
and living outside the box and in constant uncertainty due to active volcanoes…
The very nature of having active volcanoes at your doorstep
gives the Big Island a completely different feel. The insecurity that this brings to everyday
life means people live more in the moment, enjoying what is there right now for
it may not be there tomorrow.
We visited
a small town that lost many of its homes and the world’s longest black sand
beach to hot lava in 1990. We were
able to speak with some of the ‘survivors’ who stated it was the slowest natural disaster. They were able to walk alongside the hot red
lava engulfing everything giving them time to think how bad it will be once over unlike a rapid tornado.
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| Volcanic rock arch |
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| Sheer volcanic coastline |
Another thing of interest in such a disaster is that home
insurance covers the structure but not the access to the structure. This means if your house is intact but you
have lava surrounding it, you will not get a penny from the insurance company
yet you no longer have access to your home or land… Since it can take several decades for lava to
cool off you are left with nothing. Best
would be to burn the structure down before calling the insurance
adjusters. You still own the land that
can now be located 75-100 feet below where it used to be but the Hawaiian
government owns all NEW land created by the volcano near the coastline.
The youngest of the islands at a mere 800,000 years it is
not only the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, it is the largest island in the
US. It is nearly twice as large as all
other Hawaiian Islands combined.
Although it is 7 times larger than Oahu, Oahu has 5 times the
population! So large in fact that all
growing zones are found in the many micro-climates created here. On the west side you’ll barely get 5 inches
of rain while the east side can receive over 130.
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| Gigantic (see cars to left) monkeypod tree |
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| Day gecko - brightly colored |
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| Playing hide and seek |
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| Bat Plant - very unusual flower |
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| Vine with blue flowers - - - yes this blue - amazing |
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| Hanging lobster claws |
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| Orchids |
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| More orchids |
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| Orange beauty |
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| Dreaded snails that eat your gardens/flowers, etc. |
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| Another beautiful banyan tree |
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| Mini-mini pineapples |
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| Gorgeous colors... |
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| ... and designs |
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| Onomea waterfalls - part of botanical garden |
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Cannonball trees - Closer one in bloom, flowers on trunk!
Farther one covered with cannonballs the size of grapefruits |
This island is built from five separate volcanoes (oldest to
youngest): Kohala (extinct), Mauna Kea (dormant), Hualāli (active), Mauna Loa
(active) and Kilauea (active and has been erupting continuously since
1983). Since some volcanoes are still
active, the Big Island is getting bigger every year. About 22 miles SE lies an undersea volcano
called Loihi. Erupting regularly and
still over 3,000 feet below sea level, the Big Island will have a sister island
popping over the watery horizon sometime in the next 10,000 to 100,000
years.
Mauna Kea is the tallest sea mountain in the world, with a
summit that stands 13,796 feet above sea level, and rises over 32,000 feet from
its base on the ocean floor, making it taller than Mt Everest. It is the most massive mountain in the world,
covering half the island. The Big Island
is home to the southernmost point in the US (Ka Lae) as well as the
southernmost bar in the US.
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| Rock 'egg' coming out of red clay along road |
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| These signs are seen in many locations - Another reminder of life on the 'edge' |
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From a distance, Kilauea Caldera
Halema'uma'u Crater - smoke - can only see red colors at dark |
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| So moonscape-like Kilauea Iki Crater - Smoke puff in center |
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| In the crater |
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| Ohi'a Lehua tree prevails in Hawaii's volcanic soil |
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| Close up of flowers - all stages at once (bloom, bud, etc.) |
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| In the plant kingdom - Ferns are first to come back |
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| Thurston lava tube - nowhere as exciting as Tahiti's |
To the east side of the island one will find nearly the
cleanest air in the world for there is nothing in front of it for over 2,000
miles and the wind mostly comes from that direction. Breathe in and take pleasure in it.
Although our dream was to see lava flowing into the sea we
didn’t get the opportunity. The lava
hasn’t reached the ocean for about 10 months now (although several companies still offer that 'tour'). Things are always in flux with active
volcanoes and right now the lava is following a different, non-reachable, path.
The Big Island is also home to one of the largest ranches
(Parker Ranch at 175,000 acres or 11% of the island) in the US. Today the ranch is a Foundation Trust
committed to the betterment of the community of Waimea (Hawaiian cowboy town) as
well as providing perpetual support for beneficiaries engaged in healthcare,
education and charitable support.
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| Road Closed - what's your first clue? |
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| Inevitable migration over the road to the ocean |
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| Mike in the midst of lava swirls, ocean waves, sky clouds |
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| Since this picture was taken, more lava has flown towards Puna/Hilo and this road will be reopened as back-up |
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| Lava 'mushrooms' created by lava flowing around tree trunks |
Macadamia nuts and coffee are the agricultural fares that
bring the most money to the island along with the regular tropical and
temperate fruits, flowers and vegetables.
The island is known for its astronomy and although very controversial with the natives, numerous
telescopes are operated on the summit of Mauna Kea, where atmospheric clarity
is excellent and there is little light pollution. They even make you go down the hill 30
minutes before sundown so your car headlights don’t mess with their telescopes.
Although tourism is a great source of income, they focus
more on sustainable tourism here than on the other islands.
Twenty percent of its electricity comes from the clean heat emerging
from mother earth below. Some people are
fighting the expansion of such projects opting rather for not so clean diesel
consuming generators… Not sure that one
makes sense in an environment like this beautiful island.
Some banyan trees lining Banyan Tree Road near the ocean’s
east side were planted by people like Richard and Pat Nixon, Amelia Earhart,
Babe Ruth, and Franklin Roosevelt.
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| Tough to grow in black sand - Replanting near black sand beach |
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| This church had to be moved twice to stay away from the encroaching lava - it was saved! |
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| Quaint inside |
The very nice Lyman Museum’s Missionary House was also
visited by a known person, namely Mark Twain.
This house is the oldest standing wood structure on the island and was
just about demolished when a new road was going to be built where it was
standing. The owner had the house cut in
½, rotated 90 degrees and moved away from the road for safekeeping.
Visiting the various stores around town looking for locally
made items we see a store that sells bags, rugs, and hats that look very much like
what they make in Rurutu. We check it
out and it turns out that they are from Rurutu – what is amazing however is that the lady
who owns the store sells these items for 10 times what we paid in Rurutu. She says she’s helping them
keep their art alive – I say she’s helping her wallet a lot…
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| Reflection - Liliuokalani Japanese Gardens |
Much like in French Polynesia, there used to be a lot of
sandalwood on the islands and there is a movement to bring it back. It is very time consuming for all saplings
have to be protected from the wild goats, pigs, moles, rats, and sheep around
the island. Each plant needs a companion
plant to grow well so much trial and error is part of this lengthy
process.
One of the things that may help
keep sandalwood trees from being cut down are the nuts they produce. They are supposedly delicious tasting like a
combination of coconut and macadamia nut.
If they could get money for the nuts while the trees reach maturity to be
cut for wood they probably could make a go of it.
Another important tree to that region is the Koa tree and
very few remain. Seeds are eaten by
non-native species of animals (in this case mostly cattle) and birds making it
nearly impossible to germinate on their own, needing the intervention of man… It is similar in strength to walnut but it is
also a tone wood meaning it sounds very good when turned into a string
instrument like a ukulele or a guitar.
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| View of Mauna Loa from Mauna Kea |
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| One of the many smaller craters along the way |
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| Offering on top of a hill overlooking Mauna Loa |
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| Wild sheep crossing lava field |
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| Nearly 200 of them |
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| Tiny blue and white church by ocean |
We have toured the whole island and want you to enjoy the
pictures that best show what we saw.
Enjoy!
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| Place of Refuge 'totems' |
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| Place of Refuge wood sculptures |
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Ranger helping with fishing the old way = A long line braided with pandanu leaves to float ahead
of people forming a circle to push the fish and some turtles to beach |
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| Probably 400 feet of line cast off |
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| Line is all in the water |
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| Closing in on the fish |
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| Bringing it back to land |
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| In the ever diminishing circle yellow tinged water |
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| Final product - all caught were safely returned to the ocean |
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Pu'ukohola Park - Mailekini Heiau Temple
Said that rocks were hand-carried from 30 miles away in 1790 |
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| Same park - offerings over the ocean |
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| Reconstruction of original dwelling |
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| Well preserved for being nearly 100 years old |
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View from our room in Puna. We stayed at an intentional community
Unfortunately, this community was covered by lava in 2018
This ocean is 4.3 miles away! |
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