Hawaii

Two weeks in paradise

This one we can't blame on Regent Holidays. 

A few months ago, we got email from Susie who said, "We're going to be in Hawaii for a few days. Come join us!" Now, I ask you ... looking at this picture of them, how could we possibly say no?

So, we'll spend 4 days with them in Kona and then it's off to see the rest of the big island, including a trip up Mauna Kea. They supply the parkas, but it's only 45.17 F. as I type this, so I don't know what the big deal is. 

Here's the plan ...

It is pretty paradisiacal, I must admit

Getting here was not all that fast and easy, though. We arrived at LAX as scheduled but then, as we were boarding for Kona, came the guy: "Everybody off! The pilot reports a mechanical problem. There will be a slght delay."

Five hours and a new plane later, we were off ... which meant, of course, that we missed our ride to the hotel with Susie and Slavic. The airtline was cajoled into giving us vouchers for a cab but, as we were waiting, along came the security guy (from Tennessee) with whom I had been talking earlier and offered us a ride. The ride was almost too long but fortunately, just as he brought up God -- having already dissed Elizabeth Warren, mentioned the racism of the native Hawaiians, and touched on a few other topics -- we arrived at the Royal Kona. Saved!

 

With Susie and Slavic

We did not call Susie and Slavic when we got in; it seemed a bit rude at 1:00 am. But they, and we, were up by 7:30 and off to Java on the Rocks, just down from the hotel. Fruit, lots of fruit -- papaya, grapes, starfruit, grapefruit, and more. Pricey, but I feel so healthy!

And then off to play tourist. We stopped first at Scenic Park, because of the name and because it was on the map. We asked several people, but no one knew why it was called that as it seemed that "junior varsity football park" would be more appropriate. 

The Painted Church, an RC church whose interior is covered with rather tropical-seeming paintings of nature and people was much more satisfactory. It was built in 1899 and the priest did the paintings with plain old house paint as part of teaching his flock. 

And then Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park. This was a place of refuge in old Hawaii; if you had broken one of the many laws, you would safe if you could reach this site. It's still considered a sacred site by the native Hawaiians. 

         

All that, plus a good lunch -- complete with little friend -- 

a quick visit to a botanical garden, and good company. And we still have 16 days to go!

 

Abandoned already?

Susie and Slavic went off to see the volcano today, a sensible decision as they only have a few days here. We, otoh, will be spending a couple of nights in Volcano Village so are "doing" Kona today.

It's a nice little place, touristy of course, but it doesn't have the stripmall feel of some parts of Florida. That may be due to the frequent reminders of old Hawaii, which add some depth.  It may also be due to the fact that the downtown "mall" looks like this:

In any case, we strolled north, visited a couple of churches from the mid 1800s

saw a few old sites sacred to the Hawaiians (interest in Hawaiian culture, language, etc. has been growing since the 1970s), visited the palace of the last queen

had some beers, strolled some more, had lunch, and strolled some more.

Almost no one smokes, and it's illegal almost everywhere. We were told that cigs cost $12.00 per pack. Otoh, medical marijuana is legal, and I was told that one could get a contact high walking on the beach at night. There is nearly zero tolerance for drinking/driving, apparently to keep the party tourism down. 

All in all, it's a nice place, but I don't want to live here.

North to Kapa'au.

After much anxiety-ridden confusion about how long we were actually staying in Kona, we got it figured out, talked to the tourism people, and headed north to Kapa'au, the northern most point on this island.

It was a bit confusing getting there but well worth it ... a dramatic view of the Pololu valley, some 1400 feet deep,  and lush bluffs tumbling down to the sea. The hike down -- not to mention the hike up-- seemed a bit much so we settled for lots of oohing and aahing and some pictures.

 

 

 

 Then we stopped to see the original statue of King Kamehameha which was near some sort of historical building. Among other things, there were pictures of men from the area who

been killed in various US wars; those killed in  WWII all seemed to have Japanese last names.

Farther south, we stopped at a few historical sites, watched a Monk seal sleeping with her baby

 and had a quick dip at Spencer's Beach, a lovely small sand beach with practically tepid water. 

 

And, at last, dinner -- GPS is a wonderful thing; even as bad as the Alamo one was, it got us to the Harbor House. There was no music playing!! And the food was good, too.

 

 

And then there were two

Susie and Slavic flew off to Maui 😢 and we took off for Waimea or Kamuela or whatever it's called. It's up in the north of the island, at about 2500 feet, and the climate is noticeably cooler and wetter. The Parker Ranch is here ... founded in 1847 and some 250,000 acres. The cowboys are called paniolos, the Hawaiian pronunciation of espanol, since many of the first cowboys were Spanish speakers from California.

We drove up to the Waipio Valley overlook, to see the sacred Waipi'o Valley, which is more or less the other side of what we saw yesterday. It's equally dramatic and gorgeous. 

And then a truly great pizza, with fresh mushrooms and tomatoes, in a funky little place in Honokaa... best pizza I've had in months. 

 

 

Currently, we are being lazy in the Kamuela Inn;

tomorrow the tour up Mauna Kea, to the observatories visible near the very top.

Word problem

A pack of Marlboros costs $10.22 in Hawaii.

I quit 42 years ago, when they were  $.35 a pack. I smoked 2 packs a day.

How much money have I saved?

 

That missing 'S'

It resulted in "espanol" turning into "paniolo," and "Samuel" becoming "Kamuela." It seems that Waimea was  renamed after Samuel Parker by one of the Kamehamehas, thanks to his (Samuel's) contributions to the area.

We're going up Mauna Kea later, but checked out the Parker Ranch this morning ... interesting place, but it certainly doesn't fit my stereotype of Hawaii as there are neither palms nor beaches. It's a beautiful area, though, complete with cows and horses. 

Mauna Kea

is the tallest mountain the world, as measured by distance from base to peak, even though it only rises 13800 ft above sea level. 

Our trip was with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures, and they did a good job, despite the indifferent lasagna. I had some concerns about leaving the car parked at the highway intersection, where the van picked us up, but all was well.

We stopped first at the visitor information center, at about 6000 ft, to eat and see if anyone was going to have problems with the altitude. No one did, so we headed on up to a lookout point above the clouds with an awesome (not a word I use casually) view of the surrounding area... or at least of the clouds

 

Then on up to just short of the summit for the sunset. I'm not sure what the temp was but there was lots of wind and I was grateful for the parka.

 

After full dark, Chris and the other tour guide got out the telescopes for about 2 hours of stars. They were both very knowledgeable; certainly over my head.

All in all, it was pretty cool and I'm glad I did it ... once.

 

 

Balkans vs Hawaii

One of the most striking differences is the cost. Dinner in Serbia might have cost us 1465 dinar, about $16.50.  Here, a little lunch runs about $50.00.

In Croatia, I didn't expect to understand people because I don't speak Croatian. Here, I sort of expect to understand people -- and I do when they're speaking to me -- but the language they use with each other is often such a mélange that I get very little of it.

Both places are gorgeous.

There is no mass transit in Hawaii amd biking seems limited to long distances, for exercise, with spandex.

The population is very diverse ethnically, like Amsterdam but with different ethnics.

Hotels do not include those wonderful European buffets. The Kamuela Inn does pretty well, but we would have had to pay $20.00 each at the Royal Kona.

I feel very safe both places, but worry less about pickpockets here.

The bathrooms are better in the US and toilets are oval, as are butts.

People here seem aware of and concerned about the introduction of non-native species, like the Puerto Rican coqui that I hear outside our room. That's not an issue in the Balkans, given that it's not isolated in the same way.

And both places are great to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in either ... well, maybe in Slovenia if either Trump or Carson wins the election.

 

 

 

 

Invasive species

There are lots of them, in addition to the coquis

                                            and the haole, 

 and they got here lots of different ways.

Captain Cook and others apparently left sheep, goats, and cattle so later crews would have something to eat. The same thing happened with chickens, and there is a huge problem with feral pigs.

Rats escaped ships, and multiplied.

Some damn fool brought in axis deer, maybe for hunting. He was caught, or so the story goes, and sentenced to 500 hours of community service with his airplane. And now they are trying to eradicate the deer.

The saffron finch, a beautiful little bird, arrived from South America sometime in the 1960s and is thriving. 

There are also chameleons, which were imported as pets, and which eat small mammals and birds as well as insects.

People blame Walmart for both the coqui and the fire ants, which are believed to have been brought in on plants for Walmart's garden shops. 

Then there are the mongooses, which were introduced to kill the rats. That was a total failure as mongooses are diurnal, but rats nocturnal. So now they're here with no natural predators, and competing for a niche with indigenous animals.

Oh, and they're looking for an escaped cobra near Kona. Maybe a mongoose could help.