Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Off the Beaten Path - Hakalau Gulch

Needing to clear my brain after a couple of hours of doing research for a project, I got in the car to drive just a bit up the highway from where we live... decided to take the little Wailea-Hakalau road which starts just a couple of miles north.

Meandering through the village of Wailea I noticed this beautifully landscaped yard, nestled down below the road

Driving past the Hakalau Post Office I made it a point to stop at the top of the pali (steep slope or cliff) above Hakalau Gulch

Hakalau Gulch is the location of an old sugar mill that was destroyed during the tsunami of 1960.  The old ruins are still visible and have been incorporated into the now landscaped park-like area.

The bridge above is part of the Highway 19 Belt Road system that circles the island.  View towards the ocean from the little causeway that spans the Hakalau Stream.

View upstream from the causeway spanning Hakalau Stream

It's a peaceful and lovely location and a place where many of the people in the area go to picnic or surf.  The water beyond the sandbar is a bit too rough for swimming but inside the sandbar is a favorite place for kids to splash around.

Next time I drive over I will take more photos of the park and beach area, but today there were too many people enjoying a gorgeous day and I didn't want to intrude.

When you visit Hawai'i be sure to find the little off the beaten path roads and byways, and take your time...you never know what you're going to find.  \m/

 

 

 

 

 

Big Island Roads and Byways.... a zebra?

You never know what you're going to encounter when you travel around our island...

Earlier this year we were returning from the Avocado Festival at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Gardens in Captain Cook, which is on the southern part of the West side (Kona side) or our island; as I was driving along, my peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a zebra as we were zipping right along....

Whoa.... a zebra?  By the time it registered, we had driven a few yards pass the place and I decided to find the first drive to make a turn and go back...

 

Sure enough, there was a real, live Zebra behind a fenced-in area right by the road!

The zebra and a little burro were companiably eating their supper and completely ignored us.

 

Just on the other side of the same pen, there were some strange looking cattle I later learned were originally from Africa and called Watusi.  Doing an internet search I learned they were actually called Ankole-Watusi and the most remarkable thing about them are the long horns and that they can live on very limited amounts of food and water.

 

In the same pen with the Watusi were a couple of American Bison or American buffalo...

A couple of months later, I found myself having to go back to the gardens in Captain Cook for a meeting and made it a point to stop again on my retutn home, but this time I wanted to find out more about them and how they had all ended in this sparcely populated area of the Big Island.

I turned makai (towards the ocean) of 'Aina Lani Road which forms a corner by the fenced in pasture where these definitely not Hawaiian natives live.  At the first (and only) house I found a roadside stand with labeled and bagged coffee being sold as well as an assortment of fruit and avocadoes.... and met Miss Sudy.

Miss Sudy is a very warm and welcoming woman who had a Hawaiian grandmother, but was born and raised in Alabama and speaks with a soft Southern lilt.  She married her husband Leonard Jose who is a 5th generation Portuguese born in Hawaii.  Leonard brought Miss Sudy back to Hawaii with him and they found the property where they settled, which is a very nice place with views of a mountain on one side and views of the ocean on the other.  Here they grow coffee, have a few fruit trees and Leonard has his 'pets'.

Besides Leonard's 'pets', Miss Sudy has her own pets; several friendly pigs, what looked like dozens and dozens of chickens and roosters, and a peacock who roam all over her yard and didn't seem to bother her flower beds and plantings around the house.

If you find yourself driving on Hwy 11 between Ka'u and South Kona, be sure to stop and visit with Leonard's 'pets' and then mosey on down 'Aina Lani (Heavenly Land) Road to buy some of Miss Sudy's 100% Kona Coffee....Of course, I chose the Zebra Blend, which has both medium and dark roasted beans....

 

There are signs on the fence advising lookers to not feed them, as they need special food.  Please heed them.  The sales of coffee and fruit from their land goes towards purchasing the special feed the 'pets' need to eat. 

Darn it, I REALLY love this island!

 

 

My Birthday Adventure continues....

 
Waipi'o Valley, or the Valley of Kings as it is also known, because the Hawaiian men destined to become kings were brought to be raised there, and also because many of the ali'i (royals) are buried along the edges of the valley, is about a mile wide and about 5 to 6 miles deep (depending on whom you ask!) and rimmed with pali (cliffs) that are about 2000 feet high.

The floor of the valley itself is hard to reach.  The road going down into the valley is VERY steep and you need 4-wheel drive or else, walk it.  But our adventure didn't take us down into the valley.  We were up around the eastern rims of the mountains bordering the valley.  Anthony took me on a tour of the valley and beach when I first visited him here in summer of 93.  The trip down is not so bad, but coming back up you can't even see the road beneath your vehicle....THAT was scary!

I have never been on an ATV in my life but was game to try.  We started out with the orientation and testing the machines.  Helmets were passed around and everyone got ready to go.

 
Unfortunately, when I was just starting out I realized my arms were not strong enough to hold that thing on the paths....particularly since the paths are muddy, rocky, uneven, steep (both up and down) in many places, so I settled to ride in the 4 seater with one of the guides....which turned out to be a boon, because Les is a foodie and his 'day job' is working as a chef at the Mauna Lani Resort Hotel in South Kohala!

 

The paths mauka (up mountain) took us through deliciously fresh smelling eucalyptus forests.  We saw quite a few bright red-orange amaryllis growing wild through the forest as well as some white ginger (mariposas) starting to bloom here and there.

 
Lots of mudholes....that is Anthony riding in front of us as the rest of the riders snake up hill.  There were 13 of us plus 3 guides.

At the first stopping place we had to go down some stone steps holding on to a thick rope and then walk across a make-shift wood plank that crossed a stream....or I should say the stream passed over it, as we sloshed through water to go across.  The tour company has a small platform open-deck lanai built on the far side with a picnic table and benches built along the sides.

 
The view is gorgeous.  A waterfall coming down from the upper parts of the Kohala Mountains falls into a pond deep enough for swimming.  The waters from the waterfall and stream end up down in Waipio Valley, which is preserved by the Bishop Estate and Kamehameha Trust as taro farmlands.  According to the old stories, this swimming hole was used by King Kamehameha the First as his personal bathing spot.  It was believed that when the king bathed in the pond the waters going down into the valley contained the king's mana which would cast blessings to the people below and help the taro crops grow.

 
Some in the group decided to go swimming.  Although I wore my bathing suit under my clothing I opted to not go in the 72 degree water!  A snack and drinks were shared and after a while, we returned to where the vehicles were and walked down just a few feet to a second vantage view.

This was yet another waterfall and secluded swimming pond below.  You could see the area with the smaller waterfall above where we had just been from here.  This one was not as easy to get to as the first one and no one tried.

 

Returning to the vehicles, we then made our way down to a place with stunning views of Hi'ilawe Falls, the tallest of all our island's waterfalls....  

The valley below with all the little taro farms looked like a patchquilt in shades of greens and browns.  Unfortunately, the angle of the sun at this time of day was not friendly to my camera to take many photos of the valley floor.

 

One of Anthony at the rim above the valley

 

Down in the valley.....you can see some of the little taro farms.  At one time thousands of people lived in the valley.  Now barely 10 families live there, some fishing and some raising wetland taro.

 

Ready to head makai (down or towards the sea) - in Hawai'i directions to anywhere are given by telling you if the location is mauka (up mountain) or makai (towards the sea) of any road....beats having to say if you're going North (or South) it will be on your left (or right)....

 

Anthony revving up!

 

Going down we saw plenty of evidence of wild pigs where they had been rutting and eating vegetation.  Les, my driver guide and new chef friend told me he hunts for wild pigs in all these forests.

 

Our trail took us by sections of the old sugar cane flume and ditch systems that were used in 'olden days' to send the cut cane down from the mountain slopes to the mills below.  The system was started in the North Kohala area and called the Kohala Ditch.  Parts of this system is still in use by farmers between this area and down towards Hilo.

Below is Les closing the last gate after everyone has gone through.  Tour takes approximately 3 and half hours and it was all fun.  The guides are all quite knowledgeable and 'talk plenty story' letting everyone know the history and culture behind all they are experiencing. 
   

Les has a small farm down in the valley and extended an invitation to visit it sometime in July or early August.  He grows taro and ho'io (fiddlehead ferns).  Can't wait for that visit!

This was one huge, fantastic, fabulous adventure and never in a million years would I have guessed what that devious son of mine had planned.

To learn more about Waipi'o Valley click HERE

 

My Birthday Adventure

A couple of weeks ago, my son placed a note on the big calendar we keep on the office door - the day June 19 was X'd and the note said "Don't make plans" and there was a note attached with a list of clothing I was supposed to wear; old jeans, short sleeve T, tennis/walking shoes, socks, jacket and "my birthday present".  Bathing suit under clothing optional.  Don't wear anything that you don't want ruined.  Be ready to leave house by 10:30 am!!!.  When I asked him what was going on, he said I would find out when the time came. 

 

When I shared the above with friends on FB, the first thing one said was that I was probably going 'ziplining'....hooboy!  That would be something to see me flying like Mary Martin!

To my questions about his plans, he would say things like 'about an hour away'....'just be ready and all is taken care of''...'you'll find out when the time comes'... He can be quite exasperating!

Unfortunately, on the 19th I woke up with my head spinning. It had been a long time since this had happened and couldn't imagine why now.  I took one of the dizzy pills that were Rx'd for dizzy spells and waited for it to kick in. The spinning settled down but was still a bit queasy.  At this time, I still didn't know what exciting activity Anthony had planned.  I asked him if it was something we could postpone if the dizziness didn't go away and he said, possibly....  Thankfully, by 10 am I was feeling much better and up to whatever the day was to bring.  He gave me my "birthday present"; a small package done up in a ti leaf with raffia ties....it was a tube of 'Chapstick'...but not just any Chapstick...It was a "Limited Edition Design" Chapstick...only the best for his mom!

 

With Anthony, I should realize by now that he can be very close-mouthed and to always expect the unexpected.  I was to carry the 'present' with me and use it 'when the time came'.  As the day progressed, I realized he had given everything a lot of thought and had it all planned out. 

As we left our drive and drove down the road to the the junction to Hwy 19 I asked which way and he said 'North by Northwest'....so I turned left.  About 20 miles later he said 'We don't have to be there until 1 pm, so let's stop somewhere to eat a bite'....Well, he didn't want to stop at Tex so we drove into Honoka'a expecting to find one of the little eating places open.... NOT.  It was Sunday and only Tex, on the Highway or Blaine's, in town, were open.  Since we were in town, Blaine's it was (for those not familiar with them, Blaine's is a small chain of 'drive-in' eateries)....I can tell you that it was not my idea of a special Bday lunch, but what the hay....I roll with the punches...!  (Later I found out that the original plans had been for a Saturday and we were supposed to stop at our friends' 50's Cafe in Laupahoehoe and Kendra was to have a bday pie ready for me....but Anthony changed the plans for Sunday when he realized we would be attending funeral services for a family friend on Saturday)

While our order was being prepared I ran across the street to the service station to use the restroom....Blaine's was out of order.  At the service station when I asked for the key to the restroom, I noticed a small bunch of beautiful tiny orchids in greyish green and commented on how pretty they were.  The attendant let me smell them - just like vanilla - and put them back where she had them.  When I returned the key, she said 'Here Auntie, these are for you' and handed me the flowers!  Of course I thanked and her and when I told her it was my bday, she came around the counter, hugged me and said 'Hau'oli la Hanau, Auntie!"

 

After eating our lunch, Anthony suggested we drive over to Waipio Valley Lookout, since it was still early....as we neared the intersection by the Malama store he asked if I could stop for a second.  So in the parking lot we go and he goes in the store...and comes out 10 minutes later with a small bag and a see through clamshell with a gorgeous orchid lei.  Yes, he had called a week ahead and ordered a special one called 'butterfly lei'.  At first he requested one made with the rolled white ginger lilies, which are called 'mariposas' in Spanish (butterflies), but the white gingers are not blooming very profusely at the moment, so the salesperson on the phone suggested this one:

 

On to Waipio Lookout.  I asked if he wanted to go through the regular road (the upper road) or the one through the little village of Kukuihaele (the lower road).  He asked me all innocent like 'What's in Kuluihaele?" I reminded him about the gift shop gallery and ice cream...so he said let's take the upper road and maybe come back through the village later....

 

At Waipio, of course we had to stop for photo ops....  There was a gorgeous flame orange bouganvillea exhuberantly growing all over the place! 

 

Coming back through Kukuihaele we had to stop a couple of times to take photos of a gorgeous pin cushion protea bush by the side of the road

 

and also to take pics of an amazing jackfruit tree with fruit growing all the way down the trunk to the ground! 

 

We stop at the gallery and Anthony pretends to be looking around and then goes to the ice cream chest.  We chose our flavors and go to pay at front and the very nice gentleman tending the store asks us where are we visiting from and we told him we're locals and that it was my birthday and we were just touring around....so I was given a flexible rubber magnet with a photo of Waipio Valley as a present....and it was then that Anthony told him....'and we have a booking for a tour of the rim'.

 

My birthday surprise is an ATV tour of Waipio Valley Rim! 

WoooooooooHooooooo!

Follow me as we continue to be tourists in our own backyard!

 

 

Merrie Monarch Parade - Hilo, 4/30/11

This post is late....I wanted to post it a day or two after the parade but the job of selecting and editing so many photos was daunting.... so, here it is...Better late than never....with more than ten times the photos shown ending on the 'cutting floor'

The Merrie Monarch Festival is an annual Hawaiian cultural event held in Hilo on the week right after Easter.  Now in it's 48th year, the event attracts visitors from all over the world and tickets to the 3 - night hula competitions are fiercely sought with the offices of the event being deluged with ticket requesting mail that needs to be postmarked no later than December 26th for the next year's event.

Hilo is a quiet and unassuming little gem of a town most of the time and that is how we like it...but during Merry Monarch Week, Hilo gets to shine and deservedly so.  The parade is always held, rain or shine, on Saturday; the morning of the last hula competition event which is held Saturday evening and sometimes doesn't end until the wee hours of Sunday morning.

This year's parade took place on a beautiful sunny day with scarcely any clouds in the lovely baby blue sky.   We were invited by friends at Local Hawaii Real Estate to view the parade from the vantage point of their offices on Kilauea Avenue, one of the streets on the parade route.  A tent was provided to shield us from rain or sun and chairs were lined up for about 15 or so guests.  Everyone brought delicious munchies and there was a pitcher of refreshing mimosas to share! 
Flags were flying.....

 
Bands were playing.....

 
The Aloha Festivals King & Queen and Royal Court made an appearance in a beautifully decorated float... Every year a King and Queen and Royal Court is selected to represent the Hawaiian Monarchy.  The investiture of each year's Royal Court takes place in late August with hula kahiko (ancient hula) and mele (chants) and much ceremony at the rim of the Halema'uma'u Crater inside the Kilauea Caldera, home of the volcano goddess, Pele.  Each year's Royal Court makes appearances around the island during festivals celebrating Hawaiian history and culture. 
Floats literally buried in greennery and flowers.....

 
The Pa'u riders..... Pa'u riders represent each island in the state by wearing the colors and flowers that represent their island in both their clothing and the beautiful and elaborate lei arrangements, of course, made with real flowers...including the lei worn by the horses!

 
All manner of vehicles get decorated.....

 
Colorful noteworthy sights.....

 
The loaded Kona "nightingale", a reminder of early island coffee days...; the rider with the adorable keiki mounted in back (notice her very appropriate riding hat, her fancy dress and pink cowgirl boots!); the horse and carriage....the horse looks like he was joining the revelry...; the beautiful handmade wooden canoe, representing the many paddling groups around the island and finally, the caboose of the parade...the bright yellow fire engine truck is always at the end of the line!

Mahalo, Winston, Trevella, Galyn and Larkin for inviting us and for a wonderful time!

 

A quick little trip to the Zoo

The Pana'ewa Zoo in Hilo is the only one in the United States located in a rain forest.  The grounds are meticulously landscaped and kept with all sorts of beautiful tropical plants and flowers.

As we were driving into Hilo for errands on Saturday, my son was reading the day's newspaper and right on the first page was a very interesting article with photo by Peter Sur, a very talented young journalist who has been with the paper quite a few years.  The article was about one of the residents of the zoo; the 54-inch bud of an Amorphophallus titanum or Titan arum plant aka the Corpse Flower (for its terrible stench of rotten carcass when the bloom opens).

We decided to run by the zoo first and take a look, then run our errands.

 
While we were standing in front of the shade house where the plant lives, and while talking with another visitor, we met Peter Sur who is coming by every day to check and see if it has opened yet.

 
Taking the stroll through he beautiful gardens I had to stop and take photos of plants and flowers and interesting residents.  Above, our own little Giverny Lily Pond

 
Mac has a large vocabulary and kept saying "Aloha" and "How are you?"

 A baby pineapple growing by one of the walkways

 
Memorial tile in honor of our friend and next door neighbor Jean Curtis who died two years ago.  Jean was very involved with the Pana'ewa Zoo and besides being a docent for many years, she also developed the training manual for new docent and also was instrumental in bringing Namaste', our resident white bengal tiger, to the zoo....

 
During our visit, Namaste' was sleeping peacefully under a big clump of bamboo in his 'territory' - which is a very large enclosed pen with a pond where he can cool off when he wants to.  Since I couldn't take a good picture of him this trip, I settled for the Memorial Mural.

 
A proud llama

 

 

 
King of the Hill

 
A Hawaiian Hawk aka 'Io in Hawaiian

Thai ginger lilies - not sure of the variety name

We will be going into Hilo tomorrow, so we will be taking another quick little zoo run to check on the bloom ourselves.  I also have more photos of blooms and residents of the zoo to share!

BTW, the zoo is open everyday* from 9 am to 4 pm.  If visiting, you might want to time it to take in Namaste's feeding time - 3:30 pm daily and the Petting Zoo is open only on Saturdays from 1:30 to 2:30 pm

Admission to the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo is free

*Except Christmas and New Year's Days

 

9th Chinese New Year Celebration in Hilo

 

The 9th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration was today....with drums and lions, lanterns and good luck banners in evidence at Hilo's  Kalakaua Park

 
Kalakaua Park in downtown Hilo has been the location of this festival for the last 9 years and this time we noticed more people than ever....as usual, we ran into several friends we hadn't seen in a while...

 

True to the 'melting pot' traditions of our islands, the 'Food Court' offered Portuguese bean soup and malasadas; Chinese plates; smoothies and flavored popcorn; Korean plates; Okinawan andagi and plates; Indian samosas with raita sauce, vegetable and chicken curry dishes and a selection of lassi; French crepes with several fillings and Italian crostini with an assortment of toppings were the selections in the court. 

 At the curb side entrance to the park a pizza truck was doing brisk business and just beside it was something you can see only in Hawai'i...a food truck offering Aunty Peaches Onolicious Poi Balls!

 
 The students of the Hawai'i Community College School of Culinary Arts under the direction of Chef Allan Okuda and Chef Sandy Barr Rivera were once again a part of the festivities, but they were so mobbed we were not able to see what they were preparing for the public.

 
Don't know what happened, but some of my photos didn't turn out at all!

One more wonderful Chinese New Years' Celebration, Hilo style.... Good job Hilo!

 

More Hawaiian Christmas Wreaths....

I was invited to join friends in the Volcano Village area yesterday to gather greens, ferns and assorted mosses and then make Hawaiian style Christmas wreaths.

My friend Gail and her husband live in the Volcano area.  Gail also invited another friend, Tracey from Waimea who drove over with her husband to join us.

We first went to pick our stuff....just a couple of places was enough to gather all we needed for our three wreaths and we still had some leftover that could have been used for another.

Gail lives in an old 'ōhiʻa tree and hāpu'u tree fern rain forest and she and Robert have built a beautiful open on all four sides Bali pavilion in the forest, where we enjoyed lunch and worked on our wreaths.

We first drove over to the Volcano golf course area, near the Volcano Winery and picked some Pūkiawe berries and tips; the red tips of the 'Ōhelo, some with berries attached, some dried grey mosses and some 'ōhi'a - just the tip ends of branches, some with new growth resembling little greyish-green velvety rosebuds; some dried lehua flower head pods and a few just opening buds.  The lehua is the flower of the 'ōhi'a tree.

From there we drove closer to Gail's house where we found native uluhe fern and the funny looking Wawae'iole fern, which resembles a bunch of sage green chennile pipe cleaners tied together.  We also found some Sugi pine, which is actually a Japanese cedar and old azalea bushes with small dead branches covered in wispy moss, which we also used.

 
The wreath base is straw covered with strips of ti leaves

 
It looks lopsided because the photo was taken at an angle...it isn't ;-)

 
Some details

 
More details

 
Holding my completed wreath - photo by Gail

For more on Hawaiian Wreaths and wreath-making click on the following links:

Hawaiian Style Christmas Wreath Demo at Kino'ole Farmers Market

Disclaimer: I did not make any of the wreaths in the following link:

Hawaiian Christmas Wreaths

 

Hau'oli La Ho'omakika'i

 
Wishing a very Happy & Safe Thanksgiving to all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hau'oli La Ho'omakika'i!

Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias!

Sonia

 

Hamakua Alive! 2010 Festival

The 4th annual Hamakua Alive! Festival was held in the beautiful park located down at Pa'auhau Plantation Village....Although it was a bit windy, it was a 'gorgeously sunny day'...perfect for an outdoor harvest time fest!

 
Lots of people; great entertainment with Hawai'i Island's own John Keawe and Oahu's Cyril Pahinui; fun contests; ono food; loads of vendors and yet again, another exciting cooking contest .... and doing a great job as emcee extraordinaire, Hawai'i Island District 1 Councilman Dominic Yagong!

 

To see more photos taken by me and other people during the festival, visit the Hamakua Alive! page on Facebook

If you live in Hawai'i...and even if you don't, but plan to visit...."Friend" the page and keep up with plans for next year's festival.... We're already planning on more fun things for the next one!  If you plan to visit Hawai'i next year, the Hamakua Alive! festival is always held towards the end of October!