Seeing Green

Ok, so big apologies to everyone because I haven't posted a new entry since March 15! That is truly pathetic. So I am recommiting myself to updating the blog regularly. I have a ton of photos and experiences to share, so start checking regularly.

Since I haven't posted since March 15, I figure a good place to pick up is where I left off. Here is March 17. Yes, St. Patrick's Day. Although I don't think there are too many Irish people in Hawaii, the locals use it as a good excuse to drink — much as they do all over America.



Here's a classic green beer. We found these at what I think is the only Irish bar in Kona, a place called Quinn's. It's a draft of Kona Golden Ale with green food coloring. Yum.



Here's another classic drink for St. Patrick's Day...an Irish Car Bomb. Ode to the IRA. You take a shot glass half filled with Jameson's Irish Whiskey and half filled with Bailey's Irish Cream. You drop the shotglass into a half glass of Guiness Irish Stout and chug. Yum. Then KABOOM.



And one more classic scene of St. Patrick's Day....drunk strangers. Just kidding, these are two friends of mine from the newspaper, Baron and Andrea. They're appropriately dressed in green and giving you a cheers.

The rest of the night was too blury to be photographed.

The Pu'u

This post is the third installment from a day I had a couple weeks ago. Sorry so slow — I've been really busy with work. Anyway, after spending some time laying around at Makalawena (see last blog entry), I took off to explore the coast north of the beach and hike up to a cinder cone, which is called a pu'u in Hawaiian. A pu'u is the spot of an old volcanic eruption, like a mini volcano.



This is the four-wheel drive road that leads to Makalwena beach. I am walking away from the beach toward the puu in this photo. The road eventually passes by the puu and connects to the main highway a few miles away.



A goat! Actually, there are wild goats in many locations around the Big Island of Hawaii. I am not sure how they got here, but they are well suited to the rocky, volcanic, steep terrain. The coastal area of Ke Kahakai State Park where I am hiking is a common place to see goats. I saw a half dozen or so on this hike. I tried to be stealthy and sneak up on one. Got pretty close until a truck came down the road. My brother Brett and I saw a herd of 12 to 15 on the mountain once and a couple male goats were slamming their horns together.



This is the view from on the puu looking towards Hualalai mountain. You can see the brown lava flows which are only 200 to 300 years old. The mountain is kind of obscured by clouds. I live on the side of Hualalai at 1,500 feet elevation, but more on the west (right) side.



From the top of the puu, this is looking south, toward the beach I hiked from, Makalawena, which is next to the trees you see on the shoreline. It was late in the afternoon, with the sun shining at the camera, so the colors don't look as vibrate. See the next photo for that.



Kua bay. Looking to the north off the puu, you can see Kua bay, a nice white sand beach to visit. The downside is they have built a paved road to Kua, so it will become more crowded. While four wheel drive roads make for a bumpy 10 to 15 minute ride, it adds to the isolation and keeps many people out. Right next to Kua bay is the Four Seasons resort and Kukio, a high end community with two golf courses. Lots for houses begin at $2 or $3 million. I have one.



When I was standing on top of the pu'u, these two guys showed up with radio controlled airplane gilders. No engines. They just throw the plane off into the wind and steer it with the radio control. They said everything costs about $500. The puu is a good place to fly the planes because of the winds coming off the ocean and warm thermal currents conducted off the hot lava rock fields.



Here's another shot of the two guys flying the radio controlled planes. Guy #1 is about to launch his plane. Guy #2 is flying his plane, which if you look closely, is directly in front of him. Makalawena is in left side of the frame. Time to hike back!

Corona Commerical

After leaving the scene of the last blog entry, we proceeded to what I call the Corona commerical beach, otherwise known as Makalawena. I refer to it as the Corona commerical beach beacause the sand is so white, so soft and deep. And the water there is such a beautiful shade of blue. It just looks like a beach straight out of a Corona commerical.



To reach Makalawena, you have to walk for about 10 to 15 minutes from Ke Kahakai across a lava field. This is a view towards Makalawena. Doesn't look too inviting, does it?



While walking along the trail, you can look to the mauka side (mountain side), across lava fields, toward Hualalai mountain. That's not haze from polution or humidity. On certain days in Kona it can be voggy. Yes, with a "v" because it's actually particles from the volcano on the other side of the island. When the tradewinds aren't quite blowing their usual direction, vog from the volcano wraps around the island into Kona. It's not any worse for you than polution in a major metro area, but that's not particularly heathly for you. The vog bothers some people with allergies.



Ahh.... Here is Makalawena. White sand and blue water. A photo that just has to speak for itself.



This is a shot down Makalawena toward where we hiked in. Because it is mid-afternoon, the sun is shining at the camera, thus the less impressive color of the sand and water.



If you walk north along the coast from the beach, there is an area with a large tidal pool, spots for camping and some picnic tables. Really secluded and scenic.



Roosters are prevalent at the higher elevations where I live, about 1,500 feet above sea level. But wandering around Makalawena I found several roosters and chickens, including this brightly colored male. I have become well-accustomed to their cock-a-doodle-doo! Except if they are too close to the house in the early morning, I have to chase them away with a squirt gun or rocks.

Ke Kahakai

The Big Island is unlike the other islands in the Hawaiian chain. It's rough, rugged, raw, full of lava and landscapes new to the face of Earth. So there aren't an abundance of sand beaches that most people associate with Hawaii. There is a great deal of rocky shoreline. But there are beaches that are absolute jewels. The next three blog entries will show the day we had Monday, when we visited two beaches and a pu'u, or cinder cone in Ke Kahakai state park.

Ke Kahakai state park begins just north of Kona International Airport, which is about 8 miles north of Kailua-Kona. Ke Kahakai park runs for 6 miles between the airport and the Four Seasons resort. To reach Ke Kahakai, you drive for about 10 minutes through lava fields, nothing around you but brown and black pahoehoe (smooth) and a'a (rough) lava. Makes you wonder where you are going.



In this photo is the walkway from where you park cars to the first beach. You can see the bleak, desolate lava landscape. You can also see the oasis in the distance, a cluster of palms and vegetation. And that's Peggy walking ahead of me.



And this is a quintessential Hawaiian beach. Powder soft white sand, clear azure waters and swaying palm trees. Of course since it's the Big Island there's a lava rock shoreline bordering the bay. This beach is sometimes called Ke Kahakai, but is also known as Mahiaula's. It's usually not to crowded despite it's amazing beauty. That's partially because the drive in is rough, almost too much for a two wheel drive car.



Here's another view of Ke Kahakai, looking south along the beach.



One of the interesting things about Ke Kahakai is this house. I think the story is that some wealthy Japanese guy bought the place years ago, but died or something around the same time the state acquired the land for the park. So today it stands empty and open to walk around in. The inside is very plain wood, but you can't help but dream about making it your own house.



This is my attempt at an artistic shot from inside the second floor of the house. I like the simple colors involved in the shot.



Another inside shot, with a little roof for some added color.



Here's a shot from the second floor of the house, coming down the steps to the ground. Even though I live here and have been to many beaches like this, and could go to one tomorrow morning, I am still blown away by the beauty, by the tranquility, by the fact I made my dream of living on a tropical island come true. Looking at this picture still makes me want to be in a scene like that just as much as before I lived here.