What have we been doing?
We went to Hilo a week ago, to refill my meds, no luck. So we went to the farmer's market and to the Hilo Homemade Ice Cream store instead. I eventually got the pills at Costco in Kailua Kona. Highway 11 has so many twists and turns for the first 25 miles that it is a long 106 miles to Hilo. On the way home we stopped at Volcano Village and had a lava burger, just to keep our strength up.
The L&L Hawaiian Barbeque is our choice for a couple of meals each week. The Boss has figured out how to get a bowl of rice, steamed vegetables and some meat for about $5.
The best Kona coffee we have found is at the Holuakoa in Holualoa. While we were there on Monday the septic system was being pumped. That smell will make me give up coffee. NOT.
The Boss snorkles every chance she gets. Her favorite at this time is Kahalu'u Beach just south of Kailua Kona.
Kona snow started and ended this week. The blossoms on the Kona coffee trees are white, delicate and very short lived.
Kona Snow
The GlassStacker has been doing yoga at the Paleaku Garden Peace Sanctuary. She found a class that meets twice a week and is very happy with it. While she does yoga, I tour the garden and write. The exhibits range from a Native American Medicine Wheel to a Galactic Garden. The Galactic Garden is a representation of our Milky Way complete with an earring on a leaf for our sun. Did you know that nearly all the stars we can see with the naked eye are within the Milky Way. You have to know just where to look to find outsiders.
Medicine Wheel
Galactic Garden
We have also been hiking in the area. The 1871 trail at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau is one of our favorites. This trail is named for the 1871 activities of local residents who improved the trail as payment for their taxes. We have been walking about a mile out and back and hope to go further in the future. Yesterday we discovered a set of lava falls that resulted from a lava flow over the Keanae's Cliff just off the trail. We went to Manuka State Park today to hike their nature trail. It was 2 miles long, up and down about 400 feet, and difficult for old folks. The area is all a'a lava flow and the trail itself is made of 3 inch chunks of lava. Beautiful in its own way.
The 1871 Trail
Sunsets are rare at our house. The evening cloud bank obscures the true sunset, we would see it about 20 minutes early as the sun goes behind the clouds. We have started to go to the beach at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau for the evening ritual.
Sunset at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau
There are a few small things to worry about. I am sitting on a hill overlooking Kealakekua Bay, the spot where peaceful natives killed and ate Captain Cook. This bay was created by a massive earthquake and resulting landslide about 120,000 years ago. The tidal wave caused by the landslide swept over the island of Kaho'olawe and almost over the island of Lana'i.
We have been hiking on lava flows that are not too many years old. The volcano on Mauna Loa is still very active. Clouds keep it shrouded and out of sight. To get a taste and smell of the sulfuric fumes from the vents you have to travel Highway 11 about 20 or so miles further south toward Kileawea. On the way, a road sign warns motorists of cracks in the road caused by fault movements under the road. The highway parallels the Great Crack until it reaches Kileawea where it crosses the faults. This whole area is an active seismic zone.
We have been hiking on lava flows that are not too many years old. The volcano on Mauna Loa is still very active. Clouds keep it shrouded and out of sight. To get a taste and smell of the sulfuric fumes from the vents you have to travel Highway 11 about 20 or so miles further south toward Kileawea. On the way, a road sign warns motorists of cracks in the road caused by fault movements under the road. The highway parallels the Great Crack until it reaches Kileawea where it crosses the faults. This whole area is an active seismic zone.
The end of the "Chain of Craters" road south of Kileawa Crater
While we were in college and taking geology courses, we learned about a’a and pehoehoe types of lava. It is really a learning experience to actually see these formations and to walk them. The a’a is impassable as it consist of large, car sized, jagged chunks of lava, strewn in every which direction. This is a formidable barrier, I can only imagine the cost of a crude road through such a lava flow. The road between Kealakekua Bay and Honaunau Bay is arrow straight through an a'a flow. It is barely 2 cars wide for its 4 mile length and has a 20 mile per hour speed limit. Pehoehoe flows result in a much smoother surface and is easily walked, although is it no less a barrier to road construction. The pehoehoe flow took place at a higher temperature, the lava flowed like a river. To see this while we were taking the courses would have been a major plus. We are both truly awed by the rocks and the formations we see here.
Our hiking travels frequently take us into the tsunami danger zone. Earthquakes in the Pacific have the potential to cause large waves that could result in tsunami on the Hawaiian coast. There are warning systems in place, in fact some parts of the island received a false alarm from the 8.0 magnitude quake in the south Pacific just last week.
My computer is full of tiny ants. The machine is a food source. I’ll have to not munch while I compute.
Enough worrying, here we are in paradise. I can see the boats returning to Kailua Kona. They have taken tourists south to the harbor near the Captain Cook monument for snorkeling and others have gone further south to the lava tube at Alahaka Bay. It is the “3 hour tour” on the South Kona Coast.
I am off to wander the Galaxy Garden and think about my place in the universe.
Keep 'em running.
The GlassStacker's Assistant
