Day 22: A Bitter Departure with a Sweet Arrival
When you go to bed around 11-12, 5:30am comes up reeaal quick. And when the cab runs a bit late that 530 could have been 550 or even 6. Ask anyone, I squeeze every single minute of sleep I can from the mornings. Yeeeah mornings and I like each other as much as the South likes BP right now...
Taking this cab service was definitely worth the $7 over the $2.50 bus ride that takes over an hour and a half. I didnt even come close to missing my flight this time. Im telling you Hawaii has it out for me within 10-15 minutes of any deadline.
I say goodbye to Jean and Oahu. Im extremely sad to leave it all but have soo many great memories and new friends that I cant be too sad. I will miss them but I am sure I will see them again. Especially some before others I hope. Nothing eventful happens on the flight either. Just a routine boring flight by myself. And the Korean woman sitting next to me couldnt even speak english. Just as well because she slept the whole time anyway. At least the food was good. A muffin amd some kind of spinach and egg deal.
When I arrive in Las Vegas again, I have the challenge of killing a 4 hour layover. Since Im alone and just kinda out of it I stay at the airport and pretty much do nothing. Sooooo boorring. And then when the flight comes around finally its bloody delayed! Ends up being around an hour too because our original pilots didnt show for whatever reason. Sorry Britt for keeping you up even later! But we at last take off to Fresno!
And for those who are not aware why Fresno, allow me to inform you. One of my oldest BFFs lives there and we met when we were 14. Her name is Brittany and we have NEVER met. We have only ever talked on the phone...for nearly 12 years! Yes very crazy stuff but true. So you can imagine how nervous and excited we both are right now. And really thats an understatement..for me at least.
So I arrive in Fresno at long last and walk down to the terminal....and there she is. Shes real! And she sounds SO different than on the phone but its nice. And despite how tall she appears in her pictures, I am taller. Whew. Not that it would matter of course. Well we both cant stop smiling and thinking that this is ACTUALLY happening. Britt we finally met!!! And yes as I lay here on your couch at 2:30am writing this it is most certainly all too sureal still. Ill probably freak out a bit when I wake up and realize it is in fact real. Im here. In Fresno. In your apt. On your couch. And you physically exist on the other side of a wall. No more faceless voice in my ear. Ahhhhh I cant wait to hang out! Just seeing you already has made the trip here worth it.
And with that Im going to pass out and never think about airports again.
Ill miss you Hawaii... Thank you for the memories and new friends.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Day 21: Shopping Waikiki
My mission today: To shop for Savi, Abby, Hannah and Grace. Especially Savannah because she turned freaking 3! I grab a bite to eat, prepare myself because I hate shopping alone ESP for girls, and set out.
Now I know that shopping in Hawaii would be huge, but what I got myself into was far more. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on some accessories so I could at least have something to show for my effort. Then the real mayhem began. I walk west towards downtown and then an entire universe of shopping opened up. Once past the shops in buildings, I entered this international market shopping ocean. I could NOT believe how many vendors there were. It was overwhelming to say the least. But I plunged into the Labrynth determined to find the best deal as yall well know I usually do.
I cant recall how many shops and venders I went through but finally I stumbled upon a "sale" on little girl dresses and after finding the right sizes I can at long last pull the trigger on my gifts. Yeeess! Im done!
And while searching I also came across some big towel vendors who had this hawaii towel I HAD to have. One of my only gifts to myself as I agreed from the start was a huge Hawaiin towel. I love those big blanket wannabes. It ended up being a map of the sandwhich isles in brown, tan, cream, and black. Its awesome. Mom will be jealous for sure because she has a picture of the same in her bathroom. Im a bit miffed though because those Asian women WOULD NOT haggle with me AT ALL. I tried all kinds of flattery and haggling skills but they simply wouldnt budge a dollar. NOT COOL LADIES! Haggling is one of the great lost arts in America and one of my alltime favorite sports so you can imagine my disappointment at paying the full 12 bucks. Oh well =\ Enjoy both your egg rolls on me tonight mean ladies. Get me back to Mexico. Now THOSE people know how to haggle!
Now with a full big bag of loot, I start heading back. Its around 4 and Im a bit hungry so when I passed a sign that said $2 fish tacos I just had to stop. I grabbed a quick one and headed to the beach to enjoy it and my finally momemts of Waikiki's hustle and bustle on the sand. Despite how busy it is I like certain aspects of the crowds. People watching is always fun for instance, although doing it solo tends to be not as fun because you cant point out weird people to anyone but yourself. And the taco was amazing by the way.
After watching some surfing I meandered back to Jeans where I starting getting everything together, wondering if it all would even fit now. Jean came home and we went for a walk along the canal. And it turns out they practice paddling in the canal every evening so we got to watch both women and men race. Looked like a lot of fun. 6 paddlers a cannoe thing and they paddle on opposite sides alternating back and forth on command. Very cool stuff.
We get back and have dinner outside which was nice. I finished packing and then cleaned up for bed. I had to wake up at 530 to be ready for my cab to the airport in the morning. Yuck. But luckily Im used to getting tired early, which I did, and passed out. Last day in Oahu...sad panda.
I know you may never read this Jean but thank you so much again. You rock and are an amazing humanitarian! I hope our paths cross again and if/when Im back on Oahu Ill make sure they do. Take care my Hawaiin Granny!
Now I know that shopping in Hawaii would be huge, but what I got myself into was far more. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on some accessories so I could at least have something to show for my effort. Then the real mayhem began. I walk west towards downtown and then an entire universe of shopping opened up. Once past the shops in buildings, I entered this international market shopping ocean. I could NOT believe how many vendors there were. It was overwhelming to say the least. But I plunged into the Labrynth determined to find the best deal as yall well know I usually do.
I cant recall how many shops and venders I went through but finally I stumbled upon a "sale" on little girl dresses and after finding the right sizes I can at long last pull the trigger on my gifts. Yeeess! Im done!
And while searching I also came across some big towel vendors who had this hawaii towel I HAD to have. One of my only gifts to myself as I agreed from the start was a huge Hawaiin towel. I love those big blanket wannabes. It ended up being a map of the sandwhich isles in brown, tan, cream, and black. Its awesome. Mom will be jealous for sure because she has a picture of the same in her bathroom. Im a bit miffed though because those Asian women WOULD NOT haggle with me AT ALL. I tried all kinds of flattery and haggling skills but they simply wouldnt budge a dollar. NOT COOL LADIES! Haggling is one of the great lost arts in America and one of my alltime favorite sports so you can imagine my disappointment at paying the full 12 bucks. Oh well =\ Enjoy both your egg rolls on me tonight mean ladies. Get me back to Mexico. Now THOSE people know how to haggle!
Now with a full big bag of loot, I start heading back. Its around 4 and Im a bit hungry so when I passed a sign that said $2 fish tacos I just had to stop. I grabbed a quick one and headed to the beach to enjoy it and my finally momemts of Waikiki's hustle and bustle on the sand. Despite how busy it is I like certain aspects of the crowds. People watching is always fun for instance, although doing it solo tends to be not as fun because you cant point out weird people to anyone but yourself. And the taco was amazing by the way.
After watching some surfing I meandered back to Jeans where I starting getting everything together, wondering if it all would even fit now. Jean came home and we went for a walk along the canal. And it turns out they practice paddling in the canal every evening so we got to watch both women and men race. Looked like a lot of fun. 6 paddlers a cannoe thing and they paddle on opposite sides alternating back and forth on command. Very cool stuff.
We get back and have dinner outside which was nice. I finished packing and then cleaned up for bed. I had to wake up at 530 to be ready for my cab to the airport in the morning. Yuck. But luckily Im used to getting tired early, which I did, and passed out. Last day in Oahu...sad panda.
I know you may never read this Jean but thank you so much again. You rock and are an amazing humanitarian! I hope our paths cross again and if/when Im back on Oahu Ill make sure they do. Take care my Hawaiin Granny!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Day 20: Easy Going in Waikiki
After waking up in my now familiar self-inflating bed on Jeans floor, I grab some breakfast. My only intention for today is to take it easy and thats exactly what I do. So this should prove to be a short post.
I left around noon to walk about and take back in the warm weather and beaches and people. It actually felt pretty good to be back around all the hustle and bustle and really crowded beaches. Everyone on Big Island loves to be away from it all but sometimes I love just being in the middle of the action. Blame it on me being from the south and geauxing to LSU and New Orleans. I love being where the action is at and then being able to get away when Im done with it.
After walking probably 2 miles I find myself on the second floor of some major hotel in a really comfy chair where I pass out for awhile. After I wake I geaux get some ice cream lt dan. Pecan praline in a waffle cone ohhhh buddy. So good. I take it slow on the way back and take another tour through Kings Village which is this awesome shopping center that reminds me of Magic Kingdom where all the houses are small. Its all so tight knit and just fun to walk around in. Thats where I found the doggy dresses too haha.
I eventually find my way back to Jeans and make dinner and we watch an old show on the Blue Angels. Very cool stuff. And now Im blogging my 20th day in Hawaii! I leave on Thursday which gives me all day tomorrow to shop. I loooaathe shopping alone because Im so indecisive. Where are yall ladies when I need yall?! If you want something small you should comment here pronto. I have extremely limited room in my pack but would love to get everyone something if I can. We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings. Suggestions for a 3yr old on gifts from Hawaii? Clothes is first thing to mind but you already saw how I managed on that one.
Anyway Im going to bed now. Its been odd being alone again. Very quiet and uneventful but I guess it was rather nice in a way. Alone time only makes you crave those you really care about that much more. Oahu Im going to miss you after tomorrow. Please surprise me somehow once again :)
I left around noon to walk about and take back in the warm weather and beaches and people. It actually felt pretty good to be back around all the hustle and bustle and really crowded beaches. Everyone on Big Island loves to be away from it all but sometimes I love just being in the middle of the action. Blame it on me being from the south and geauxing to LSU and New Orleans. I love being where the action is at and then being able to get away when Im done with it.
After walking probably 2 miles I find myself on the second floor of some major hotel in a really comfy chair where I pass out for awhile. After I wake I geaux get some ice cream lt dan. Pecan praline in a waffle cone ohhhh buddy. So good. I take it slow on the way back and take another tour through Kings Village which is this awesome shopping center that reminds me of Magic Kingdom where all the houses are small. Its all so tight knit and just fun to walk around in. Thats where I found the doggy dresses too haha.
I eventually find my way back to Jeans and make dinner and we watch an old show on the Blue Angels. Very cool stuff. And now Im blogging my 20th day in Hawaii! I leave on Thursday which gives me all day tomorrow to shop. I loooaathe shopping alone because Im so indecisive. Where are yall ladies when I need yall?! If you want something small you should comment here pronto. I have extremely limited room in my pack but would love to get everyone something if I can. We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings. Suggestions for a 3yr old on gifts from Hawaii? Clothes is first thing to mind but you already saw how I managed on that one.
Anyway Im going to bed now. Its been odd being alone again. Very quiet and uneventful but I guess it was rather nice in a way. Alone time only makes you crave those you really care about that much more. Oahu Im going to miss you after tomorrow. Please surprise me somehow once again :)
Day 19: The Return to Oahu
I woke up this morning and I was somehow dreamin I was laying in a bed. Then I remembered yesterday and realized it was real. 3 weeks and finally back in a real bed. I would have slept half the day in it until we heard a knock on our window at 5:50am. Yes A.M.! I dont even have to write more for those that know me huh. It was Sherry picking us up to give us a ride to Walmart before she had to go to work. And Papa and Nana were there too. All were really chipper and made the morning easier to deal with. How Ill EVER be an early bird when I get old Ill never know until it gets here if it ever does.
But its really nice to see them again, despite my zombie-like state. We say our goodbyes with hugs and kisses and get to Walmart. We thank Sherry for everything about a million times and shes just happy as can be. Bless her. Sara and I shop around for a bit and eat some McDs. Then Ilene came and gave us a ride to the airport. Again we thanked her profusely and said our goodbyes.
Our flight was about 1.5hrs away so we killed some time by making hemp jewelry. The flight was extremely short but we finished the anklet.
Now at the airport again we had about a billion hours to kill until Sara's flight back to DC. No prob. We walked around and then laid in this garden area and fed some local birds. They were so much fun because they were really brave and would come right up to us. Once we gained their trust they would even let us pick them up! Way cool. Later we splurged a bit at a restaurant there in the airport and although it was really nice to just sit a a restaurant again I will NEVER do it again. The drinks were very weak and the food very subpar. But I had great company and thats all that mattered :)
We somehow kill all the time and then figure out what she needs to do and where she needs to be. Since she has to redo security we say our goodbyes earlier than expected. Very hard. Its interesting how well you get to know someone in such a short amount of time when you spend every day together. Sara I had an amazing time with you exploring every part of Hawaii we could in such a short amount of time. And amazing doesnt even cut it. It wouldnt havent eem come close to being half as fun without you and your amazingly adventurous personality. Kauai and Maui are next so dont forget! And we are seeing Sherry and fam too! And Jean! I will miss you tremendously but I know we'll see each other again soon enough. Thank you for being the best travel partner I could have never have hoped to randomly find.
While Sara caught her flight I caught my bus back to Waikiki. I arrive fairly quickly and Im glad to see Jean again. I tell her all about my trip and very quickly get exhausted. So much has happened and all too much to reflect on now that its getting close to an end. I cannot believe I was able to write for every single day that I was here but absolutely stoked I did. I know I will be grateful in years to come, even months or weeks. And thank you Sara for putting up with my blog time every other day or so. And of course for being able to put up with me somehow for nearly 3 solid weeks every single day. My family thanks you also...dont yall?!
But its really nice to see them again, despite my zombie-like state. We say our goodbyes with hugs and kisses and get to Walmart. We thank Sherry for everything about a million times and shes just happy as can be. Bless her. Sara and I shop around for a bit and eat some McDs. Then Ilene came and gave us a ride to the airport. Again we thanked her profusely and said our goodbyes.
Our flight was about 1.5hrs away so we killed some time by making hemp jewelry. The flight was extremely short but we finished the anklet.
Now at the airport again we had about a billion hours to kill until Sara's flight back to DC. No prob. We walked around and then laid in this garden area and fed some local birds. They were so much fun because they were really brave and would come right up to us. Once we gained their trust they would even let us pick them up! Way cool. Later we splurged a bit at a restaurant there in the airport and although it was really nice to just sit a a restaurant again I will NEVER do it again. The drinks were very weak and the food very subpar. But I had great company and thats all that mattered :)
We somehow kill all the time and then figure out what she needs to do and where she needs to be. Since she has to redo security we say our goodbyes earlier than expected. Very hard. Its interesting how well you get to know someone in such a short amount of time when you spend every day together. Sara I had an amazing time with you exploring every part of Hawaii we could in such a short amount of time. And amazing doesnt even cut it. It wouldnt havent eem come close to being half as fun without you and your amazingly adventurous personality. Kauai and Maui are next so dont forget! And we are seeing Sherry and fam too! And Jean! I will miss you tremendously but I know we'll see each other again soon enough. Thank you for being the best travel partner I could have never have hoped to randomly find.
While Sara caught her flight I caught my bus back to Waikiki. I arrive fairly quickly and Im glad to see Jean again. I tell her all about my trip and very quickly get exhausted. So much has happened and all too much to reflect on now that its getting close to an end. I cannot believe I was able to write for every single day that I was here but absolutely stoked I did. I know I will be grateful in years to come, even months or weeks. And thank you Sara for putting up with my blog time every other day or so. And of course for being able to put up with me somehow for nearly 3 solid weeks every single day. My family thanks you also...dont yall?!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Abigail my not yet 1yr old niece
actually think babies might not be so bad.
Savannah my 3yr old niece
flip flap party this weekend :( and I can hear her talking in this
picture too! I miss priss...
Oops wrong mammal
lady holds up a dog wearing it! Its for a bloody dog! Nooooo. So Em,
if you dont mind your kids' tushies showing Id like to get it :D
Nicest family in Hilo
Papa, nephew?, and Nana. They know 31!
Day 18: Salvation back in Hilo
Our wetest night was now over and the horses are back by our tent grazing. Sara has the sore neck for a change and her phone got a little damp from all the rain last night. But we both have extremely sore ankles and glutes from the hike. Guess we climbed harder than we thought. At least food and drinks are something we have plenty of today.
We take our time getting up and eating because its still drizzly outside. Ive noticed almost every morning here its cloudy and rainy and then like clockwork the sun comes out around 7-12. Then its fair game after that.
So the sun finally comes out and we get all our tent stuff dry minus our shoes. And then these people pull up next to us in a truck and offer us fresh coconuts. The amount of juice in these is staggering. We drank ourselves full and THEN had enough left over between the 2 of us to fill up a water bottle. Crazy cool. We also scooped out some meat but it doesnt have much flavor and leaves your mouth feeling kinda greasy almost. But it could fill you if youre hungry. Glad to have some water finally as we were out, we thanked them with a machete we found and headed out.
On the way out we ran into our favorite horse again and fed her a last snack. She wouldnt stop following us afterwards. I secretly knew she wanted to give us a ride up but we were too proud to take her up on the offer. We ended up hitching back up the mountain thankfully and from there hitched to an intersection 9 miles away to try to catch a ride to Hilo.
It took a minute this time but we got the thumbs up from a nice family who took us about 10 miles. Now would prove our hardest hitchin yet. Sun beating down on us we had a sign drawn on a piece of typing paper and we were jumping up and down catching peoples attention. Most laughed and kept driving. Just when we were Starting to wonder where our amazing luck with quick rides so far had gone, a real nice girl picked us up in her truck of sorts. We actually got to ride inside for once. Good thing too since we were headed around 30 miles to Hilo.
She dropped us off right where we thought we would stay tonight. Pretty awesome this hitching thing. We've been so lucky with getting rides from nice people but I know how hard it is back home with more conservative folks. Definitely would not be the same stories.
We walked to a nearby beach park, a new one instead of our old one. Actually we were deciding which one to go to at an intersection and had a tiny tiff. To make a short story short we went left to the new one and it made all the difference in the world for our last day/night in Hilo. This one was a lot nicer and had a nice little wave break around a shallow beach. Very kid friendly and there were tons. A birthday party from what we later found out.
So Sara and I pull up some bench and start charging our life lines. There are some people next to us with what looks like a soon to be party of sorts. We just do our own thing and I made a joke about coming to the right place for the food to one of the women there. Sara and I then start eating our own food and conversing as normal. Then somehow we strike up conversation with the people there as we normally do. We tell them where we are from and that we have been backpacking Hawaii and all over Big Island. And theeen the next thing we know these extremely nice women start offering us these very interesting local dishes they made. And then more....and more! And it just...keeps...coming. We are blown away not only by having something other than dry food, but how amazingly these people are treating complete strangers. And the food was great. Korean fried chicken was devine. Different kinds of Sashimi (its Hawaiins version of sushi but with more rice and nothing raw I dont think. Correct me if Im mistaken Sherry/Nana/Ilene!), a vegetable dish, a cucumber and carrot dish, short ribs I think, tator salad, these friend PURPLE sweet tators and something else (apparently sweet tators are purple here! Did not know this but this excited me), and loads more.
Turns out they are caterers on the side. They catered the birthday party next pavilion over and decided to just have their own party. And now we were invited and were in heaven after managing to hitchhike across the entire island.
We ended up hanging around for a few hours just talking and watching everyone play cards. Went for a brief swim too. One minute it was bright, sunny, and hot and the next it was rainy and cooold due to being wet and the winds were strong. Not a good combo but Sherry, one of the women who owned the catering biz, later loaned me a sweatshirt. Im telling you these people are just awesome. We really did feel a part of the family and after so much traveling and being away from all yall back home it was overwhelming at times to be around such a nice tight knit family. The oldest brother who everyone calls Papa was sorta a ring leader, always making jokes and getting people to laugh. Yep, a regular Uncle Bob (for those we met, Uncle Bob is my godfather and a long time friend of the family. He cuts up and is the life a party wherever it is. Very much like Papas personality). So Mom, no worries about us here in Hawaii, we made new friends and family who took unnecessary great care of us. Our families HAVE to meet if there is ever an opportunity. They do a lot of creative stuff too and reminded me exactly of the woman gang back home. Shame everyone is so far apart.
So to name a few members of the family you have Papa and Nana. Sherry and John (thanks again for the drinks and good food convo! Make sure to try out the etouffee recipe when I send it to yall!), Ilene who was most gracious and helpful by driving us around as well as Sherry. There were many others but the names are hard to remember now. Im sorry! My memory for names is terrible.
After we were MUCH too full, we helped load up the van with everything and then the most meaningful act of kindness on the island presented itself. Sara and I were offerred a real live bed to sleep in! Nana house sits and said we could stay a night since they didnt want us on the streets or in the parks illegally. We didnt even know what to say with all our bruises from the hard grounds we have been sleeping on the past two weeks. We accepted of course.
Sure enough we had a bed tonight and a dry place to sleep. Turns out it couldnt have been better timing because it rained that night almost as hard as it does back home on a good rain. By far the hardest rain we have seen in Hawaii. I still cant get over how everything turned out today.
So THANK YOU again Sherry/John/Papa/Nana/Ilene/and the rest for taking us in and treating us like family. It means the world to me and Sara amd we will never forget your kindness. I only hope we can return it if yall should ever find yourselves in the south. And we will definitely be dropping in for a good visit when we come back to Hawaii. Hope yall will be ready for some cajun cuisine because itll be coming back with me!
Absolutely could NOT have asked for a better last day and night in Hilo. And after seeing what Sara and I saw on the road, Big Island does have a ton to offer that will make another visit necessary. Just could do with a bit more sunshine and less clouds :)
We take our time getting up and eating because its still drizzly outside. Ive noticed almost every morning here its cloudy and rainy and then like clockwork the sun comes out around 7-12. Then its fair game after that.
So the sun finally comes out and we get all our tent stuff dry minus our shoes. And then these people pull up next to us in a truck and offer us fresh coconuts. The amount of juice in these is staggering. We drank ourselves full and THEN had enough left over between the 2 of us to fill up a water bottle. Crazy cool. We also scooped out some meat but it doesnt have much flavor and leaves your mouth feeling kinda greasy almost. But it could fill you if youre hungry. Glad to have some water finally as we were out, we thanked them with a machete we found and headed out.
On the way out we ran into our favorite horse again and fed her a last snack. She wouldnt stop following us afterwards. I secretly knew she wanted to give us a ride up but we were too proud to take her up on the offer. We ended up hitching back up the mountain thankfully and from there hitched to an intersection 9 miles away to try to catch a ride to Hilo.
It took a minute this time but we got the thumbs up from a nice family who took us about 10 miles. Now would prove our hardest hitchin yet. Sun beating down on us we had a sign drawn on a piece of typing paper and we were jumping up and down catching peoples attention. Most laughed and kept driving. Just when we were Starting to wonder where our amazing luck with quick rides so far had gone, a real nice girl picked us up in her truck of sorts. We actually got to ride inside for once. Good thing too since we were headed around 30 miles to Hilo.
She dropped us off right where we thought we would stay tonight. Pretty awesome this hitching thing. We've been so lucky with getting rides from nice people but I know how hard it is back home with more conservative folks. Definitely would not be the same stories.
We walked to a nearby beach park, a new one instead of our old one. Actually we were deciding which one to go to at an intersection and had a tiny tiff. To make a short story short we went left to the new one and it made all the difference in the world for our last day/night in Hilo. This one was a lot nicer and had a nice little wave break around a shallow beach. Very kid friendly and there were tons. A birthday party from what we later found out.
So Sara and I pull up some bench and start charging our life lines. There are some people next to us with what looks like a soon to be party of sorts. We just do our own thing and I made a joke about coming to the right place for the food to one of the women there. Sara and I then start eating our own food and conversing as normal. Then somehow we strike up conversation with the people there as we normally do. We tell them where we are from and that we have been backpacking Hawaii and all over Big Island. And theeen the next thing we know these extremely nice women start offering us these very interesting local dishes they made. And then more....and more! And it just...keeps...coming. We are blown away not only by having something other than dry food, but how amazingly these people are treating complete strangers. And the food was great. Korean fried chicken was devine. Different kinds of Sashimi (its Hawaiins version of sushi but with more rice and nothing raw I dont think. Correct me if Im mistaken Sherry/Nana/Ilene!), a vegetable dish, a cucumber and carrot dish, short ribs I think, tator salad, these friend PURPLE sweet tators and something else (apparently sweet tators are purple here! Did not know this but this excited me), and loads more.
Turns out they are caterers on the side. They catered the birthday party next pavilion over and decided to just have their own party. And now we were invited and were in heaven after managing to hitchhike across the entire island.
We ended up hanging around for a few hours just talking and watching everyone play cards. Went for a brief swim too. One minute it was bright, sunny, and hot and the next it was rainy and cooold due to being wet and the winds were strong. Not a good combo but Sherry, one of the women who owned the catering biz, later loaned me a sweatshirt. Im telling you these people are just awesome. We really did feel a part of the family and after so much traveling and being away from all yall back home it was overwhelming at times to be around such a nice tight knit family. The oldest brother who everyone calls Papa was sorta a ring leader, always making jokes and getting people to laugh. Yep, a regular Uncle Bob (for those we met, Uncle Bob is my godfather and a long time friend of the family. He cuts up and is the life a party wherever it is. Very much like Papas personality). So Mom, no worries about us here in Hawaii, we made new friends and family who took unnecessary great care of us. Our families HAVE to meet if there is ever an opportunity. They do a lot of creative stuff too and reminded me exactly of the woman gang back home. Shame everyone is so far apart.
So to name a few members of the family you have Papa and Nana. Sherry and John (thanks again for the drinks and good food convo! Make sure to try out the etouffee recipe when I send it to yall!), Ilene who was most gracious and helpful by driving us around as well as Sherry. There were many others but the names are hard to remember now. Im sorry! My memory for names is terrible.
After we were MUCH too full, we helped load up the van with everything and then the most meaningful act of kindness on the island presented itself. Sara and I were offerred a real live bed to sleep in! Nana house sits and said we could stay a night since they didnt want us on the streets or in the parks illegally. We didnt even know what to say with all our bruises from the hard grounds we have been sleeping on the past two weeks. We accepted of course.
Sure enough we had a bed tonight and a dry place to sleep. Turns out it couldnt have been better timing because it rained that night almost as hard as it does back home on a good rain. By far the hardest rain we have seen in Hawaii. I still cant get over how everything turned out today.
So THANK YOU again Sherry/John/Papa/Nana/Ilene/and the rest for taking us in and treating us like family. It means the world to me and Sara amd we will never forget your kindness. I only hope we can return it if yall should ever find yourselves in the south. And we will definitely be dropping in for a good visit when we come back to Hawaii. Hope yall will be ready for some cajun cuisine because itll be coming back with me!
Absolutely could NOT have asked for a better last day and night in Hilo. And after seeing what Sara and I saw on the road, Big Island does have a ton to offer that will make another visit necessary. Just could do with a bit more sunshine and less clouds :)
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wai Pio Valley Lookout
And that black beach is a mile long starting right under where that
lady is
Day 17: Jurrasic Park Falls
I just realized I have about a weeks worth of posts that yall havent read. Sorry about that, I know yall must be dying to read as much as I am to post, but I havent had service since Kealakekua Bay. Being surounded by high crater walls and mountains kinda puts a damper on reception. So make sure you start at the last post you read.
Starting the day off like only Hawaii has done, wild horses sure enough greeeted us when we pooped out of the tent. Told you! And the day was finally sunny and nice. We fed them Mexican animal crackers and they let us pet them in return. They were all brown and black and very beautiful. A bit on the small side though.
We ate our breakfast next and then frollocked on the black beach, enjoying the sun like we hadnt seen it in a week...oh wait. And then the waves were huuge so we had to jump in them of course. Omg they thrashed us so bad but it was so fun. Bathing costumes were even nearly lost. Bad waves! Just hope no one got blinded by my now extremely white tush.
On the way back to the tent some Mexicans pulled up next to us and started grilling. We struck up convo about the water fall and next thing we know they are shoving grilled steak fajitas in our hands and cokes and beers. Big score. And they were cooking enough chicken to feed Thailand on top of the steak. Really nice guys. They invited us to ride with them to the falls so we went. But when we got there the roads didnt go up to the falls, not even close. They were leaving so we decided to stay and check it out on foot. A local guy told us we had to swim and that it was a very hard hike. But me turn down a sha'lounge?! NEVER! So we start walking.
One of two trails lay before us. A nice beaten no trespassing path to the left of the stream or the not so worn no sign path to the right. Left it is :) But soonly we get to a different sign thats all criminal this and legal that so we back track and just go right. Immediately we are tossed back into jungle. Awesome. The hike starts off nice and easy but then gets rocky and more white water. The scenery is just amazing and evrrything is super overgrown and huuge. Fronds on these little palm tree things at least 15-20 feet. No lie. And massive elephant ears. We got pics. Sorry Mom, should have dug them back up for the ditch.
At this one point where the trail just leads straight into deep water there is this family coming out. They say its at least an hour to the falls and that they are heading back because its 4 and they dont want to be stuck in the dark. Sun sets at about 7 so we're wondering what to do. Naturally we press on.
We hide her purse and my camera bag with everything in it and I take off my shoes thinking I could keep them dry. Sara just plunges in like a champion. Seriously there is something wrong with this girl because she is fearless and doesnt complain one time, even when she slips and cuts herself, which was considerable. AND she not only keeps up with me but leads the way most of the time, leaving me behind even. Are ALL girls from Sweden like this? Geeeze :)
So after we swim and find the trail again, we understand why they said this was a hard hike. Huge rocks, slippery with moss and algy, extremely steep muddy climbs, wading on said slippery rocks time and time again, making our own path and litterally climbing up huge rocks, you name it we climbed up and through it. Needless to say my bare feet didnt last long but I tried.
We get to a bambo forrest even and then we can finally see some progress as the base is about 100-200yards away, still climbing. We even run at some points because we are in a race for the sun remember. Towards the last part we dont really have a trail and push on through the water and rocks.
Then we turn this bend, and there she freaking blows captain. The 1000'+ water fall. About a 100 feet from us. I CANNOT even begin to describe the view we have and how unrealistically beautiful it is. Seriously this is straight CGI right in front of us. We continue to the base and its just unbelievable. Extremely windy and misty and loud. I have vertigo when I look up its so high and the greenest walls just climb so impossibly high. They form this U shape with the falls at the bottom of the U. The walls form the rest and they are just incredible. And this really high rocky and green hill sits in the middle of the U and has the best view of the area. Im KILLING myself for not being able to bring my camera but we had the underwater camera at least. Hopefully those come out. My only thoughts are complete awe and anger than I cant stay longer.
With insane regret we head back after swimming under the falls. For some reason my breath was actaully taken away at one point while under because this huge gush of water dropped on us. Indescribable again.
We ended up getting down pretty quickly and record time Im sure. And to prove how random this island and trip continues to be, who of all people do we run into back on the road...the weird New Jersey dude! Seriously how is this possible! We are over an hour away from him and down in a valley on a back road to nowhere. Mad crazy, we're still tripping over that one.
We walk back to beach where we then run into these two really rough and worn guys. They just got back from a wild boar hunting trip about 9 miles hike into the valley. They had dogs with them that had gashes from the hunt and they showed us a video of them stabbing and killing a huge hog while the dogs were all biting it and holding it in place. Brutally hardcore stuff.
So now really exhausted and ankles sore we relax and enjoy our last night in the valley with coqui frogs and the sound of the ocean.
Starting the day off like only Hawaii has done, wild horses sure enough greeeted us when we pooped out of the tent. Told you! And the day was finally sunny and nice. We fed them Mexican animal crackers and they let us pet them in return. They were all brown and black and very beautiful. A bit on the small side though.
We ate our breakfast next and then frollocked on the black beach, enjoying the sun like we hadnt seen it in a week...oh wait. And then the waves were huuge so we had to jump in them of course. Omg they thrashed us so bad but it was so fun. Bathing costumes were even nearly lost. Bad waves! Just hope no one got blinded by my now extremely white tush.
On the way back to the tent some Mexicans pulled up next to us and started grilling. We struck up convo about the water fall and next thing we know they are shoving grilled steak fajitas in our hands and cokes and beers. Big score. And they were cooking enough chicken to feed Thailand on top of the steak. Really nice guys. They invited us to ride with them to the falls so we went. But when we got there the roads didnt go up to the falls, not even close. They were leaving so we decided to stay and check it out on foot. A local guy told us we had to swim and that it was a very hard hike. But me turn down a sha'lounge?! NEVER! So we start walking.
One of two trails lay before us. A nice beaten no trespassing path to the left of the stream or the not so worn no sign path to the right. Left it is :) But soonly we get to a different sign thats all criminal this and legal that so we back track and just go right. Immediately we are tossed back into jungle. Awesome. The hike starts off nice and easy but then gets rocky and more white water. The scenery is just amazing and evrrything is super overgrown and huuge. Fronds on these little palm tree things at least 15-20 feet. No lie. And massive elephant ears. We got pics. Sorry Mom, should have dug them back up for the ditch.
At this one point where the trail just leads straight into deep water there is this family coming out. They say its at least an hour to the falls and that they are heading back because its 4 and they dont want to be stuck in the dark. Sun sets at about 7 so we're wondering what to do. Naturally we press on.
We hide her purse and my camera bag with everything in it and I take off my shoes thinking I could keep them dry. Sara just plunges in like a champion. Seriously there is something wrong with this girl because she is fearless and doesnt complain one time, even when she slips and cuts herself, which was considerable. AND she not only keeps up with me but leads the way most of the time, leaving me behind even. Are ALL girls from Sweden like this? Geeeze :)
So after we swim and find the trail again, we understand why they said this was a hard hike. Huge rocks, slippery with moss and algy, extremely steep muddy climbs, wading on said slippery rocks time and time again, making our own path and litterally climbing up huge rocks, you name it we climbed up and through it. Needless to say my bare feet didnt last long but I tried.
We get to a bambo forrest even and then we can finally see some progress as the base is about 100-200yards away, still climbing. We even run at some points because we are in a race for the sun remember. Towards the last part we dont really have a trail and push on through the water and rocks.
Then we turn this bend, and there she freaking blows captain. The 1000'+ water fall. About a 100 feet from us. I CANNOT even begin to describe the view we have and how unrealistically beautiful it is. Seriously this is straight CGI right in front of us. We continue to the base and its just unbelievable. Extremely windy and misty and loud. I have vertigo when I look up its so high and the greenest walls just climb so impossibly high. They form this U shape with the falls at the bottom of the U. The walls form the rest and they are just incredible. And this really high rocky and green hill sits in the middle of the U and has the best view of the area. Im KILLING myself for not being able to bring my camera but we had the underwater camera at least. Hopefully those come out. My only thoughts are complete awe and anger than I cant stay longer.
With insane regret we head back after swimming under the falls. For some reason my breath was actaully taken away at one point while under because this huge gush of water dropped on us. Indescribable again.
We ended up getting down pretty quickly and record time Im sure. And to prove how random this island and trip continues to be, who of all people do we run into back on the road...the weird New Jersey dude! Seriously how is this possible! We are over an hour away from him and down in a valley on a back road to nowhere. Mad crazy, we're still tripping over that one.
We walk back to beach where we then run into these two really rough and worn guys. They just got back from a wild boar hunting trip about 9 miles hike into the valley. They had dogs with them that had gashes from the hunt and they showed us a video of them stabbing and killing a huge hog while the dogs were all biting it and holding it in place. Brutally hardcore stuff.
So now really exhausted and ankles sore we relax and enjoy our last night in the valley with coqui frogs and the sound of the ocean.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day 16: Moving on to Wai Pio
The waves were much better to us last night. They didnt wake me up as much but my neck got twisted up or something because its sooore. We had cheetos and pbj/nutela again mmmm. And then I found a kayak paddle by our shore. Bingo. Uncle Lawrence would be happy. We walked to the facilities and sure enough we ran into him after finding his people and giving them the paddle. He was in fact happy because some rival guy lost a paddle and took one of theirs. This served as a replacement I guess because he was happy. We packed up our stuff after saying goodbye and quickly hitchhiked up to the bus stop.
The grocery store served us well and I even got to speak with Kirk, Emily, SAVI!, and Mels. Thanks for picking up MOM =p Also might have mailed something to yall too ;)
Somehow we caught this last random late bus. And I mean JUST caught it. She was taking off and I had to run with full pack and two heavy grocery bags. Sara was amused and impressed too so it was now double worth it.
On the bus we talked to some really cool local women. The oldest one must have been close to 60 because she mentioned being on the island for 50 years but she was gorgeous and didnt look older than 40. It was crazy. But she has nothing on my beautiful 35 year old mom :D We made the next bus stop at Kmart and we had hunger and guess what they had for 6 bucks fresh hot and ready? Ohh yeeeaaa, little ceasars baby! We chowed down on that bad boy and still have half for later.
The bus comes and this really cool old dude is driving and doesnt even charge me for my bags and is playing music on the bus too. Exact opposite of Mrs Maggy Other Driver. Hahaha only a few of yall will get that one ;) And Mimi, the older woman, mentioned to us that they were going out tonight and if we knew her 2 days ago she would have driven us around and let us crash her place! Doh. Oh well, cant catch them all.
The bus ride was only about an hour and a half this time which gave me good time to catch up on the blog. Im actually writing for the same day first time! Feels great. But anyway, the bus actually takes us 8 miles past our stop so we get to hitching again.
Was rough this time as people werent as nice here or we werent as lucky. But a really nice older guy finally stops and lets us in the back of his truck. Its amazing how much you appreciate the invention of the wheel when youre looking back at the road and all the miles you WOULD have hiked if not for the kindness of a stranger. I will most definitely not think twice about hitchhikers from now on. In fact I will give the next one a ride provided he doesnt have a rifle or sword on his person. Or handcuffs and a jump suit.
We actually find ourself at the same outlook we were at during the island tour. But this time we were walking alllll the way down Wai Pio Valley. Which we just found out has wild horses roaming around. Looks like we get different wildlife out of our tent each morning. Yea thats how I roll, whats up.
Well we finally get down the brutally steep slopes (which actually turns out to be THE steepest slope in all Hawaii), thighs burning and shaking. And on the way down we met this mother and daughter who was like 7 on their way up. Well we saw multiple cars going up and ask them why they didnt take one and the mom says the daughter turned them all down because she WANTED to walk up. What a brave little kid. Haha but then she said she changed her mind. Silly girls.
So we're down at the bottom, run into some Canadians who point us in the right direction and we head straight for the beach, sun setting already. Well we get lost and are trapesing through the woods and stuff and head towards this light like that bug in Bugs Life (DONT LOOK AT THE LIGHT! Zzzt!). Turns out its these peoples back yard and they are grilling out with kids camping in the back yard. We feel like creepos coming in from back yard with only kids outside. But we get these two guys who are there and they show us a spot where we can camp and now here we are. Looking at the most beautifully clear night sky and sound of a nice calm beach right down from us. And a nice steady cool breeze. And we have a fire pit for the first time but probably not going to use it as we dont want attention and have no food to grill :( But man what a journey here and a nice rewarding valley campsite. Oh and its a black sand beach :)
Dun duun! Dun DUUUNNN! dunna DUN da dun da duuuunn! Da da da daaaa, da dadda da, da dadda da!!!
Anyone know that one?? Hint: The valley we are in was filmed in a famous dino movie.
The grocery store served us well and I even got to speak with Kirk, Emily, SAVI!, and Mels. Thanks for picking up MOM =p Also might have mailed something to yall too ;)
Somehow we caught this last random late bus. And I mean JUST caught it. She was taking off and I had to run with full pack and two heavy grocery bags. Sara was amused and impressed too so it was now double worth it.
On the bus we talked to some really cool local women. The oldest one must have been close to 60 because she mentioned being on the island for 50 years but she was gorgeous and didnt look older than 40. It was crazy. But she has nothing on my beautiful 35 year old mom :D We made the next bus stop at Kmart and we had hunger and guess what they had for 6 bucks fresh hot and ready? Ohh yeeeaaa, little ceasars baby! We chowed down on that bad boy and still have half for later.
The bus comes and this really cool old dude is driving and doesnt even charge me for my bags and is playing music on the bus too. Exact opposite of Mrs Maggy Other Driver. Hahaha only a few of yall will get that one ;) And Mimi, the older woman, mentioned to us that they were going out tonight and if we knew her 2 days ago she would have driven us around and let us crash her place! Doh. Oh well, cant catch them all.
The bus ride was only about an hour and a half this time which gave me good time to catch up on the blog. Im actually writing for the same day first time! Feels great. But anyway, the bus actually takes us 8 miles past our stop so we get to hitching again.
Was rough this time as people werent as nice here or we werent as lucky. But a really nice older guy finally stops and lets us in the back of his truck. Its amazing how much you appreciate the invention of the wheel when youre looking back at the road and all the miles you WOULD have hiked if not for the kindness of a stranger. I will most definitely not think twice about hitchhikers from now on. In fact I will give the next one a ride provided he doesnt have a rifle or sword on his person. Or handcuffs and a jump suit.
We actually find ourself at the same outlook we were at during the island tour. But this time we were walking alllll the way down Wai Pio Valley. Which we just found out has wild horses roaming around. Looks like we get different wildlife out of our tent each morning. Yea thats how I roll, whats up.
Well we finally get down the brutally steep slopes (which actually turns out to be THE steepest slope in all Hawaii), thighs burning and shaking. And on the way down we met this mother and daughter who was like 7 on their way up. Well we saw multiple cars going up and ask them why they didnt take one and the mom says the daughter turned them all down because she WANTED to walk up. What a brave little kid. Haha but then she said she changed her mind. Silly girls.
So we're down at the bottom, run into some Canadians who point us in the right direction and we head straight for the beach, sun setting already. Well we get lost and are trapesing through the woods and stuff and head towards this light like that bug in Bugs Life (DONT LOOK AT THE LIGHT! Zzzt!). Turns out its these peoples back yard and they are grilling out with kids camping in the back yard. We feel like creepos coming in from back yard with only kids outside. But we get these two guys who are there and they show us a spot where we can camp and now here we are. Looking at the most beautifully clear night sky and sound of a nice calm beach right down from us. And a nice steady cool breeze. And we have a fire pit for the first time but probably not going to use it as we dont want attention and have no food to grill :( But man what a journey here and a nice rewarding valley campsite. Oh and its a black sand beach :)
Dun duun! Dun DUUUNNN! dunna DUN da dun da duuuunn! Da da da daaaa, da dadda da, da dadda da!!!
Anyone know that one?? Hint: The valley we are in was filmed in a famous dino movie.
Waking up this morning was no problem whatsoever thanks to the waves slamming against the rocks. In fact falling asleep was the problem. Unreal how loud the waves were against the rocks. Then again sleeping about 20 feet from them probabaly didnt help. But we were up and ate our quick breakfast of chips dipped in nutela and pbj. Then we headed over to the other side of the bay to snorkle.
The fish here were the big yellow ones and black with orange spot ones and random others. The coral was a lot better than our turtle bay but still nothing that was too exciting for me. Especially considering they boasted best in state. Bah. Maybe over where the dolphins were. I ended up not getting a chance to snorkle with the dolphins :( but at least Sara go to see them for us. The reason was because we ran into some locals that were jumping off a high ledge right where we were swimming so we joined them. So much fun but after all the snorkling and swimming I felt at least 300lbs on shore.
We met up with with the girl and guy later and we all drove to grab some food. And wouldnt you know it, pizza at last! Local pies. Some veggie with feta, basil pesto, and peporoni. Yummo. And the guy even paid for us. Booyah. Food was just in time too cause of our poor excuse for breakfast.
After food we headed to a house of a friend of the girl (Merav) we were with. They were going to have a ukelele jam session or something and asked us to come with. Take note Im in my togs(Queens Australia term for bathing costume or swim suit if you still dont follow) and flip flops still, no shirt or money or anything but snorkling gear. But at least no shirt is very common here, not that I was worried. It was nice being in a house again but odd too because the road has been our home for so long. They had clash of the titans on too, which I still havent seen.
Outside they had started the jamming so we went out there. It was really fun and they sounded great. Oh! When we walked into the house we immediately saw this guy that we asked for a ride from at the grocery store the previous day. He turned us down of course saying he lived right up the street. Haha it was so awkward but we were cracking up because he had this look on his face when he saw us and we all met officially this time. What a small random world I live in now. But he came out later and rapped a bit to the 2 ukes that were playing. Good stuff. A second later I look over in their garden and see tomato plants, some flowers, some melons and then bam, jagged leaves. Yes Im looking at the lady herself, Mary J. 8 of them. Never really seen a live plant before, much less just right there in someones front yard! Haha I know yall are probably freaking but let me explain. EVERYONE in Hawaii smokes pot. Everyone. And
most people have medical cards which allows them to carry up to 3ozs and grow up to 8 plants. So its very common apparently to see this but it was just our first time too actually see it here. We met the older guy who was growing and he answered our plethora of questions about it all and even showed us his private grow collection of clones and stuff. Very interesting herbology class we found ourselves in haha.
Next we found ourselves watching 2012 and when it was over we got dropped back off at our bay. We ran into Uncle Lawrence and chatted with him for a bit. He gave us food when left too! Great guy him. Without a flashlight we started to feel our way a couple hundred yards into the woods and shoreline where our stuff was hidden. Not fun. But we found it at last and set up camp. We ate our chicken wraps and passed out soonly, stomachs full for once.
The fish here were the big yellow ones and black with orange spot ones and random others. The coral was a lot better than our turtle bay but still nothing that was too exciting for me. Especially considering they boasted best in state. Bah. Maybe over where the dolphins were. I ended up not getting a chance to snorkle with the dolphins :( but at least Sara go to see them for us. The reason was because we ran into some locals that were jumping off a high ledge right where we were swimming so we joined them. So much fun but after all the snorkling and swimming I felt at least 300lbs on shore.
We met up with with the girl and guy later and we all drove to grab some food. And wouldnt you know it, pizza at last! Local pies. Some veggie with feta, basil pesto, and peporoni. Yummo. And the guy even paid for us. Booyah. Food was just in time too cause of our poor excuse for breakfast.
After food we headed to a house of a friend of the girl (Merav) we were with. They were going to have a ukelele jam session or something and asked us to come with. Take note Im in my togs(Queens Australia term for bathing costume or swim suit if you still dont follow) and flip flops still, no shirt or money or anything but snorkling gear. But at least no shirt is very common here, not that I was worried. It was nice being in a house again but odd too because the road has been our home for so long. They had clash of the titans on too, which I still havent seen.
Outside they had started the jamming so we went out there. It was really fun and they sounded great. Oh! When we walked into the house we immediately saw this guy that we asked for a ride from at the grocery store the previous day. He turned us down of course saying he lived right up the street. Haha it was so awkward but we were cracking up because he had this look on his face when he saw us and we all met officially this time. What a small random world I live in now. But he came out later and rapped a bit to the 2 ukes that were playing. Good stuff. A second later I look over in their garden and see tomato plants, some flowers, some melons and then bam, jagged leaves. Yes Im looking at the lady herself, Mary J. 8 of them. Never really seen a live plant before, much less just right there in someones front yard! Haha I know yall are probably freaking but let me explain. EVERYONE in Hawaii smokes pot. Everyone. And
most people have medical cards which allows them to carry up to 3ozs and grow up to 8 plants. So its very common apparently to see this but it was just our first time too actually see it here. We met the older guy who was growing and he answered our plethora of questions about it all and even showed us his private grow collection of clones and stuff. Very interesting herbology class we found ourselves in haha.
Next we found ourselves watching 2012 and when it was over we got dropped back off at our bay. We ran into Uncle Lawrence and chatted with him for a bit. He gave us food when left too! Great guy him. Without a flashlight we started to feel our way a couple hundred yards into the woods and shoreline where our stuff was hidden. Not fun. But we found it at last and set up camp. We ate our chicken wraps and passed out soonly, stomachs full for once.
Day 15: Kealakekua Bay
Waking up this morning was no problem whatsoever thanks to the waves slamming against the rocks. In fact falling asleep was the problem. Unreal how loud the waves were against the rocks. Then again sleeping about 20 feet from them probabaly didnt help. But we were up and ate our quick breakfast of chips dipped in nutela and pbj. Then we headed over to the other side of the bay to snorkle.
The fish here were the big yellow ones and black with orange spot ones and random others. The coral was a lot better than our turtle bay but still nothing that was too exciting for me. Especially considering they boasted best in state. Bah. Maybe over where the dolphins were. I ended up not getting a chance to snorkle with the dolphins :( but at least Sara go to see them for us. The reason was because we ran into some locals that were jumping off a high ledge right where we were swimming so we joined them. So much fun but after all the snorkling and swimming I felt at least 300lbs on shore.
We met up with with the girl and guy later and we all drove to grab some food. And wouldnt you know it, pizza at last! Local pies. Some veggie with feta, basil pesto, and peporoni. Yummo. And the guy even paid for us. Booyah. Food was just in time too cause of our poor excuse for breakfast.
After food we headed to a house of a friend of the girl (Merav) we were with. They were going to have a ukelele jam session or something and asked us to come with. Take note Im in my togs(Queens Australia term for bathing costume or swim suit if you still dont follow) and flip flops still, no shirt or money or anything but snorkling gear. But at least no shirt is very common here, not that I was worried. It was nice being in a house again but odd too because the road has been our home for so long. They had clash of the titans on too, which I still havent seen.
Outside they had started the jamming so we went out there. It was really fun and they sounded great. Oh! When we walked into the house we immediately saw this guy that we asked for a ride from at the grocery store the previous day. He turned us down of course saying he lived right up the street. Haha it was so awkward but we were cracking up because he had this look on his face when he saw us and we all met officially this time. What a small random world I live in now. But he came out later and rapped a bit to the 2 ukes that were playing. Good stuff. A second later I look over in their garden and see tomato plants, some flowers, some melons and then bam, jagged leaves. Yes Im looking at the lady herself, Mary J. 8 of them. Never really seen a live plant before, much less just right there in someones front yard! Haha I know yall are probably freaking but let me explain. EVERYONE in Hawaii smokes pot. Everyone. And
most people have medical cards which allows them to carry up to 3ozs and grow up to 8 plants. So its very common apparently to see this but it was just our first time too actually see it here. We met the older guy who was growing and he answered our plethora of questions about it all and even showed us his private grow collection of clones and stuff. Very interesting herbology class we found ourselves in haha.
Next we found ourselves watching 2012 and when it was over we got dropped back off at our bay. We ran into Uncle Lawrence and chatted with him for a bit. He gave us food when left too! Great guy him. Without a flashlight we started to feel our way a couple hundred yards into the woods and shoreline where our stuff was hidden. Not fun. But we found it at last and set up camp. We ate our chicken wraps and passed out soonly, stomachs full for once.
The fish here were the big yellow ones and black with orange spot ones and random others. The coral was a lot better than our turtle bay but still nothing that was too exciting for me. Especially considering they boasted best in state. Bah. Maybe over where the dolphins were. I ended up not getting a chance to snorkle with the dolphins :( but at least Sara go to see them for us. The reason was because we ran into some locals that were jumping off a high ledge right where we were swimming so we joined them. So much fun but after all the snorkling and swimming I felt at least 300lbs on shore.
We met up with with the girl and guy later and we all drove to grab some food. And wouldnt you know it, pizza at last! Local pies. Some veggie with feta, basil pesto, and peporoni. Yummo. And the guy even paid for us. Booyah. Food was just in time too cause of our poor excuse for breakfast.
After food we headed to a house of a friend of the girl (Merav) we were with. They were going to have a ukelele jam session or something and asked us to come with. Take note Im in my togs(Queens Australia term for bathing costume or swim suit if you still dont follow) and flip flops still, no shirt or money or anything but snorkling gear. But at least no shirt is very common here, not that I was worried. It was nice being in a house again but odd too because the road has been our home for so long. They had clash of the titans on too, which I still havent seen.
Outside they had started the jamming so we went out there. It was really fun and they sounded great. Oh! When we walked into the house we immediately saw this guy that we asked for a ride from at the grocery store the previous day. He turned us down of course saying he lived right up the street. Haha it was so awkward but we were cracking up because he had this look on his face when he saw us and we all met officially this time. What a small random world I live in now. But he came out later and rapped a bit to the 2 ukes that were playing. Good stuff. A second later I look over in their garden and see tomato plants, some flowers, some melons and then bam, jagged leaves. Yes Im looking at the lady herself, Mary J. 8 of them. Never really seen a live plant before, much less just right there in someones front yard! Haha I know yall are probably freaking but let me explain. EVERYONE in Hawaii smokes pot. Everyone. And
most people have medical cards which allows them to carry up to 3ozs and grow up to 8 plants. So its very common apparently to see this but it was just our first time too actually see it here. We met the older guy who was growing and he answered our plethora of questions about it all and even showed us his private grow collection of clones and stuff. Very interesting herbology class we found ourselves in haha.
Next we found ourselves watching 2012 and when it was over we got dropped back off at our bay. We ran into Uncle Lawrence and chatted with him for a bit. He gave us food when left too! Great guy him. Without a flashlight we started to feel our way a couple hundred yards into the woods and shoreline where our stuff was hidden. Not fun. But we found it at last and set up camp. We ate our chicken wraps and passed out soonly, stomachs full for once.
Day 14: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow
Wow. What a completely bad night of sleep. Woke up sore as all get out and ready to peace out ASAP. We start walking and somehow only walk about a mile and someone picks us up. Awesome! We get a ride to this Kaelekuela Bay which has the Capt Cook monument. And the guy we rode with just happened to be the son of the guy who "owns" this place. Well they rent the kayaks here but they are local "Uncles" here in the bay which means they are like the mob you could say. They know everyhing that goes on here and people respect them. That sort of thing. Seems this is the Hawaiin way wherever you are. All about uncles and respect. So just show respect and you can get and do just about anything. We meet the father Uncle Lawrence. Son is Kaloni. Both extremely nice people who tell us about everything and show us where we can camp in te mountains. We thank them and head of to check it out.
The beach is a black sand and white sand beach with nothing but rocks on the shore. The bay claims some of the best snorkling on the islands with schools of fish and dolphin pods. Naturally this excites us so we cant wait. The place even has a pavilion with a shower and power. Score. Such a reilef over last night.
We head to where they pointed and its great. No sand on the shore but where I layed down there was some. I finally got to bust out the book and read! Sara went snorkling with some randoms and came back claiming to have been like a couple of feet from the dolphins. Totally jealous but I was enjoying my first ever true alone time on the islands where I could relax.
Soon as Sara got back we found our campsites, plural because I wanted to use my own tent for a change, and headed back to the road for food. We ran into Kaloni and he gave us a ride to the grocery store. We ate at this Chinese place and hitchhiked back with a mexican dude. And when we came back we ran into this same guy we ran into earlier today that was really stoned and drunk or something. We eneded up talking with him for a while because we didnt want him to know where all our stuff was and that we were camping in the woods. He poured out some stuff to us and we just laugh to each other because this guy is pretty far gone. But he leaves after dark and we head to set up camp. This is when we realize our bread is for the second time claimed by nature. Ants and roaches this time. Uugggghhhh!!
We get all our stuff pitched and go to pass out. Only the waves are right by us and smash really hard against the rocks so it makes it near impossible to sleep. And I find myself on reallly hard surfaces so Im sore again the next day. Really cool place but just bad place to sleep if your not used to it.
The beach is a black sand and white sand beach with nothing but rocks on the shore. The bay claims some of the best snorkling on the islands with schools of fish and dolphin pods. Naturally this excites us so we cant wait. The place even has a pavilion with a shower and power. Score. Such a reilef over last night.
We head to where they pointed and its great. No sand on the shore but where I layed down there was some. I finally got to bust out the book and read! Sara went snorkling with some randoms and came back claiming to have been like a couple of feet from the dolphins. Totally jealous but I was enjoying my first ever true alone time on the islands where I could relax.
Soon as Sara got back we found our campsites, plural because I wanted to use my own tent for a change, and headed back to the road for food. We ran into Kaloni and he gave us a ride to the grocery store. We ate at this Chinese place and hitchhiked back with a mexican dude. And when we came back we ran into this same guy we ran into earlier today that was really stoned and drunk or something. We eneded up talking with him for a while because we didnt want him to know where all our stuff was and that we were camping in the woods. He poured out some stuff to us and we just laugh to each other because this guy is pretty far gone. But he leaves after dark and we head to set up camp. This is when we realize our bread is for the second time claimed by nature. Ants and roaches this time. Uugggghhhh!!
We get all our stuff pitched and go to pass out. Only the waves are right by us and smash really hard against the rocks so it makes it near impossible to sleep. And I find myself on reallly hard surfaces so Im sore again the next day. Really cool place but just bad place to sleep if your not used to it.
Day 13: Kona and the Lava Fields
Sara and I woke up kinda late today after sleeping extremely cramped in a two man tent on roots and rocks. Dell and Jake came to pick us up and we headed to the farmers market and check out our bus situation. We were dropped off at the mall and ate some lunch. Kind of ashamed to say but I had 2 double cheeses from McDs and it was goood. Anything this trip that isnt pbj is heaven. Speaking of which our third loaf of bread was claimed by nature the next day! And we even hung it from a tree! Nature sure does love its bread and its sneaky to get it too.
So we hung out at the mall until our bus at 1:10. We even saw a hula dance with these really old Jerries and this woman in front leading the dance that looked like Mathusala's sister lol. Seriously she was like 200 years old (Mathusala is the 900 yr old dude from the bible btw). Our bus finally arrives and the driver lady is extremely uncool and mean to me for some reason but whatever. We get on and pass out.
4 hours later we get off in Kona and start walking. It was a long walk before some nice lady in a big truck picked us up. She drove us back to the statue place we already saw so we walked down another road to a bay where we met this really weird guy from NJ. He was really nice, gave us water and passion fruit even, but was talking all spiritual and how the island had called us here. Yea that sort of person. Oh and when we were opening the fruits and Sara got hers he was so extremely passionate about it and went something like "oh yeeeesss! She's in! Thats soooo amazing!" Haha this guy gave us some laughter later to say the least. And later we would meet these other people who told us the same jab about being called to the island. Sorry but cant I just make a nice random decision to come here for no other reason but to explore and not work?
Anyway we watch the sunset and he tells us this spot up the hill to camp. Weeeellll ole high hippy dude from NJ turns out to be one of my least favorite people on the trip. This had to be an island joke because, well....it was a freaking old lava field! We walk around on some trails in the dark tryin to find a place to crash. Its getting late for us and theres NOTHING but rock. Finally we find some simblance of dirt and just say screw it and pitch the tent. We also had our gear in there so yay another cramped night! And holy batman flaps it was hooott! Yea we kinda had our first tiff too but nothing bad. Just having our worst night in Hawaii by far.
So with everything covered in sweat and it raining and mosquitos outside and door shut with no air and on rocks and feet tucked in to chests, we try to get some sleep. Guess how much I love my decisions right now....
So we hung out at the mall until our bus at 1:10. We even saw a hula dance with these really old Jerries and this woman in front leading the dance that looked like Mathusala's sister lol. Seriously she was like 200 years old (Mathusala is the 900 yr old dude from the bible btw). Our bus finally arrives and the driver lady is extremely uncool and mean to me for some reason but whatever. We get on and pass out.
4 hours later we get off in Kona and start walking. It was a long walk before some nice lady in a big truck picked us up. She drove us back to the statue place we already saw so we walked down another road to a bay where we met this really weird guy from NJ. He was really nice, gave us water and passion fruit even, but was talking all spiritual and how the island had called us here. Yea that sort of person. Oh and when we were opening the fruits and Sara got hers he was so extremely passionate about it and went something like "oh yeeeesss! She's in! Thats soooo amazing!" Haha this guy gave us some laughter later to say the least. And later we would meet these other people who told us the same jab about being called to the island. Sorry but cant I just make a nice random decision to come here for no other reason but to explore and not work?
Anyway we watch the sunset and he tells us this spot up the hill to camp. Weeeellll ole high hippy dude from NJ turns out to be one of my least favorite people on the trip. This had to be an island joke because, well....it was a freaking old lava field! We walk around on some trails in the dark tryin to find a place to crash. Its getting late for us and theres NOTHING but rock. Finally we find some simblance of dirt and just say screw it and pitch the tent. We also had our gear in there so yay another cramped night! And holy batman flaps it was hooott! Yea we kinda had our first tiff too but nothing bad. Just having our worst night in Hawaii by far.
So with everything covered in sweat and it raining and mosquitos outside and door shut with no air and on rocks and feet tucked in to chests, we try to get some sleep. Guess how much I love my decisions right now....
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