After five years writing for newspapers in Rogue River and Ashland, Oregon; I finally made it back to Hawaii with my 15 year-old Hilo-born son, specifically to Volcano on the Big Island, about a mile from the entrance to Volcano National Park. I was sure I’d kiss the grown at Hilo Airport, but vanity won out.
During Hawaii’s winter (October through April) we’ll get frost on some nights up here at Volcano (4,000 feet), but year round the daytime temps average around 65 to 75 °F. Driving down the mountain in just a matter of a few minutes the temperature and humidity climb, flowering plants and trees appear in neat yards surrounding tin-roofed houses, and the air is instantly soft and sweet. It’s like stepping off the escalator at Hilo Airport into the outdoor lobby – just a nice, relaxing and welcoming sensation.
Hilo was my first home in Hawaii. After a Kauai vacation in 1987, my former husband and I put our house up for sale, I graduated a term early so I’d have my teaching certificate, and we moved with our 6-year-old son (now grown) and our pet bird to “affordable Hawaii,” the windward side of the Big Island, sight unseen, no contacts.
The plan: Stay in an affordable hotel for the first night and then begin apartment hunting and job hunting. So trusty Hidden Hawaii guide book in hand (pre-Internet days and non-touristy Hilo hotels always had rooms), we drove to our first choice, a local’s favorite and located in a residential neighborhood called the Dolphin Bay Hotel
The problem: We didn’t know about the Merry Monarch Hula Festival, which happened to be in full swing. This grandmother of all hula competitions attracts hula halau’s (schools/troupes) and spectators from all around the Big Island, and the islands of Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, as well as from the mainland to the small city of Hilo (pop, 45,000).
As it usually does in Hilo at night (the wettest city in the United States), it began to rain. This hotel and every other one in Hilo was booked, dancers were sleeping on the floors. While the kind owner called hotels in Kona, we stood in the rain outside the car while our son tried to calm the now screeching cockatiel in the backseat.
A man drinking beer and working on his pickup (in that order I think) in front of a big plantation home down the street quickly sized up the situation and told us to come stay the night. I’d heard a lot about “aloha” (who hasn’t), but I was hesitant. He came back a minute later, saying his wife had stew on the stove and wanted us to come in for dinner.
So we joined he and his wife and their two sons for a delicious dinner, watched some of Merry Monarch on television, and spent the night in their tidy guest rooms. We fell asleep to the pitter patter of rain on the banana leaves outside the window and woke up feeling more refreshed than we could remember.
Downstairs we found a note on the polished koa table next to a vase of antheriums telling us they’d gone off to school and work (his wife turned out to be the vice principle at a local school). The note said to please help ourselves to breakfast from the cupboards and the refrigerator. And we were strangers. I still haven’t rightly passed on this aloha, but I’m working on it.
While Hilo’s my first love, Volcano has its own charms. Pele for one. Many of the island’s artists live here – something about the creative energy that flows beneath as lava moves towards the sea where it’s forming a new island. Mark Twain reportedly loved it here and stayed at Volcano House Hotel. In Roughing It, he used his sharp wit to point out the injustices done to the Hawaiians.
Hawaiian honeycreepers flit from tree to tree outside my windows. Turkeys cruise through our front yard daily (as our cats look on wide-eyed from a safe distance). Fern flanked trails meandering under majestic koas and fragrant eucalyptus provide wonderful hikes. The sun sets over Mauna Loa, and in the morning we can drive about 1/2 hour down to Punalu`u Black Sand Beach and check out the sea turtles or watch the sun rise over the ocean (if I could get up that early!). Or we can drive about 30 miles to Hilo, down Kalanianiole about five miles, and snorkel on the coral reef at my favorite Windward side beach park, Richardson Ocean Park.
And the volcano vog? While this smog-like volcanic substance does sometimes find its way down the mountain into Hilo, other than the vog in the Park near the lava flow and sulfur vents, it mainly just settles (until afternoon trades blow it out to sea) right where the bulk of the island’s tourists do - - Kailua-Kona.
In my 10 years living in Hawaii (Big Island, and for a bit on Oahu and Kauai), for the most part on a single mom’s shoestring budget, I’ve discovered many amazing places and fun activities that tread lightly on pocketbooks and Hawaii’s fragile eco systems (usually these two go together).
I’ve also learned a lot about the culture from my time teaching here, mostly at a treatment center for teens where I brought in kupuna (elders) volunteers to share their knowledge and where I had the opportunity to tag along on outings. But I’ve probably just written the longest blog introduction in history, so I’ll start sharing these tips next week, along with pictures.
Cindy
