I haven't updated for almost a month and to tell the truth, February was actually pretty uneventful. We read a lot of library books and ate a lot of wonderful food. It was a treat to just relax for so long and not feel like it was important to accomplish anything other than relaxing.
We are now in the last two weeks of our time on Hawaii and we have definitely picked up the pace. We moved out of our apartment on the first on March and are couch surfing with Uncle Bob again. The people who end up coming to stay at Bob's are typically of a high caliber and we have been so lucky to meet people from all over the world.
I had intense deja vu this week when a young couchsurfer named Joe showed up at Bob's. I felt like I knew him but couldn't place his face so just dismissed the feeling. Later in conversation it came out that in fact we had met in San Francisco while dumpster diving at Rainbow Grocery! I couldn't believe that this guy we had spent maybe 20 minutes with in San Francisco was now sleeping on the floor beside us in Hilo!
The highlights of this week and maybe our whole trip have been getting to go down into Waipio Valley and seeing the hot lava up close and personal!
Waipio is a very special place. A lush green valley surrounded by emerald cliffs and waterfalls and opening to the ocean on a mile long black sand beach. The road down into the valley is "the steepest road in the USA" and only accessible by 4 wheel drive. We walked down in ten minutes but would have taken an hour to get out by foot. Luckily, all 6 of us got a ride out in the back of a powerful pick-up truck. The people driving had seen us playing in the raging surf and felt obliged to give us a ride because they were hoping we would save them if they got caught in the rip tide!
Yesterday we tagged along with Katie and Jeneen again to Volcanos National Park. This was the third time we have been to the park but it is huge and full of amazing hiking and vistas. We played in the lava tube and then headed down Chain of Craters Road to have a picnic by the ocean.
After the park we went out to the county lava viewing site at Kalapana and checked to see where the lava is. It is free to see what you can from the road but the county restricts hikes over the lava to the actual flow to guided tours. We didn't want to pay $50 each so we killed time until after the security guards had left and came back with our gps, head lamps and hiking shoes. (This is extremely dangerous and I would never do it without someone who had previous experience. We had another couchsurfer with us, Alex who had experience.)
Oh my Bob, I have never seen anything so incredible. The soul of the earth, Pele's blood, the fire within! The only way you can explain the creation of new land seems to be with mystical metaphors. We roasted marshmallows over the lava and poked it with sticks. The ambient air temperature was at least 45 degrees Celsius and the lava itself is around 2000 degrees Celsius! The sound it made was like ice cracking and glass shattering.
We drove home completely satisfied and in awe of nature's creation.
Showing posts with label hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hawaii. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Hoo bee doo. Jay has come down with a head/chest cold and is currently taking a nap. I feel bad for him because being sick when it's nice out sucks. I hope I don't catch it!
We haven't been up to much lately. Since we got this apartment we've mostly been sticking around Hilo. We went to Puna briefly on the weekend and have been to Mauna Kea once this week and are going up again tomorrow.
Today could be interesting however! I'm waiting around for our friend Bryan's little brother, Steve, and his girlfriend to show up. They are on the Big Island for the week and we said we'd take them to see some neat stuff on this side of the island. They have a rented Jeep which is awesome because there are a lot of cool places you can't get to without 4 wheel drive or the time to hitchhike. I think we'll head down to Kalapana this evening to check out the lava if we can.
I've been feeling homesick, nothing new. I've been away from my friends and family for too long now and I've resolved to not travel extensively for the next few years. That doesn't mean I won't be traveling just no more 4 month trips. After a few months it becomes a job to keep yourself occupied, at least for me it does. I've been spending a lot of time following the revolution in Egypt and reading novels as always but I need to be involved in real work (not necessarily a job) and community to feel fulfilled. I am happy to not be WWOOFing because of the situations we've encountered here but that was the purpose of this journey and now I just feel lost in my own little world. Disconnected.
It is lovely here and I will always be able to look back on this time and think how fortunate we are to be able to live the way we do. The anticipation of returning home is just as fun as the anticipation of leaving was. We have so much to look forward to at home and I feel like we've been collecting the ideas we need to start working on the rest of our lives. That's what I want to be doing.
Well, I am going to go try to find a project to occupy myself!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Things I Love About the Big Island
- Hitchhiking! It's easy, fast and safer than at home. Free as well!
- Coconuts and many wonderful fruits grow in abundance everywhere. Lilikoi! Avocado! Also free!
- Rainbows and moonbows make my day or night!
- Domestic animals gone wild! Hawaii features feral pigs, goats, horses, turkeys, and even donkeys! (Sadly, also cats and dogs who are less able to fend for themselves.)
- The Hawaiian language is beautiful and fun to get the hang of as it is written phonetically. Humuhumunukunukuapua'a! Also, the locals speak Pidgin which is a lot of fun to listen to and incorporate into your speaking. Shoots Brah! Mo Bettah!
- Big dudes playing ukulele. It is just the tiniest guitar being played by a giant man and I love it! I also enjoy when anyone plays uke on the bus or in public.
- Honu (turtles), dolphins, manta rays, sharks and whales and all the beautiful creatures of the sea.
- Mauna Kea Observatory and the clear nights for star viewing.
- Black sand, white sand, and green sand!? Kick ass beaches!
- Fresh seafood! Poke, mahi mahi, ahi, it's all tasty.
- Pakalolo! The green grows here like back at home except outdoor, year-round. Comparable prices too.
- The bus is free even if it is infrequent.
- Shaka it to me! The shaka or "hang loose" hand signal is good fun to give and receive.
- Aloha Spirit. The people here are giving, friendly and generally helpful. Aloha is in the air.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Star Mountain
Mauna Kea kuahiwi ku ha'o ika malie
(Mauna Kea is the astonishing mountain that stands in the calm)
Wow.
We just had a three day party at Uncle Bob's house with some wonderful couchsurfers from France and England as well as our friend Graham (he is one of the Canadians who picked us up hitchhiking last week).
When Graham picked us up we told him about Mauna Kea and the awesome volunteer program (link here). We are encouraging everyone we meet here to do this because it is such a unique opportunity to learn about astronomy in this special place. I didn't know if he would but he showed up at Mauna Kea on Saturday night and got a ride with us back to Hilo Town that night and partying ensued.
Mauna Kea means "white mountain" because it is often topped with snow and ice. At the peak (approximately 14000 ft) you are above 40% of the Earth's atmosphere. There is a tropical lake fed by permafrost near the summit called lake Waiau. The ancient Hawaiians would bring the umbilical cords (piko) of their children here for good luck. The lake itself was considered the "umbilical connection" to the earth.
The ancient Hawaiians revered this place as the domain of the gods. It was known as Mauna O Wakea or Mountain of the deity Wakea (the sky father). It is the tallest mountain in the world (not the highest peak) and it seems absurd that you can just drive your 4x4 all the way up.
I could go on! This is a place rich in spiritual history and scientific discovery. The telescopes on Mauna Kea are of the highest quality and plans are moving forward to build the largest mirror yet. At 30m across it will be three times that of the largest mirror currently. The larger the mirror, the more light can be collected and therefore we will be able to see farther back in "time". We are seeing things billions of light years away now, so this means we will be even closer to seeing back to the "big bang".
I think this is the most exciting and rewarding thing we have done on Hawaii and we plan on volunteering as much as we can before we leave. The people we have met up there, rangers, employees and other volunteers have all been so wonderful.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Makalawena, Pololu Valley and Hawi
This has been a great week for us, filled with radventure and new sights!
We left Hilo on Monday to go to our new farm and found it to be more than adequate. Our hosts are a lovely couple, Norm and Lisa. Norm is a direct descendant on Kamehameha, the first Hawaiian Chief to unite the Hawaiian Islands. She is a feisty little powerhouse of a woman! Lisa is a sweet, intuitive lady and a great cook (chocolate coconut creme pie!) originally from Tennessee.
They have 20 acres of land outside of the town Na'alehu in the southern part of the island. It is considerably drier here than back up in Hilo/Puna area. The farm is in the early stages of growing pineapples, tomatoes and many other tasty things. We have to be careful to not wander off of the paths because there is a lava tube running through the land and if you are not careful you can fall into a puka (hole) 50 ft deep! There is also a beautiful Ohia forest and many native plants.
We worked two long days weeding and cleaning house and then we were set free to wander the island again. Our hosts gave us a ride up to Kekaha Kai State park north of the Kona airport where we hiked to the beach over a field of chunky a'a lava. We took a break by the abandoned Magoon house and kept on north over more lava to the hidden treasure of Makalawena Beach. We swam and watched the sunset and camped in the trees. In the morning we were woken up by the wild goats that wander around that area. It's private land and the caretaker nicely told us that we wouldn't get away with camping there another night.
So we hiked back out to the highway, scoring five young coconuts on the way! Jay got a wasp sting through his shirt but I think he would say it was worth it. Coconut water is full of electrolytes and it super thirst quenching.
I was watching the planes fly overhead while we tried to hitchhike northwards and feeling homesick for Canada knowing that we are flying out of that airport in two months. We were told it is more difficult to hitchhike on Kona side due to most of the traffic being tourists but we only waited about fifteen minutes and a white Mustang convertible pulled over! The most obvious of tourist rental cars!
I knew the driver, Kevin, was a Canadian within five minutes of chatting with him. Mostly because his sentences were punctuated with the f-word. We blasted some classic rock tunes including Loverboy and he drove us to Hapuna Beach, a beach often judged the best in the country. And it was so nice! After a swim and some sun we all went to get food farther up the coast.
After local grass-fed beef burgers (yum!) Kevin graciously drove us to our next camping destination, Pololu Valley. What a great guy! I got my taste of Canada after all. At the Pololu Lookout we ran into some cool kids including a girl from Salt Spring Island and then we ventured down into the valley.
This was a perfect spot for camping! I'll post photos soon! Black sand beach, sand dunes covered in tall trees and a lake in behind. There are no facilities, you have to bring all of your own water but it is not crowded at all and is entirely mystical!
When we hiked out the next day we got a ride back into Hawi with yet another Canadian from Vancouver Island. We had planned to hitchhike to Hilo but after two and a half hours we gave up and went back to Hawi to get a hotel room. Nothing beats a bed and a hot shower after a week of working hard, hiking hard and sleeping in hammocks. Hawi is a pretty little town in North Kohala. We plan on coming back up here to whale watch (they mate and calve between here and Maui) and do some more camping before we leave.
We have almost made it around the whole island! Three sleeps until star mountain!
We left Hilo on Monday to go to our new farm and found it to be more than adequate. Our hosts are a lovely couple, Norm and Lisa. Norm is a direct descendant on Kamehameha, the first Hawaiian Chief to unite the Hawaiian Islands. She is a feisty little powerhouse of a woman! Lisa is a sweet, intuitive lady and a great cook (chocolate coconut creme pie!) originally from Tennessee.
They have 20 acres of land outside of the town Na'alehu in the southern part of the island. It is considerably drier here than back up in Hilo/Puna area. The farm is in the early stages of growing pineapples, tomatoes and many other tasty things. We have to be careful to not wander off of the paths because there is a lava tube running through the land and if you are not careful you can fall into a puka (hole) 50 ft deep! There is also a beautiful Ohia forest and many native plants.
We worked two long days weeding and cleaning house and then we were set free to wander the island again. Our hosts gave us a ride up to Kekaha Kai State park north of the Kona airport where we hiked to the beach over a field of chunky a'a lava. We took a break by the abandoned Magoon house and kept on north over more lava to the hidden treasure of Makalawena Beach. We swam and watched the sunset and camped in the trees. In the morning we were woken up by the wild goats that wander around that area. It's private land and the caretaker nicely told us that we wouldn't get away with camping there another night.
So we hiked back out to the highway, scoring five young coconuts on the way! Jay got a wasp sting through his shirt but I think he would say it was worth it. Coconut water is full of electrolytes and it super thirst quenching.
I was watching the planes fly overhead while we tried to hitchhike northwards and feeling homesick for Canada knowing that we are flying out of that airport in two months. We were told it is more difficult to hitchhike on Kona side due to most of the traffic being tourists but we only waited about fifteen minutes and a white Mustang convertible pulled over! The most obvious of tourist rental cars!
I knew the driver, Kevin, was a Canadian within five minutes of chatting with him. Mostly because his sentences were punctuated with the f-word. We blasted some classic rock tunes including Loverboy and he drove us to Hapuna Beach, a beach often judged the best in the country. And it was so nice! After a swim and some sun we all went to get food farther up the coast.
After local grass-fed beef burgers (yum!) Kevin graciously drove us to our next camping destination, Pololu Valley. What a great guy! I got my taste of Canada after all. At the Pololu Lookout we ran into some cool kids including a girl from Salt Spring Island and then we ventured down into the valley.
This was a perfect spot for camping! I'll post photos soon! Black sand beach, sand dunes covered in tall trees and a lake in behind. There are no facilities, you have to bring all of your own water but it is not crowded at all and is entirely mystical!
When we hiked out the next day we got a ride back into Hawi with yet another Canadian from Vancouver Island. We had planned to hitchhike to Hilo but after two and a half hours we gave up and went back to Hawi to get a hotel room. Nothing beats a bed and a hot shower after a week of working hard, hiking hard and sleeping in hammocks. Hawi is a pretty little town in North Kohala. We plan on coming back up here to whale watch (they mate and calve between here and Maui) and do some more camping before we leave.
We have almost made it around the whole island! Three sleeps until star mountain!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Southwards to Ka Lae
Tomorrow we will take a two hour bus ride to check out a new farm located near the southern tip of the Big Island, actually the southernmost point in the USA. The people there have gone to great lengths to preserve the native trees on their property which is admirable as many residents on the island choose to flatten their acres completely. The trees create a wind break in this particularly windy area known for wind farms and the freshest air in the world. I'm really looking forward to seeing a different part of the island and we'll be riding the bus through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Pretty cool.
This weekend was a welcome respite from our travel schedule, allowing me to catch up on correspondence (skype!) and giving us a chance to plan our next move. We've both felt pretty overwhelmed by the fact that we've been here on Hawaii for a month and have only seen a tiny portion of the island. It will be really good for us to move on to a completely different scenery.
I've been spending a lot of time this weekend following the news on the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Having spent much of the past two years traveling around and living in America, I have become much more interested in news here and abroad. There is something about the heated political atmosphere of this country that is way more engaging than that of Canada's stuffy parliamentary system. That being said, most of my Canadian friends are well-informed and unbiased thinkers who seek out many sources before forming opinions.
I, like many Americans, react emotionally to everything so it is a great resource to me to have friends like these who I can take a cue from and see the bigger picture represented by many perspectives and cultural influences. As a highly effusive, emotional person, I give thanks to the rational!
I reflect often on the subtle differences between the US and Canada. I've met many intelligent young Americans who are university educated and still react to the word "socialism" as if it's an attack on their essential liberty. Yet, we are often asked by Americans what it is like to have universal health care. My reply is always, "Awesome!"
I don't feel pride in my nationality, rather I feel fortunate for it. We recently acquired a wonderful friend with type 1 diabetes. He is so busy worrying about where the money for his insulin is going to come from that he doesn't have time to chat about politics. He is also one of the most open-minded people I've met in America. Sweet and unassuming and resilient, he is an example of what is most important; the value of human life.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Punatics
I finally have time to update! Let's see...
We had a lovely Xmas dinner at the farm with our boss and coworker and a few friends of theirs. It was unfortunately also a sort of going away party for our boss, Don, though we didn't know it at the time. He had been trying to secure the property for 8 months and finally after all that, the deal fell through and he decided to pack up and go. In an act of solidarity, we helped Don with packing, cleaning and delivering his things to a storage place. We resolved to go back to Hilo instead of staying on at the farm and working for the previous owners.
What a weird situation! I can't say much because we didn't really interact with her much but we heard from other wwoofers that the owner was often drunk and verbally abusive to wwoofers. I didn't want to work in those conditions, especially knowing how much work there was to do to get the place back up to running speed.
Luckily we didn't have to go far to find a place to stay. Our friend Sean offered us a cabin for a week, no strings attached. We had a great time with him, making lots of food together and getting around Puna a bit.
For New Year's Eve we went camping on the easternmost tip of the island, 25 feet away from huge waves breaking against the lava rocks. We had a bon fire complete with hot dogs and set off some fireworks at midnight. We awoke at dawn to see the sun rise over the ocean. A nice way to start 2011!
We're back in Hilo now at Uncle Bob's, mustering up our strength for the next leg of our journey. We're set on going to Kona side to check out the farm we'll be working on come February and hopefully we'll find a place to work/stay in the meantime. I've been a little disappointed by the farms we've found so far, especially in Puna. It's a beautiful place and I'm sure all the working farms are full up with great wwoofers and that's why we never got a reply from them.
The Puna area is just packed with organic farms and it's a vibrant community. Even being there for two weeks, we were starting to feel like locals. But it just isn't our scene: sitting at the health food store talking about what kind of yoga you're doing or how you're dropping red meat from your diet or that ayahuasca ceremony/rave you went to... There are gems amongst the hippies but so many hippies...
Not having rewarding work to do and lots of organic food to eat like our previous wwoofing experiences has left me a little bummed and homesick. I'm sure things will start looking up soon after all, we are in Hawaii!
Lots more updates soon on funny jungle stuff and check out my photos!
We had a lovely Xmas dinner at the farm with our boss and coworker and a few friends of theirs. It was unfortunately also a sort of going away party for our boss, Don, though we didn't know it at the time. He had been trying to secure the property for 8 months and finally after all that, the deal fell through and he decided to pack up and go. In an act of solidarity, we helped Don with packing, cleaning and delivering his things to a storage place. We resolved to go back to Hilo instead of staying on at the farm and working for the previous owners.
What a weird situation! I can't say much because we didn't really interact with her much but we heard from other wwoofers that the owner was often drunk and verbally abusive to wwoofers. I didn't want to work in those conditions, especially knowing how much work there was to do to get the place back up to running speed.
Luckily we didn't have to go far to find a place to stay. Our friend Sean offered us a cabin for a week, no strings attached. We had a great time with him, making lots of food together and getting around Puna a bit.
For New Year's Eve we went camping on the easternmost tip of the island, 25 feet away from huge waves breaking against the lava rocks. We had a bon fire complete with hot dogs and set off some fireworks at midnight. We awoke at dawn to see the sun rise over the ocean. A nice way to start 2011!
We're back in Hilo now at Uncle Bob's, mustering up our strength for the next leg of our journey. We're set on going to Kona side to check out the farm we'll be working on come February and hopefully we'll find a place to work/stay in the meantime. I've been a little disappointed by the farms we've found so far, especially in Puna. It's a beautiful place and I'm sure all the working farms are full up with great wwoofers and that's why we never got a reply from them.
The Puna area is just packed with organic farms and it's a vibrant community. Even being there for two weeks, we were starting to feel like locals. But it just isn't our scene: sitting at the health food store talking about what kind of yoga you're doing or how you're dropping red meat from your diet or that ayahuasca ceremony/rave you went to... There are gems amongst the hippies but so many hippies...
Not having rewarding work to do and lots of organic food to eat like our previous wwoofing experiences has left me a little bummed and homesick. I'm sure things will start looking up soon after all, we are in Hawaii!
Lots more updates soon on funny jungle stuff and check out my photos!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
A New Opportunity
We found a new farm to try out! It's in the Puna district, close to some interesting sights including Lava Trees State Park, hot spring pools and tidepools. We went to check it out today and we were both impressed by the existing infrastructure and orchards.
The cabin we will be staying in is spacious and features a real bed! As a couple, it is fairly important to us to have space to be together and also not feel too crowded. I am generally happier and more productive when I have ample space to inhabit.
There are tons of mango trees, avocados, tangerines, pineapples and the list goes on. Lots of weeding and cane grass clearing to catch up on. The property recently changed hands so not much has gone on in the past little while. We will most likely get to do some carpentry projects while we're there such as building a chicken coop.
I'm looking forward to getting into the garden routine and exploring the area. Lots of calm nights reading by candlelight and playing ukelele.
The cabin we will be staying in is spacious and features a real bed! As a couple, it is fairly important to us to have space to be together and also not feel too crowded. I am generally happier and more productive when I have ample space to inhabit.
There are tons of mango trees, avocados, tangerines, pineapples and the list goes on. Lots of weeding and cane grass clearing to catch up on. The property recently changed hands so not much has gone on in the past little while. We will most likely get to do some carpentry projects while we're there such as building a chicken coop.
I'm looking forward to getting into the garden routine and exploring the area. Lots of calm nights reading by candlelight and playing ukelele.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Every Day is an Adventure!
We're back in Hilo again! I've adopted Bob (our couchsurfing host here) as my uncle because then I won't feel so bad showing up at his door and crashing on his futon when things don't work out elsewhere. He doesn't seem to mind at all. In fact, I think he likes us!
The place we went to check out today was outside of Pahoa Town in the Puna district, the eastern most point of the island. This is what they call the "Wild West" of Hawaii, which seems counter-intuitive because it is to the east but it makes sense because it is the newest part of the islands. An undeveloped final frontier made up of intermittent lava flow over the last few hundred years. This area is world famous for black sand beaches and proximity to the volcanoes but is locally famous for the amount of hippies, squatters and organic farms! Whoda thunk it?
We were picked up in Pahoa by the proprietor and he seemed like a nice enough guy but when we pulled into "the farm" it became very apparent that this was a worse situation than the one we had just left. On the ride there he mentioned just having gotten rid of a bunch of losers and scabies. That really should have been the tip off. We should have gotten out of the car and saved the next hour of our lives.
The "farm hostel" was a bunch of open air, thrown-together, shacks with tin roofs. Basically a garbage dump with a sort of kitchen. There was a lady there covered in what they call "haole rot" and scabs from a sun burn. (Haole is the local word for white person or mainlander.) Hoooooo eeeee! Our accommodation was a platform 6 inches off the ground with no walls and a futon frame covered in moldy pillows and foam. Did I mention that we were expected to pay $20 a night for three nights before our work trade would start?
As soon as we were left alone, I started to cry. I am not expecting a hotel here but this is squalor, this is an absolute sham of a hostel or farm. I can't even believe that this place is in the WWOOF book. I was appalled and totally grossed out. Jay was trying to get me to pull it together and I was really trying but after a good look around we both gave up, put our packs on and said goodbye. We hitched rides back to Pahoa and waited for the bus while a local crack head regaled us with tales of drunk-driving and a loveless childhood.
The bright side is that after seeing this place, the gulch looks like a four star hotel! We will continue to look for more opportunities but in the meantime it is nice to know that we have a place to stay that only expects 10 hours of us weekly.
The place we went to check out today was outside of Pahoa Town in the Puna district, the eastern most point of the island. This is what they call the "Wild West" of Hawaii, which seems counter-intuitive because it is to the east but it makes sense because it is the newest part of the islands. An undeveloped final frontier made up of intermittent lava flow over the last few hundred years. This area is world famous for black sand beaches and proximity to the volcanoes but is locally famous for the amount of hippies, squatters and organic farms! Whoda thunk it?
We were picked up in Pahoa by the proprietor and he seemed like a nice enough guy but when we pulled into "the farm" it became very apparent that this was a worse situation than the one we had just left. On the ride there he mentioned just having gotten rid of a bunch of losers and scabies. That really should have been the tip off. We should have gotten out of the car and saved the next hour of our lives.
The "farm hostel" was a bunch of open air, thrown-together, shacks with tin roofs. Basically a garbage dump with a sort of kitchen. There was a lady there covered in what they call "haole rot" and scabs from a sun burn. (Haole is the local word for white person or mainlander.) Hoooooo eeeee! Our accommodation was a platform 6 inches off the ground with no walls and a futon frame covered in moldy pillows and foam. Did I mention that we were expected to pay $20 a night for three nights before our work trade would start?
As soon as we were left alone, I started to cry. I am not expecting a hotel here but this is squalor, this is an absolute sham of a hostel or farm. I can't even believe that this place is in the WWOOF book. I was appalled and totally grossed out. Jay was trying to get me to pull it together and I was really trying but after a good look around we both gave up, put our packs on and said goodbye. We hitched rides back to Pahoa and waited for the bus while a local crack head regaled us with tales of drunk-driving and a loveless childhood.
The bright side is that after seeing this place, the gulch looks like a four star hotel! We will continue to look for more opportunities but in the meantime it is nice to know that we have a place to stay that only expects 10 hours of us weekly.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Big Island
We're on the Big Island in the city of Hilo currently. Shortly we will depart our couchsurfing host and head up the road to a homestead we found on the internet and have been in contact with since September or something. We're hoping to help them in their farming endeavors and to get a nice place to camp in return. Sounds good to me!
We've spent the last two nights drinking beer and watching documentaries with our host, Bob. He's got a wide selection and knowledge of music so we've got an overlap of taste going on. We chatted about X, an early LA punk band and last night we watched two docs, one on New York Doll turned Morman, Arthur Kane and another on seminal Canadian metalheads, Anvil.
I'm looking forward to being out of civilization for a while, getting my hands in some rich, volcanic soil. Once we're settled, we shall go adventuring the island looking for rainforest and volcanoes and undersea realms.
We've spent the last two nights drinking beer and watching documentaries with our host, Bob. He's got a wide selection and knowledge of music so we've got an overlap of taste going on. We chatted about X, an early LA punk band and last night we watched two docs, one on New York Doll turned Morman, Arthur Kane and another on seminal Canadian metalheads, Anvil.
I'm looking forward to being out of civilization for a while, getting my hands in some rich, volcanic soil. Once we're settled, we shall go adventuring the island looking for rainforest and volcanoes and undersea realms.
Monday, December 6, 2010
More on O'ahu...
Lemme see... what's happened since my last update?
I bought a ukelele! I am so stoked to have something to play again. I painted two snails on it and it makes me very happy even though the strings haven't set yet, so every time I go to play it it sounds silly and I have to try to tune it. I never learned to tune a guitar by ear and have always been dependent on my electric tuner. This is good though, it is forcing me to develop an ear for tuning. I can hear when it's out of tune and can locate the particular string that is wonky but it's hard to get it tuned properly. I'm up for a challenge.
We've been spending a lot of time reading and going to the beach. I still haven't gotten on a surfboard but it will happen eventually. Jay and I are very much into snorkeling though. Yesterday he got to swim with a green sea turtle at Lonnie's(sp?) beach on the north shore! I only got to see them on the beach. They are massive and mystical. On the Big Island there is a place that you can swim with manta rays and we are both really excited about that.
We had shave ice yesterday. Pretty much a snow cone but with vanilla ice cream in the bottom. We also had poke, which is raw ahi (tuna) with various seasonings. It was a tasty belly filler while we were sitting at Waimea Bay in the afternoon. It's a beautiful spot well known by surfers by it's potentially huge waves. Yesterday was a perfectly calm day and the sapphire waters were crystal clear.
Today we were planning to fly to the Big Island but had not booked a flight yet due to the internet being glitch-y. We figured it wouldn't make a difference if we waited until the day of but the price went up $20 each! So annoying. So now I think we are waiting until tomorrow to fly to Hilo. Luckily, our host is sweet and doesn't mind us staying an extra night. We've been so lucky to meet Nick, his roommate Anne and all their awesome friends. Anne and her man friend, Alec, are coming to the Big Island after X-mas so we're going to hook up with them then and meet some punk rockers and farmers that they know.
Next time I'll be writing from the Big Island! xoxox!
I bought a ukelele! I am so stoked to have something to play again. I painted two snails on it and it makes me very happy even though the strings haven't set yet, so every time I go to play it it sounds silly and I have to try to tune it. I never learned to tune a guitar by ear and have always been dependent on my electric tuner. This is good though, it is forcing me to develop an ear for tuning. I can hear when it's out of tune and can locate the particular string that is wonky but it's hard to get it tuned properly. I'm up for a challenge.
We've been spending a lot of time reading and going to the beach. I still haven't gotten on a surfboard but it will happen eventually. Jay and I are very much into snorkeling though. Yesterday he got to swim with a green sea turtle at Lonnie's(sp?) beach on the north shore! I only got to see them on the beach. They are massive and mystical. On the Big Island there is a place that you can swim with manta rays and we are both really excited about that.
We had shave ice yesterday. Pretty much a snow cone but with vanilla ice cream in the bottom. We also had poke, which is raw ahi (tuna) with various seasonings. It was a tasty belly filler while we were sitting at Waimea Bay in the afternoon. It's a beautiful spot well known by surfers by it's potentially huge waves. Yesterday was a perfectly calm day and the sapphire waters were crystal clear.
Today we were planning to fly to the Big Island but had not booked a flight yet due to the internet being glitch-y. We figured it wouldn't make a difference if we waited until the day of but the price went up $20 each! So annoying. So now I think we are waiting until tomorrow to fly to Hilo. Luckily, our host is sweet and doesn't mind us staying an extra night. We've been so lucky to meet Nick, his roommate Anne and all their awesome friends. Anne and her man friend, Alec, are coming to the Big Island after X-mas so we're going to hook up with them then and meet some punk rockers and farmers that they know.
Next time I'll be writing from the Big Island! xoxox!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
O'ahu you doin'? Honoluluvin' life!
Hawaii has been so good to us already and it's only been a week. We found some hosts on couchsurfing.org at the last minute and it has paid off. Not only have we had a free place to stay, we've had great people to hang out with and a lot of help with almost everything we have wanted to do.
Currently we are staying in Manoa which is the neighbourhood in Honolulu that Obama lived in. Yep. Our first day here we went for a hike up to Manoa Falls through a magical jungle. That night we were at a bonfire birthday party on the north shore of the island. We planned to camp out on the beach that night but it rained and we were taken in by an awesome surfer dude with lots of couches.
The next two days we walked, bussed and hitch-hiked along the north coast heading east, camping along the way. Then we came back to Honolulu and were so lucky that our couchsurfing hosts took us back in even though they had another couchsurfer staying with them. Linus Von Moos from Switzerland! He's awesome! This is what the girls say ;)
It's been a pretty constant party. Snorkeling, swimming and beaching in the days and painting parties and cheap beer & bourbon at night. We can't decide when we want to leave O'ahu because we've been so lucky to meet great people who've hooked us up with more places to stay here.
I want to try surfing before we head to the Big Island because the south shore of O'ahu has some of the best beginner waves. I also need to pick up a ukelele while we are staying with Nick and Anne because they've got lots of paints and I want to personalize my uke.
All in all, our adventure has been relaxing and magical so far. As soon as I glanced the constellation of Orion out of the plane window, I knew we we're being watched over and that our troubles would be few. Orion was a herald of good times for us on our last radventure too.
We don't have regular internet access, so until next time,
Aloha my friends!
Currently we are staying in Manoa which is the neighbourhood in Honolulu that Obama lived in. Yep. Our first day here we went for a hike up to Manoa Falls through a magical jungle. That night we were at a bonfire birthday party on the north shore of the island. We planned to camp out on the beach that night but it rained and we were taken in by an awesome surfer dude with lots of couches.
The next two days we walked, bussed and hitch-hiked along the north coast heading east, camping along the way. Then we came back to Honolulu and were so lucky that our couchsurfing hosts took us back in even though they had another couchsurfer staying with them. Linus Von Moos from Switzerland! He's awesome! This is what the girls say ;)
It's been a pretty constant party. Snorkeling, swimming and beaching in the days and painting parties and cheap beer & bourbon at night. We can't decide when we want to leave O'ahu because we've been so lucky to meet great people who've hooked us up with more places to stay here.
I want to try surfing before we head to the Big Island because the south shore of O'ahu has some of the best beginner waves. I also need to pick up a ukelele while we are staying with Nick and Anne because they've got lots of paints and I want to personalize my uke.
All in all, our adventure has been relaxing and magical so far. As soon as I glanced the constellation of Orion out of the plane window, I knew we we're being watched over and that our troubles would be few. Orion was a herald of good times for us on our last radventure too.
We don't have regular internet access, so until next time,
Aloha my friends!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Less is More
We had a garage sale this weekend and sold a bunch of things we don't need. I'm in a great headspace for purging belongings. Everything has been in storage for a year and will be for another year. Why keep it if you don't use/wear it? Why keep it if it can be replaced? Now, it's time to sort though the rest and donate to a thrift store.
It's amazing how being in the city makes me want to accumulate things! I'm fighting the urge to shop and collect every time I go out. Even online! I try to ignore advertising but it still draws me in sometimes. Mostly, I just love old, antique, vintage, used, abused, second-hand, another man's trash, thrift and flea-market finds.
It is nice to think that one day I will have a house to fill with neat stuff again but for now I am liberating myself from possessions! The less I own the less I have to move around! If you haven't noticed, life is mostly moving things from one place to another (the same can be said for farming :).
Going backpacking is going to be a new lesson in minimalism. Living in the van last winter still allowed us to have more than we needed and to collect. Living out of a backpack for 4 months will not allow that. It's hard to envision exactly what I will need in Hawai'i when I'm sitting in rainy October Vancouver.
My renewed passport just arrived!
It's amazing how being in the city makes me want to accumulate things! I'm fighting the urge to shop and collect every time I go out. Even online! I try to ignore advertising but it still draws me in sometimes. Mostly, I just love old, antique, vintage, used, abused, second-hand, another man's trash, thrift and flea-market finds.
It is nice to think that one day I will have a house to fill with neat stuff again but for now I am liberating myself from possessions! The less I own the less I have to move around! If you haven't noticed, life is mostly moving things from one place to another (the same can be said for farming :).
Going backpacking is going to be a new lesson in minimalism. Living in the van last winter still allowed us to have more than we needed and to collect. Living out of a backpack for 4 months will not allow that. It's hard to envision exactly what I will need in Hawai'i when I'm sitting in rainy October Vancouver.
My renewed passport just arrived!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A New Year
It is a gorgeous day here and is supposed to get up to 37 degrees! My birthday was this past Friday, the 13th, and it was so lovely. We had fresh garden pasta for dinner and watched the Perseid meteors fly overhead late at night.
Recently I received an email from my mum asking me what our plans were for when we are done at Sapo Bravo. In responding I realized that we didn't have to do the conventional thing, to move back to the city and get jobs and an apartment again. We can do anything!
We started talking about the possibility of doing more farming somewhere in the world where it isn't winter. New Zealand was discussed but we've decided that Hawaii is the place for us. We can fly directly there from Vancouver and as Canadian citizens we can stay for 6 months without trouble.
Now we are in the throes of planning another trip and it feels like we just got back from the last one! I love my life.
Recently I received an email from my mum asking me what our plans were for when we are done at Sapo Bravo. In responding I realized that we didn't have to do the conventional thing, to move back to the city and get jobs and an apartment again. We can do anything!
We started talking about the possibility of doing more farming somewhere in the world where it isn't winter. New Zealand was discussed but we've decided that Hawaii is the place for us. We can fly directly there from Vancouver and as Canadian citizens we can stay for 6 months without trouble.
Now we are in the throes of planning another trip and it feels like we just got back from the last one! I love my life.
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