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Teresa Fannin, reader, writer, gardener, chocolate fan & tea drinker

Author: teresafannin (Page 33 of 56)

volcano

05/19/2013 /

There is a remarkable poster of the Hawaiian islands that shows the land beneath the sea. Well, Mountainside Mauna Keareally what it shows is the mountains that make up the land that IMG_0141became the islands. Every island has a volcano, because that’s how they were formed. When we arrived here we were told there are thirteen micro-climates from desert to rainforest, and, I guess, everything in between, thanks to the three mountains that make up the Big Island.  The mountainside near the volcano is lush, with ferns, huge ferns, moss, palm trees amid lava rocks. Humid, wet air surrounds you, the dampness a bit chilling, but not cold.

entrance

The Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is part of the National Park Service. It’s funny, no matter what park you enter in the US, continental or not, the design of the Ranger Station is the same. They give you a nice little brochure and direct you to the Visitor Center where you learn that this is a big mountain, and if you really want to see lava flowing TAF Crateryou need to be prepared with boots and gloves and a long hike. So we drove. Our first stop was The Crater.  A huge overlook, a big hole in the ground and a lot of steam and a warning that this volcano has erupted almost regularly since 1984. Life is amazing, you have to appreciate that IMG_0128when you see plants surviving where there should be nothing but black stone and gravel. There are trails to IMG_0137hike, but I think the most interesting thing to see was the Lava Tube. You walk down stairs spiraling, finally flat land and a bridge. Overgrown with vegetation, the land can be dark and gloomy.

TNF Lava Tube

Cross the bridge and you walk through an old lava tube, dank, watery, dark with some human made light. What we walked through was the Thurston Lava Tube, five hundred years old. Lava caves are formed when a river oflava gradually builds solid walls and

Lava Tube

a ceiling.There are signs, Visitor Alert! High amounts of dangerous sulfur dioxide gas, keep your windows closed when it’s visible. A reminder of the potent force that is our planet. It is hard to see the volcano, and since Kilauea is the most studied volcano on earth. We opted for the video.

 

 

holy ground

05/18/2013 /

LuauThe big island. No joke. I think we’ve put 700 miles on the car in the time we’ve been here. But back to holy ground. First the luau. So this is for you, Gretchen Griffith––pictures.  The Big Island Luau, Legends of the Pacific. It was a commercial thing, you know, they’ve got the various pricing, Alli’i, mean royalty, more cost, better service, closer seats. All good, especially when you can take advantage of a senior IMG_0098price. That’s the picture of the roasted pig. We sat at a table with two honeymoon couples, a woman given a Hawaiian vacation by her husband, and a couple–he who just returned from two tours in Afghanistan. It was nice, even more so when one of the honeymooners, the he, was taken up to the stage near the end of the performance to dance. LOL, actually he was pretty good.

The next day we set off for Hilo, the rainforest zoo and the National Volcano Park. Getting there Valley Signmeant going to the other side of the island, and the reason we’ve put on over 700 miles. We stopped for gas in Waimea, $4.56 per gallon. Sheeze, and we complain about the $3.30. It’s insane. The gal at the gas station tells us to stop in Waipo Valley. More black sand beaches. Long story short, as they say and we’re on this back road to the town of Honokoa. For those of us who spent a great deal of time in the Northeast, the roads are IMG_0113remarkable, flat, long, black, and seemingly, for an island, endless. And IMG_0116then you end up at a small sign. Then, looking past the sign, you see clear blue ski, white fluffy clouds and this massive expanse of land drop off into the ocean. It is breathtaking. The valley below is serene, and the signs tell you this is a holy place and you can well believe it because you feel it. And then you see the black sand beach. Waipo Valley This is larger, more Waipo Valley TNTaccessible but still, down. A long hike down.

The remarkable thing to remember, is that King Kamehameha II, his father the one who united the islands, abolished the old religion. And while the old religion probably was cruel, superstitious, and demeaning, it also belonged to a people, made them what they were, held them together, and they respected the land. Going to places like Waipo Valley  reminds you that there is good reason to save holy places.

graffiti

05/17/2013 /

Years ago when Meghan was in middle school, she was on an Odyssey of the Mind team. The graffitigirls picked the classic problem which had to do with Pompeii. Someday, lol, if you meet Meghan ask her to say the rap they made up. Anyway, one of the things we all learned was that Pompeii was full of graffiti. What I remember most is the graffiti because the girls had to research the whole point and mimic it in their scenery and play.

Graffiti is a noun. Writing or drawings scribbled, scratched or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. Originally from the mid 19th Century, italian, ‘graffio’ meaning ‘a scratch‘.

today graffiti

‘Course, the main kind of graffiti you think of it the kinds on subway walls, beside highways, in the downtown areas of big cities, on high school buildings. This kind. Until Meghan was on the OM team, I though this was rubbish, but I’ve come to appreciate the art and the creativity.

graffittiSo when we arrived in Hawaii, we found a different kind of graffiti, sort of eco-friendly and non-invasive. Go to Hawaiian Rock Graffiti. This is a lot of work. First you have to go collect all the white rocks. Then you have to find and open space. Then you have to go out and do it.

Not as a creative as the one on walls in color, but still, it is pretty neat!

fauna and flora

05/16/2013 /

IMG_0062We’ve had a lot of fun just wandering around the island and paying attention. This island doesn’t look, to us, like a tropical island, not Honolulu, the business, the commercial islands. It’s a beautiful island, with three huge mountains, volcanos in the middle, this is the Big Island, from which the state takes it’s name.

walking bird

 

First the fauna.

saffron finch

Our first and favorite is what we call the ‘walking bird, probably a myna. You’re in a car, driving down a side road, this bird walks across the street, not fly, just walks, sometimes runs. It’s funny. Then there’s the yellow bird, the saffron finch. I had a TR Spitfire that was saffron. I Loved it. And there is the mocking jay, pretty when it spreads it’s wings.

northern mockingbird

 

IMG_0110

But the funniest is the goats. They come in black

IMG_0115and brown, horned and bearded. They like the bushes around the barbecue between the two condo buildings. They trot in between the buildings in pairs, the oldest with the kids.

And the flora. IMG_0042

The most interesting plants are the skeleton type trees, looking like hands coming out of the earth.

IMG_0044Some looking so windswept it’s like their leaves have just been whipped off the branches. And then there was the tree at the shops at Waikoloa Village, that was very much like the trees you see when you take the Safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

IMG_0098

It looks like the roots are coming out of the top of the tree. And, today when we were IMG_0124up in Mauna Lani, for lunch at Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Cafe. They look like something that comes out of Disney, not really real.

Is this what you think of as tropical? Well, it is!

 

quiet

05/15/2013 /

IMG_0004
What do you want from a vacation? Something you never saw before? Adventure? Peace and Quiet? What? I look for a different view, a place to be that isn’t home. I don’t want it forever, I want it for a bit, just a bit. When I worked in HR, especially when I was in banking, we insisted that employees take at least a week vacation at a time. Makes sense, it was harder to maintain a fraud if you had to leave your post. But regardless of where I worked, it was take the time and come back refreshed and renewed.

IMG_0012Well, let me tell you, you want refreshed and renewed? The Big Island, Hawaii, is one of those places. We can’t find a movie theater. There probably is one, but no, not really close to us. The resort has a DVD kiosk. We rent for free, as members, so Tom and I have watched a couple of movies we didn’t get to at home. The Hobbit and now I know this is only one. Glory be! It’s Tolkien’s smallest book! Well, may Roverdom is but… Anyway, this was The Unexpected Journey, next is the Desolation of Smaug, and the third may be There and Back Again. And, I’ve downloaded the book to my Kindle, just because it may be time to read again. Last night we watched Trouble with the Curve, a good movie, interesting characters, a bit predictable, but good. Tom will get to watch Life with Pi. So, yes there, a different view.

Click on the picture above. There’s a video of the view from our room, again, a different view. So, we’re spending some time at the pool, we’re traveling up and down the coast to small fishing villages, we’ll visit the volcano, the southern most tip of the US and very Hawaiian companies, and we’re just sitting, here, with this amazing view, very different from home, and perfect, for a bit.

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