Big Island/Hilo, Hawaii: October 2023
You've never seen anything quite like Hawaii. And not in the commerical, luxury hotel set of eyes. I was never one for luxury, sure that stuff is nice on occasion but maybe once every few years, and that's a stretch for me. We decided to stay in Hilo for our honeymoon, and it wasn't like anything I thought it would be, in the best way. For some reason (blame it on media, advertising, whatever, I had this idea in my mind that when I thought of Hawaii, it was this place where rich white people went every year to blow their cash and live on the beach. I'm so glad to say that's not what I found with Hilo. Or what we found rather :) What we found instead, was history. Culture. Identity that I know and understand nothing about, and I loved every minute of it.
Before I dive in too deep, I had the pleasure of buying a novel in a local shop called "Hula" by Jasmin Iolani Hakes that informed, educated and made me feel every emotion that I'm so grateful for. With that being said, I'm so very sorry for the terrible atrocities the states have caused on your ancient homeland. Thank you for the lessons and for allowing others to learn about it. I didn't know anything about the history of Hawaii before visiting, but I'm grateful to know now and try to educate others.
I never thought I'd make it to Hawaii, so saying I've visited is such a joy. And doing it with my best friend was even better. This was by far one of my favorite journeys, mentally and physically. I can say that I do understand the hype and hysteria of the islands. There is beauty in the land and people in so many ways you would never be able to count. I tried to be especially mindful of what we did during our time here as to not accidentally offend any of the natives or their culture. One of the highlights honestly was a luau we attended. I did whatever research I could on attending what I could find as a "respectful and authentic" luau as I know it's a special type of event used in times of celebration. It was beautiful and full of information and history, I hope that's how the locals feel it comes off as well. Food in Hawaii is what we were thinking of as simply excellent. Emphasis on the simple. I've never really tried spam, but these folks can make anything taste clean and natural. I give you so much credit. Resources are limited on islands for obvious reasons, so the people are moved to become innovative and work with what they have, nothing goes to waste.
I don't know what I was expecting it to look like, but for lack of finesse and better words, everything from the buildings to the gas stations and strip malls came off as, old. The minute I thought this, I found myself checking myself instantly and later understood why. It's a much simpler life on the islands I learned. It's part of the culture. Even while waiting for our second flight in the airport, an automated message came over the intercom talking to the main landers like us about what's known as the "Aloha Spirit", which I learned is a really beautiful concept. Obviously this doesn't directly relate to the architecture as much, but I at least understand where my head's at with this as I'm thinking about it.
I'm crushed because yours truly somehow managed to delete a slew of photos from my phone too early, so I don't have much to show, but the important thing is that it's all in my mind and I can still see it. So instead, I'll write about it so I don't forget. A styrofoam pop open container of rice, eggs and Spam never looked so good, I'll tell ya. I can truthfully say we did not have a bad meal at any point while on the island. From one end of the Big Island to the other is a two hour drive, and we saw it all. Even with having a terrible cold with every symptom under the sun most of the trip, my lovely Justin powered through like a trooper for my sake. He's the best.
To get into specifics, of course I kept a log for this trip too. Total, we spent about 4 days on the Big Island, and we saw and did so much. To start off, the Air bnb we stayed in was this incredible open air treehouse created by a local couple from a labor of love. Two levels, the details were amazing. Simple and efficient it was unlike anything we've seen. Entirely self sufficient save a generator for electricity when necessary. Everything was created to be off the grid and eco friendly. What a marvel this place was. The only enclosed area of the treehouse was the bedroom, which I loved, and had a pointed roof
made of fogged plastic. You could hear every living creature in the area, it was amazing. The birds and tree frogs sang all night long and the fairy lights around the house, staircase and pathways would light up at night since they were all solar powered. The owners just thought of everything, from eco friendly soap that would seep into the soil around the house to a binder FULL of local favorites to eat, shop and do activities. I look at the original listing every now and then to remember our time there. Surrounding the house was nothing but greenery and rainforest. You could tell that the house was built into the ecosystem, being sure not to disturb the life around. During our time we saw a ton of wildlife too, including little green tree lizards with orange toes, a boar that Justin almost hit with our rental car the first night there (it was ok don't worry, we didn't actually hit it), tons of birds, crabs and more.
Getting into the adventure itself: day one, we wake up late and go on the hunt for some food. Our hosts' binder leads us to a great local place about 5 miles down the road called Dimples Cafe that served one of the most massive breakfasts I've ever seen. The local markets around the island are simple and joyful. We head into downtown Hilo and hit the first beach we see, known as Richardson's Beach. All of the beaches in this central area are basically one big beach but split off into different names for some reason as they wrap around the water. I slipped almost immediately, smooth right? I can't remember the last time we just got to sit on the water, REAL water, not some manmade lake. And just watch it go on forever. There are small black crabs everywhere and we do our best not to accidentally step on one. We see the town, including the public Lili'uokalani Gardens and call it a night. The nights in the treehouse were beautiful too with listening to every sound of the forest around us. There were animals and insects I could never name, nor could we see them, and that added a special level to the environment. (PS, there are some misc. photos above of the Green Sands Beach, Black Sand Beach and the national park)
Next, we hit another local spot for breakfast known as the Eagles Lighthouse Cafe, they make a killer breakfast rice bowl. We sit outside and I have us take a moment to just live in the present time underneath the perfect weather and clear skies. It was lovely. We move throughout our day and are met with rain drizzles, horses, goats, crabs, butterflies and turtles while driving across the island. Justin is such a trooper and drives us around the entire island in A DAY. There we winding roads, small communities and ranches everywhere, and you begin to understand how people make a living. It's a really wonderful thing to see and get to witness. There are fresh food stalls all long the sides of the roads with native fruit and fish everywhere. Side note, have you ever tried coconut calamari? What a gem. Every house we see has a gate, it's a simple way of living with lots of older homes.
At the very bottom of the Big Island, we reach Papakolea Beach, aka the Green Sand Beach, or at least we think we do. Luckily have some research, we learn that in order to reach the beach, you need to do one of two things, hike, or hire a truck. We chose the latter to save our feet a 2 mile trek in. I'm so glad we did. THIS was an adventure I will never forget. I've never been so happy to be tossed like a good salad. There are locals with trucks with massive wheels parked in the lot near the beach that tourists can hire for $20 a head to be taken into the beach and back out. Each truck is fitted with basically steel rods that are makeshift welded to the bed and sides of the truck for you to hang on to while going in. The locals have gotten really creative on how to get by. So we're standing in the bed of this massive four wheeler over dips and enormous rocks for about 30 minutes being tossed about. You let go of one of the rails and you're definitely flying off. I was holding on for dear life. There's dust and sand as far as the eye can see and it gets kicked up constantly. Eventually, we see the ocean to our right and a desert to our left. What a place. There's this cool breeze that evens out the intensity of the sun perfectly (thank God we're in a truck) otherwise we would've been sweating our asses off. We reach the beach and the truck promises to return in about an hour to pick us up. It's like a coliseum made by the Gods that opens up to us mere mortals. A half moon natural structure with a ground of brown/green sand that leads to the ocean. I have never seen such water. I pray something as beautiful as this never changes. I didn't know this at first, but overhearing some other visitors, the Green Sand Beach is one of FOUR green beaches in the world. It's so special that we get to see it. Very carefully, we make our way down the side of the sandy cliff to reach the beach (I'm so glad we had shoes here). The sand is SCORCHING, so we kick off our flops and book it towards the cooler sand and water. After a brief sand fight, we sit on the rocks and watch the huge waves roll in. It's a little intimidating so we don't go far, but it's such a sight. We're not alone here, maybe a dozen other people sitting in the dry sand and diving into the water. There's so much laughter and a smile on everyone's face. It's like we're all 10 again. We make our rocky departure back to the lot eventually and are on our way. Before leaving, there's another wonderful experience here.
I have two words for you. Pineapple. Lemonade. Maybe it was the fruit, Maybe it's my love of lemonade. Maybe it was the fact that it's Hawaii and many things are better here, but it was one of the tastiest things I've ever tried. A pouched lemonade never tasted so good. It's the little things.
We continue the drive West and as we go I'm amazed at how there are hibiscus bushes everywhere just growing wildly. There are long yellow and red plants sporadically growing and it's amazing how life is happening around nature. There are beaten up and hollowed out cards displayed on the roadsides and rolling hills that cut through the clouds. Most places have one shop per specialty. Huge banana leaves cascade of the roads and homes. There are so many churches and religion seems to be promenate here. The Hawaiian flag flies happily and tall trees with orange flowers at the tops act as watchtowers for the people here. The colors of the leaves change with the sun from yellow into red. Now that the sun is going down, we make it to our last stop of the day, a luau on the very western part of the island. It was fantastic. The food alone is enough to make you come back. Pork, poi, haupia, lomi lomi salsa, taro bread, fish and more are laid out on long tables in catering dishes and there's maybe 100 people here, most of which tourists. The leader of the event along with the men and women leading the show in dance, music and story are wonderful. Hula is quite the art. How they all move is amazing. Justin and I get pulled up on stage at one more individually to dance, my effort is laughable but at least it makes for a good story. The luau is right along the ocean, maybe 30 yards away, and the sun is going down over the palm trees. The fire dancers are so impressive I can't imagine how long it takes to master something like this. We end our night dancing with each other to the soft music in the grass while the rest eat their dinner. It's a perfect end to a day.
Thursday comes and at last we're here to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This entire trip has been
incredible, but this had to be the highlight. You've never seen a more robust landscape within x amount of miles. We start with breakfast at The Rim Cafe and surprisingly we're one of the only ones here. The food is awesome and we eat our fill for a day out. The cafe has floor to ceiling windows where you can look out over the rim of the volcano. It was pretty foggy but we got a good idea of what it looked like. Still wonderful. Driving through, there's every shade of green everywhere you look. Driving through a jungle, lava rock beds everywhere, steam vents, you name it. Something that was fascinating about this park is that the island is continuously making itself larger due to process of volcanic eruption and cooling. It's just one of those things you have to see for yourself, words don't do it justice, neither do pictures. We drive the whole park, all the way down to the water and I could just stay here forever. After leaving the park, we visit Kilauea Kreations just down the road, a local gift and handmade creations business. The shopkeeper tells us about the Thursday Night Market, which ends at 6 PM funny enough cause "everyone on the island is old now" according to her, I thought this was great. It's right around the corner so we venture over and I buy chocolate at every stall there. I'm not a coffee person, but Kona coffee is where it's at. I have a note that says "Australian Lamb" but I can't remember what that means. Maybe I will when I read this next. Justin says "where's my underwear". We have dinner with shrimp heads and listen to the coqui frogs and birds sing another night back at the treehouse.
Wrapping up our story here, I'm wishing it wasn't time to leave yet. A beautiful morning greets us and new flowers are blooming by our house, the lightest breeze carries my heart away. I'm still getting used to how clean and clear the water is here, even in the shower. The Hawaiian Style Cafe welcomes us for a meal and this was the BEST French toast I've ever had. Pretty sure the server thought I was nuts, but that's ok. Justin and I wander around this area of town and come across a dog boutique where my inner white girl goes through the door. We pick up the cutest bandanas for the pups back home and I find hair clips for a friend of mine and myself in another homemade shop. Justin channels his inner spontaneity and gets a second tattoo within the span of a week. I love him. The guys in the shop are muscly and a little terrifying but so funny. We learn a little about the culture from them and go window shopping around this part of Hilo. Eventually we come to the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Gardens. Another wonder of the world. The story of a gentleman who dug a pathway out of the entire property by hand in the 70's is inspiring in an effort to share the space with visitors and preserve the agricultural integrity of this place. The path ends near a small beach and just hearing the waves roll in is everything. There is EVERY. FLOWER. IMAGINABLE. HERE. I'm not the type to take photos of every single thing on a trip, but I did that with this place. And I look at them often.. Every color, shape and place a flower could grow imaginable was here. This is a MUST if you're going to the Big Island. The unbelievable colors, a new plant every two feet with winding paths and trees as tall as buildings. Or it should be buildings as tall as trees honestly. We're so fortunate to get to see places like this. We got pretty eaten by mosquitos, but who cares man.
We head back to Hilo and come across yet another market, which seem to be very common here as the community is so small, but this one has food trucks. Across the way we find Makanis Magic Pineapple Shack where we discover an ube soft serve served in a pineapple bowl. God we're such tourists, but it was so good. The lava colored sunset tells us the day is ending and we fly home at first light. I continue to see people selling things on the sides of the roads, and I'm conflicted because I wonder if it's necessity or joy. Coming back the rolling fields of green and deep moments with Justin, mixed with the perfect weather tell me this was the perfect adventure.
Mahalo plenty, Hilo.
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