Go Big (Island): A Week Full of Riley

Aloha, here's what we have been up to this extremely rainy week or so:

Our Halloween costumes: Stormtrooper, Rocker Chick,
and Ariel

Halloween was a rather low-key affair. We are, by now, used to the spectacle that is Halloween in Boulder. By contrast, Halloween in Hilo kind of felt like how you would feel hanging out in school during the summer. The only things happening downtown were the Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Palace (which we attended) and live music at The Tavern. Rocky Horror was pretty great. None of us had gone to a screening of it before (Rachel had never seen it at all.) We yelled at the characters, threw toilet paper, and all of the other fun revelries that usually accompany the screenings (except throwing food, it would likely rot under the seats and attract rats.) Afterwards we just hung out with our new friend Stephanie and her friend Diana. We stayed out till 1 am, which was very very late for us sleepy bones.

The next day Rachel drove to Kona to pick up her friend Riley from the airport. His flight came in pretty late, so they spent the night over there. The western side of the island (Kona-side) isn't perpetually rainy (like Hilo, on the eastern side,) so they were able to sleep on the beach, at Hapuna Beach State Park. Hapuna is, according to Rachel, widely regarded as the best beach on the island (it has a pretty wide white sand beach, which is relatively rare for the Big Island.) The next day they snorkeled around there and saw a lot of dead coral, which made Rachel very sad.

Rachel and Riley in Volcanoes NP

Unfortunately, Riley arrived on the island coincidentally with some truly horrific weather. We had one day without heavy rain during his whole 9 day stay. Riley was able to take advantage of his vacation despite the circumstances, and got his scuba certification. He had his classes during the mornings, which would bring us all into town, and then we usually just returned to the farm in the evenings (except for that one sunny day, we went to the beach that day.) We spent our afternoons largely holed up in our little shack and read or watched movies from Redbox on Tam's computer. One night Riley took us out to dinner at a sushi restaurant called Ocean Sushi. It was quite lovely. We hadn't yet had sushi since moving here. We were all amazed at how cheap it was (while still being high quality.) There actually is something cheaper here than on the mainland (besides fruit.) Ocean Sushi was BYOB (as are a lot of the establishments in Hilo,) but we just ran to the KTA market down the street and bought some, which worked out quite well.

Lava Field on Crater Rim Road

On Friday after Riley's dive lesson we took another trip to Volcanoes National Park. We took a pleasant drive down Crater Rim Road, which leads all the way to the ocean. The drive highlights a lot of what the park has to offer, which is mostly defunct lava craters and expanses of black lava fields. We got to look at some pretty incredible petroglyphs made by Native Hawaiians in times gone by, and learned that they used to bury their babies' umbilical chords in the lava rock near the petroglyphs, to connect them to the land. At the ocean we took a little walk until we found an oasis where we played in the palm trees for a bit, and then got to see a sea arch at sunset.

Hawaiian Petroglyph

After Volcanoes we went to "Black & White Night" in downtown Hilo. It was what a First Friday should be. We we were all very impressed. We have never seen so many people out and about in Hilo before. There was live (loud!) music, a lot of street food vendors, and most shops and galleries were open late. It rained for only a little bit, but was clear for most of the night, which was excellent. We had some yummy street food for dinner and then got a delightful dessert crepe at a restaurant called Le Magic Pan. We also got our palms read by a guy on a street corner, which I found to be entirely exciting. I was told I should not lend money to friends anymore, so sorry everyone, no more hand outs from this girl.

On Saturday Rachel was able to go diving in the ocean with Riley. Tam and I had a rainy beach day. When they got back we had a fabulous lunch at Ken's Pancake House, this authentically-Hawaiian/authentically-American diner that's been there forever (and the general manager is supposedly related to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.) That meal kept us unbelievably full for most of the day. We took Riley to the Farmer's Market, which is quite happening on Saturdays.

On Monday we had a wonderful late-lunch/early-dinner at Bueno Burrito, this little Mexican food place that Rachel had been eyeing for quite a while. We found it to be entirely delightful. Most restuarants in Hilo are run almost entirely and solely by the owners (and sometimes their family.) The owner of this establishment I believe was named Jorge, and he treated us like royalty. He was very friendly and funny, and shared our sentiment that there was not enough of a nightlife in Hilo, and that there needs to be a place to go out dancing.

Sunset from Mauna Kea

That night we decided to try to get to the summit of Mauna Kea (which can be driven to, with 4-wheel drive,) by sunset for some stargazing. Lil Red can't be trusted up long and steep hills, so we parked at the bottom and hitched a ride up with 2 lovely Danish girls named Ida and Teresa. They took us up to the information Center half-way up the mountain, where we learned we were too late to hitch a ride up the other half. (Cars create light pollution with their headbeams which interfere with the observatories' observations.) We were still able to see an incredible sunset from where we were on the mountain, and stuck around for some guided stargazing.

Waipio Valley

On Tuesday we needed to drive Riley to Kona for his midnight flight out, and we decided to make a day of it. We wanted to check out Waipio Valley, a place I was particularly interested in because of its history as an exceptionally spiritual place for the Hawaiian people (there are all sorts of stories about the ghosts of upset ancestors haunting the place after the island's desecration at the hands of haole.) We were hoping it was out of the rain, being that it was about an hour north of Hilo, but no such luck. We decided to postpone the steep hike into the valley a different day (although, after seeing it from on top, I'm not sure I want to hike into it. It doesn't feel righteous for me, a white girl, to go into that land. But we'll see.) We checked out the little town of Honoka'a right near Waipio, which was lovely and quaint, and for whatever reason reminded me of old and small Colorado mountain towns (like Leadville.) We then continued on to the western side of the island. We rented snorkeling gear in the town of Kawaihae and then Riley and Rachel brought us to Hapuna (where they had previously slept.) We gladly sunbathed on the beach, glad to finally be free of the rain. It's funny how going to Kona often feels like a vacation, even though our lives in Hilo are themselves essentially vacations.

Rachel by the sea in Volcanoes NP

The real exciting part of our day (and we agree one of our favorite moments from the island so far) was night snorkeling with Manta Rays. We went to the Sheraton on Keahou Bay, which was located right where the rays amalgamate. There were a lot of commercial snorkel and dive boats in the water. They shine lights into the water, which attract krill, which in turn attract the rays. We had our own underwater flashlights, but we ended up kind of mooching off of the big industrial lights from the boats. It started raining, and it was one of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced; floating at ease in the dark, with the lights from the hotel and the boats illuminating the surface of the water--the rain drops hitting the water made the ocean look like a softly oscillating blanket of black diamonds. We were able to see a handful of rays, which had an energy not dissimilar to that of dogs. They would play in the light, swimming in big loops, then soaring behind and under all of the people who came to experience them. The whole thing was surreal and ethereal.

The sea arch at sunset

After we climbed out of the ocean we snuck into the Sheraton's pool to clean the ocean off of us, and then soaked in their hot tub. I hadn't personally done anything like that since highschool, and it was quite fun (exhillirating! How often I forget how young I am and how I should commit shenanigans while it is still apt. That's what the kids say, right? "Shenanigans"?)

After we dropped Riley off at the airport we returned to Hapuna to sleep in Lil Red for the night (only THREE cockroaches crawled on me during the night!) We woke up with the sun and ate our left over Chinese food from the night before (that had been sitting in our trunk overnight) along with some applesauce that Rachel found near security at the airport for breakfast. We drove just a few minutes down the road from Hapuna to Waialea Bay, which I am sure is my favorite beach that we have been to yet on the Big Island. It was lined with trees and still-rooted driftwood, the water was calm and perfectly crystal clear, and there was excellent snorkeling.

The beach at Waialea Bay

We discovered upon leaving the beach that one of the two dive lights that we had rented for our Manta experience was missing. We realized that we likey left it by the Sheraton pool when we jumped in. I was again reminded why I no longer commit shenanigans; every action has a consequence...in this instance illegally using the Sheraton pool resulted in us having to replace a $400 piece of equipment. To drown our sorrows at losing the light (and thus us losing $400) we went to The Seafood Bar in Kawaihae, where we spent too much on food and cocktails (but had a great time doing so.)

Now it's just the three of us again in our leaky shack, in rainy Hilo.

Rachel just got a call, and someone found the divelight by the pool. I guess my karma might be just balanced enough for the time being.

Tamarah at Waialea Bay