Aloha, Hawai’i
Tales from the Big Island: Part 1
Go to Google Maps and search for Hawai’i. Now zoom out. Keep zooming out. What do you see? An unending stretch of blue with no other land mass anywhere in sight. Honolulu, the capital of Hawai’i, is the city that’s farthest away from any other city in the world. The Hawaiian Islands are so remote that it took humans thousands of years to discover and settle them. Yet modern times have made it incredibly easy to get there. A direct 5 hour flight from San Francisco and you find yourself in the very midst of paradise itself.
The Island of Hawai’i or the Big Island (as it is colloquially known) was our destination for this trip — the largest and youngest of the 8 inhabited Hawaiian islands. Its size, constant volcanic activity, and its position in the Pacific makes it possess 10 of the world’s 14 climatic zones. The island has tropical rainforests, deserts, lava fields, snow capped mountains, volcanic craters, temperate forests, and grasslands. All within a 2–3 hour drive from each other!
We landed in Kailua-Kona, and had the coolest airplane exit ever. We simply walked down the steps, crossed the runway, strolled into a hut (apparently that was the terminal), collected our bags, and exited the airport where warm sunshine and lush tropical air embraced us. We then picked up a modest Nissan Sentra at Hertz, resisting the temptation of renting that Red Mustang convertible which was positioned conveniently at the entrance.
The city was asleep when we drove into it. Perhaps 11am was too early in the morning for folks living there. The solitude was more pronounced as it was Thanksgiving day in the United States. That meant no tour buses, no selfie-stick bearing tourists, and certainly no posers in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. Sweet!
Not having an agenda in mind, we wandered into a local farmer’s market, which was one of the few things that was open that morning. I saw colorful, weirdly-shaped, alien-like fruits that I had never before seen in my life. If the 21st century human in me felt that way, I wonder what Captain Cook’s fleet would’ve felt when they met with these strange plants and animals on this island. We ate one such fruit, which by virtue of how amazing it was, makes it my moral obligation with share with you all.
Introducing, Rambutan.
We drove north along the coast, stopping at vista points where black volcanic rock struck a beautiful visual contrast with the deep blue hue of the ocean. This coastal drive was dotted with beaches — perhaps the only beach-y part of Big Island.
We made a brief pit stop at Hapuna State Beach — a gorgeous, sandy beach understandably filled with swimmers, sunbathers, and sand-castle makers.
With sun-bather friendly beaches come expensive resorts. We drove through one called Waikoloa — a massive establishment comprising of your hiltons & sheratons, shopping malls, golf courses, and the kinda beach side bars where you pay 20 bucks for a watered down Mai Tai.
We drove out of there as quickly as we drove in.
As we headed north, the temperature started to cool down. We were moving away from the coastal desert to the hilly rainforest. As we rounded the northern tip of the Island, we entered the town of Hawi.
Hawi looked like a bohemian town — art galleries, quirky shops, cute cafes, all of which, you guessed it, were closed shut for Thanksgiving. So we ended up doing what any respectful tourist should do — pay a visit to King Kamehameha’s statue and take a picture.
The highlight of the day awaited us after a 30 min drive through tight hairpin bends and lush forests where the road ended at a sheer cliff. Overlooking it was the gorgeous view of Pololu Valley.
Paradise is an understatement to describe Pololu Valley. I can’t describe how beautiful and therapeutic it was to see that image of rolling green mountains cutting into the ocean, interspersed with lush valleys, rivers, and waterfalls.
The scene was so inviting that we decided to put on our hiking boots and walk down into the valley floor. We started the hike around 4pm — with only an hour and a half left before sunset, we were cutting it a bit close. It had also started drizzling then, which made the hike more adventurous than we wanted it to be. The situation gave us a distinctive advantage though — there were hardly other tourists around, which made it feel like we were truly out in the wilderness.
The splatter of rain also kept us cool as we sweated through the switchbacks. We picked up a couple of tree branches along the way to use as hiking poles. The branches came in so handy that we decided to keep them with us for the rest of the trip. Nature supports you if you support her.
The sun had set by the time we left Pololu Valley. We drove through Highway 250, which if it were not for the pitch black darkness, would’ve been a jaw-dropping scenic drive.
Starving after the hike, we were excited to eat at a restaurant in the city of Waimea. But of course, nothing was open. Thank you Thanksgiving :(.
We had to improvise. With the only two establishments of any sort that were open that night — a grocery store and a McDonald’s, we created our very own signature dish — a Hawaiian McVada Pav. You take Hawaiian sweet buns, layer them with butter and bean spread, place McDonald’s hash browns on top, and finish it up with a cheesy jalapeño spread and ketchup. Voila!
With one basic need taken care of, we needed to figure out our next basic need — shelter. To make things fun, our “shelter” did not have an address — just a series of road directions that involved things like, “go past the yellow vanilla farm building”, or “turn left where a signboard on the left says ‘private driveway’ ”. The roads were narrow, pitch-dark, and single-laned. I tried not to think about those horror movies where a young couple goes into a cabin in the woods, only to find out…anyway, the good thing is that we found our place.
The horror movie storyline in my head disappeared quickly when we met our Airbnb hosts, Mr T. & his family. Our shelter for the night was a decked up container home nestled within a large fruit, vegetable, and animal farm. With no light pollution around, the night sky was breathtaking. We lounged in our private Lanai (a traditional Hawaiian porch), watching the Milky way in all its glory, hearing the sounds of Coqui frogs serenading to their mates.
