Sandy's travels

Thought I would post some pix of us from Hawaii. The top photo is Cousins, Tracy and Joanne sitting with Captain Jack, followed by myself and Joanne, Tracy showing his morning exuberance after a walk, Joanne working in her petite point horse, and lastly a selfie of my grandson Josh, when he was here in January, with me in the background.

Our time here in Hawaii is quickly winding down. It has been interesting and educational to spend almost three months here, seeing the flowers, birds, and lifestyles of both the residents and winter populations of snowbirds. As I've walked about the area, I've been captivated by the different colours and sizes of some of the flowering plants and the trees. The Hibiscus for instance, just look a the variety just in these few photos. The native yellow Hibiscus is the state flower. The yellow one pictured here is a hybrid as the native yellow appears to be plain with a small bit of orange veining. Our next few days will be spent packing, cleaning our condo and catching a few more hours at the pool. My next post should come from Mexico where we plan to spend the month of April! Til then, Aloha from the Big Island and Maholo (thank you) for tuning into my travel blog!

Last evening my cousins went to the Luau at a local resort....the same one I had attended in January with my grandson Josh. Friends from Australia had arrived for a weeks vacation on Sunday so while my cousins were at the luau, I visited with my friend at her room which looked right down on the luau grounds. We caught up on each others families and friends and sipped wine while we watched and listened to the music and dances. It was a lot of fun because this gave a different perspective on the luau. The pit where the pig is roasted is called an Imu or earth oven. We watched as they dug away the soil heaped over top, then peeled away the coverings and banana leaves to where the pig was unveiled inside its wired case. The Master of Ceremonies directs the participants by table to the all you can eat buffet which can feature all sorts of meats and seafood including the roasted pork, salads, vegetables and desserts. Once the meal has been served, dishes are cleared away for the show

Hilo has one of the best farmers markets on the Island as far as I'm concerned. Lots of beautiful fresh produce, fruits and vegetables and flowers. Tropical fruits such as papayas, lychee nuts, avocados, bananas, pineapples, durian, and others. Also, with the large oriental populations there are many different types of produce unfamiliar to us as well as baked goods, prepared goods, smoothies, cold drinks, puddings, bento boxes, Portuguese breads and many many other delicacies. I love walking through and just looking. Flowers in all their tropical splendor can be bought for $5.00 a bunch and include orchids, jasmine, anthuriums and others I can't even remember. So beautiful. The market is open every day, but not all vendors are present then. Mainly Saturday is the best day and Wednesday has quite a lot as well. I don't know the criteria for a stall at the stalls across from the produce section but there was a lot of imported clothing, mass produced jewellery

Self explanatory....

Wednesday morning saw us heading out to take the saddle road back across to Hilo. We arrived just at lunch time so found a little cafe for a quick sandwich and then walked over to the Pacific Tsunami Museum, just across from the waterfront. The museum is dedicated to education and awareness of tsunamis so that no one should ever die due to a tsunami. If you go to hIlo, the museum is located at 130 Kamehameha Avenue and is now open Monday through Saturday, 9 to 4 pm. The first photo (credit: Cecilio Licos) was taken of people fleeing before the waves hit on April Fools Day, 1946 around 7:00 in the morning which was about an hour before most businesses opened, or the death toll could have been a lot higher. This tsunami was a result of an 8.6 earthquake off the Aleutian Islands and because there was no warning system at that time, people were unaware, even though it took 5 hours for the first of 9 waves to hit shore. There were 159 deaths throughout the Hawaiian islands that

The top photo portrays the hawaiian Goose known as Nēnē (sounds like naynay). It is the official state bird and is found exclusively on Maui, Molokai, Kauai and big Island Hawaii. The Nēnē is evolved from the Canada Goose which most likely arrived here around 500,000 years ago. It is the worlds rarest goose, it's populations being depleted by introduced species such as pigs, cats and Asian mongoose! The second photo describes a rare fern found on the volcanos!

These first two photos show different types and formations of lava. The last photo is self explanatory showing the five main volcanos that make up Big Island.

A cold front had moved through the Hawaiian Islands last week and it snowed on the top of both Mauna Kea (first photo) and Mauna Loa (second photo with lava in front). The third photo shows some of the cinder cones left behind by Mauna Kea in past eruptions. They themselves look like mini cone volcanos. One is supposed to have a small lake atop it, a left over remnant from previous ice age! We drove over to Hilo to go to the Lyman museum...photos to follow. The museum portrayed many historical objects and stories of Hawaii as well as a vast shell collection, and rock and gem collection besides Hawaiiana. We more or less spent the day and will go back to tour through the Farmers Market as well as the Tsunami museum, possibly Saturday.

The top photo is a Fiji Fan Palm with its long inflorescences. I'm waiting to see what develops on them, whether flowers, seeds or some kind of fruits. The second photo shows what is called a travelers Palm. It is not a true palm but rather a very tall member of the Bird of Paradise family. I found out it is not a native plant ( it seems few are) and originally came from Madagascar. I read that it got its name because the leaf sheaths hold water aiding needy travelers. The last photo is of Night blooming Cereus. it grows rampant in many places around the island and is often sheared back because of its ungainly growth habits. We also have one which was donated to us by a past President and it too grows quite well in a pot. It also requires drastic pruning to keep it within bounds. They generally are scented but only bloom at night.

Surfers take every advantage of good waves, even when the beaches are closed due to high surf. I walked down to the beach and the fellow in the last photo was just going to enter the water with his short board. He waited for just the right moment to enter the water, a big wave came in, he jumped as it was flowing out and off he went. The big waves didn't seem to deter him, he just went under them. The other photos give you an idea of the power of the surf and size of the waves. As you can see, the sky is very dark this morning and while I was on my walk I got drenched when the wind came up signaling rain! Then it did rain!!!

We woke to light rain and grey skies this morning. As the day has progressed it has rained all day, sometimes heavy. The waves crashing in on the beach are spectacular. I'm judging some of them to be 10 to 12 feet high. It almost gives you a feeling when you are standing on the beach looking at the height of the waves of what it must be like if a tsunami is coming in at you! Fascinating! Many experienced surfers out today. Today being so wet we did what most other folks seemed to be doing....we went shopping at Costco! Lots of little Keiki (kids in Hawaii) out and about with their families too! I forgot to tell you about our shopping at the Kings Marketplace the other day. There was a Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton store, and other higher end shops. Joanne and I left Tracy sitting in the Courtyard under a palm tree and we decided to go into Tiffany's and just browse the jewelry. The sales lady was very nice and let Joanne try on a diamond encrusted ring or two. I

On Thursday we had planned a trip to Hilo, but we had to cancel it for a week, so we instead went out to the Shops at Mauna Lani, about 20 miles from the airport. The Fire Dancers were performing at 7 so we decided we would like to see this. Wow, what a great show. Joanne was being attentive and got a few photos. I was more intent on watching. See the first photo. These three performers were really good with the firesticks! On Friday night we attended the Hula show at Keauhou Shopping Centre which takes place every Friday from 6 to 7 with different shows each week. We learned that it's best to get to these shows early if you want a seat!! The next four photos are from that show. The little girl - 7 years old had been taking hula lessons for 3 years and was she ever good. Hula is a uniquely Hawaiian dance which is accompanied by chanting or song. It's purpose is to perpetuate stories, traditions and culture of the Hawaiian people.