Volcano day.
Saturday was an exciting day. Bright and not quite so early we set off towards the middle of the Island to see the volcano. On our way we stopped at the coffee shack to get real Kona coffee and we also stopped at Mark Twain’s tree and the most southern bakery in the USA to buy Malasadas (sweet bread with filling, like Norwegian “berlinerboller”).
At the volcano we got to see the craters, steam vents (hot steam coming up), smoke coming up from the volcano crater. It was really exciting. We even walked through a lava tunnel which is a tunnel created by the lava stream and it’s amazing how perfect it is. And we also got to go on a very exciting and educational little hike with a park ranger who was super-passionate about his job. He showed us these ferns with fur on them that felt like animal fur, and explained how when the Polynesians came to Hawaii they brought plants and animals not native to the islands which threw off the whole ecological system, and then someone brought rats followed by mongoose and that really messed things up. And he explained how the balance of the birds, flowers, mosquitoes, water all play together and how if any part is off balance it’s really bad. It was fascinating! And it really made me see how perfectly God’s creation is and works.
When we came to the volcano crater edge the ranger also did a Hawaiian song thing and told one of the legends about the volcano which was really interesting.
After our volcano experience which was great fun we set off to see if we could find the Macadamia nut factory on the highway before Hilo. Unfortunately we only got there 10 minutes before closing time, so just enough time to watch one educational cartoon (showing that the nuts are manually put into each chocolate) and sample a few macadamia nuts covered with different flavours. Still, there was time to take some photos which is very important from a tourist point of view.
In Hilo we stopped for dinner and ate some delicious Thai food. Not sure how authentically Thai it was, but it was yummy. Then we continued to drive across beautiful Hawaiian country side with spectacular views of hillsides and the sea…until it got dark, and then it really is pitch dark (minimal lighting allowed due to there being a huge observatory on the Mauna Loa mountain which can’t be disturbed by light pollution). After a quick stop at Target (which isn’t very Hawaiian, but American) we returned home. It was a good day!
Coffee farm and place of refuge.
On Sunday we set off driving up the mountains towards one of the many coffee farms. As we wound our way up the mountain slopes it was again fascinating to see how the scenery changes so much. Green as opposed to black lava rock.
After a while of driving we finally reached “Hula Daddy” the coffee farm we were intending to visit. As we walked in we were offered as much coffee we wanted to sample out of little 3oz cups. The two flavours were the “medium roast fancy” and the “dark roast select”, recommended to be tried in that order. After a few minutes of sampling we headed down to the coffee plantation for a little information on how the coffee is picked and processed. It was very educational and interesting. Coffee truly is a skill and science. Then we went to the roasting place and that was super interesting. Basically coffee has to be roasted to the .10 of a degree or it has to be chucked out. And to be called 100% Kona coffee it has to be approved by the government and there is a whole process to it. The lady also explained that basically a “French roast” probably means that it’s junk coffee, i.e. coffee that isn’t good enough for any other roast and that is why they burn it (which is French roast). Hmmm...I think I won’t be purchasing that in the future. She also said that there is not much caffeine in medium roast which was also interesting. I learned a lot, and I got to see a batch of coffee roasted from which I bought a pound of coffee from. The problem is that coffee will never be the same after this educational experience, and I think I have become more picky with the quality I require of the coffee I buy.
On leaving the coffee farm it was cloudy so instead of heading to the beach we decided to head to Captain Cook and a place of refuge. Basically in old Hawaiian culture they’d have places of refuge people could flee to if they’d committed a crime or something and be safe from getting killed and get a second chance. Kind of like the “city of refuge” system from the Old Testament. It was a really well laid out place and well explained. It was also not very crowded and I saw a sea turtle on the beach. It’s fascinating to see old cultural things and makes me want to learn more about history and different ways of life.
Breakfast and beach.
I love having breakfast and Monday morning (which was also memorial day here in the USA where people who have been killed at war are remembered) we went down to Lava Java to taste a real Hawaiian breakfast. I had banana pancakes (which I think they forgot to put bananas in) with macadamia nuts and coconut syrup (very scrumptious, I bought some at Walmart to take back with me), bacon, and fresh fruit (pineapple, melon and papaya- proper tropical fruits), as well as a cup of Kona coffee. It was so nice and it filled me up!
Then we drove off through the lava rock landscape and had some hours on the beach. It was very windy, but made me so happy to be on the beach and swim in the sea.
And that was my first memorial day weekend in the USA.
Saturday was an exciting day. Bright and not quite so early we set off towards the middle of the Island to see the volcano. On our way we stopped at the coffee shack to get real Kona coffee and we also stopped at Mark Twain’s tree and the most southern bakery in the USA to buy Malasadas (sweet bread with filling, like Norwegian “berlinerboller”).
At the volcano we got to see the craters, steam vents (hot steam coming up), smoke coming up from the volcano crater. It was really exciting. We even walked through a lava tunnel which is a tunnel created by the lava stream and it’s amazing how perfect it is. And we also got to go on a very exciting and educational little hike with a park ranger who was super-passionate about his job. He showed us these ferns with fur on them that felt like animal fur, and explained how when the Polynesians came to Hawaii they brought plants and animals not native to the islands which threw off the whole ecological system, and then someone brought rats followed by mongoose and that really messed things up. And he explained how the balance of the birds, flowers, mosquitoes, water all play together and how if any part is off balance it’s really bad. It was fascinating! And it really made me see how perfectly God’s creation is and works.
When we came to the volcano crater edge the ranger also did a Hawaiian song thing and told one of the legends about the volcano which was really interesting.
After our volcano experience which was great fun we set off to see if we could find the Macadamia nut factory on the highway before Hilo. Unfortunately we only got there 10 minutes before closing time, so just enough time to watch one educational cartoon (showing that the nuts are manually put into each chocolate) and sample a few macadamia nuts covered with different flavours. Still, there was time to take some photos which is very important from a tourist point of view.
In Hilo we stopped for dinner and ate some delicious Thai food. Not sure how authentically Thai it was, but it was yummy. Then we continued to drive across beautiful Hawaiian country side with spectacular views of hillsides and the sea…until it got dark, and then it really is pitch dark (minimal lighting allowed due to there being a huge observatory on the Mauna Loa mountain which can’t be disturbed by light pollution). After a quick stop at Target (which isn’t very Hawaiian, but American) we returned home. It was a good day!
Coffee farm and place of refuge.
On Sunday we set off driving up the mountains towards one of the many coffee farms. As we wound our way up the mountain slopes it was again fascinating to see how the scenery changes so much. Green as opposed to black lava rock.
After a while of driving we finally reached “Hula Daddy” the coffee farm we were intending to visit. As we walked in we were offered as much coffee we wanted to sample out of little 3oz cups. The two flavours were the “medium roast fancy” and the “dark roast select”, recommended to be tried in that order. After a few minutes of sampling we headed down to the coffee plantation for a little information on how the coffee is picked and processed. It was very educational and interesting. Coffee truly is a skill and science. Then we went to the roasting place and that was super interesting. Basically coffee has to be roasted to the .10 of a degree or it has to be chucked out. And to be called 100% Kona coffee it has to be approved by the government and there is a whole process to it. The lady also explained that basically a “French roast” probably means that it’s junk coffee, i.e. coffee that isn’t good enough for any other roast and that is why they burn it (which is French roast). Hmmm...I think I won’t be purchasing that in the future. She also said that there is not much caffeine in medium roast which was also interesting. I learned a lot, and I got to see a batch of coffee roasted from which I bought a pound of coffee from. The problem is that coffee will never be the same after this educational experience, and I think I have become more picky with the quality I require of the coffee I buy.
On leaving the coffee farm it was cloudy so instead of heading to the beach we decided to head to Captain Cook and a place of refuge. Basically in old Hawaiian culture they’d have places of refuge people could flee to if they’d committed a crime or something and be safe from getting killed and get a second chance. Kind of like the “city of refuge” system from the Old Testament. It was a really well laid out place and well explained. It was also not very crowded and I saw a sea turtle on the beach. It’s fascinating to see old cultural things and makes me want to learn more about history and different ways of life.
Breakfast and beach.
I love having breakfast and Monday morning (which was also memorial day here in the USA where people who have been killed at war are remembered) we went down to Lava Java to taste a real Hawaiian breakfast. I had banana pancakes (which I think they forgot to put bananas in) with macadamia nuts and coconut syrup (very scrumptious, I bought some at Walmart to take back with me), bacon, and fresh fruit (pineapple, melon and papaya- proper tropical fruits), as well as a cup of Kona coffee. It was so nice and it filled me up!
Then we drove off through the lava rock landscape and had some hours on the beach. It was very windy, but made me so happy to be on the beach and swim in the sea.
And that was my first memorial day weekend in the USA.