Welcome the new year in with some great Hawaiian coffee!   Coffees of Hawaii is having a new year sale on their special “Year of the Dragon” coffee!

Coffees of Hawaii’s “Year of the Dragon” New Year’s Coffee – Limited Edition – only available January 1st – 31st – plus 10% off & Free Shipping with code DRAGON12. Celebrate 2012 with this custom roasted 100% Hawaiian coffee while supplies last!

And, if you want to order one of their other coffees from Hawaii, you can get 10% off AND FREE Shipping thru March 31st, by using Promo Code: NEWYEAR10.

And, for member serving in the military, Welcome U.S. Service Men & Women – Coffees of Hawaii ships to all APO & FPO addresses FREE OF CHARGE plus SAVE 10% on all orders with promo code MILITARYSHIP – thanks for serving our country!

Happy New Year!

May 2011 be a better year than 2010 was!  The country needs some good news and to see some improvement in our current economic state of affairs.  Then again, so could I.

It is also a good time to count our blessings, whether its still having a job while so many do not, or simply thankful for the family and extended ohana we surround ourselves with.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what your life would be like without these people being a part of it?  Wealth is not always measured in monetary terms and while having money is great, having loved ones to share experiences with is what truly matters.

I don’t have a lot of close friends…never have.  But, I am blessed to have two wonderful daughters, a great son-in-law, and a granddaughter who makes getting “old” seem worthwhile.  I see them about once or twice a month, which isn’t a lot, but always remind myself that it could be worse.

I now live in North Carolina and my parents and sister still live in Hawaii.  My parents live on the Big Island near Naalehu and my sister and her family live in Honolulu.  I don’t get to see them near as much as I’d like to  Sometimes, years go by without my being able to go back for a visit.

The last trip back was in February, 2010, and the whole family went back.  My two daughters, son-in-law, granddaughter, and even my ex-wife.  We spent a short time in Honolulu and the remainder of our trip on the Big Island.

We had a ball as I played tour guide and took them around the island over a 4-day period.  As I have written in previous posts, its not something you want to try and do in a day or two.  Besides, its not the easiest thing in the world getting four adults and a 1-year old ready to hit the road each morning.

I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything!  The kids and I, minus my granddaughter, took the hour fifteen minute hike to Papalokea, green sand beach, and enjoyed watching the whales off shore near South point along the way.

Its a long and dusty hike to get to Papalokea Beach

Papalokea “Green Sand” Beach

We made several stops in the Kailua-Kona area, including the Puuhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge) and Puukohola Heiau National Historic Sites.  They even took the short tour of the Kona Brewery, since “dad” was already the designated driver for the day.

We made the drive to Kapaau on the northern tip of the island and saw the King Kamehameha statue there, as well as enjoyed the drive along the Kohala mountains on Hwy 250.  We arrived in Waimea (Kamuela) too late to catch lunch at the Hawaiian Style Restaurant, but will make up for it on another trip.

I’m not sure who enjoyed our stop at Akaka Falls the most.  My granddaughter was just learning to walk and was determined to “walk” each of the many steps that you will encounter along the path to the viewing area.

We did not get to see lava flowing on this trip, but they took tons of pictures along the walk to the Thurston Lava Tube from the Park Headquarters.  We came back later that evening, after having some time in Hilo, to try and catch the night time glow out of Haleakala Crater, but it was a rainy, wet and windy night…not to mention cold.

They had signed up as volunteers to help in the whale counting efforts, but that was the day of the tsunami warning, so we spent the morning like most of the residents of Hawaii, watching the notable lack of wave activity.  Although, I must admit, it was kind of neat to watch the tide come in and out so many times in an hour.

While a little disappointed in the lack of action, we were also thankful that noone got hurt and no property damage was reported.

It seems the older I get, the more I enjoy my trips “home”.  Upon returning to North Carolina this time, I started to think about starting a website on Hawaii to share my love of the islands, as well as give me ample opportunities to keep myself abreast of what was going on back there.

A few months later, I started this blog to supplement my entries on the website.  If you have not yet visited it, I invite you to visit and share the information posted, www.myhawaiionline.com.  There is also a free newsletter that you can subscribe to as well.

Well, that was last year!  And, after spending a great Christmas with all of them, I can’t help but hope that 2011 brings us many more fond memories that we will share with one another for years to come.

May 2011 bring you many happy memories as well!

Royal Gardens Area Lava Flow From 12/4-5/2001

Sorry, but I fell asleep at the switch and missed this great video post at Big Island Video News, one of my favorite sites.

To see this up-close video that was shot 2 weeks ago, go to http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2011/12/07/video-amazing-footage-of-lava-burning-royal-gardens-hawaii/

To get the latest information posted by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), you can visit their Kilauea Status Reports, which is updated daily.

Here is their latest post, which updates the status of the flow running thru Royal Gardens:

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 9:12 AM HST

Activity Summary for past 24 hours: The West Ka`ili`ili ocean entry may be intermittently active fed by flows from Pu`u `O`o through the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision and expanding across the coastal plain. Glow could be seen from sources within Pu`u `O`o crater. the summit lava lake level was variable. Seismic tremor levels were low and gas emissions were elevated.

Viewing Summary: East rift zone flow field – Active lava flows are within the closed-access Kahauale’a Natural Area Reserve and private property within the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision and can only be viewed from the air and from the County Viewing Area at Kalapana. Pu`u `O`o Cone, the West Ka`ili`ili lava ocean entry, and Kilauea Crater – Pu`u `O`o cone, the lava ocean entry, and Kilauea Crater are within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park; access and viewing information can be found at http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm.

Photos of lava entering the ocean, taken on December 13, 2011

from http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/images.html.

There are some great pictures posted at their website, follow the link above.

Small streams of lava cascading over the sea cliff, and entering the ocean

The current lava flow, coming down the pali and traversing the coastal plain, reached the ocean late last week. The ocean entry point is within the National Park, near its eastern border. Today, numerous small streams of lava were cascading over the sea cliff, and lava entering the water was starting to build a small delta.

This photograph shows two channels of lava coming over the sea cliff, reaching the new lava delta.

Lava continues to flow through the former Royal Gardens subdivision as it makes it way to the coastal plain and entry into the ocean.  This is the first such activity in the area since March of this year.  It is possible to catch sight of part of this activity from the public viewing area located at Kalapana.  This viewing area is located outside of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and is maintained by Hawaii County.

This pic, taken on December 2, 2011, gives a great view of the flow going thru Royal Gardens subdivision.

The flow is following the west margin of lava flows emplaced in February 2010, which brings the current flow close to the last occupied residence (orange structure in center of photo) in Royal Gardens.

Tea Plants First Introduced Over 100 Years Ago

Tea was first introduced to Hawaii around 1887.  Since then, unsuccessful attempts to commercialize Hawaii grown tea production on Kauai and in the Kona region of the island of Hawaii were attributed to the high cost of production in Hawaii compared to the lower costs in other tea producing areas.  This is a recurring problem that faces most commercial crop production in Hawaii.  In the late 1980s, some of the sugar firms tried to establish tea plantations to replace sugar cane, but these projects proved to be unsuccessful and were terminated.

And, once again, the University of Hawaii, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, is involved in research into finding the right plant variety and locations for successful Hawaii grown tea planting.  Partnering with their efforts are the Tropical Plant Genetic Resource Management Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo.

Between 1999 and 2001, half-acre plantings were established at each of three locations on the island of Hawaii in Waiakea (600 ft elevation), Mealani (2800 ft), and Volcano (4000 ft). Preliminary observations of these research and demonstration efforts suggest the following:

• Tea grows very well at Mealani (2800′) and Volcano (4000) and relatively slower at Waiakea (600′).
• Most cultivars are ready for harvest in about 18–20 months after planting.
• Green, oolong, and modified green teas processed from tea leaves harvested at Mealani and Volcano are of excellent quality.
• Clonal tea plants are recommended over seedlings for their uniform growth, allowing the vegetative cycles to be more readily synchronized for mechanical harvesting.
• The pest and disease problems of tea are relatively mild at all three locations and can be readily managed by agronomic practices such as pruning and fertilizer management.
• Some of the pests are spider mites, aphids, and leaf rollers.  No insecticides or fungicides were applied at any of the three field locations for over three years.

For more detailed and expanded information on this research on Hawaii grown tea.

Hawaii Grown Tea – A Cottage Industry Established

Fast forward to 2011 and 12 years of research and development has established a fledgling cottage industry of Hawaii grown tea. There are now several tea growers on the Big Island of Hawaii.  The leaders in this effort, who have been involved during the entire 12-year period, are a husband and wife team of Chiu Leong and Eva Lee, of Tea Hawaii & Company.

They have partnered with three additional growers; John Cross, Sen Woo Fang, and Mike Riley.  Together, they market four distinct varieties of Hawaii grown tea:

• Home grown garden estate.  Tea growers Chiu Leong and Eva Lee of Volcano Village at 4000 feet elevation.  Grown in the rainforest of Kilauea volcano under a canopy of native Ohia trees and Hapu’u ferns.  Harvested by plucking the top bud and two leaves.  The leaves are long, loose and downy and brew into rich clear golden infusion.  The flavor is floral and sweet, deeply satisfying and comforting. Truly the first shade grown forest tea of Hawaii.
• Hilo Tea Garden tea estate grower Fang Sen Woo of Mountain View at 2000-foot elevation surrounded by tropical flowers.  He produces Ola’a Green tea.  This tea is a pan fired green tea that is exotic in aroma and pure in flavor. Steeped into a pale golden green infusion with a lingering fresh taste.
• Volcano Tea Garden tea estate grower Mike Riley of Volcano Mauna Loa Estates at 3600-foot elevation.  His product is named Mauka Oolong.  It is flinty, crisp, smooth and cooling, with mild tropical notes of green papaya and honey that add to the complexity of this enticing tea.
• Johnny’s Garden tea estate grower John Cross of Hakalau at 900-foot elevation. Makai to face towards the sea is a black tea that is handcrafted with both sinensis and assamica leaves that steep into a crystalline amber infusion. This tea’s flavor profile is smooth and refined with no astringency or bitterness even when steep for long periods. A crisp body that yields delicate notes of caramel, barley malt with hints of chocolate and a slight taste of roasted sweet potato.

Hawaii continues to diversify with more and more premium products that take advantage of the variety of conditions found in Hawaii.  From sea level to altitudes exceeding 10,000′, from arid to lush rain-forest conditions, and with rich volcanic soil, opportunities will continue to expand for those venturesome enough to pioneer new crops.  The Big Island of Hawaii is also the only place where all three major infusion beverages are grown; Hawaii grown coffee, Hawaii grown cacao (chocolate) and Hawaii grown tea.

Hawaii grown tea is just another example of the premiere products that Hawaii continues to bring to us.

Kilauea is not what I thought!

All my life, I have been told that Hawaii’s volcanoes are of the peaceful type.  They produce breath-taking fountains of lava and flow to the ocean via lava tubes or awe inspiring, cascading rivers of super heated rock towards the sea. Now, I’ve learned that this is not the case.

I just read a report from the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, stating that Kilauea actually has a history of prolonged periods of explosive eruptions!  As a matter of fact, there are longer periods of explosive eruptions than peaceful interludes, such as Hawaii has experienced for the last couple of hundred years.

They also report that the explosive eruptions could resume at any time because they have no way of predicting any sort of timetable.  From 500 to 200 years ago, it was primarily the explosive type of volcanic activity that marked Kilauea’s eruptions.

To quote from an article written by David Perlman and published on SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle):

“Eruptions and flows

“The geologic record shows that Kilauea’s activity has been marked by a period dominated by frequent lava flows from about 2,500 to 2,200 years ago, followed by a long period of explosive eruptions that continued for about the next 1,200 years; then another 500 years of lava flows, followed by about 300 years of eruptions, and then by more lava flows that continue today.

More than 100 radiocarbon observations, based on charcoal from the mountain’s burned vegetation, have established the dates, Swanson said.”  [Donald Swanson of the U.S. Geological Survey and director of the Hawaii Volcano Observatory.]

Image of Kilauea Changed Forever

International Marketplace of Waikiki Closed!

While the many vendor stalls and wagons may still sit in their usual spots, the vendors and merchandise that once made the International Marketplace a favorite of many visitors and locals alike – are gone.  December 31,  2013 marked the last day  for this iconic location and while there are a few storefronts still open along Kalakaua Avenue, they too, will close their doors for the final time at the end of January.

For those who may not have been aware, the Queen Emma Foundation, owners of the land, has opted to replace the International Marketplace with an upscale mall, anchored by Saks.  Viewed from a strictly economic view, this decision makes sense in terms of the increase in dollars that will be generated which can be put to use towards the Queen Medical Center’s west facility.  You can read more about this controversial decision here in an earlier post.

My kids used to always look forward to spending a couple of hours navigating the carts and stores, looking for hidden bargains away from the glitz and glamor of Waikiki.  I think that was the attraction of the International Marketplace for the majority of people.  With its demise, we lose another uniquely Hawaiian experience.

There may even be a small number of people who would say that the removal of the aged International Marketplace is a good thing from an aesthetics point of view.  And, yes, many of the structures were long over do to be replaced, but the true value of this iconic shopping area is probably more nostalgic than practical.  It represents a simpler time before Waikiki became a concrete, metal, and glass jungle, when the Pink Castle (aka Royal Hawaiian Hotel) was a visible landmark…from the street, not just the ocean.

If its any consolation, it is my understanding that both the Monkeypod tree and the International Marketplace sign will be spared and will be incorporated into the new mall landscaping.  I wonder it they’ll also keep the koi pond?

International Marketplace Sign

I guess this is more of a personal loss for many of us who will miss this Waikiki landmark, but I do believe that more people will miss this more laid-back venue than those who are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Saks.  The cost of progress seems disproportionately high, but economics rule.  It just seems Waikiki has turned into just another shopping mecca, similar to many of those found throughout the US…except, of course, for the tropical setting.

I guess we should be happy that the Pink Palace and the Hilton Rainbow Tower still stand as Waikiki landmarks.  Hopefully, they will remain recognizable for the foreseeable future.

Aloha oi International Marketplace!  You can look for the new mall and Saks sometime in 2015.

Update:  The new projected opening date for the new upscale mall is spring 2016.

For those of you who have been out of touch for the last 48-hours or so, new volcanic activity within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park over the weekend has caused the park to close off an area within 1 mile of the eruptions.

Activity within Halemaumau Crater has been on-going for the last week or two and continues today.  The most active site over the last several years has been Pu’u ‘O’o Crater and  has increased its activity, as well as a break-out of activity along the Kilauea east rift-line about 1.25-2 miles to the west.

Previous outbreaks of activity have recently been to the east side of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater, but currently, there is no activity to the east.  And, to the disappointment of many, there is also no flow into the sea presently.

Lava fountains reaching 100′ high have been reported, although it appears to have settled down in the 35-65’ range.

This is a view from a temporary webcam set up by the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, overlooking Halemaumau Crater.   It does breakdown and is not always repaired immediately, so you may not see anything.  (Keep in mind the time difference, if it appears dark there.  And, this is a good time to mention that Hawaii does not observe Daylight Savings Time, so time difference between Hawaii and the east coast will be 6-hours, as of Sun, March 13.)

This is the site for Pu’u ‘O’o crater, again, set up by the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, facing the south wall of the crater.  Again, due to its remote location, breakdowns in the equipment is common and is not repaired immediately.

Another video courtesy of Associated Press:

When you leave the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, you will be turning to the left to continue your circle the island drive.  Just a few miles down the road, if you turn right at the sign that directs you to the golf course, you will find the Volcano Winery.

I doubt that this little winery will ever make the top 20 of wineries to visit, but its a nice break and the wines are pretty good and better yet, affordable.  If nothing else, you may want to consider a bottle or two as gifts, rather than the anticipated pineapple you might have been considering!

About 30 minutes further along Hwy 19 (aka Mamalahoa Hwy), you will come to Punaluu Beach Park, black sand beach.  Its just a short mile off the highway and odds are excellent that you will also be able to view some Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles sunning themselves on the black sand or feeding in the shallows.

Punaluu Beach State Park, Big Island

Endangered Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

Its a nice place for a picnic, but make sure you bring lunch with you because you won’t find any food vendors in the area.  If a picnic fits in your timeline, you may want to plan on stopping at Pahala, a small town about 6 miles back towards the Volcanoes National Park, to pick up some sandwiches or something.

Further along Hwy 19, you will come to the town of Naalehu, “The Southernmost Community in the USA, is their claim to fame.  You will also find the Punaluu Bakery…it got its start at Punaluu, but moved to Naalehu years ago.  You may have even seen some of their baked goods, particularly their sweetbreads, in stores around the island.  My favorites are the regular and guava flavored sweetbreads.

About 15 minutes further along and you will come to the turn off that will take you down to the coast at Ka Lae (aka South Point).   Its about 8 miles down and most of it through some pretty barren, windswept grasslands.

You have now reached THE southernmost point of the US!  Next stop…Antarctica!  I have an article located elsewhere on this blog on South Point, so I’ll leave this description brief.  I will mention that Papakolea, the green sand beach is located nearby, requiring a 4.5 mile rd-trp hike to get there, so you want to make sure you’ve planned ahead and brought water, sunscreen, and a hat, if you plan on going.

South Point looking towards the northwest, Big Island

Papakolea (Green Sand) Beach, Big Island, Hawaii

Once back on Hwy 19 and headed back northward, you have about an hour’s drive until you reach Kailua-Kona.  This drive includes some of the twistiest and narrowest roads you have been on so far.  Locals will try to blow-by you as you maintain the 35 mph speed limit, but its much safer to go slow, especially when you’re not familiar with the roads.

There are places to stop and visit along the way as you get closer to Kailua-Kona; coffee outlets, Puuhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge), and I’ll be posting another article with more things to see and do in the Kona area in the near future.

As you can see, its a huge mistake to try and make this trip in one-day!  I would encourage you to plan on spending at least a full-day exploring the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park!  There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world!

As a matter of fact, if you only visited ONE PLACE on your entire visit to Hawaii…this should probably be it.  Think about it.  Where else can you see an active volcano/lava flow, lush tropical rainforests, innumerable birds found nowhere else on earth, Hawaiian petroglyphs, and find hiking trails ranging from easy to challenging, all in one locale?

I also strongly suggest you visit my website at www.myhawaiionline.com to learn more about the activities and places to go, as well as find links to several of the more popular ones.