Aloha Travelblog, Days 7 & 8

Day Seven: Despite weather charts, stories, warnings, and centuries of folklore indicating otherwise, we did not see a single drop of rain the entire time we were in Hilo. Ed and Amy, who just moved to the Big Island from McKinleyville, CA, where it rains like Seattle's melancholy little brother, are used to arranging their lives according to the day's weather patterns: when it's rainy, you take care of indoor projects, paint, study, write, nap, etc.; when the sun shines, though, you make hay, so to speak. Or, in our case, you play. The unexpectedly good weather allowed us to do plenty of outdoor activities during our stay on the "wet" side of the island.

John and Eddie started the day off with an early surf session just north of Hilo Bay. Once the guys returned, we toured the home and 10+ acres that Ed, Amy and a few other folks are currently renting (see two photos, above). Since his arrival in early January, Ed has managed to clear a path through the overgrown jungle that is his backyard to find a deserted and dormant macadamia tree grove; the side yard, once cleared of its overgrowth, revealed a lychee tree. The front driveway is lined with potted herbs, succulents, and tropical plants. With his green thumb, if there's any plant or tree on the property with even a shred of photosynthetic capacity left, it will soon see new life through farmer Ed's patient and able hands. The guy's truly in his element.

Since the sun was out, we made a beach day of it, heading to a picturesque place called "Four Mile." Take a good, long look at the photo above. Go ahead, click it to enlarge it so you can get a really good look. It was THAT pretty. We swam in those placid swimming holes. We ate lunch on a grassy knoll just like that one. We gazed at the newly fallen snow on Mauna Loa in the distance. And before long, we were scheming how we could move to Hawaii.

After figuring out just how many bedrooms and bathrooms we'd need considering all the company we'd surely be entertaining once we made our big "move," we settled back into reality and headed back to the house to meet up with Amy, who was just returning from attending class at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where she's working on her undergraduate degree.




The whole lot of us then went to check out the Hilo Zoo (which was free, by the way, as are a surprising number of public attractions in Hawaii). Since we were there for the last hour of the day, we had the place essentially to ourselves and were even able to witness the once-a-day feeding time for Namaste, the zoo's lone white tiger, wherein he scarfed three whole chickens (the crunch of the bones sounded like he was absentmindedly finishing off a case of Pringles while planted in front of a college football game), and a bunch of ground beef, which was also full of bones. For calcium, we were informed by the zookeeper. Yeah? Wow. I've got lots of bones. Maybe I'll step over here for now.


Day Eight: Another sunny day, another beach day. (We're very easy to please, in case you haven't figured that out yet. Besides, sightseeing with babies is just no fun for nobody.) Back to Richardson's, this time mid-day instead of at sunset. Another gorgeous spot. Another day free from rain. Another day spent scheming of our imminent relocation.

Would Finn learn to surf (quicker than he would here at home, that is)?
Would Shea learn to hula dance?
Would we ever get tired of tropical fruit?


Does one ever grow weary of paradise?