Hawaii Wrapup

Now that we are back, and the tall tales are increasing by the hour, it seemed to be a good time to reflect on our experiences on the big island.  There were many highlights such as the following:

The Hawaiian People

               Are warm, friendly, relaxed, and very accepting.  Everyone is really an immigrant, starting from the Polynesians who originally inhabited the islands somewhere in 500 AD.  A large number of Japanese and Chinese workers were brought in to work on the sugar cane plantations, so this is a very mixed culture of multi-Asian people.  A surprising number of people in the service industry were Americans from other states who loved the island and decided to stay.  We avoided talking politics, but there was a group of protesters voicing their distaste with Trump’s immigration proposals.

The Weird and Wonderful World of Cattle

               This animal was trying to become feral…..see below:

               There are some immense cattle ranches on the big island, where there are some excellent areas of grazing on older lava flows, and a non-stop season of grass.  Now, here is where it gets weird.  Most of the cattle are shipped by 747 to the mainland, or by boat to Canada followed by trucking to Texas.  (Huh?)  Apparently, no shipbuilder in the US makes cattle haulers and there is an obscure US law that makes it illegal for a foreign-built ship to sail from one US port to another.  So the foreign-built ships, which are old cruise ships, make the trip from Hawaii to Vancouver.  This makes me wonder—are the buffets as good for the cattle?  And who does concierge service?

Lava (You knew I would get to this……)

               To start with, Hawaii is entirely volcanic and comprises 5 volcanoes, none of which are considered dead.  The current most active volcano is Mount Kilauea, which started erupting in 1983 and continues to this day, which is considered admirable to say the least.

The actual flows are coming from a rift zone, 10 miles away from the volcano’s caldera.  The volcano is considered very “laid back” and instead of offering volcanic eruptions, it gently flows in little rivulets.  We were in no danger—it was like a blast furnace 10-12 feet away from the flow.  There was no temptation to get closer.  Trust me.

               Our guide book provided some amazing statistics:

               The total lava erupted since 1983 is 4.6 billion cubic yards (which would fill over 300 million dump trucks).  The average temperature of lava is 2000F and it only loses 20F travelling in lava tubes (hate to step on top of a weak one).  The total area covered by this eruption is 48 square miles, and includes 500 acres of new land, which is entirely barren.

Native, Non-Native and Feral

               A lot of animals used for domestic purposes were brought to the island, including pigs and chickens carried by the original Polynesians.  Many more animals and birds were brought by European and Asian settlers (including the infamous mongoose introduced to eat rats).  All of the domesticated animals developed their own feral populations, some of which are very destructive, and some of which are plain amusing.  (I am still entertained by feral chickens which are absolutely everywhere, whether rural or urban.  This little family was in the parking lot of the grocery store in a very small town.)

There are feral pigs, cattle and horses.  (Another island has apparently feral wallabies!)  One of the songbirds introduced was the Northern Cardinal, and on most days we could hear them singing lustily, which really confused me until I learned they WERE Northern Cardinals.  So identification of some species was a little chancy.  Whatever was introduced seemed to prosper, so there are lots of them.

               One native bird was the Hawaiian Dene goose.  In case they look somewhat familiar, they are considered to be descendants of Canada geese (so much for the new and novel).

Warning Signs

               Hawaiians don’t mess around with warning signs—but when they do post them, you have to take them seriously.  Most were unique in my experience.

Road Construction and Infrastructure

               Hawaiian roads are made of (what else?) crushed lava, but road work is a really hard undertaking.  Lava stone is called “Basalt” which comes from a Latin term meaning “very hard stone”.  It is VERY hard stone.  Lava terrain is irregular, and you have to jackhammer the stuff, which is almost unyielding.  The noise at a construction site is dreadful.

Keep in mind that the whole island is lava……so there are no basements, and it is somewhat difficult to bury pipe and cables.  Instead, you will often see sights like this:

Boys and Their Toys

               There are good major roads on the island, but many of the minor ones were posted as All Wheel Drive.  This allowed Hawaiian men to be real men with real trucks.  (I am not picking on the male sex, but I didn’t see women driving these things……….)

The Challenges of Flower Identification

               Hawaii featured so many flowers, both native and introduced, and it was a colourful feast for the eyes.  Some were familiar, but I did have some identification challenges with the last one.

Turned out someone had lost their sun shade, and someone else draped it on a stick!  Obviously it was time for this tourist to go home and deal with the more familiar sights.  In summary, the Hawaii trip had “Wow!” moments every day, and we couldn’t have enjoyed it more.  As soon as they change their president, we’ll consider going back!