Volcano Holo Holo

We went on a little Volcano National Park holo holo yesterday. We stayed overnight, then visited the area where the flows from 1969-74 came down to the sea, and where the flows from 1983 to still going on, also came down to the sea, closing the road, probably for good.


We came down the Chain of Craters Road and parked at the red arrow, walking to where the road was covered over with lava.

The flow from 69-74, coming down the hill.

Lava art.

Like something from a H.R. Geiger drawing!

Kirsty standing on the end of the road.

When the weight of the lava isn't supported properly by previous flows, the lava can break off into the ocean in giant pieces!

Kilauea at night (and this picture I did take).

Kilauea and the full moon!

Peace my friends!

Ginger Island Girl

After months of painstaking research and a touch of alchemy, Kirsty has blended a very luxurious hawaiian facial cleanser from kukui nut oil, avocado oil, vitamin e and a wee bit of the essential oils. She has also been hand-knitting facecloths from the finest hemp yarn.

You can view her products at :
Hawaiian Facial Cleansing Oil

Peace (and a clean face) my friends!

Good As Bread

Kirsty has baked the best bread of her life, and it equals any bread we have eaten in France or Italy. She got the recipe from Jim Lahey's book "my bread." He owns Sullivan Street Bakery in New York (http://www.sullivanstreetbakery.com/). Jim studied sculpting in college before deciding to work with bakers in Italy. We think he made the right choice!

Stecca (stick in Italian) bread.

If I had scratch n'sniff, your nose would be in for a treat as well. It smells and tastes much better than it looks here. The dough has a crisp exterior and a soft, light, slightly chewy, slight sourdough tangy interior. The Italians say "good as bread" instead of "good as gold." Capice?!

Peace my friends!

Gluten-Free Pizza

Wednesday night at la cuisine de Kirsty. Oven-baked, hand-made gluten free pizza crust, with chargrilled artichoke hearts, chargrilled courgettes, fresh tomatoes, a whiff of parmesan, capers, and freshly torn basil. Delicieuse!

Peace my friends!

Megaptera Novaeangliae

Or humpback whales to the hoi polloi. We participated in the Sanctuary Ocean Count sponsored by National Marine Sanctuaries and NOAA (http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/). The count is held the last Saturday of January, February, and March (during peak whale season) of each year from 8:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

We saw 22 adult and 2 juvenile whales during our 4 hour watching period, marking down tail and fin slaps, breaches, blows, and dives. The whales are heading back to Alaska now to gorge on the abundant seafood buffet line!

Pesce my friends!

Hilo Now

We moved to Hilo on Monday. To the land of daily rain and warm temperatures.  Here are a few pics to welcome you to Hilo:

The Hilo library is unlike any other I've been to. It has an open air courtyard and there isn't any glass between the book stacks and the courtyard  There are tables and benches in the open air as well, with wifi access all about.

I like the tennis balls on the chair legs!

We went to the market and took home (among other things), a freshly chopped-open coconut full of delicious water! The women who chopped the coconut has to be pushing 80, and I was worried she would lose a finger or two in the process. I don't think this was the first coconut she'd chopped though, so all went well!

Peace my friends!

Geckos

We were at the Kona market and found that we were being helped by a couple of the wee folk:

Peace my friends!