A Little Aloha

Hawaii. The Aloha State, to those of us versed in American license plate taglines.

Some of us have been there or know of someone who has. Many vow to return. Before my trip to the Big Island in November, I had voiced my vow to return around 30 years ago from the smaller island of Maui. I guess it took longer than I expected. I have mixed feelings about the decades gap. A return during that period would most likely have been with someone no longer in my life, and those memories can be complicated as I know from other vacations past. But it is also Hawaii and there are too many years of its magic lost to time. But, oh, I vow to go again and am not too worried.

I didn’t go alone. I met up with my best friend from college, Stacey, who is like a sister to me and her daughter, Sola, who is like my niece. The last time Stacey and I travelled together was during our college years, again close to 30 years ago. To say it was about time for another adventure is an understatement. And if I’m going down the path of needed vacations, it had been almost a decade since I stepped on a plane, never mind taken a destination vacation. Sure, I’ve done some stellar road trips within reason, but to pull out a passport and travel? I will be the first to admit that I don’t give myself gifts or luxuries very easily. I’m not sure I want to delve into the reasoning behind this and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want any revelations shared here. So, let’s get back to paradise instead.

I am going to make a confession right away: I did not take my camera. I took a camera, yes, but not the camera most might expect. Ninety percent of me said no to the extra weight of my DSLR and lenses while ten percent tried to guilt-trip me without success. I compromised with my cell phone camera and GoPro for any water activities. I found this was perfect for focusing on myself and not the photos I should be taking. Were there moments of regret? I’m a photographer, so sure, but it wasn’t enough to ruin my vacation. I have already decided to go back for a photo trip, which will have to wait for the arts and crafts trip and the writing retreat first. I can’t forget the manta ray do-over trip too (I’ll explain this one later).

This year has been a heavy one despite my efforts to simplify and accept things as they happened. Even though I booked my flight during the summer it wasn’t until getting on the plane in Vancouver that took me off the mainland and out of the country that it felt like it was a go. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I attempted to find some interesting activities on Pinterest. I also came across an old travel guide for the Big Island on the bookshelf at home and tossed it into my backpack. I want to say how awesome it was to not be overprepared. The lack of expectation and responsibility was jarring at first, but might be considered lifesaving in ways I can’t explain. Stepping off the plane in Kailua-Kona, the tropical winds seemed to wrap me in a welcoming hug giving me permission to put aside my life on the mainland for the one I was about to have.

Despite the previous long travel day, I was awake before sunrise the first morning. This continued to be my habit while I was there. My destination beach was Magic Sands and I would get there early enough to watch the experienced body boarders tackle the surf before the strip of incredibly soft sand filled with tourists later on. After a bit I’d head home, stopping at all the other accesses to water along the way. Each beach had its own vibe that I enjoyed. I was part of the morning movement in our area—people walking, running, and biking along Ali’i Drive before the sun rose and brought the heat. Everyone shared a friendly greeting with one another and I felt very welcome. Morning walks were my favourite part to each day, aside from coming home to share a fresh pot of Kona coffee and breakfast on the lanai with my travel mates. We had our own amazing view of the ocean and beautiful gardens that attracted birds and anoles.

The condo we rented was south of downtown Kailua-Kona and for me is a preferred choice over a resort. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve stayed in some swanky resorts over the years, but at this age I prefer more autonomy and privacy, as well as the need to live a little more local to find food, transportation, activities, and just my way around. I also think I sync with the surroundings better. Our immediate surroundings consisted of a very vocal in the early morning rooster on one side of the property and very vocal at night coqui frogs on the other side. I was surprised to hear the coqui frogs since I thought they were indigenous to Puerto Rico—which they are, and are where I first was introduced to their unique call—but they somehow ended up being transported to Hawaii. Even species of animals are expanding their reach on the planet, not unlike humans. Giant African Land Snails have also found their way over and when I saw my first one I thought, “Whoa everything grows big here,” but no, these critters actually are big. This tidbit of information came from googling whether the giant snails in Hawaii were going to kill me (in a toxic sense and not whether they had bad tempers and would stab me) if I had a close encounter. And no, they aren’t dangerous in either way. This was good to know when I had to relocate one in the Costco parking lot so I wouldn’t step on it.

Yes, Costco is everywhere, even in paradise (Hawaii is an annexed US state after all), and an initial supply run for essentials was good advice I acquired from my Pinteresting. This is where the best pineapple I’ve had since my last trip to Hawaii was found. You can also pick up authentic Hawaiian shirts and other summer clothes that you’ll have to wait months before wearing back at home (but this doesn’t stop you from buying them). I also wonder how many tourists pick up the giant bag of Maui chips, package of Costco cookies, and containers of spinach artichoke dip that they can’t possibly finish before their vacation is over. Asking for friends. I was hungry before leaving for Hawaii, not literally but more like I wanted to eat all the good, fresh food there. I found I ate a lot less than I expected and am living with that disappointment now that I’m home. I knew ahead of time that we were going to be walking distance to a poke restaurant and I planned to frequent it. I grabbed my first poke bowl on the last day as we vacated our condo. It’s now when I’d like a whole shipment of food sent from Hawaii. You can bet I’m rationing the Kona coffee beans and Noms candy I brought back. On a positive note, we did have our fair share of shave ice so not all is lost.

We didn’t get lost during our explorations but found a lot of fun and unexpected surprises. Volcanoes National Park was something we all wanted to see so it was one of the first excursions. I recommend learning about the volcanoes in Hawaii since you are essentially walking around on lava everywhere you go. On the Big Island they are also very much living and breathing and I’d consider it a good sign when arriving at the visitor’s center to read notices stating there are no current eruptions. The drive up to Kilauea is gradual, the views incredible, and you can sense the elevation as your ears begin to pop. It does not look like the volcanoes we drew in elementary school, though. As you explore the landscape you realize how vast and flat it is. Oh, there’s a deep crater, but it could house a large city and you can definitely see the bottom where the lava flows have hardened. A huge tear in the landscape on the ocean side of the crater made me think of the Grand Canyon. You can feel the volcano’s breath at the steam vents, which was a welcome hit of warmth because a hard mist and a heavy wind were prevalent the day we were there. Our vehicle said it was 13 degrees Celsius, which was a far cry from 29 at sea level. I had been to this volcano on my first trip to the islands when I was 12 years old, but I don’t remember the weather back then. I do remember my hair blowing sideways on Maui’s Haleakala during my second trip. Regardless, a windbreaker is a smart thing to take to a volcano, unless you want to look like the unprepared sightseers wearing those plastic-bag jacket things sold in visitor gift shops. Speaking of tourists in plastic bags, I can’t forget the one who almost ran over a pair of Nene in his rented Jeep at one of the lookouts.

On the highway up to the crater, there are big yellow signs alerting drivers to Nene, which also show a silhouette image of a goose-like bird. You don’t need to know that the Nene is Hawaii’s protected state bird to understand they are obviously important enough to put signs up for caution. We were actively looking for a Nene after seeing these signs and the first one we thought we saw turned out to be an Asian pheasant, so that was just a no-no. Pulling into one of many lookout parking lots, we saw two women standing on a sidewalk, both with binoculars aimed at two medium-sized geese a few feet in front of them. Now this is the first and only conclusion I jumped to on this entire trip so forgive me when my reaction was to say how ridiculous these “bird watchers” looked using binoculars when they were practically standing over birds. “Who are they trying to impress?” I said as I rolled my eyes. This was when my very smart BFF informed me that they obviously worked there because “look at their pants.” To this day I have no clue as to how normal khaki hiking pants made them park or wildlife officials in Stacey’s eyes, but the clipboard and reciting of the numbers on the birds’ leg bands certainly backed her conclusion. As we tiptoed around the official wildlife work being done, while I mentally apologized for not understanding their pants, jerk in a Jeep whipped into the parking spot where the birds were standing and almost wiped them out. The officials managed to stop him just in time, and impressively without yelling or swearing like we were underneath our breaths. When we later came across the offending driver on a path to the crater’s rim, he still had the look of indignation from his parking encounter, so we made sure to have a loud enough conversation about the guy who almost killed the Nene. Some people don’t get it. Don’t be that guy.

An in-the-moment side trip to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach on our way up to Kilauea gave us a positive wildlife encounter to remember. Marvelling at the black sand and lava rock everywhere, it took me a minute to see a hand-painted Do Not Enter sign sticking out of the sand. It was just inside an outline of a large square made with lava rocks. The bottom of the square was open to where the beach met the ocean. There were three large rocks within the perimeter and when my brain caught up to my thoughts, I realized these weren’t rocks but SEA TURTLES sleeping in the warm sand. I yelled to Stacey and Sola to come look. We had been hearing about sea turtles from the locals but didn’t expect to stumble across them so easily. It was hard not be humbled in the presence of these beautiful, ancient-looking creatures. While they slept peacefully, another was making its way out of the ocean. It needed to navigate around some lava rock and I could understand the struggle they face out of the water. Land is not their forte. This one finally got itself perched over a low rock, dropped its head down, and fell into a sleep. The one closest to us opened its eyes and stretched its neck before dozing off again. I wanted to rub my hand over its smooth round head but of course you can’t touch these creatures. It makes me sad to think we’ve destroyed so much of their existence, and without even touching them.

The Universe wanted me on this trip because I was blessed with another sea turtle encounter while snorkelling. There are some great places to snorkel in the Hawaiian Islands and Two Step is a worthwhile trek in these parts. You can also grab a meal at the award-winning Black Rock Pizza in Captain Cook on the way home. I told you, I went there with food in mind. In common Google Maps fashion, we ended up taking the more “scenic,” i.e. curvy, through neighbourhoods, past the landfill on an almost one-lane road with zero shoulders, route to get there. Not saying this wasn’t appreciated because the landscape is gorgeous along Napoopoo Road as you descend to the shoreline. Google also got a little vague around Two Step and we ended up driving into a National Park parking lot. And since we paid the fee, we thought we’d at least check out where we were. This turned out to be Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, historic royal grounds and a place of refuge. One does not need to be told this is a highly important and spiritual place because you feel it the minute you enter. The grounds are sacred and stunning and I did my best to grasp their significance. I’ve read more about it since and it’s another worthwhile place to visit. It also turned out to be a perfect way to connect with the beautiful energy of the location we were ultimately heading to, which we could see was literally next door. We didn’t need Google from here.

Honaunau Bay is where the refuge/royal grounds and Two Step are, and I could see it’s a popular surf spot off in the distance as well. The snorkelling location is a large lava outcropping from which you can enter the sea-life-filled waters. Yes, there is a ledge in one spot that forms “two steps” for easier access in and out, though we still had to time the waves so as not to get slammed up against rock. Lava rock can be very abrasive, especially if you trip and land on it (just saying). It will also do some extensive damage to a GoPro if you, for no good reason, have it out of its protective case and drop it while taking a photo (just saying again). The place was busy but not crowded, which suits me fine because there are things in the ocean that can kill you and having others around feels like better survival odds in you favour, somehow. I shared my personal safety protocol with Sola and Stacey before entering the water: make sure there is always someone farther out than you. It’s simply because they will hopefully “see” a shark first. You can’t tell me others haven’t thought of this life hack for self-preservation. Otherwise, just go have fun.

As I started out, a random couple I was swimming past asked if I wanted to see a moray eel. Heck yeah, or “heh eh,” I said through my snorkel. I swam over and spent a good five minutes looking at the spot one of them was pointing to—a large spherical chunk of coral. I saw fish, but no eel. Not wanting to put a damper on their excitement, I gave a thumbs up pretending to see it. They swam off content while I stayed, determined to actually see the damn eel. Then I heard them yelling to me, asking if I wanted to see a puffer fish. Somehow I had ended up with my own snorkelling guides. I swam the 20 or so feet to check out the puffer which I actually saw, thankfully. We parted ways and I went back to the eel location for another quick look, and still it was a no show. There were plenty of fish in this sea so I was not hung up on an invisible one. I watch a lot of nature documentaries and as I swam around filming the underwater landscape with my GoPro, I couldn’t help but have David Attenborough’s voice narrating the experience in my head. As many of us non-Hawaiians do when we visit the islands, we mess up on pronouncing the local language, even though it doesn’t keep us from trying. I know I have some work to do when it comes to the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa. Stacey and Sola will say I have a lot of work to do on many other words too. They patiently sat through heaps of mispronunciations as I tried to vocalize locations and streets to guide us around. Maybe a book on Hawaiian words is something I should pick up next time.

I finally got to see an eel at a different location and thought I had encountered my coolest creature when another random snorkelling guide somewhere around me said, “There’s a turtle!” I looked where he was pointing and realized the turtle was more here than there. I had a turtle encounter while snorkelling in Maui and it was amazing, but I also realized I was the farthest one out in the water so high-tailed it to shore. I figured that had been my one-shot sea turtle experience in this life. But here it was happening again and this time I had a camera and felt safe enough to follow at a respectful distance. I’m not sure how long I was able to keep up and watch this master swimmer glide effortlessly through the ocean, but it was enough to solidify my want to be reincarnated as a sea turtle in the next life. I really don’t know what else to say about this moment except “mahalo,” which I can actually pronounce properly.

Our self-snorkelling adventures—we also went to Kahalu’u Beach Park—made up for a bigger water adventure Stacey and I went on. Stacey really wanted to see manta rays and this area is known for them. Sola chose to sit this one out while I said yes to a memory-maker. Little did I know the memory to be made. And it wasn’t until Stacey said Sola wasn’t keen to get in the ocean at night that I realized it was to take place at night. In hindsight, like many other life choices, I should have really thought this one through. But I managed to get over my anxiety as I really had zero ability to worry about anything while in the island state of mind. So, when Stacey and I checked in at the dive shop (we would be snorkelling, not diving) I was pretty stoked and decided to buy a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. The ocean had quite a bit of chop and as our boat left the marina, I focused hard on the shoreline so I wouldn’t get sick on the way to the manta site. I’m prone to motion sickness and boats can be terrible for me (I learned this while deep sea fishing in Mexico) but felt I could handle the waves by what I watched and the fresh air blowing around me. The vibrant sunset was also a nice distraction. Pulling into the small cove, other excursions were already there and I felt some comfort in the small crowd (self-preservation and all). The waves didn’t stop, however, and in fact it felt worse rolling back and forth in an anchored position. I was surely looking nauseous (because I was) and Stacey asked if I was okay. I said I’d be great once in the water. This turned out to be extremely false. First off, the water wasn’t cold enough to shock my system back to a reset, and second, being at the water’s surface kept us rocking and rolling. Us snorkellers held on to a kind of SUP board so we could be moved as a group to different locations. Divers went below to set up lights to attract plankton for the mantas to eat. I was okay when I could focus on the bottom and the divers, but when the plankton started to show up, everything got cloudy and unfocused. Before I knew it, I was away from the comfort of the board, treading water alone, and puking my guts out as a bunch of strangers off in the dark somewhere got to listen. I was even too miserable to worry about my survival odds at that point. Once I joined the group again I felt a bit better, but a part of me wished I had bailed along with one of the other participants when we first entered the water. And if you are wondering about the mantas, this was the first night in November that they didn’t show up. I get that wildlife is unpredictable, but way to add insult to injury. Later, back on land and heading to our vehicle to pick up Sola, who I couldn’t help think was having a much better time hanging out downtown, we ran into a couple who were part of our expedition. I apologized for my puking but the wife, bless her, said she wasn’t bothered at all and at the time hoped it might have helped attract the mantas. At least we could laugh at the hot mess of a night we experienced. Yes, I went to swim with mantas and all I got was a lousy t-shirt.

Kind and happy people were in the majority everywhere we went. The locals have such a good way with us visitors and I’d love to know their secret, living in a tourist destination myself. I don’t have that kind of tolerance. Maybe it’s the location, or maybe I just was so wrapped up in bliss that I didn’t see the other side of things. I do know there is something so very special in those islands, and if you feel it, you respect it. On my last morning swim in our complex’s pool, I chatted with another woman who was flying home that day as well. She was a regular visitor and remarked on a profound energy around the islands. I told her that I had stopped at every beach along my walk earlier and expressed gratitude to the ocean, land, and nature that made my stay so special. When she left the pool, she said she was going to the beach across the road to do the same thing. I will say now that I’m also grateful for a positive connection with other humans during those days, and the most gratitude goes to the humans I was travelling with. I would like to say to Sola, I admire your calm demeanor and sense of humor in all situations and your comfort with independence. I will always do my best to have advice and life hacks (albeit some unconventional ones) when you need them. To Stacey, one of my best besties, you now know I love you enough to swim in the ocean at night and get sick in front of strangers so you can (almost) fulfill a dream. And I will do it again, along with a healthy dose of Dramamine, to actually see those mantas. Plus, we have the lifetime manta guarantee and I have the shirt, so there’s that. I love you both to Hawaii and back.

Leaving is never easy, and leaving six beautiful but still underripe avocados that were purchased from a roadside vendor on the first day of our vacation might have made it harder. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are still ripening up on someone’s windowsill. Thank goodness for the four-pound edible one we picked up at the grocery store that took us the entire week to finish. What I wouldn’t give for a fresh avocado as I watch the grey days and sometimes snow fall here at home. Our flight out was a late one so Stacey and Sola went to get tattoos and I went to explore more beaches. I figured flesh wounds from a lava rock mishap was enough discomfort for one trip and a tattoo could wait for another time. Though, to be fair, Stacey was also bringing home sea urchin spines in the side of her foot (water shoes doen’t always protect you, FYI). I managed to get to the remaining beach on my wish list, which was tucked behind a gated neighbourhood. This required sleuthing Google reviews in order to find directions and I managed to only get lost once. This is all the information you’ll get from me because I believe some places need to remain discoverable to those who are willing to put a little effort in. Afterwards, I needed to pick up a couple things for the trip home and stopped at Target, which I discovered gives me some feelings of nostalgia from when I lived in the US. Christmas was in full swing here, as it was just days before US Thanksgiving, and it shook some reality back into me. I suppose the large inflatable turkey yard displays I saw while driving around did that as well. One person’s exotic paradise is another’s home where they need to live, work, pay bills, feed their families, and survive. Everyday life goes on everywhere. Respecting this and not letting our own perfect vacation needs supersede the needs of the locals will make us better travellers.

Hawaii made me better. Or maybe it was the time I gave to myself or the reconnecting I needed with people I love. I have a feeling it was all of the above. I wanted to hang onto that betterness once I got home, too, so I attempt to bring some of the Hawaii experience into my own everyday to keep the better going. Before I leave this human life to come back as a sea turtle, I hope I become a mosaic of everywhere I’ve been and every person I’ve encountered. I want to show that I’ve lived a multi-dimensional life with an open heart, mind, and curiosity for the world because what a gift it can be if we accept it.

Happy and peaceful new year to you all.