TravelStream™ news feed for member becpowell on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/becpowell en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:53:15 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1224008400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1224008400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1224008400/tpod.html Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:53:15 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Kapaa, Hawaii, United States

Day 229 - Said goodbye to Todd, who was feeling a bit hungover this morning and after sitting on the beach and eating my quesadilla, I drove along the narrow, winding road to Hanalei for the final time.  Since the town has such a great feel, I spent some time there and drank a bottle of Tahitian lemonade on a bench, before deciding to make my way back down the coast as I had a flight booked to Oahu on Tuesday (tomorrow).I grabbed some take away lunch in Hanalei and drove to Princeville, which is a very twee, top-of-the-range resort of expensive houses and condos and perfectly pruned gardens.  Luckily you can enjoy the view for free, so I sat myself on a bench and ate from my polystyrene box!Returned to Kapa'a, where there was a huge raining storm so got a coffee before whiling away the afternoon in an internet cafe.Since I can't go back to Waikiki, I had to find somewhere else to stay tonight.  Luckily there was another hostel in town and it's a pretty cool affair too.  The place is an old chiropractic practice which has been converted to a very charming hostel, featuring kingsize beds in the dorms and large outside areas for partying.  The place was crawling with Americans, who are generally very friendly, but finding myself all talked out, I took a walk along the beach and into town to admire the full moon beaming on the ocean.  When I returned I finally managed to figure out who was working there and who wasn't so I could obtain some bed linen and I had an early night - although I was rudely awakened by a guy collapsing on my bed and feeling my feet under the covers, before jumping up and apologising profusely.  The second guy followed him in and fell clean over my bag and landing, yet again, on my bed!  It's all fun though!Day 230 - Having done most there is to do in Kauai and enjoying the place in terms of nature, scenery and lifestyle, I am now basically just killing time here.  Killing time in Hawaii is generally quite easy since you're never far away from a beach, but unlucky for me, today is showery and overcast.  But don't worry, because there is one more thing plentiful and free in Kauai and that's hiking trails.  Firstly I went to Kountry Kitchen diner for a decent breakfast and it turns out it's a very popular place.  Mahi mahi (fish), eggs, rice and corn bread - yum.  I then drove a few miles south and then along a new road to me, which follows the Wailua river in to the inland mountain wilderness.  I stopped at a thrift shop on the way, which is basically a charity shop full of second hand items and had a lot of fun searching through and seeing what Hawaiians throw away.  I then hiked the Kuilau Ridge trail which is 4 miles or so there and back.  It's a very beautiful trail and takes you through a new landscape again - the very green peaks and ridges forming the centre of the island and the lush, forest wilderness filling the valleys and slopes.  The weather meant that the hills were filled with misty clouds and so the view was restricted, but this made it quite enchanting in itself and also meant that the trail wasn't busy.Feeling a little more of an achiever from the hike, I drove back to the hostel for a shower and to gather my stuff together and by the afternoon I was making my way down towards the airport, stopping for food and internet along the way.Today is my first time flying with Island Air, proving to be the cheapest of all the interisland airlines and as the plane pulls up I am alarmed to see an old school, propellor operated machine - the likes of which I have never seen but in old movies.  It's interior is as dated as how it's exterior looks, with throwbacks from the 70s seating.  I was a tad concerned for my safety after taking in my method of transport but when the one and only hostess asked people from the front to move to the back of the plane for balance, I got nervous!The take-off was great and I even thought "what the hell was I worried about?", but with the weather being so overcast and cloudy, the flight was hugely turbulent and my stomach was in my mouth the entire journey - I thought we were sure to drop from the sky and die, I can't explain how bad the flight was in that little tin plane!  Arrived in Honolulu, not a moment too soon, and I couldn't get from the plane quick enough - I am certainly not so keen to get home after that affair!After collecting Karri Moor I went to the public bus stop and waited over half an hour for it to turn up and was sat on the damn over-air-conditioned thing for over an hour, finally making it to Waikiki sometime after 8pm.  I went directly to Beachside Hostel on Lemon Road, since it was recommended to me by a traveller in Kapa'a and ended up in an 8 bed dorm with... you guessed it... 7 boys!  The dorms are very unusual as they are en suite and have cable tv, but also two of the bunks are basically in the kitchen - it is a good hostel though.In need of food I went straight out and walked what seemed like the length of the beachside street through Waikiki, finding nothing but American and fast food (and a whole lotta tourists - albeit nice ones, which gives the place a nice atmosphere better than, say, the costa del sol).  I found a Chinese seafood place and devoured an enormous plate of scallops and brocolli and wandered back much happier.  Chatted to some of the guys in the dorm; one about to go work for the UN in New York, the other an expert chef in charge of the kitchen in one of the Hilton restaurants!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223933040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223933040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223933040/tpod.html Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:19:51 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Hanalei, Hawaii, United States

Day 226 - Woke up to pouring rain this morning (so that's why Kauai is so green!)  Being in one of the United States of America, I wanted to try pancakes for breakfast just once.  So Luke and I went out of town to a diner where I made an order of a long stack with blueberries, but the waitress told me that was wrong(!) and I couldn't handle a long stack and papaya is better than blueberry and thus she changed my order!  They came with the hugest dollop of milky butter on top and I was instructed by the waitress to put syrup on too (she didn't seem the type to argue with) and so were a pretty bad way to start the day, but sooo good!We went back to the hostel to check out and the weirdest thing happened - Maikiki had snapped!  He went into Luke's room to inspect it and found that he hadn't swept or taken the rubbish out (in which Luke was quite justified in doing since there was only a razor in the trash) - but he was looking for an excuse because he came to Luke and quite agressively told him not to come back on the property again.  Luke did his best to find out why Maikiki had changed in search of justification, but there was no talking to him and the longer he persisted, the more confrontational it got.  It was entirely crazy and neither of us knew what luke had done wrong, but somewhere, somehow, he'd seriously p*ssed this guy off!  I came back in to return my key and then he turned on me, saying how we were a team and the same side and therefore I was thrown out too!  What a nutter! No chance of staying there again!So Luke and I drove up to the north of the island to a great little surfing town called Hanalei, which has a beautiful setting with huge mountains in the background and since it's been raining, they were covered in enormous waterfalls.  The pace is generally slower than in Kapa'a and it's a laid back vibe so I think a few days here wouldn't be so much of a bad thing.  Beyond Hanalei, the road continues for 8 miles which curves around the coast and over numerous old, single lane bridges, surrounded by green jungle and taro fields on one side and beach after beach on the other, until it comes to an abrupt dead end at Ke'e Beach parking lot.  It's a great drive and a really local area and as the attendant at the hostel I stayed at tonight said "this area is the most beautiful place in Hawaii" (even the world)!We drove along the road and stopped to take a look at two big caves on the way, but since it was intermittent rain, we couldn't do too much.  Instead we drove back to hanalei to try and find me a place to stay and finding the situation slim pickings in the budget range once again, we were informed of a hostel back towards the end of the road, in a town called Ha'ena.  So we travelled back there, enjoying the drive and witnessing the amazing power my little yellow car has as everybody seemed to yield to it at all the bridges (giving it the respect it deserves!)  The 'hostel' is more of a campsite, with a big green lawn and a few basic huts, with bunks... but no sheets!  It also appears that it isn't especially run by anyone, rather you register and make yourself at home and they collect the money sometime later.  This is cool... but I am the only person here in what seems the middle of nowhere.But Luke was still in tow at this point and so we drove back to Hanalei for lunch and walked about a little, before loitering on the benches, people watching in the town centre.  Eventually I took Luke back down the south coast and to the airport so he could catch his flight back to Maui and bless his cotton socks, he gave me his sleeping bag! Which helped my situation staying in the shack a whole lot easier!I was back at the campsite at 5:30pm and ate my dinner on the gorgeous, quiet beach right outside the shack - something quite off the tourist radar as it's not easy to get to unless you live next to it, and then spent the evening trying to occupy myself without any form of entertainment or company.  The setup is too good to refuse - hot shower, loo roll provided and amazing location all for $15 a night, but it's pretty lonely being the only one knocking about the place and to make matters worse, it's a little scary too.Day 227 - So I wasn't murdered in the night, which was nice and in the morning I packed up and drove to Ke'e beach were I planned to hike a section of the Kalalau trail along the Na Pali coast - a section of the island only accessible by foot and a very popular route.  The trail is very pretty - one mile up and the other down - and along the way the environment is stunning coastline, beaches and forest, gulches and streams.  En route I came across a couple of hippies that live in the forest somewhere along the trail - apparently there's a whole clan of them that come around exchanging marjuana and cocoa for food.  The end point of my trek was the Hanakapi'ai beach, which is a rewarding end point and I hung out there a bit before crossing the freshwater stream to go back to my car.  As I was sat on a rock waiting for my feet to dry, a guy from Kauai came and sat with me and invited me to see all the fish he and his friends had caught.  There were 6 guys in all, all Kauaian and the majority of Phillippino origin and they were camping by the beach for two nights.  They were all super friendly and showed me the five or so, enormous fish they caught that morning and as we stayed and chatted longer, more of the them turned up with baskets of prawns, shellfish, freshwater fish and even one guy came out of the bushes in full camoflage and a bow and arrow, hoping to hunt some wild pig or goat!They had quite a setup going on as they seemed to do this quite often; camping out in the forest, fishing, prawning, hunting etc - it's the way they and many Kauaians are brought up and it's pretty amazing how at one with nature they are.  Seeing I was at a loose end, with no plan whatsoever for the remainder of my stay in Kauai, they said I should stay for dinner, and they cooked up one of the fish and some prawns on their open fire and we had a pretty good lunch.  A little later they urged me to stay the night and have an outdoor experience with some locals and although it seems crazy, they were all so genuine, warm and friendly that I agreed!  However, they had run out of a few provisions (rum and cigarettes) and since I wanted to go back and get something from my car, by and large, myself and two of the guys, Greg and Domingo, walked the 2 mile path back to the road, jumped into their car and drove to Hanalei to get what they needed and then returned back to the camp.  Whilst in town, the guys bought some 'chili-pepper chicken' which apparently is "kind of a big deal in this area" and I got to try it - these are the experiences you miss out of when you're not in the know!Back at the camp I had a bath in the freshwater river and it was like something from a Timotei advert - such paradise; right in the middle of the jungle, in a cold, clear river and noone else about - this is experiencing Kauai at it's best.  It turned out I was very ill equipped for camping, but since they felt I was their guest, they treated me like a Queen and offered me what they could.  For dinner they cut up the biggest fish and served some as sashimi (yup, we ate raw fish in the middle of the jungle), as well as shellfish soup, rice and baked fish.  We gathered under the tarpaulin and hung out with a bottle of rum while they freaked me out by the idea of centipedes, which appeared to be out in force that night and are poisonous (they were worried, so therefore I was really worried)!  I suppose you could say were quite characters and the most memorable conversation I can think of was when Greg, who is 25, told me of his plan to go to the Czech Republic in 3 years to find himself a wife because he liked blonde girls and I kindly informed him that blonde girls are the minority in that country and he'd be better thinking of Scandinavia!  It was quite amazing also, that I thought they were talking in Phillippino or something, but when I asked they told me it was pigeon english - basically the Kauaian slang and accent which I kid you not, was like a foreign language to me! I had no idea what they were saying so they had to turn it on and off for my benefit! One of the older guys, Tony took me out prawning in the dark and he was darting about on the rocks and caught 10 within 2 minutes with his net.  The whole evening was such a fun, random and excellent occasion and an act of spontaneity that makes you tune in to your instincts!  When it came to sleeping, the guys had one tent and I was told to sleep in there with Tony so i'd be warm and safe from centipedes, while the other guys huddled under a single tarpaulin.  It should be wierd sharing a tent with this middle aged Kauaian, but it wasn't at all and he made me have his blow up bed so he slept on the ground!  It rained in the night, but noone got wet, but I believe Tony did have a drama with a centipede inside the tent, which I was glad he saved until morning to tell me!Day 228 - Tony endearingly tapped me on the head to say good morning and I got up, hearing the boys up and about by the river.  For breakfast they heated up some hot cocoa and ate tinned "Vienna Sausages" (which they loved, maybe as much as Spam), but since those things consist of over 3 types of 'meat', I declined and contended with an apple and a donut.  In addition, we were out of drinking water and so filled our bottle with cocoa, which does not make good thirst quenching.We left pretty early as the surf was coming up (expected 15 ft along the coast) and soon the whole beach would be washed away.  The hike back was fun because of the guys company and everyone we met starting out their trek, enquired about our camping and commended me on coping with 6 guys!  At the carpark I said goodbye to my Kauaians and headed back to the YMCA campsite where I intended to stay another night to enjoy the area.  Not long after I arrived I met a guy called Todd, who is from Idaho but staying in Kauai for a while as he has friends in the area and he was staying in one of the shacks at the campsite too.  I went into Hanalei for lunch and to potter about, and it's funny how once you meet one set of locals, everyone starts making conversation with you in the street - perhaps I'm giving off more of a local vibe - but that's more the nature of the town - people will smile and say "good morning" no matter who you are.I went back to the campsite to chill on the beach and after a while I joined Todd and his mates Johnny and Winston that live in on the street, who were watching the local kids body boarding in the huge surf that had developed through the day and enjoying a beer.  It was great entertainment and also such a great way to sit and watch the local way of life - the community came together on the beach.  There were kids in the sea, mothers watching or joining in, dogs in tow and the Dads off surfing at another spot.  All over the area there were areas congested with pickups and surfers heading to the ocean on a Sunday afternoon and when I went to town for dinner, the whole place had a great buzz as everyone lived for days like this - great weather and great surfing!I went to a Mexican for dinner and took home half as well as some beers I bought on Todds request.  In the evening Todd and I sat and watched the surf under the amazing full moon and drank the beers and fortunately, being the only two at the campsite, we got on like a house on fire.
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Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Day 223 - Had pad thai and a cup of tea for breakfast and was the only car in the car park at Kilauea Iki crater at 7:30 in the morning.  It's better to hike in the cooler mornings and so I set off on the lovely 4 mile trek which takes you around the crater rim halfway, through native forest, where I saw lots of endangered Nene (Hawaiian goose).  Reaching the far end of the crater, you then descend onto solidified magma floor of the crater and walk back through the middle of it.  However, up a steep bank looked to be a nice view of the Halma'uma'u crater behind and so I did some offroading and clambered up it, which wasn't easy as the terrain was very loose and sharp volcanic rock.  I had to walk some way and perch precariously on the edge of a very high cliff, but eventually was rewarded with good views of the steaming crater.  I sat for a while and enjoyed the having the views all to myself (singing to keep any snakes away).Having done a figure 8, I rejoined my original trail and hiked back to my car.  I drove to Volcano village to refill my car before driving to the end of the Chain of Craters road.  The road passes a series of past craters and corresponding old lava flows before disecting an enormous plain of black, solid magma, as far as the eye can see.  The road is now 18 miles long (ever since a lava flow cut it off in 2003) and according to the park, takes 45 minutes each way and is described as "curvaceous".  They obviously haven't seen the roads in Britain... or how I drive!The lava fields are quite amazing in themselves as they extend out and meet the sea, with older flows becoming vegetated and the newer lava laying it's black path on top.  I parked up at the end of the road and walked the half mile to where the 2003 flow reached and took the opportunity to walk on rock that is younger than me.  The shear scale of the landscape and the knowledge that the volcano is still producing lava, makes me feel quite powerless.Got back to the village for lunch at Thai Thai and ended up having three thai meals today, as kept half for dinner.  left volcano to drive to Hilo and went directly to the airport to book a flight for the following morning to Maui, but coming away with one to Kauai!  Justification was that Maui was expensive to fly to and not nearly as good as Kauai, since it's very touristic and my nice sales lady (another one of those characters the east coast seems to keep) supported this notion with the statement "I don't like Maui because it's full of people like you - white people"!  Returned to Hilo Bay Hostel and thus my aim to roadtrip around the Big Island has been fulfilled, and it's been brill!  Went out to refill my car and had a horribly embaressing scene trying to get the pumps to work.  The cashier had to come out and point out to me that you must pay first!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223929680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223929680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223929680/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:36:57 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Kalaheo, Hawaii, United States

Day 224 - Had a slightly problematic time getting to the airport through Hilo's one way system and was surprised to see how busy the town was at 5:45am.  Said goodbye to my little, red Focus and had a very good breakfast at the airport cafe.  On passing through security I got selected for screening AGAIN!The flight stopped at Honolulu on the way to Kauai and during the journey I had the most amazing view of Maui from the air.  The flights are very short and pretty much as soon as we reach maximum altitude we've started the descent to land!  I rented the cheapest car they had at the airport - a compact - and on reaching the compound I was told I could just go and get in whichever one I liked.  But there was only one left... and it's bright yellow!By 10:30 I was ready to go and free to spend the day as I liked and by 10:30 I was ready for lunch.  Today is a day of frequenting classic US eateries and ended up in a diner that was still serving breakfast... nonetheless this did include a good lunch of steak, rice and eggs - not my idea of breakfast.  Immediately I can see how Kauai got the name of the Garden Isle, as it's absolutely stunning - tall dramatic green peaks make a lot of the inland area uninhabitable and very lush, green vegetation line the roads.  I drove to Poipu on the south coast, which is just an settlement of condos and holiday houses, but I didn't come here for the town, I came for the Maha'ulepu coast.Parked up at Shipwreck Beach, which is a nice, but quite busy and took the walking trail along the coast to the west for a few miles.  Completely wore my camera out as the further I went, the more amazing views of limestone cliffs and rock formations to my right and huge dramatic, karst peaks framing a golf course to my left.  The walk was tough, simply because of the midday heat, but was it worth it?  Near the end I came up to possibly the most beautiful beach I've seen - now that's more like it!It took a fair few hours to walk to the end of the trail and back, especially as it was mostly sand and by the time I returned to Shipwreck beach, I was ready to sit in the shade and resume my lunch - that is, leftover steak and rice!  I drove to Kalaheo town to find a place to stay within easy distance of the east side of the island, ready for tommorrows exploration, but could find nowhere in the area under $100!  Kauai is not very well set up for budget travellers - that I can say with certainty!  It is more pronounced in Kauai, as it is definitely an island for the local way of life - fishing, surfing, barbecuing - they're not so bothered about tourists as the Big Island and that's what makes it such a great place to visit.  So what choice did I have? I forked out $100 for a room, well actually an apartment at Kalaheo Inn and planned to make as much use of it as possible.  The town itself is not touristic at all, and very quiet and small.  Thus there is not a lot to do.  In the evening I went to the steakhouse by my hotel and I can't imagine what the chickens look like in Hawaii, because I got a chicken breast which was the size of a normal dinnerplate!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223931060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223931060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223931060/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:23:58 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Kapaa, Hawaii, United States

Day 225 - Chicken for breakfast.  Took the road to the west and had a lovely drive in my racey, yellow automobile to the interior of the island where there are two State Parks.  On the way a wild piglet came into the road, oinked at me and disappeared into the bushes!  First stop was Waimea Canyon, and oh wow - it's enormous and beautiful and something a photo will never be able to capture.  The canyon is a vast expanse of red rock filled with incised river channels and green vegetation stretching out towards the ocean.  I spent the entire morning following the road stopping at the lookouts along the way and at each one, not quite believing my eyes!Just when I thought I couldn't find a sight to top all I've seen over the last 8 months, I reached the end of the road and the Kalalau Valley.  Having done the lookouts, I stopped at the parks restaurant and drank a coffee on the grass observing Kauais equivalent of pigeons... chickens.  As I drove from the State Parks, the crowds were arriving and I stopped and did a quick walk before returning to the main highway and driving to Saltpond beach for my lunch - chicken.  The beach was very nice - full of locals surfing and bbqing with a laid back atmosphere, which fills Kauai.  I then stopped in the historic and charming town of Hanapepe, which was greatly damaged in Hurricane Iniki.  I parked up and got an ice cream while looking around the towns numerous art galleries.I drove directly to Kapa'a on the east coast where I had heard of a hostel to stay at.  The town itself is mostly lacking that Kauai laid back feel, as it's a busy little town full of decent, independant cafes and restaurants with a very busy road running straight through it.  The hostel is quite strange - it's nice and has a friendly feel to it, which I have missed by staying in less backpacker minded places.  The owner, Maikiki is something of a new age hippie and unique I suppose.  He was very welcoming and chatty and for $27.50, I felt I'd hit the jackpot with this one.  The hostels best and worst aspect is that it's operated on a DIY cleaning system - basically Maikiki asks that if you see something needing doing, as a guest, you chip in - and that includes sweeping your dorm and taking the rubbish out when you leave.  It's nice as it gives a communal, cooperative vibe about the place, but it also means it's not that clean!Anyway, I seeked some peace on the beach, conveniently situated by the town and sat and listened to music whilst watching the beach come alive with crabs building their holes to sleep in - very entertaining.  Having eaten all the chicken, I went to a cool little restaurant for dinner and went back to the hostel where I sat down and started watching tv with a guy called Luke who lives in Maui - it's good to be back in a hostel with people to talk to!  Maikiki came in and preached to us about how he's changing the world through the hostel and then avidly slagged of Maui and it's citizens in front of Luke, so we went into town for a beer.  After last orders we were sat in an Italian restaurant, which is one of the only places we could find that sold "liquor" and heard a quick squeal of tyres, and all of a sudden a car ploughs into the far side of the restaurant!!!!  Luckily it was near closing and everyone happened to be sat the other side of the restaurant and we all rushed out to see what happened.  The driver (no more than early 20s) was stood on the pavement all shook up and a rather dramatic woman who was stood texting on the pavement was milking it for what she could, but noone was hurt.  What was quite unbelieveable was the angle the car came in at - squeezing through a gap not much bigger than the vehicle between a lampost and parked car, and then through two metal fences before finally going through the restaurant wall.  The police turned up within minutes and the driver turned out the be drunk.  Luke and I resumed our drinks and watched as the drivers mother came in in tears and then a gossiping busy body was stood outside preaching in complete unfounded speculation about how this came about - it was like something from a movie!After all the fuss was over, Luke and I returned to the hostel, really excited to tell everyone what we had just witnessed.  We were just in the garden mid story when Maikiki turned up and his countenance was very different to how it was before.  He wasn't interested in the accident.  He simply told us that now it's 11pm so no talking and all alcohol must be drank/thrown away immediately - for someone running such a relaxed and open house, he got very strict all of a sudden.  We sat outside for a bit, too excited to sleep and he kept walking past and circling us and in the end I felt so uncomfortable I just went to bed!
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Volcano, Hawaii, United States

Day 222 - Finding no milk for cereal at the convenience store in the village, it seemed I must go out for breakfast.  I retraced my route a few miles to Kainaliu town, which has a very attractive theatre and next door, a Hawaiian style diner and a very nice Hawiian waitress.  With only high fat options available, I went for the breakfast special - an enormous plate of scrambled eggs with bacon, artichoke and tomatoes, fried potatoes and a massive hunk of corn bread (which would be more aptly named corn cake) and a mug of my favourite thing in Hawaii and a new obsession of mine... Kona coffee.  I couldn't finish my breakfast - that doesn't happen often!I drove down the South Kona coast and stopped at Greenwell coffee farm, which is one of the largest and oldest coffee producers in the area (originally came from Durham in 1850) and there I sampled 8 types of coffee - all great.  Got an interesting, free tour of the coffee bean making process and then I left, caffeined up to the eyeballs (quite literally as my left eye was twitching all day!)Further down the coast I stopped at Punalu'u o Honaunau State Heritage Park, which is an idyllic and sacred area on the coast, where offenders in the old cheiftain days could claim exemption from the death sentence, should they reach the sacred spot before the warriors got them.  It's culturally and spiritually very significant and what added to the attraction were a load of green turtles pottering about in the ocean, just off the coast of the hieu (sacred place).I drove on a fair while to Punalu'u beach, which is a gorgeous area.  Today turned out to be a bit of a turtle fest, as the bay was teeming with them and a couple even came up and basked on the beach near all the sun bathers and snorkellers - amazing! Went to the village of Volcano(!) and stopped for lunch in a lovely, little cafe for a reasonable portion of soup and non-sugary bread - horray!  Checked into the only hostel in the village, which looked entirely derelict from the outside and once again, I'm the only person occupying the dorm room.  Blitzing the Big Island at a pretty fast pace, I added to the days variety of sites and took myself to Volcano State Park, which is basically the enormous Kilauea caldera and is very much still active.  This afternoon I drove around the crater rim road, although not the entire way as a section is closed due to the sulphur dioxide fumes being emitted from the vent - funny, they weren't that concerned about the fumes affected your health when we trekked right up to the pluming crater of Mt Bromo in Java!The views of the steaming Halma'uma'u crater, seen between a sea of Japanese heads and lenses, were breathtaking.  The road also passed a smaller crater on the same caldera, called Kilauea Iki and nearby is an enormous lava tube which you can walk through, and really shows the volume and force of the previous eruption.Went to the local thai restaurant for dinner for some authentic, reasonably priced pad thai and have finally cottoned on the most cost effective method of eating in Hawaii - due to most portions being twice the size of what I'd normally eat, you simply take the rest home and thus take care of two meals!  I met the other 3 guests in the hostel when I got back - a nice American park Ranger lady and a Swiss couple - makes a nice change from the usual obnoxious mainland Americans I keep encountering!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223925240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223925240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223925240/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:41:44 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Kealakekua, Hawaii, United States

Day 221 - Since this is ranch country, the best way to experience it is on horseback, so I had organised horse back riding prior to arrival in Hawaii.  I drove north over the Kohala mountains, which is beautiful as you drive through green pastureland and can see for miles and over to the west coast.  I arrived at Paniolo Ranch, which is just how I imagined a ranch to be - a big wooden barn and a field full of quarter horses.  I was joined by a couple from Idaho and lo and behold, having met barely anyone from anywhere but the US, a couple from England!We rode western style, which is new to me, but seems that Americans ride as they drive... lazily.  It's a lot of fun though and we rode off around the 11,000 acre, working ranch, spreading out and rather than following each other.  My horse was called Puheko, which means rock in Hawaiian and he was very obedient but a little exciteable too - and God knows I love to ride challenging horses!  I loved the ride and felt I would be happy doing it everyday, especially as the western style is so relaxed.  From the ranch we had the most amazing view of Maui, shrouded in clouds, which was a stunning view.  Money well spent!Once we'd finished, I drove 10 minutes further north to the cool town of Hawi, which is small and sull of character, with a huge selection of great eateries to choose from and a great spot for a lunch stop.  My riding guide recommended a cafe called Short and Sweet to me, which specialises in paninis... and my word, it was the best (and biggest) panini I've ever had!  After walking down the road that constitutes the town, I continued my jounrey and followed the highway from the northernmost point down the west coast, coming into landscape that seems a million miles away from the lush Hamakua coast and rolling pastureland of South Kohala - largely dry, savannah like vegetation covering black lava fields that reach as far as the ocean.  En route I stopped at Mahukona beach, which had an amazing view of Maui, and then Hapuna Beach - voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  I've been to a fair few beaches in my time and despite it being very nice, this one wasn't so special!  It is nice to see locals hanging out at the beach making barbecues next to their pick up trucks - not a bad place to live I reckon.I arrived at Kailua-Kona, the islands main town and finding the one and only hostel unmanned for an hour or so, i killed time and went into the town centre.  Found the place quite uninteresting - basically a tacky tourist town lined with time-share businesses.  As I had time to kill, I purchased a Hawaiian 'must-eat' - shave ice.  Now i expected a little papaer cup with shaved ice inside and a little sprinkling of syrup on top, but oh no... a ball of ice the size of my head plastered in numerous flavours of sickly syrup - and that's just the kids size!  After getting through 4/5ths, it finally defeated me and I threw it away!Back at the hostel it seems the last beds were given away just before I arrived, and the only other budget accommodation in the vicinity is a hostel a 10 minute drive down the coast out of the town.  I didn't mind too much as I had no desire to spend any more time in the town itself and so happily drove to Pineapple Park, where I was receieved by a slightly mad woman and her ankle biting dog.  Had the whole dorm to myself.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223923800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223923800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223923800/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:13:44 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Waimea, Hawaii, United States

Day 220 - By half 7 this morning I was on my way to the farmers market in hilo town centre, which is at it's best and busiest early in the morning before the fruit starts to spoil.  It's quite a crazy affair, but a big deal in Hawaii, with tropical flowers, endless fruit and other curious morsels of Asian origin (and usually featuring Spam).  Rather than being for the benefit of tourists - as I'm not sure much is in Hilo - the farmers market is utilized by locals for selling, buying and gossiping.I then left Hilo to commence my roadtrip around the Big Island and so headed north along the Hamakua Coast, which is as I expected Hawaii to be - lush and green.  The road is pretty cool as it winds in along the coast and over old, one lane bridges to cross gulches, but for it to be that green, it obviously has to rain and it did for a fair bit of my drive north.  On the way I stopped at Akaka Falls, which has two natural waterfalls amongst humid rainforest, the biggest being 420ft high and quite an impressive sight.Continuing on to the town of Honoka'a, I stopped for a mooch about the quiet main street.  the town is a good example of how a lot of the towns in Hawaii looked, existing for the purpose of sugar plantations and it is very charming with wooden fronted buildings and raised sidewalks.  As I was walking through a few people passing in their cars beeped their horns at me (I think because I was a tourist and it's a way of acknowledgement) and one guy even did a funny hand thing at me.  At the time I did not know what he meant and wasn't sure to be offended or flattered, but later learnt it to be a shaka - the Hawaiian wave! Clearly standing out as a complete non-local, one guy called Thane, with long hair and a leather cowboy hat, came and said hello and asked what I was doing.  He recommended where to go in Waipi'o valley and I believe he would have taken me (with kids and puppy in tow), if he didn't have prior engagement!  So friendly though!  I went to local cafe for a coffee and am already impressed with how many individually and family run businesses exist in Hawaii - much better than Starbucks!  In this one there was a lady singing and playing the guitar and she was just incredible! Entertainment at 10am!I reached Waipi'o lookout and saw the most amazing view of this enormous, U shaped valley with high, steeped sides and lush green valley floor which met the blue ocean at Waipi'o beach.  To get into the valley, only 4x4s can manage the mile long route that drops 1000ft to sea level by a 25 degree slope - I walked.  The beach was really cool - one half rocks, the other sand.  I sat at the bottom and ate my taro sandwiches and enjoyed the view and sea air before attacking the hike back up.  Typically no truck passed me going up in the time I was walking, so wasn't offered a lift.  Just as I lay on the grass, resting at the top, a hoard of Hawaiian Hells Angels turned up! And as you will see from reading this, this is one of many random experiences that I encountered during my two weeks in Hawaii - it's a pretty crazy place!Drove inland to Waimea for an overnight stop, but as there are no budget options in the town, I found the cheapest motel, costing $64 a night.  It's a nice place and the first motel I've ever stayed in, which is cool.  Waimea is big ranch country and a nice spread out town of nice houses set amongst green, rolling hills and the tallest peak, Mauna Kea in the background.  The Big Island is a great place for a roadtrip because the scenery changes so much in such a short distance (as does the weather).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223911920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223911920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/13/1223911920/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:02:02 -0400 Bumming about Hawaii (looking suspicious)

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Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Day 220 - Arrived in Hawaii 2 hours ahead of Fiji but one day behind (therefore arriving before I set off) and making October 3rd 2008 possibly the longest day of my life!At customs, everything was going smoothly when this little Chinese lady targetted me and claimed that as I'd been to a lot of "high risk" places, she would have to search my bags.  It annoyed me a little as she didn't seem to have much of a design in doing it, just making herself look busy, as she didn't even check the bags very well and just made a mess! Bruce waited for a while but went on the catch his connecting flight to Vancouver.  Finally she let me go and I went directly to the domestic terminal and bought a ticket for the next flight to Hilo, on the Big Island.  Going through security I got "selected" for someone to search my bag - again - and recieve a firsking - I must look like a suspicious character!Got some breakfast at the airport - a bagel and coffee from Starbucks - well I am in the US now and it was either that or Burger King!On arriving in Hilo after a very quick flight (they had barely turned the corner on the runway when they were accelerating to take off), I went to the car rental kiosks and finding that the options were limited due to the Ironman Triathlon Contest occuring that weekend, I rented a little red Ford Focus for an excrutiating amount of money (being under 25 it costs me twice as much daily!)Now then, this is the first time I've driven for 7.5 months, it's in a strange car, automatic, which is completely new to me, plus the driver's on the left and driving on the right - this is quite daunting at the best of times, but after two flights and very little sleep, I'll admit it... I'm nervous!  Turns out driving in Hawaii is actually very easy and I cruised straight to downtown Hilo and parked outside my hostel!  Once again, travelling in Hawaii is going to be very different to all the other places I've visited before this.The Hilo Bay Hostel is very nice and homely.  As the weather is really nice (in a town that is reknowned for raining) I went out to explore the town and found it something of a Hick habitation - that meaning a town of local people, with classic old wooden architecture, unique coffee shops and the streets teeming with the most enormous vehicles I have ever seen (bit of a case of small-man syndrome in Hawaii with lots of chrome rimmed trucks with rediculously high suspension and a "bad-ass attitude")!  There is a lot of character in Hilo, and I think this is down to the people - the town is full of wierd and wonderful Hawaiians of Polynesian/Japanese/Chinese or Phillipino descent... as well as a few mainland migrants to add to the mix.  All these people appear to frequent the wicked coffee house called 'Bears', which is where I went for lunch.  The waiter was delightfully camp and extroverted and the clientelle quite unique in apearance, dress and personality... and then in comes a lady with a parrot on her shoulder!I went to the tsunami museum which was interesting as it is a very important consideration in Hawaiian life, especially Hilo which has been devastated by two major cases in 1946 and 1960.  I then went to the supermarket and walked about like a headless chicken for over half an hour searching for food that was absent of added sugar/cream/additives - so much so that the sales assistant told me I looked lost and helped me out by recommending taro - the native crop.  In the evening I went to the recycled trash art exhibition, which seemed to be a big event in the town, as everyone was there - quite a sociable event!  The whole crowd was gossiping amongst themselves and I have never seen so many odd people and dodgy fashion in one place in all my life!  This place definitely has a small-town feel to it, but they didn't seem to mind having an outsider present and it was great to see Hilo-Hawaiian lifestyle and the real heart of the town.  The gallery of displays of art made from recycled trash was full of diverse exhibits from local artists and some of it was really good.  There was also a local band outside that were great - fun and lively, but with the laid back Jack Johnson tone.  But it didn't stop there.  The entire township squeezed into an upstairs room to watch the recycled trash fashion show of garments and outfits made of rubbish.  I really enjoyed it and some of the pieces were actually quite nice!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/12/1223418480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/12/1223418480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/becpowell/12/1223418480/tpod.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:37:39 -0400 Living in 'Fiji Time'

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Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji

Day 219 - Met the last of the guys in my dorm this morning; Bruce from Canada, who happened to be on the same flight as me that evening.  Spent the morning doing laundry etc and having been served a pitifully small serving of stale cornflakes for breakfast, I walked towards Nadi town centre in search of food.  The lady in reception said it was about a 20 minute walk along the main road and after 20 minutes or so I stopped at a restaurant on the side of the street for a curry.  I asked the waitress how much further and she thought, oh about 20 minutes!  After far more than 20 minutes further I came into Nadi town centre and found it to be a street lined with tacky tourist shops and people vying for your business.After some very sweet fruit punch and a walk around the local food market, I decided to leave Nadi before my opinion of Fiji changed (for the worse), so got a taxi with a driver who was very found of my youthful cheeks and hung out in the hotel a while.  By the evening, both myself and Bruce were itching to get going and so shared a bottle of wine to pass the time.  After waiting for ages, there was suddenly a big rush to get to the airport on time, as the hotel didn't accept Bruce's credit card and so he needed to hotfoot it to the ATM pronto.  We made it though, and the red wine kicked in while in the lounge and I struggled to stay awake until I got on the plane.  I had the window seat and the entire row to myself at the back of the plane, but typically struggled to sleep.  Must have slept a bit though as woke up with the worst pins and needles and most swollen foot I have ever seen - yikes!
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