Day 13: Pahoa: Ahalanui Hot Springs

January 23, 2016

Although the business district of Pahoa comprises just a couple of blocks, we are still scoping it out. Today we researched the somewhat organic market, called Island Naturals. This is also one of the spots where local denizens like to sit, so we got to observe them a little bit as well. Pahoa also has some more traditional things going on, like the Sacre Coeur Church, and a large high school. We absorbed it all, as we passed by on our planned circle trip down to the sea.

Local denizens like to gather at Island Naturals

Island Naturals is the largest (only) supermarket in Pahoa town, though there is Malama Market out in the "suburbs".

The Sacre Coeur catholic church on the edge of Pahoa.

Most guide books recommend the triangular route set out by highways 132, 137, and 130, as you see on the map. But our plan is to split it into two days' ride, heading first to the sea along the Pohoiki Road with a return on 137 and 132.

The triangle routes from Pahoa to the sea.

A few kilometers out of Pahoa on any of the routes is found the Lava Tree State park. This is a smallish site, where the jungly nature of this Puna region becomes really apparent in the lush foliage. The focus though is not the foliage but the deep fissures in the earth, and specially the lava trees. Lava trees form when lava flows around wet ohia trees, and piles up in a tube shape, with the soon to be former tree inside.

Jungly volcanic fissure at Lava Tree park

Ah, the invasive snail whose shell we picked up the other day, and the chirpy Coqui frog.

The paved trail at Lava Tree made a great short hike.

This "jungle flower" to us is probably known to everyone in the nursery business.

The jungly experience continued as we headed down the Pohoiki Road. It really was down, which was fun except that we knew we would have to grind back up the hill later. Best of all were the trees, that in the lower stretches of the road form a canopy completely over the top. At the bottom of the road was the sea, and Isaac Hale Park. A fair number of people were there, but nothing like a crowd. There were some surfing possibilities, but no real beach.

At Isaac Hale, trees grew horizontally. They did not look exactly wind blown, so maybe they just prefer growing that way.

Now we followed 137 north east and quickly arrived at Ahalanui. This is a volcanically heated pond just by the sea. In the right sea conditions waves enter the pond and cool it, but if not, it is amazingly warm. Before we ever got to the pond we encountered a group of people at a picnic shelter. They were gearing up for a potluck birthday celebration for two 94 year olds, and they invited us to meet the birthday boy and girl. The festive atmosphere was much enhanced by two or three people playing the ukulele and singing.

We got our new friends to watch our bikes, and headed down to the pond. I was tentative at first, trying the waters, but it was warm and inviting as a bath. You would be hard pressed to imagine anything as therapeutic as a warm salt bath under trees, by the sea. But this one had something else - fish. There were several varieties. One had vertical black and yellow stripes, while another had a flat shape with yellow around the outer edge and a white patch by the front. These must be reef fish, because they tried nibbling my toes. At first I yelped "Hey you guys, get off!", but after a while I got used to them. It was too bad we had no goggles, or we might have seen more, but looking down through the glassy surface of the water did give a fairly good view of the colourful fish.

We returned to the party in due course and found that some of the people, though living here now, were from Victoria, and some from Kamloops. They were all members of the local Latter Day Saints church, but we forgot to ask them if they knew our Victoria friends Marvin and Erika, who are active in the church there.

I was able to seem quite knowledgeable as I looked at the ukuleles and noted one was koa and one mahogany. I asked the players if they had noticed the inevitable difference in tone. When they invited me to try them out, maybe play a number or two, I had to hurriedly decline, since I have never played a single note on this instrument, and am truly atrocious on any other instrument I have tried.

With a fond farewell to our friends and feeling great from our swim in the warm pond, we headed back up towards Pahoa. The great feeling wore off slowly but surely as we cranked ever upward. Actually the uphill part was both not sovery long and not so very steep, but we noticed it enough to abandon any possibility of returning to Ahalanui while in the same day exploring the bits down at the south end, where 137 joins 130.

We have time to mull it over, because tomorrow will be market day. We will venture back in the direction of Hilo, enough to check out both the Malama grocery store and the farmers' market that should be taking place along highway 130.

Malama Market is a bit famous with us, because we watched from afar as it was shut down in the face of the advancing lava last year. We will also go up the also famous Apa'a Street, where the lava almost wiped out the garbage transfer station. But all that is for tomorrow. Tonight we will sleep easy, lulled by the chirp of the Coqui, and a much softer, female vocalist act at the Black Rock.

Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 430 km (267 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0