Day 19: Hilo to Onomea Bay (and back): Heavenly Garden

January 29, 2016

Sitting here at the Wild Ginger hotel in the north end of Hilo, we are poised for our shot at going north, up the east coast of the Island, known as the Hamakua Coast. Because the prevailing trade winds come from the north east, this coast receives the most rain. Consequently it is very green and lush, and has many streams running back into the ocean.

On the map you may be able to see these zillions of streams, which all cross highway 19. At the stream crossings there may be a high bridge, with a view down into a gorge, or there may be a gully, where the road descends to make the crossing.

Despite the sort of tough nature of the Hamakua, we went berserk and decided to shoot through it on one day, instead of camping halfway, at Laupahoehoe. With that camping off the agenda, we realized that we could do without our tent and some warm clothes now. So we put together a mail back package. First thing for today was to send this off, after breakfast that is.

One of the advantages of Wild Ginger compared to Arnott's is the supplied breakfast. Every day (year in and year out) the offering is the same, but it is good: Papaya, bread pudding, banana bread, rice pudding, toast, bananas, coffee. Missing from this lineup, of course, is any kind of protein. Still, given local prices, even these items are very valuable.

The post office only opens at 9, so we had time to cruise around town. Of course, the noise making brigade was out. Whether Kona, Captain Cook, or here, crews are in love with noisy and useless leaf blowers. The fun begins around 6:30 a.m. and can carry on to any hour. We also noted someone on a jack hammer, but within the town the traffic was actually quite sedate. So that would be some plus and some minus on the noise and pollution front.

After our tour the other day of the Koehnen Building we are sensitized to other historic buildings in the downtown. It is fun to dream about buying one, and then having huge open spaces to enjoy. I rather liked the Kaikodo building, where the windows on the second floor looked really nice.

A building to dream about buying in Hilo

Two operators of useless leaf blowers. The guy in the middle is actually a statue.

The package we mailed back weighed 7 pounds. That does not necessarily sound like much, but lifting it, it sure felt like something heavy. Maybe we will notice the difference on the road, maybe not so much.

One of the stellar things to see along the Hamakua Coast is the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, at Onomea Bay. The garden is formed around the gorge of the Onomea River, and is an astoundingly beautiful environment with lush pre existing and planted flowers, vines, and trees.

To make sure we had lots of time to appreciate the Garden, we headed up the coast to it today, and came back. Only tomorrow will we try to zoom through the entire route to Honoka'a in the North.

The road crossing of streams begins right away at Hilo. There is of course the Wailuku River, that has Rainbow Falls, and even the gorge that makes Wild Ginger so jungly is probably one of the crossings. With the bikes totally unloaded, the road north seemed very easy, even if it was generally up. Grampies were clocked at 8 mph (13 kph) on the uphill, which is pretty good, for us.

The Botanical Garden is on a scenic side road, which runs for 6 km below the main highway. This road is very beautiful, dark and winding, with huge trees, big leaves, vines, and everything else you would expect for a flat our tropical environment. The shoulder on the main road is decent, but it has a lot of traffic. Here there was no shoulder, but also very little traffic. Overall it was a great, enjoyable bit of cycling.

A paddle boarder way down where a stream enters the ocean

These bananas are already bagged. At current prices, this bunch is worth big bucks.

The garden admission is $15 each, but it is well worth it. It is of course impossible to say that any single place is the most beautiful in the world, but this would certainly be in the running. The beauty probably relies mostly on the tall trees, vines, huge leaves, and aerial blooms, but there are also plantings of orchids, anthurium, bromeliads, and suchlike that are pretty darn nice too.

At the bottom of the property one reaches Onomea Bay, so there are added vistas out to sea. We spotted some whales blowing out there, adding to the thrill.

The small gift shop of the garden offers a nice selection of plant books, which makes sense. But when the valley was first developed, by Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse, beginning in 1977, it was the overgrown former site of a small community of cane workers. They found lots of stuff, including pottery and shells, so there is a display of such found things at the gift shop.

Some of the shells on display at the gift shop.

Chinese and Japanese pottery found near Onomea

Look, more fuel for the Lillikoi/Guava comparisons

The photos just below give some idea about the garden. If you would like to take a longer tour - check out the further photos down at the bottom (on Part 2 of this page). If not (what's wrong with you?) then just carry on to the end of today's story.

This gives a good sense of how lush these gardens are.

Epiphytic orchid. Orchids can grow well in pots, but they also like sticking to trees.

Closeup of the flowers on that bromeliad

A gravesite is beingrespectfully maintained, at the site of the old village.

Along the scenic drive that includes the tropical garden is the What's Shakin smoothie stand. The stand is situated on a 20 acre fruit farm that produces papaya, rambutan, pineapple, and avocado. In the times we have stopped there, we always have thought their prices high, but after had to admit their stuff was pretty darn good. It was the same this time, when we spit a "Java Lava" smoothie - chocolate, coffee, and banana. $9 including tax, but it was sooo good.

If you want to get in on those $9 sales, then you should know that the farm is for sale. Last year we checked it out, and the price was 6.6 million. At that time we opined that the first 6 million could probably take it. But this year we see it is still for sale, and the price has plummeted, to 3.4 million. If you have say a spare 3 million, give it a try!

Further down the road, we found some other land for sale. 21 acres for only $525,000. That could be a good budget alternative.