Day 8: Manuka Wayside to Pahala

January 18, 2016

Since we knew that we would be doing little camping, we hatched a scheme at home to cut down the weight by not bringing any sleeping bags. Instead we did have some light down sweaters. We also left off the tent's fly last night, since we could not get rained on under the shelter. A third factor was that the clouds cleared in the night. Consequently, we were freezing. Of course, this is still Hawaii and you can not actually die out there at this elevation, but it is hard to get a good rest while shivering. Dodie's knees also acted up a bit as she lay on the relatively hard mattress, so overall it was not too restful.

By 6:00 a.m. light was still about 45 minutes away, but we were awake. That was good, because then two poorly mufflered cars bounced over our field and backed themselves around to park just below our shelter. We really did not want to engage with these new visitors, but we came too see that they were teenagers, maybe getting together before school. It did not appear that drugs or alcohol were part of the story, just the radio and loud talking. In a tribute to car culture, no one actually got out of a car, they just talked across the open windows. There is nothing bad to describe here, just a cultural difference. In Canada, most likely even teenagers would have moved off a bit, on seeing that they had situated their radio and get together next to someones tent in the dark. When they left 45 minutes later, these locals said a rather nice goodbye to us, but still from the car.

Notably, none of the locals that we encountered here seemed to consider using the lovely clean facilities off the upper parking lot. They, like us, choose this secluded hangout down in the hole. So we all have something in common, one difference being that we think it is something to write home about.

It is not really too far from Manuka into H.O.V.E. We do not know the history of this development of the lava fields, but someone must have had a lot of pull because the road suddenly becomes broad and smooth, with a full sized shoulder. It was a big relief to now be separated reasonably from the speeding pickup trucks and rented tourist jeeps. Our ignorance about H.O.V.E. also extends to never having been up (or down) into its streets, since either way involves a climb. Maybe these formerly very cheap lots are now very nice. We did get one hint from one of the Hawaiians at our shelter last night. She said she lived in H.O.V.E. and yet she gave us some beautiful oranges and grapefruit that she had picked on her land.

H.O.V.E., at least a part visible from Hwy. 11

Note the quality of the road. It has been bulldozed through the lava, visible on either side.

After H.O.V.E. there is a view down to South Point (Ka Lae), which is the southernmost part of Hawaii, and therefore also of the USA. The area is dominated by lava flows from the late 1800's and with the most recent being 1907. This is also the site of an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 that happened in 1868 and killed 81 people.

A panarama looking toward South Point - it's all lava!

The prevailing (trade) winds for Hawaii come from the northeast, except for something called the Kona winds that come from the south. Whatever the precise wind situation is, it is clear that South Point is in a special position. Down at the point there is the Pali O Kulani wind farm. Beyond South Point the land turns suddenly - within the space of a km, from a lava desert into lush area of tall trees. Proceeding through this area, the road descend rapidly to the town of Naalehu, and beyond, all the way down to the sea.

This Monkeypod tree has the distiction of having been planted by Mark Twain

This interesting derelict building in Naalehu has not changed since we were here last year. (Kent tells that this used to be the theatre. Redevelopment plans have been blocked by groups fearing any "Kona-ization" of the town.

One can not rush through Naalehu to reach the sea views, however, because of the Punaluu Bakeshop. In terms of baking, this place features two Portuguese specialties - sweet bread, similar to what we baked at the Greenwell museum, and malasadas. The sweet bread here comes in many flavours, including taro, coconut filled, apple cinnamon, etc., but it was the malasadas that attracted us more. These are simply filled, or more commonly - iced, round doughnuts. We liked lilikoi the best, and downed an inordinate number of them.

The Bakeshop's other great feature is lots of shady seating in a tropical setting. Both times we have been there and rolled our funny bikes into a seating space we have drawn really a lot of "usual questions". Dodie supposes that everyone there is on a break of some kind, and has time to wonder what we are up to. Maybe it is the same dynamic that has spawned interesting discussions on both our visits with people at nearby tables.

Last year our discussion was with two Hawaiian construction workers, from whom we learned what we do know about
H.O.V.E., where they had bought land.

This year's was a little more strange. A man told us that in 1991 he had cycled around the Island too. OK. But then we learned that he had returned from this an had had a career as a physicist at Cornell. As I may have mentioned earlier in this blog, I have been listening to popular physicists on my iPod, finding them particularly soothing at bed time. So no doubt I must have shown some interest. Then in very rapid fire the fellow told us the following ( as near as I can make out, and with my comments in brackets):

He had been a colleague of Carl Sagan for many years (believable, Sagan was from Cornell)
Sagan had decried fundamentalist religion, whether Jewish, Muslim, or Christian (true)
Fundamentalists control the Israeli defence forces (maybe)
Sagan had been barred from using the military cameras on the Voyager spacecraft (dunno)
The US is backing the Sunnis (like Saudi Arabia) while truly the Shiites are less crazy and at least have better policies towards women.
Israel (or the US) had poisoned Sagan radioactively, because of his positions (Hmmm)
The same forces were out to get our new friend (Hmmm)
World affairs are currently being controlled by aliens, but paradoxically they did not act to prevent some of the wars and catastrophes of the past 75 years.
The aliens are possibly from another dimension.
Physics envisions up to 13 dimensions (I thought String Theory had it at 11?)

I looked the fellow up in Wikipedia, and yes, his career at Cornell was as he said. The funny thing is, some of the crazy things he said were only a little bit crazier than material coming from physicists who hold down major positions at big universities.

The thing is - as far as this blog goes - that Hawaii is a refuge for people of many diverse backgrounds and beliefs. There is something about the remoteness, tropical foliage, and maybe fresh fruit that attracts them. Hilo and Puna are supposed to be the main centres for oddballs, but apparently Naalehu can hold its own as well. Of course we, as crazy cyclists, are an equal opportunity operation, spending more or less equal time in all parts of the Island.

We love these typical geckoes. Each has slightly different markings.

We left Naalehu still trying to piece together what the man in the Bakeshop was trying to say, since it had all been delivered so quickly. But soon our attention was drawn to the gorgeous sea views as the road continued to descend. It would be a real trial to do this ride in the reverse direction, because of the very long descent from the South Point lookout basically to Punaluu Beach Park.

We made a special detour into Punaluu Beach Park because there are almost always turtles to see, hauled out on the black sand beach there. We were not disappointed, as about a half dozen of the Honu (Hawksbills) were dozing there, surrounded by curious tourists (at a safe -for the turtles - distance). We also had a nostalgic look at the shelter where we had camped the previous year, accompanied of course by partying Hawaiians. They seemed to still be there, or at least there were other people there, properly playing the ukelele.

Cyclists - how often have you wished you could catch up to that driver and have a word with them. Here at Punaluu we did. But this was a good driver and Dodie was thanking him for his consideration back on the highway.

A nostalgic look at where we camped last year

While last year we had made the long haul from Punaluuu up to Volcano (an altitude gain of 3750 feet) in a single day, this time we had an invitation to stay with a Canadian cyclist and CGOAB fan spending the winter in Pahala. Pahala is at 826 feet, so going up there today would make tomorrow a lot easier.

The 826 feet turned out to be a bit of a push (literally) for Dodie, especially at the end of the day. Still, she did it quite nicely,and we fell gratefully into the waiting arms of our host, Kent Manning. This was the only time that Kent had hosted some touring cyclists, but he did a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and giving us access to shower, laundry, and a lovely supper. We were fascinated to learn about how he came to be here, about the Pahala community, and the new friends that he has encountered. Unlike us, who tend to zoom through places and often discover remarkable things about them just as we are leaving, Kent has made a practice of visiting places for periods of months, and so getting to know them in much more depth.

Part of the pleasure of sticking in one place like Kent is doing is that he is able to "pick" his breakfast daily from fruits on the place he is renting. Similarly, from neighbours he can get for example fresh ahi (tuna). Kent shared with us a fruit called an Abiu that he had been given by a neighbour. It was all new to us and a taste sensation.

Tomorrow we will have to leave early to climb up to Volcano, but we are looking forward to helping pick breakfast, even if it is just for one time.

Fresh Ka'u orange juice - thanks Kent! It is said the uglier a Ka'u orange is the better.

Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 229 km (142 miles)

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