Around the Island 2.0 and a Half

I left you for the night at the Hawaiian Sanctuary in Pahoa. The next day we woke up bright and early because we had a full day of adventure planned (and then some) and because the kids wake up right around 6 AM every day of the week.

After a hippie breakfast of commune made granola and burnt coffee with sesame milk, which wasn’t as terrible as it sounds, we packed up and went for a walk around the Sanctuary farm. We checked out the eco-cabins and got chased by geese who were upset that we didn’t have breakfast for them. Poor Bodhi Kai was right at eye level with the giant beasts so they went for him while Anastacia and I ran away, and left Monica (and Mahina) to defend Bodhi. 

As we drove south, we giggled a lot about our stay at the Hawaiian Sanctuary, which Monica insisted was a perfect representation of the area – a little hippie, a bit out of touch with reality, a lot of farming, and super beautiful. 

Isaac Hale State Beach - photo by Anastacia

Our first stop destination was Pahoiki or Isaac Hale State Beach. We drove along a beautiful, windy coastal road, whose scene varied between lush jungle and lava moonscape, with the vast Pacific Ocean on the side. Along the beautiful drive, Mahina threw up her chunky quesadilla breakfast, and I, sitting next to her, had the pleasure of cleaning her up. When we arrived at the beach she got a wardrobe change and we walked around the beach that was completely covered by lava during the 2018 eruption. If you look at Isaac Hale State Beach on Google Earth, you can still see the concrete wharf, which is now under a few feet of lava. Wild stuff. Before the 2018 lava flow we could have driven a loop back to Pahoa, but we had to backtrack because the road was taken out by lava and not rebuilt. Fortunately, Mahina didn’t throw up again, but the car smelled all day.

A pirate in the making

Our next stop was breakfast in Pahoa at a cute little restaurant called Pele’s Kitchen. Someone who I assumed worked there showed me and the kids their pet tortoise and pet parrot in the backyard, because that is the Pahoa style. Bodhi Kai was pretty excited to have a parrot tossed on his shoulder, as was Mahina, but I'm not super crazy about birds so I had to be a brave girl when it jumped on me. 

After breakfast we headed to Hilo, drove Banyan drive but didn’t plan to stop because we had so much to do and see, but Bodhi Kai had to poop so we did an emergency stop at the Queen Lilioukalani Gardens, which seemed lovely so I put it on my list of places to come back to. Then we drove up to Rainbow falls and snapped a few photos, and held on to Mahina tight because she loves water and was mad about not getting to jump into the falls. 

The girls at Rainbow Falls

Back into the car, carseats buckled, kids with their respective stuffed animals and snacks, windows down because it was smelly, we headed to my requested stop, Honoli’i beach. I had intended to stop here when I came last time but I hate using a GPS and missed it, and then was too stubborn to turn around so this was a chance to take a quick peek. Honoli’i is the popular Hilo side rivermouth surf break under a jungly bridge and looks like a great adventure, so it goes on my places to come back to list as well. Will report back on this another time.

Onomea Bay Trail hikers

Our next destination was Onomea Bay Trail, which was a quick but beautiful little hike through the jungle and down to a river mouth (lots of rivers on Hilo side). Anastacia and I hiked a little farther than the river mouth and when we got back, the babies were happily naked and splashing in the river. The hike also goes through a small part of the Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve and Garden, and it looked super awesome so it was added to the places to come back to list – which says a lot because if I can opt for the free version of something I nearly always will. We got back to the car and had a quick snack on the side of the road (by this I mean trying to keep the kids out of the road, swatting mosquitos, changing a poopy diaper and trying to stay relatively dry in the on and off rain), and loaded back into the car before heading to Akaka Falls.

The kids fell asleep on the way to Akaka Falls so Monica said she would stay in the car with them while Anastacia and I did the little loop hike to see the falls. We quietly snuck out of the car, glad for a little reprieve from the unbuckling cha cha. Just as we were leaving the falls, Monica walked up carrying Mahina and towing Bodhi Kai, who had woken up and insisted on seeing the falls. The kid doesn’t quit. Of course he wasn’t thrilled about the hike back up to the parking lot, but saying “I told you so” to a three year old doesn’t give much satisfaction. 

Kids and kids - cuteness overload

On the way to Akaka Falls, Monica had noticed a goat farm that had what appeared to be a little petting zoo off the road. “We’re going. I’ll wake the kids up if they fall asleep!” She declared enthusiastically. In spite of my love of goats (particularly baby goats), I was tired and kind of burnt out by this point, and on the verge of opting out, but we pulled into the driveway and I mechanically unbuckled the carseats and got out, if a bit zombie-like. My mood did a 180 degree turn when those little baby goats started nibbling at my pants nuzzling me for treats. The kids were so cute with the kids (ha, punny) that this unplanned stop turned out to be my favorite stop of the trip. I thought the “Free Goat Therapy” sign was a gimmick, but it really worked. Plus, they had delicious goat cheese that didn’t have the “I just licked a goat” flavor.

Back in the car, we headed off to the sleepy little town of Honoka’a, which I was grateful we just drove through and didn’t get out of the car. It was about 5 PM on a Friday night of a holiday weekend so not much was open. Our last stop of sight seeing was the look out at Waipio Valley. On the way, the kids (not goats) fell asleep, so again Monica said she would wait in the car while Anastacia and I went and saw it. Again, we snuck quietly out of the car and again, after about 5 minutes Monica came down with Mahina on her hip and Bodhi Kai in tow. These kids.

Waipio is a spectacular valley where King Kamehameha was sequestered as a child and grew up, is sacred to Hawaiians and now closed to the public. I think you can still do horse tours or something, but I’m grateful Monica’s parents took me down there when I visited them 15 or so years ago. I remember it being lush and wild, and even from the lookout you can feel the grandeur of the place. 

Back in the car, we headed to Waimea to Monica’s step sister Adia’s house to say hello. By this time I was maxxed out, but if I can’t keep up with a three year old then that is just embarrassing. We hung out for a bit, and she suggested we get dinner at the night market, so we packed back into the car and went to the night market, but not before bundling up because it was cold and rainy. The weather on this island is crazy. The night market was pretty quiet because of the weather, so we got a coffee, fed the kids, and then packed back up for the final push home. Not that you would, but if you count it, that was 11 stops and 22 times of buckling or unbuckling kids from car seats, times two kids, which makes for a total of 44 ins or outs of a carseat in one day. I am now a carseat professional, which is great because I needed to beef up my resume a bit. And although it was exhausting, the day further proved the notion that there is cool shit to do and see around every corner of this majestic island. Amen.

Round the Island Version 2.0

 Remember my last trip around the island? That it was very much a solo trip, I didn’t know where to go or what to see, missed a bunch of stuff, accidentally booked my second night at a tsunami memorial, got spooked and went home? This more recent trip around the island was just the opposite, a whole heap of very well planned out fun with my friends, two rambunctious babies, and very, very exhausting, as is any good adventure.

Monica and our bestie from 5th grade, Anastacia, flew in from San Diego last Tuesday night. We caught up over a beer and then all went to bed, because the next day we had rented cabins at Volcanoes National Park to stay the night. The next morning we packed up Monica’s new car and everything we three plus two toddlers would need for a three day excursion. 

Our first stop, which I missed the first time around because I’m not a good planner or a big foodie, was the world famous Punalu’u Bakery, which sells the world’s best malasadas. We got lilikoi malasadas – donut-like sweetbread with passionfruit icing, which I admit, were worth the long line. After getting ourselves and the kids cracked out on sugar, we headed to the National Park, where we met up with Ryan who had to drive separately to come back a day early. 

Ryan was nice enough to stay with the kids while Moinca, Anastacia and I hiked down, across and back up the Kilauea Iki crater. It was a beautiful and sunny day, but we didn’t linger too long. After the hike we met up with Ryan and the kids at the Volcano House and got food and drinks at the bar and made a big, loud mess but tipped well to make up for it. Volcano House is the Volcanoes National Park version of the Ahwahnee lodge in Yosemite, but not quite as grand. After food and drinks, we got the keys to our cabins, which are a slight upgrade from the campsite I stayed at right next door last time. I played on the fallen logs with Bodhi Kai (the ground is hot lava), and we had dinner and hung out until it got dark enough to go back into the park and see the lava flow.

Kiluaea Crater - photo by Anastacia

Monica bundled the babies up and then we all piled into the car to do the mile hike out to the Keanakako’i lookout. It was fun to already have my bearings and have an idea of where we were and where we were going. The kids were good sports about being up so late, although I put cookies in my pocket and bribed them to be good the whole hike. Shh don’t tell Monica. I’m not above bribing kids for their love, affection and (more importantly) good behavior. We got back to the cabins around 10 PM and I was happy to dive into a bed and fall asleep. 

The next morning I woke up to, “BODHI KAI, PINCH YOUR BUCKLE. YOU CAN DO IT. PINCH YOUR BUCKLE. I SEE YOU HAVE A BAGEL. THAT’S GREAT. SEE IF YOU CAN SLIDE OUT OF YOUR SEAT. PUT YOUR BAGEL DOWN. YOU CAN DO IT.”

Around 6:30 AM Monica had buckled the kids in their carseats and went to get in the driver's seat to go get breakfast for the crew, except that when she shut their door with the fob inside the car, the car automatically locked. It seemed as though the car was pulling a Hal and trying to kidnap the kids. We tried to get Bodhi Kai to unclip his car seat, but apparently carseats are specifically designed for kids not to be able to unclip them, so we ended up having to call 911, who sent out a park ranger to unlock the car. It took him about half an hour to get there, but the kids stayed remarkably calm, and mom and dad were ok too. It added a certain twist to the morning none of us were expecting, but I think it is a rite of passage for parents to lock their kids in a car, right? In any case, it was the car’s fault. 

Kids freed, we had breakfast, packed up our camp and went back into the park for a nice little hike and bike ride for Bodhi Kai. After hiking a cinder cone and a few bike crashes, we headed out of the park and south-east to Puna, where we ate lunch and said goodbye to Ryan. Anastacia had booked us rooms at the Hawaiian Sanctuary in the town of Pahoa for the night, fortunately not at a grave site for children wiped out by a tsunami. She is an excellent planner and wrote out a list of interesting things for us to see and do on that side of the island for the day, which spent our time much more efficiently. After traveling with her, I have a greater appreciation for itineraries. 

The Hawaiian Sanctuary was a trip. It sits on beautiful farm land full of tropical trees, fruits and vegetables, plants and animals. The architecture is open air with lots of communal spaces, think upscale Balinese hostel. Our farm tour guide told us about the ecstatic dance that happens every Friday night that gets “real fired up” in his words – too bad we were there on a Thursday. A lot of people work and live on the farm, so it’s not a typical tourist lodge… more of a hippie farming commune with rooms for tourists. We went to the Elixer Bar to get a drink but the people behind the bar were far more interested in making their own food than serving us. Cool, man, don’t want to harsh your mellow. But, the communal bathrooms really could use a cleaning, and you’re out of toilet paper. 

After a nice dip in the spa, which was a beautiful space and clean enough, we set out to see the sights in Pahoa. We stopped at the Lava museum; small and unassuming, but had a lot of cool exhibits from the Jagger Museum at Volcanoes, which is closed due to its pending tumble into the volcano. The museum guy gave us lots of great information and didn’t mind the kids screaming and crawling all over the place.

Old growth forest 

The area around Pahoa is where Fissure 8 is located, which was the site of the 2018 eruption (when Bodhi Kai was conceived – no wonder he is such a firecracker). We drove up to a road that ends abruptly where it was covered by lava, and drove the newly built road which was built on top of the lava flow, so towns that were completely cut off by lava could be accessed. We pondered what it would be like to sit and wait while the molten core of the earth crept toward our houses and livelihoods, destroying and covering everything in its unpredictable path. It was wild to drive through lush, hundred year old jungle, and then onto stark lava-moonscape, and then back into the jungle with vines creating arches and tunnels across the tree lined roads. Beauty and destruction side by side.

The extent of the lava flow hit home for me when I tried to explain that, according to my guide book, the road looped around and we could drive back along the coast, see the champagne ponds and check out a few beaches. “No dude,” Anastacia explained, “that was all taken out by the 2018 eruption. All that shit was covered up. What year was that book published?” Ah, 2006. All the more reason to have an updated guide book, all the more respect to Mother Nature, and all the more reason to let someone else do the planning. 

After our drive through the sites of Puna, we stopped at a grocery store and bought stuff to make an easy dinner at the Sanctuary. After the kids were in bed the three of us had fun chatting about life and laughing about the day, while the live/work folks listened to a podcast about UFOs in the background.

The Big Island is wild. The county of Puna (it’s a county, right?) is bigger than the island of Moloka’i. Every time I explore a new side of the island I absolutely love it, and want to spend more time poking around. And although I haven’t found a place that I like more than Kealakekua Bay (where I’m living), I haven’t found any place on the Big Island that I don’t like. And because nobody likes long, rambling blog posts (like these), I will save the last day of our adventure for a separate post.

Lighter in the Dark

 

Sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time

One thing I’ve been working on, and am taking a while to become accustomed to, is having less distractions in my life. It is weird to not constantly be hanging out with a wonderful group of friends. It is a little unsettling to receive, maybe two texts in a day. It is strange to spend so much time alone. Yet, I’m not lonely. In fact, I’m feeling more comfortable with myself, alone in my own skin, than I think I ever have been. And whereas I want to make the most of this free time that I have, to make it productive and to have something to “show” for it, I’m also getting used to just… being.

A few years ago I deleted Facebook because I couldn’t stand the fact that the platform was used to influence the 2016 election and promote fascism in the U.S. (and abroad). Want to know more? Start here. About a year ago, I deleted Instagram, because it is owned by Facebook, now “Meta,” and because I felt like I was judging myself compared to other people’s online lives. It was like breaking an addiction to delete the platforms, and it made me feel isolated and in the dark of my communities’ going ons. That said, it also made me feel lighter and blissfully unaware of the aspects of people’s lives that should have had absolutely no impact on me (but still did, ya know?). True, I lost a lot of the contacts I made over my years of traveling, but if anyone is curious as to my whereabouts, they can Google “Corie Schneider” and find my dear diary right here. Sure, they have to make an effort to know what I’m up to, and I’m guessing most people don’t care, and that’s fine! But it’s out there.

On Friday night, my friend Jenny (who I met online but you can ask me about that story in person), invited me to go to Bike Polo at the old airport. Sounds weird, I’m in. I met her and our friend Liz there, and while I didn’t participate, I watched people whip around on bikes, hitting a ball into goals with a mallet, and occasionally crash into the side of the rink or each other. The best part was meeting the people who play bike polo, who I’m sure you can imagine are super fun, outgoing and adventurous people. I asked Jenny how she found out about bike polo, and she said, “Before I moved to Kona I joined every Facebook group with the word “Kona” in the title, and this group just looked like a super fun bunch.” Very smart, I told her. I chatted with Alex, the founder of the Friday Night Bike Polo Group, or whatever, and he told me about all sorts of fun and wild activities that they do. “Check us out on Facebook,” he said, “we post all our adventures there, and you can join any of them.” Tempting.

Ladies of the Lot, My Bar Kona

After bike polo, the three of us went to a drag show at the local gay bar, which I’m pretty sure Liz found out about through FB or IG. Ladies of the Lot was staged in the parking lot of My Bar Kona, and it was fun and heart warming to be a part of and support the LGBTQIA community. The brutal honesty and humor of the queens was an appropriate reminder of how tragically hard Black, trans women have it – being the subject of transphobia, racism and misogyny – I would say particularly on a small island like Hawai’i, but really, fucking everywhere. To become more educated on why we need to support and protect (all, but specifically) Black, trans women, read this article: https://harvardcrcl.org/americas-war-on-black-trans-women/. 

Back at the show, I met a cute lesbian couple and I asked them how they met (a favorite question of mine). “Oh, she posted in my Facebook group about Hilo Pride, so I decided to meet her.” Aha. A while back I asked one of Monica’s friends how she met her boyfriend. “He was a friend from high school and commented on my picture on Instagram saying he moved to the Big Island too, so we started hanging out.” Who knew Meta was the source of so much love? Maybe that’s why I’m single ha ha. 

Two days ago, my sister sent me a screenshot of her Facebook account, showing that our cousin Shira was visiting the Big Island. I immediately texted Shira, and had a great time showing her and her husband around my part of town (yes, it’s mine now) yesterday. If not for Caity relaying the info, Shira nor I would have had any idea we were in each other’s vicinity. 

So. Am I missing out on social interactions, meeting or reconnecting with great people, and knowing what my friends and family are up to? Absolutely. Am I forced to spend more time with myself, in my own head, learning to explore uncomfortable ideas and quiet my own thoughts, not with distractions but with meditation, journaling, and other here and now activities? Absolutely. Am I considering rejoining one or more social media platforms to make traveling more easy? Yes… but I’m not there yet. For now, I am still enjoying the quiet and solitude. That said, texts from friends and family make my day, so please feel free to drop me a line.