The Arrival

The bus on the Big Island is similar to the bus in Ypsilanti. It doesn't run frequently, it's never on time and the same type of people ride it. Foreigners, working poor, teenagers and the local crazies. The Hele-on Bus (Hawai'ian for “get moving”) is, however, free.

We took a taxi from the airport to a Kmart, the closest bus stop on a route that went as far south as we needed to go. From the store, it was an hour bus ride along the one main road, Ali'i Dr., to the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook, where we agreed to meet our host, B. We arrived a few hours early and had to wait. After fifteen minutes, we had already seen everything there was to see. There was a baseball diamond and a general meeting house, Yano Hall. And there were no other buildings except for the Manago. The lobby looked like something out of a bad western plus an adjacent potato chip factory. And by “factory” we mean storefront without a store. It was a far cry from the giant shopping plazas and beach front resorts that lined Ali'i Dr.

We called B. She didn't expect us early but was free to pick us up and wasn't long in coming. On our way to the farm, she gave us a driving tour of Honaunau. We passed the post office, the road to the beach, the beer store, the elementary school...and that was it.

When we arrived at the farm, B showed us around the place and gave us a box of food staples before leaving us at our cabin to settle in. We started unpacking and realized we didn't have any soap.

We headed up a steep foot path to “town.” There's really only one road in Honaunau and everything is on it. The health food store is called “Bong Brothers” (everyone swears that's really their name) and is near the edge of town. It took us an hour, walking on the narrow shoulder, to get some Dr. Bronner's and get back home. We also stopped to get some beer, which may not have been necessary since we were offered pakalolo by a sunburnt hippie walking the other way. We declined and instead picked up some of the mangoes littering the road. They're everywhere.

Back to our unabomber cabin. The place is about 10x20 and screened in. It's simply furnished with a futon, loft storage and little wall table. We have cold running water, a mini-fridge and a propane stove. The fridge doesn't work yet and won't until the electric company comes to hook the farm up, which is expected early June. Til then, we keep our food in a cooler and have generated electricity for about two hours every evening.

We are surrounded by macadamia nut trees. B had warned us about nocturnal creatures (uh, rats, really) that live up in the trees and crack nuts all night long. This is apparently why she suggested we bring ear plugs, not for the power tools as we had assumed. We didn't notice anything in the evening but the GIANT cockroach on a pillow, but after disposing of that, we slept soundly. It's really dark here at night.