Waimea Christmas Twinkle Light Parade

This evening was the Christmas Twinkle Lights Parade in Waimea.

It was a very colorful and happy event in Waimea.

Many people were there from all over the Big Island. 

If you want to see more of it, click the link. I made a video of it.

And if this puts you in the mood for Christmas shopping, go to my Etsy shop.

Fruits of Hawaii

EAT MORE FRUIT!

Selection of foraged fruit found in Hawai'i

  When you think of Hawai'i and fruit, bananas, pineapple and coconut come to mind.  This post is about the variety of fruit that can be found growing in the wild on the Big Island of Hawai'i.  Much of the tropical fruit discussed today were found growing in the gulches of Mauna Kea. 

AVOCADO:

There are different kids of avocados to be found. Smaller green ones  and larger darker avocados.  Both are good. The larger darker avocados are richer.

box full of green avocados

 The larger darker avocados are blackish purple when they are ripe. When they reach that ripe-point, you have to process them quickly otherwise they go bad, fast. 

ripe dark avocado

 They make an amazing guacamole. 

mmmm! the most delicious guacamole

GUAVA:

There's a lot of guava to be found on Hawaii.   

guava of all sizes

close-up of a guava

Guavas are very nutritious. They are sour and have a very high vitamin C content.  They have a lot of seeds inside of them that are harder than grape seeds and about twice as large.  They have a very tangy unique flavor that makes things taste tropical.

inside of a guava

 Coming from the upper midwest, I gave the guavas the old "applesauce" treatment. I covered them with water, added sugar and cooked them for an hour or so at low heat. Then I pressed them through a sieve to separate out the seeds.

cooking guavas to make guava sauce

 I came up with the most delicious guava sauce. You can use it on pancakes, add it to a smoothie, put it in cake recipes, have it with yogurt.... the possibilities are endless.

an abundance of delicious guava sauce

PAPAYA:

Papayas are plentiful here, too.  They are much milder tasting than the guava. They are rich in vitamin A and C. There are many recipes with papaya. Even using green papaya. When you handle a green papaya you should wear gloves. They feel kind of sticky, which is actually an enzyme that works like meat tenderizer. Some Hawaiians marinate their meet with green papaya skin  to tenderize the meat. 

Whole papaya

PASSION FRUIT:

 Passion Fruit is called  Lilikoi in Hawai'i. It also carries a very tangy distinct, tropical flavor. I like to add it to smoothies with banana. It gives many dishes a tropical taste enhancement. The seeds in it are not  as hard as guava seeds.  The taste of passionfruit has grown on me since I've arrived in Hawai'i.

Add caption

ripe passionfruit is supposed to be wrinkly

POMELO:

Pomelos are big. They taste sort of like a grapefruit except that it is milder.

pomelo whole, pomelo cut open

 I made pomelo-ade with the pomelos I had and it was very refreshing. 

STARFRUIT:

These will add exotic shape and taste to your salad.

whole starfruit

sliced starfruit

Thanks for visiting. 

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Hot Molten Lava! Or is it Magma?

Exploring Kilauea-An Active Volcano

The crater at the summit of Kilauea

A couple of days ago we went to go check out the lava flow at Kilauea. It has been erupting more intensely for the past few weeks. Hot molten lava has been more visible bubbling in the crater at the summit and flowing from the East Rift Zone into the ocean. (more about East Rift Zone later)

From where we live in Waimea (Kamuela) on the north end of the island, we drove east and south around the Big Island along the Hamakua coast past Hilo toward Volcano Village. Kilauea’s crater lies in the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. 

It took us a good two hours to get there. Usually there’s something to stop and check out on the way.  We made a quick stop at Tex’s for a delicious filled malasada. (a Hawaiian doughnut).

A malasada is very similar to a jelly filled doughnut except that it is more square than round. I had one with guava filling. YUM!

So, when we got there it was 11ish. Busloads of people were at the Jaggar Museum viewpoint. 

I had to zoom in A LOT to see any molten lava or magma during our midday visit to the crater.

As you can see there wasn’t too much lava action to see at that time. 

At the Jaggar Museum there are some very interesting exhibits about volcanoes, lava, magma and about Pele, the Hawaiian goddess who has power over volcanic eruptions and lava flow. She is respected for her presence in the land where her work can transform landscapes overnight.

Pelehonuamea - Pele- Lives in Halema'uma'u Crater - the name of the crater at the summit of Kilauea

Next we drove the Chain of Craters Road down to the ocean. In the distance you can see the steam rising from the east rift zone eruption as the lava flows into the sea.

About Rift Zone:
Sometimes hot molten rock moves sideways underground triggering earthquakes, and eruptions alone the side of the volcano. This is called rift zones. The Kilauea East Rift Zone begins on the summit caldera and extends 35 miles eastwards toward the coast and then 50 miles beyond the coast underwater. On the surface we see it as a chain of collapse craters, volcanic cones, fissures, and lava flows. Below the surface lies and ever-changing and complex system of cracks and voids through which magma invades there rock. An eruption occurs when magma breaks the surface.

Diagram with explanation of East Rift Zone

When you get down the hill you are in a barren volcanic landscape. This is some of the newest land on Earth. 

To me, this volcanic landscape looks like the top of baked brownies.  

Where the lava meets the ocean

The road ends down by the coast with a roadblock. If you want to hike 4 miles further, you can go near where the lava is running into the ocean.  We talked to the ranger about it and she said the steam is blowing this way and obstructs the view. 

We walked about a mile down this road to explore the lava landscape and to see if we could get a better view of the lava flowing into the ocean.

View of steam rising from lava flowing into the ocean in the distance

It is fun to let your imagination go wild while gazing at the patterns in the hardened lava.

We decided it would be  better to approach  the lava flow from Kalakana on the other side of the laval flow next time.

It was about 4:30 and we headed back up to the crater to see if maybe we could see any changes in the crater.

We were in luck! There was lava erupting at the back wall of the crater and it was in a good viewing position.

I was mesmerized by watching the molten lava  bubble and boil.

  

Update on the two Hurricanes

Update on the two Hurricanes:

(and a little earthquake) 

The first hurricane, Madeline, went to the south of The Big Island. The  second hurricane, Lester, steered to the north. We had some windy and rainy weather with a very high surf, however nothing unusually extremely damaging in Waimea. 

We did experience a small earthquake which felt more like a jolt from a straight line wind or a sonic boom. What I experienced took less than a second (like a shock) and it made the whole house creek. I didn't know it was until the next day when I asked the neighbor if he felt the jolt and he said it was an earthquake. 

Flowers of Hawaii

Flowers Inspire Me

In this post I am going to show you some of the flowers I’ve encountered here on the Big Island. Starting with the back yard...

This delicate yellow hibiscus grows in the back yard.

banana flowers

flowers in the back yard

One of the things I love  about Hawaii are the flowers. They are bright and colorful and there are many different types. 

Bird of Paradise flower in town

Ginger growing on the roadside

The sun shines very bright here and it makes the flowers seem to glow. Almost every time I go out and about, I’ll take a picture of a flower, or two or three.

Purple morning glory type of flower growing wild in the field.

This bright orange flower blooms in the tops of trees that grow on the rainy side of the island.

Plumeria is very fragrant.

Have a wonderful day.