2021 advances into 2022

Holidays come and go - we try to keep them fresh and fun.

Thanksgiving

Wooden cookies

Christmas Day at Keʻe Beach

Year of the Tiger

My amethyst birthday cactus

Valentines Day 

April birthdays in the hood  

Gil ended up recruiting several guys into the canoe club that night!

Easter 

Camp trip 2022

     Last post we had wrapped up our little trailer and truck for the winter and returned to Kauai.  We decided to replace both units, however because our next adventure will explore the Northern Rockies. We needed an all-season trailer and a newer truck to pull with.  We bought both on-line in December with the help of the Oregon Donnellys. 

2016 Lance (small and mighty)

2011 F150, 4X4, Eco boost, Turbo . . .

    Gil went over to check them out in January and to sell the vintage set-up we had loved so much last year.  Good job done but he was so cold!  He did enjoy all the family there, watched nieces and nephews play hockey and his brother paint cars.  Aloha Lucille and Pully!  Glad he found you good homes.

Oregon Sunset 

    Planning the 2022 trip was crazy because of sooo many people taking to the road since Covid!  On January 31^st I was in a virtual waiting room behind over 9800 other people trying to book Jasper, Canada.  That was the day reservations launched for that famous National Park.  I waited well over an hour from 5am here but we got it, 3 days in one site and two in another.  Cool beans!  I worked a jigsaw puzzle while I waited.  This procedure went on for several weeks as the Parks rolled out their reservation openings.  I finished the puzzle before all the bookings.

Virtual waiting room. 

This is how to keep sane in a virtual waiting room (sort of)

   

    Part of the challenge in planning so far ahead, is losing track of being on island.  I made a point of immersing myself in my favorite haunts at home.

Local beauty

Lumahai Beach

Always spectacular in the winter

Hanalei Bay, a good walk from one end to the other and back

Road to Hanalei or Rainbow road

Life on the river

Koloa duck

    Biking around Princeville, the new section of the bike path is really nice since they took out the overgrown trees and planted natives.  The houses along the right of the path here are enjoying light coming into their yards.  

The unofficial path is pretty cool too.

Nene troop

Suburban Moli, just a bike ride away

   Right on schedule, 1/31/22.

Same little guy on 2/16/22.

Quite handsome, waiting for a snack.  4/18/22

Mom at sea.

Beauty lurks in my own back yard, too.

Stephanotis (Hawaiian Wedding Flower), whole yard smells nice

Air plant on the allspice tree

Macadamia nuts (most of the flowers blew off in the winds)

Native Alaheʻe tree, nice to have the pollinators around  

 

Not native, these Heliconia thrive out by our compost bin.  

    I'm so grateful to the farmers who provide us with fresh produce. Making the pilgrimage to the market is rewarding socially as well, as like minded friends show up regularly.

    There are three parking lots and three sections of vendors now, very comfortable location.  My weekly kale, some gorgeous chard, eggplant, and bok choy, avos, mangos, lemons/limes, etc. as the seasons roll around.  Treasures show up too.

 Fiddlehead ferns sautéed with butter and garlic.           

Kokeʻe  

    I've hiked the Alakaʻi trail numerous times and became aware of a section, several miles in, that had been restored to native plants.  I recognized what a great effort it takes to sustain such a project.  That was when I learned a woman named Katie was responsible. Last winter, when I got a call to help out-plant 100 trees and plants as a Re-Tree project I headed up.

    Along a little trail with much easier access, it was a dream.  The section that had been cleared the week before of invasive Kahili ginger was ready for us.  We each got a short shovel and went for it.  In two hours we had it done, then enjoyed our lunch under a massive redwood.   

November 2021

   

    It was great to finally meet Katie Cassel who runs KRCP and is the author of a book I actually had in my back-pack that day (Na Pua O Kokeʻe).  

    KRCP.org is Kokeʻe Resource Conservation Program.  When you go to the website they actually give a count of the weeds that have been removed, the number of volunteers, over the years, etc. 

    I went up again a couple months later to help Waimea High School students remove more of the dreaded Kahili ginger to make way for native planting. Sure enough, we got clickers so at the end of the day the tallies would be recorded.

One of the students with a load down the trail.  My loads were not so impressive!  But we filled the truck which was the goal.

February 2022

Meeting Gil on the Big Island

    After several weeks on the mainland and very cold weather, Gil and I decided to meet on the Big Island for a week.  He needed a water fix and I needed a break from booking summer campsites in the wee hours.   Friends invited us to Kona with a side trip up to Volcano to see the lava.  We snorkeled, Gil paddled a little and we had a chance to watch frolicking whales.  

Volcano National Park

     We had booked a cabin overnight to be able to see the lava after dark.  We went out in the evening and hiked to the overlook, then returned after dark (in the rain) for the show!  We were keen to wear our masks with the heavy sulphur in the air.

We were basically standing on an old lava flow as we peered into the crater below.

    It is an awesome experience to witness magma from the core.

    The next morning, Jane and I did 3 mile crater hike and Gil walked the rim above.  We’ve been to Volcano many times but had never before seen so much venting in addition to the lava lake.  I was grateful the magma was letting off steam rather than blowing!  

Gil's pano of the steam along the crater's wall.

Down to crater floor.

The amazing ʻOhiʻa Lehua, the first tree to grow on lava.

Following the cairns, the path took us back into the forest and up to civilization.

  We were lucky to see the flow the night before, no real desire to look over the edge here.

    On the way back to Kona, it was fun to see Haleakala on Maui across the channel.  Little did we know that in a few days we’d be seeing whales up close in the bay just below.

Snorkeling Kona

In walking distance, we snorkeled from shore, seeing some of our favorite old friends.

One of my favs, Hilu (a wrasse)

Spotted Puffer, adorable

Classic Kona, yellow tangs

Longnose butterflyfish or Forceps fish

Gil's fav, Ornate butterflyfish

Boating

    Another day, Rick and Jane and Howdy took us out on their whaler (literally as it turns out).  We jumped in at Kealakekua, such a beautiful spot, and fished to the north. 

Kealakekua

    We headed south to see if we might see whales at the shallow shelf that moms with calves like.  Yep, we were surrounded!

Now that is a peduncle slap.

What a fun show.

Just as we were leaving, reluctantly, we got a wave.  What a privilege.

     All in all, a wonderful way for Gil to warm up and both of us to have a vacay together.  Thanks Rick and Jane (and Howdy).

Kauaʻi

    Our former neighbor Jennie had passed away some time ago but her memorial was this year.  What a joyous celebration of her life.  Her hula halau performed and told funny stories; many others shared memories and stories from the colorful life Jennie had led.  

    She had been so welcoming to us when we bought here and introduced us to so many folks that became our Kauaʻi ʻohana.  

Daughter Erica does the deed.

Aloha, Jenny. 

The Waterman

    Gil has been primarily paddling one-man outriggers the last few years.  This was partially due to Covid blocking team sports but also the attrition of his team-mates with moves to the mainland and/or the aging process taking others in different ways.  In May he organized some guys together for a paddle out with one old friend, Steve Landis.  There was such a turn-out, they used a double hull (12 seats) plus a one-man.

    The lucky thirteen.  There was a great emotional element during and after among the participants.

Steve Landis, one of the Namolokama Vikings

Twelve in the double-hull and Jack on his one-man

    Since there is actually a 6-man canoe season this year with the restrictions lifted, Gil did the Prince Kuhio race in Poipu with a mixed crew (men and women).

    Of course, he does the one-man in the river when the waves are too much in the winter, but with cohort Mike Wood, they shuttle themselves around the island to catch the wind and bumps as can.

    Going out of Kukuiula (being Kooks), Gil is on Yella Fella, Mike is on Candy Corn, at center, with a friend from Bellingham ahead (that is Spouting Horn going off in the background)

    Hard to read the waves in a photo but his back rudder is entirely out of the water.  They are definitely Kooks for heading through those waves to get outside where it is calmer (?)

Last week Mike and Gil medaled in a 22 mile relay “22 in 22.”  I think there were 39 entries.  It started at Kalapaki Bay, switched out at Poipu, and finished at Salt Pond.

START

FINISH!

Nursery

    While Gil was in Oregon, I committed to volunteering at the nursery on the Kilauea Point refuge.  I figured I could give them three months before we left for the summer.

     Mike's wife, Suzanne retired from shuttle service for paddlers and was fancy-free.  I nabbed her for the nursery.  As an herbalist, plant forager and former manager of a nursery, she is great.  She will hold the fort while I'm gone too.  

    It's been fun.  Never the same thing twice, we start from cuttings, up-pot plants that have outgrown their containers, keep bugs under control.  Then we take them to the outer yard to harden off so they can be transplanted into an environment that is salty and windy with unpredictable rainfall. 

    Before we started, some sedges had been out-planted in Hanalei only to find them immediately chewed off.  Apparently one or more head of cattle had breached the fence into the refuge and instead of eating invasive grasses, chose the tender young things.  The farmer was rounded up, the cattle were rounded up, and the fence was fixed. We saved the plants to be planted out again.

Ahuʻawa (ah-hoo ah-va) Before (3/8/22)

Ahuʻawa After (5/10/22)  Background plants are the very rare Alula, now extinct in the wild (cabbage on a stick)

Did I mention windy?  Salty?

  Fence before

    The wind and sun had pretty much shredded the netting meant to be a wind break so I recruited my good buddy Gil to help me replace it.  I couldn't bear to leave it for three months.  (Staffing is a real issue everywhere, but even if they can fill jobs/posts here, people cannot afford to live here).

Fence after.  Now the hardening process has a chance.  

    I never lose track that it is a wildlife refuge and the plants serve a greater purpose than existing.  It is about the birds in this case.  There was a lot of compound cleanup before the shearwaters arrived to nest - now on island they are busy with their burrows and their mates.

    Nesting in our potting shed as they do every year apparently.  

    One of the plants we need to get started is the ʻAkoko that the Red-footed Boobies prefer for their nest building.  They wiped out one hillside collecting.  The males grab branches, fly them to where the female is building the nest and she either accepts the offering or not, and he is off again.  Now we have to wait for the plant to stop flowering before we can take cuttings.  Nursery work is definitely being in a rhythm with nature.  So cool.

A male Red-footed Boobie on the hill denuded of ʻAkoko branches.

Boobies nesting down the cliff.

Official Island projects

    On 3/11/21 we had another catastrophic event: mudslide (see last post).  It blocked the road from Princeville to Hanalei (above the bridge).  The island is porous lava with water percolation throughout known and unknown paths.  Part of the issue was to determine what exactly had breached in order to brace it.  It had even undermined some homes at the top in Princeville. 

From above.  Trees and bushes were removed, fencing put up as engineers began the process. (This is not the overlook by Foodland)

August 2021

November 2021

    We all just take for granted that one of the fastest eroding locations on earth will continue to let us ride along the perimeter.

Refuge Overlook

    The overlook by Foodland has been a hazard for years and there was always a plan to move it.  It is happening!  It is exciting as it has been in the planning for years with all of the engineering requirements and environmental impact studies.  

    Since the wetlands below (including the taro fields) are all Wildlife Refuge, the new overlook above is being built on refuge property.  With 5.4 acres, 2 viewpoints, restrooms, parking, native plant landscaping, it should be really nice.   Fruition.

    I don't have the opening date but the merge lanes have been built on the highway and native plants are being added daily.

Alakoko Fish Pond

    On the Lihue side of the island, the [Menehune] Fish Pond is being restored.  The invasive mangrove all along the Huleʻia River has been undergoing removal for some time.  

Huleʻia River (enters Nawiliwili Harbor in Lihue.  The photo above shows the impenetrable mangrove between the fish pond and the river that has been removed.  I think the plan is to restore it to a functioning food source.

 Stewardship:

We are lucky to have such rare and beautiful 

flora and fauna on Kauai. 

It is a privilege and responsibility to care for it.

We think of the planet as a larger island to care for.

Malama ʻaina