This morning, I went down to the ocean to watch the waves.
The tide was in and the waves were crashing against the lava.
The water even was flowing over the initial lava at the shore into an area that typically has very little water.
My wading pool was full and overflowing into the overflow pool
The swimming pool was engulfed and unrecognizable due to the churning water filling it above it’s normal level.
After returning to the property, I poured more concrete in the forms I had set up yesterday,
Then I dug into the pile of branches/stumps/rocks/debris at the side of the gazebo. I hauled the large branches and logs up to the side of the driveway.
I set up the forms between the columns of the gazebo for two more sections to be poured with concrete.
I poured one section and needed more sand and water, so I did a sand/water run into town. When I returned, I had the materials for another section, maybe tomorrow This makes three of the six necessary sections are completed.
I also worked some more on moving the pile of delivered gravel and leveling the driveway.
Set up the forms between two of the gazebo columns at Ahi for another concrete pour.
Using the generator to produce electricity for the electric cement mixer is much easier than mixing it in the wheelbarrow. After pouring the concrete in this formed area under the gazebo, I worked on creating steps into the shower.
I hauled some sand and gravel from my pile in the driveway to spread out and create a flat base for the shower floor. Then, at the entrance to the shower, I built a small rock wall about 7 or 8″ tall between the rock columns. I backfilled behind this wall and leveled the area above and behind the rock wall. About 16″ behind this rock wall, I built another. Backfilling and leveling, I repeated this to create yet another small rock wall. I now have three tiers creating steps into the shower.
These will be the base for concrete steps – each step overhanging the rock wall by about 3 – 4″. I plan on pouring a concrete floor in the shower, but have not decided on a pattern yet, or if I will install a drain, or let the water just flow over the edge.
I spent the day shoveling, raking, and hauling a 15 ton delivery of sand and rock at the top of the Ahi lot that came yesterday. By no means, am I finished. I made a big dent in the pile, but it will take more work to distribute this pile to where I want it. The driveway is quite steep – my all wheel drive Ford Escape handles it nicely (except where it is lose gravel) but it would be much better if it were not so steep. I have been adding the branches and shrubs I have cleared on the property to the bottom portion to raise it up and lessen the slope. Then I cover it with this material.
It would be much quicker to have someone with a tractor - something like a bobcat – move this, but I never do anything the easy way. Especially when it comes to saving a few hundred dollars.
I put the last piece of roofing on the gazebo roof – I should say that I “placed” it there, because I have no more tar to glue it down with. I will have to depend on boards I will lay on it to hold it in place until I can get some more tar.
I stripped the forms off the “seat” I poured in the shower.
Since I have used all the sand and gravel that I have in mixing my concrete, and I want to raise the level of the driveway to lessen the slope, I ordered another truck load of 2 1/2″ minus sand and gravel mixture. This means that it will contain anything that will pass through a screen with 2 1/2″ holes. I hung around the Ahi lot all afternoon waiting for the delivery. It came around 4 PM. I had him dump it at the top of the driveway.
Because the driveway is so steep, I did not want to risk getting the truck stuck at the bottom. For the next hour and a half, I shoveled and raked sand and gravel down the slope of the driveway.
Poured concrete in the forms for a seat/shelf in the shower at Ahi. I used the rebar that I picked up in Hilo as reinforcement as well as some garden fencing.
I also poured the first two sections of concrete for the floor under the gazebo.
Raining this morning. Left to go to Hilo about 1 pm after hanging around in the gazebo hoping the rain would quit.
The main reason for the trip to Hilo was to go to the cell phone carrier store to have them re-install my phone number on my (new to me) phone I purchased on Maui.
When I was on Maui, I had done this when I purchased the phone. They could not access my data because the SIM card was so badly damaged from being in the ocean. I had to buy a new SIM card. They were able to load my phone number on the card, but that was all. They told me that I had to call Apple Support and have them download my info from the cloud.
I called Apple Support and went through the obligatory computer generated nonsense about different languages, and different options for many different issues; all just to waste time so that you didn’t include this time with the further wait time until you actually spoke to a live human being who might be able to help you. When I finally got a human, they told me that I needed to go to their website and sign into my account. I did not remember my user id from when I set up the Apple account five or more years ago, and the password was anyone’s guess! The Apple Support technician told me that after I had created my new account with a new password they could transfer my info from the old account to the new one, but I would have to wait 9 days so that they could be sure that this was not a fraudulent scam. 9 days? What is magical about 9 days? Well, I decided to do this when I returned to the Big Island, hoping that maybe I could do some research and maybe come up with the old userid and password. Well, I was able to find this information in my little black book of passwords. The userid worked, but the password did not. I had three different passwords as I had changed it at least three times and I did not know which was the latest. Apparently, none of them were correct, so even though I had the userid, I still needed to change the password. So, I tried to change the password and the website said I still needed to wait 9 days, or I could call Apple Support and answer the “security questions” . So I did that. As part of this process, the tech from Apple support told me that I needed to erase all the programming from my phone before he could download the nes password and my old info. He told me that I would have to shut off the phone after erasing the programming, then wait 3 to 5 minutes and turn it back on. Then he would call me back and assist me in downloading everything from the cloud.
It wasn’t until after I had done this, that I realized that there was no way he could call me back. My phone had no programming . . . including any phone number!
I was back to where I was when I first got the phone on Maui! I knew that I needed to have someone with more knowledge do this for me, and I found that type of individual at the store for my service provider. So, I decided to go to Hilo. When I get to Hilo, I find that my phone service provider store is closed for remodeling, has been for three months, and there is no indication of when it will reopen – if ever! So, I go to the store of a competitor. Within five minutes of my arrival, the sales guy at the competitor service provider has restored my phone number to my phone along with the basic programming.
So, I went to the lumber store, to the grocery store, got gas, and picked up some pallets at the back of the auto parts store. I also went to a plant nursery and got two Norfolk Pine trees, an Ulu tree (breadfruit), two macadamian nut trees, and a hibiscus. Then it was back to Naalehu .
While we were here on Maui, I had picked up two boogie boards, and two beach chairs – along with 8 to 12 baggies of sand from the various beaches we had visited. I wanted to take these all back to Hawaii island with me, so, I needed a checked bag, as I didn’t think the airline would let me carry this all onto the plane. I put the baggies of sand in the pockets attached to the two beach chairs – each chair had a couple of zippered pockets. Then I sandwiched these two chairs around the two boogie boards and tied it all together with about 20 feet of 1/4″ rope. The agent at the check-in counter said, “I don’t think this is totally legit, but if you walk away real quick before my supervisor comes past, we won’t have any choice but to send it through.” So, I did just that.
When I arrived in Kona, there was a slip of paper in one of the zippered pockets of one of the chairs from the TSA telling me that they had inspected the contents, but all the sand was there – success!
I caught the early afternoon bus to the south end of the island and arrived in Waiohinu around 4:30PM. I had texted my neighbor asking for a ride, but he had npt responded, so I stashed the beach chair/boogie board “sandwich” and my carryon roller bag behind a rock wall in some tall grass, put my backpack on my back, and proceeded to walk up the hill. A little more than an hour later, I arrived at the property on Holowai Street. I put my back pack under the gazebo and got in the car and drove down towards town to retrieve my luggage.
Even when only traveling about a hundred miles away, it still takes all day!
The unit we are staying in at the resort has a washing machine and a dryer, so we took advantage of this and did a load of clothes. I wish I had brought more of my clothes from the Big Island so I could wash them a bit better. So it goes!
The architect I have been working with responded with a price to provide plans for this simpler design – basically a rectangular plywood box. His price is the same as he charged me for the more complicated plan – $4,500.00, so I contacted a different architect and asked him to work me up a price.
The resort is holding a class on how to make a lei,
so we went to the pool area and each made a lei with purple plumeria flowers.
Then we decorated a sun visor.
Now it is time for the beach.
We drove south on Kihei Road towards Makena Beach but ended up stopping at Palauea Beach to spend the day sitting on the sand, soaking up the sun and watching the waves. Right at the shoreline, the waves kind of dumped onto the sand abruptly, making a rather sudden and immediate entry into the water when we went in, but once we were past the first 10 feet or so, it smothed out.
I need to backtrack a bit here, to lead up to how we spent the afternoon. On Sunday, (or maybe it was Monday, I lose track of the days if I don’t immediately write it down) we went back up to DT Fleming Beach near Kanapali, past Lahaina. We had picked up a boogie board from a thrift store and we thought that DT Fleming had a shore break that was good tor boogie boarding/bodysurfing. After we parked, I saw another boogie board leaning against the trash can – someone must have decided it wasn’t worth the hassle to take it home with them, so they just left it. Actually, it was busted – right across the middle – but it is still functional to catch a few waves. So, that is what we did for an hour or so, before going up to sit on the sand and eat the lunch we had brought. That is when I realized that I had my cell phone in the pocket of my swimming trunks! - DAMN !!! When we got back to the timeshare unit, we tried putting it into some rice, but that didn’t work.
It must have been Sunday when we went to DT Fleming Beach, because Monday was spent on line trying to find a replacement phone. We did find one from a boy for $215.00. We arranged to meet him on Tuesday in Kahulua, near the airport at my phone service carrier’s store. That way, they could check the phone over and make sure it would work as a replacement before I paid for it.
So, that is what we did on Tuesday afternoon. He could not meet us until after 4 pm as he had school. The phone carrier was able to check the phone out and transfer my phone number to this “new” phone, but they could not transfer my contacts, or my pictures, as the sim card was damaged and I needed a new one. I would have to contact Apple to have them transfer the rest of my data from the cloud. I could not remember my Apple.com user name or password, so this was a real hassle, as I had to set up a whole new account . I had to give them all my info and then wait 9 days until they would transfer the info to the new account, but I was able to manually enter the contacts I could remember, and now I was no longer in the dark ages without a phone!
Alanah was leaving for the mainland at 11:00 pm, so we returned to the resort in Kihei, had dinner, she finished packing and I drove her to the airport – I will be leaving tomorrow at noon to go back to the big island.
All in all, Hana is a sleepy little small village.
The maps, the guide books, and all the car rental agencies recommend turning around at Hana and returning the same way you came. They tell you “Do not drive between these points. Driving on unauthorized roads violates car rental agreement.” . . . . so, what better reason than to proceed? To me, that is an invitation! We (meaning me) figured that after our excursion yesterday around the north part of West Maui, this could not be much worse. It came close, but I was right . . .it wasn’t worse!
The road past Hana is quite passable.
There was a section that was unpaved and was kind of well, . . .frightening, but we made it through!
Like the north end of the island, this area is quite rural with small farms and ranches,
some quite substantial looking homes and estates,
as well as some that were not much better than a cardboard box!
Just before Kaupo, we came to an old Catholic Church – St Joseph’s it was called. Perched on a hill overlooking the ocean, this church has an enviable “million dollar” view.
The church reminded me of the church in the John Wayne movie “Donovan’s Reef” complete with the wood shingled roof that was missing many shingles!
We wandered around the churchyard and accompanying graveyard and looked at the stone walls of a couple of buildings without roofs – whether the roofs have not been built, or they have been blown off, I could not tell, but the walls look like they have been there for many years.
Driving on down the road, it became rougher, unpaved, desolate and narrow in one place in particular in a bay where the cliffs rose straight up from the road that was barely wide enough for one car. We were debating on turning around because this seemed to be the worse we had encountered, and if it got worse, we could be in trouble. Coming from the other direction was a small SUV type vehicle, and as we pulled over as far as we could so they could pass, I motioned for them to stop.
“Hi there,” I said, “I was wondering how you got here.”
They looked at me kind of questioningly and I continued, “I was wondering if you came all the way through on this road or if you came from Hana and turned around up ahead.”
The guy driving still didn’t seem to know what I was referring to so I tried to explain, “We were debating on turning around and going back. The road seems to be getting worse, and we wondered about continuing on, We started out at Kihei and drove around the island and past Hana to get here, and wondred if we should go back the way we came.”
His wife who was sitting in the passenger seat leaned over towards me and said, “Oh, no. Definitely go on.”
The driver added, “The road gets better. This is the worse part right here..
He went on talking as I nodded, “We came from Napili, that’s where we live. “
“So,” I asked, “have you driven this road before?”
They both nodded and he said, “Oh, yes! Many times.” Looking at his wife for confirmation, he said/asked, “This is what? our tenth time?”
She replied, “Yeah, something like that.” I noticed a child in the back seat, maybe two or three years old.
I said, “I was hoping to see the Big Island from here, but so far, no luck.”
She replied, “Oh, we’ve never seen the Big Island from here.”
He explained, “Yeah, you can see Maui from the Big Island, but something to do with the clouds od whatever, you can’t see the Big Island from Maui. Except from on top of the mountain.”
I explained that we have a place on the south end of the Big Island, and when we were on the north end of the Big Island, north of Kona, we could see Maui quite clearly. I told them we were on Maui just for a vacation, checking it off the bucket list. They nodded.
She pointed out into the ocean and said, “Yeah, it’s right out there, but you can’t see it!”
“That’s disappointing” I said. They both shrugged their shoulders as if to say “So it goes!”
“Well, thanks, for the info” I said.
They said, “Have a good trip” as we drove away.
They were right. The road DID get better. Somewhere in this area it changed from Highway 360 (Hana Highway) to Highway 37 (Piilani Highway without us even noticing the difference. We must have missed the signs. But, it became well paved.
And then we came to a place where a bridge over a ravine simply wasn’t there. It had been washed out and they had filled in a short detour around where the bridge used to be.
The vegetation had changed from dense rainforest jungle to grasslands and ranches. There seems to be lots of open space here – at least lots of space for a small island. There were very few buildings along this stretch of road, and the openness and sparse population reminds me of the road from Cabo Pulmo to Cabo San Lucas in Baja Mexico, except the vegetation is much more green here than in Baja!
We drove around the corner of the island and there was Kahoolawe, sitting not too far off shore. A bit further on and we could also see Molokini atoll nestled surprisingly close to Maui and Lanai in the distance. We came upon a few more houses, still spread out from each other, and a few other buildings, even another church. We commented that if the St. Joseph’s church we passed back near Hana had a “million dollar view”, these ranches had a “billion dollar view”!
It had started to sprinkle, as the sun went down and continued as we drove along the Piilani Highway on the wayback to Kihei.
TropicalCastaway 