So Much Hawaii, So Little Time!

I have written more about Hawaii than any place we’ve visited in quite a while. Part of the reason is because we had visitors (after a year!) and went to see many different things. It also turns out that I like the Big Island very much. The weather was perfect, 75 degrees F with breeze every day, morning and night. We had one day when it rained most of the day, and the rest of the time the weather was lovely. We had far fewer bugs than we expected from a tropical climate, too.

We left Hawaii after a month of exploring, and yet there are still many, many places that we haven’t visited. Keep in mind that our idea of a good time includes visiting every place along the shore that has a name, even if it turns out to be the edge of a cliff. We also like to drive to the end of every road and walk to the end of the trail from there. Not everyone would enjoy this, but we do.

We did some bird watching, and even saw a couple of the rarer birds on the island. This pleased us no end, but so did seeing escaped cage birds here and there (colorful finches, parrots).

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One last treat we tried, malasadas, came via Amanda, from a friend who has spent a lot of time here. Every day, two women arrive at the same pullout along the highway with a tiny blue house on a trailer. They heat up their fryers inside and open their window around 11 am. Every malasada (donut) is made to order. We tried malasadas filled with peanut butter, lillikoi (passion fruit), haupia (coconut pudding), pineapple, and mango, and one plain malasada rolled in Japanese powdered umeboshi (dried salted plum). “Malasada” in Spanish means “badly roasted.” I don’t know exactly how you get to donuts from that, though I read that it’s based on the contrast between their crisp exterior and soft interior.

I chatted with a man while we both waited for our malasadas. He and his wife were in Hawaii for their 20-somethingth visit, spending two weeks in several places, for a total of six or eight weeks, and he always comes for malasadas.

While we waited, we watched a young man opening drinking coconuts. He could balance the coconut and whack off a chunk at the same time, managing not to injure himself or spill the coconut.

We liked our malasadas well enough, but they are, after all, donuts. If that’s your thing, you’ll love them.

Considering the range of our activities on Hawaii, no matter what you like to do, you’ll find a bit of it here.