Valley of the Kings

My parents came over last week and they brought me a CD of images from my first trip to Hawaii. It feels like forever ago. I remember flying into Hilo airport and Sarito greeting us with Lei's or was it only I that got one? We had a big turkey dinner because it was Christmas and there was Cayenne Pepper instead of Paprika all over the turkey which made the gravy deliciously spicy. The next morning I woke up to bird chatter, the smell of roasting coffee beans, and warm sunlight tickling my cheeks. I thought to myself, "Is there anything more beautiful?" Our lanai looked out over the coffee plants and the rest of the yard with Hilo Bay in the distance. It was heaven. The sounds and smells can't even be imagined. Then we went to Waipio Valley.

Waipio Valley was supposedly the first area settled by Polynesians in as early as 400AD. The valley is perfect for a civilization to grow because of the abundance of fresh water, protection from the high walls, and the access to the ocean for fishing.  Today, Taro root is farmed in the area while wild horses graze. The Waipio Valley used to have many inhabitants, there was a jail, hospital, grocery store, and many residents. I am pretty sure you can rent a hut down there for a month and surf until your heart is content but you won't have many amenities. Back to the Taro root though- because there is a lot of symbolism and language that surrounds the growing of Taro.
Ripping from the online pages of www.poico.com:
Betty Fullard Leo tells us in Tapping The Roots of Taro, "the taro or kalo plant originated when the son of Wakea (Sky Father) and his daughter Ho'ohoukalani was born lifeless and deformed, like a gnarled root of a plant. The grieving parents buried the baby, but the next day a taro plant sprouted from the grave, which Wakea named Haloa. When the second son of Wakea was born they named him Haloa also, because he was the younger brother of Taro, from whom all Hawaiians descended."
...
"Life begins with the 'ai, the 'aina, that which nurtures us, that which gives us what we eat," explains Hanoa. "Understand that in the Hawaiian language, 'na' adds to the word, makes plural. The corm of the plant, the root or meat, represents the makua or parent and the offshoot or stem is the 'oha.' Thus 'ohana,' the family."

Taro root is farmed by cutting off part of the plant for harvest, and then the other part will grow more Taro. Ohana is a word used very commonly on the Big Island, if you have an Ohana it means you have an inlaw area where you parents can live. Some properties even come with a detached Ohana. Wet farmed Taro makes great poi (poi is a dough like substance. I like poi english muffins best) and most wet farmed Taro comes from the Waipio.
Check out this documentary from PBS Hawai'i about Taro farming- with Jason Scott Lee:
http://www.bacipix.com/livingpono/overview.html

If you ever get to the Big Island and don't go to the Waipio you aren't really experiencing all that is Hawaii.

I could go on and on, but I'll leave you with this view.

Forever Seeking Aloha,

Britt

Bamboo House

http://www.bambooliving.com/big-island-open-house.html

I was just moved to tears watching a video from Bamboo Living. My reservations about moving the the Big Island was mainly that I would get "stuck" living in a house that I didn't want to grow old in. Not that I will actually ever grow old... The house we live in now is great, we've really done a lot to bring the house up to date. Of course my favorite part of our current house is the reclaimed wood floor I had put in. Alas, I digress. 

The last time we were in Hawaii I looked at a great piece of land, which my mother in law hated! because it was right on the road. However she does not understand that we currently live right next to a HIGHWAY. I can live next to a road in Hawaii because I have lived one house away from a major interstate and have many a morning looked out my window at the sound barrier. But she is probably right, if you are going to live in paradise you better make sure you surround yourself in it :) 

Alas, I digress again. I started looking at eco-friendly housing materials, possibly to just occupy my time. There were a lot of ideas coming out of the UK and Germany- shipping container houses and big glass bubbles. They all look fantastic but I am not the "modernist" type. I am looking for some old Hawaii feel, a  1930's house with built in cabinets, or a rustic plantation hut. I stumbled upon bamboo housing by searching for "eco friendly building materials" on google.

 

Bamboo living seems to be the only place that I can find on the web that is building on the Big Island. Bamboo is not only completely sustainable, but its also incredibly durable. Bamboo homes can withstand hurricanes, earthquakes, termites, fungus and the list goes on and on. This is the best site I've found so far that shows "real houses" made out of bamboo and not high fashion architecture. The David Sands Collection Polynesian style is my favorite and at $80 per square foot it seems like I might be on to something :)

Bamboo Living is having an open house on the Big Island, by the lava tree park ( love that place). You should check it out, I know I would if I could. It isn't that I am an eco-friendly nut case, really there are plenty of things that I do that I am sure contribute to the death of our planet. I just can't help but be drawn to the idea of limiting the deleterious effects of our society on possibly my favorite place on earth. 

Time to leave work!

Forever seeking Aloha,

Britt

Big Island Open House

Saturday, February 20th 11AM - 3PM
Contact: Bamboo Living at 877-857-0057 or Josi on the day of the event, 612-812-1713
Directions from Hilo

• Take Hwy 11 south out of Hilo

• Turn left on Hwy 130 just before Keaau town

• Stay on 130 all the way to Pahoa, but stay on hwy until the first stop light (don't turn into Pahoa town)

• At the stop light turn left on Old Pahoa Rd

• Stay on Old Pahoa rd until you see Lava Tree park on the left then there will be a fork in the road and you go right onto Pohoiki Rd

• About 3 miles down Pohoiki Rd there's a sign that says single lane road and the yellow line ends in the middle of the road. Immediately after the yellow line ends there are two driveways on the left, it's the second driveway on the left with the number 13 spray painted on a rock.