The Empty Mansion

Tuesday we left our Bali hut on the wet, northeast side of the Big Island for a few final days on the Kona side,southwest, where the rainfall is about 10 inches a year. Maybe now the clothes in our packs will dry out. Upon hearing our plans to visit Kona, our gracious host Eddie made a phone call and arranged lodging for us. Really great lodging for Kona. It turned out to be a mansion undergoing renovation by Eddie's friend, Richtor Reynolds. He had lived here for many years until his mother-in-law's death a few years ago, when he and his wife moved into her place, several blocks away. I have no idea what it would cost to purchase this property, but it would certainly be somewhere in 7 figures,if only for the view. From the Lanai you can see all of Kona and of course several miles out to sea.

But first, the previous days. Once more to the volcano. We still hadn't seen it at night and those who had told us how dramatic it was. So we spent Sunday afternoon hiking a couple more of the many paths. We finally found the trail to the floor of the Kilauea caldera. Great cardio. Translation: a long steep way down, walk not very far on the floor (The trail is not nearly as long as it used to be, something about sulphur dioxide fumes) then back up a long steep way. Then Desolation Trail, a not very long walk along ash mounds piled up between Kilaue and Kilauea Iki. Dinner in Volcano Village was something of a disappointment. Nearly every restaurant was closed for the weekend. Except for the two most expensive, of course. Whatthehell, 30 bucks for an admittedly excellent pizza. The caldera at night, in the rain, was as dramatic as advertised but didn't photograph worth a darn. P.S. We keep getting e-mails asking about tremors in this area. Haven't felt a thing. New Zealand, on the other hand..........

See? doesn't photograph worth a darn.

We'd heard about the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden north of Hilo. This was a property originally bought by Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse in 1978 to subdvide but once they saw what they had, they changed their minds and converted it into a botanical garden. On their deaths, it became a non-profit corporation. Exotic plants everywhere from throughout the world. Huge trees, a charming waterfall, several streams and pools. We passed several hours walking the miles of trails marveling at the beauty. We even spent a half hour listening to the security man play his ukelele. He was more than pretty good.

We took the Rent-a-Wreck to Kona by way of the North Coast Highway. Fields of cane, what looked like soybeans and, on the slopes of Mauna Loa, lots of grassland and cattle. The Parker Ranch owns a large fraction of this Island and has done its best to make it look like western cattle country. To the point of having several rodeo rings along the road. Pickup trucks abound. Unfortunately, most of them were Toyota Tacomas.



Back to Kona and the mansion. Waterfront Kona is a blatant, charming tourist trap. Lots and lots of makeshift places to buy tourist geegaws ,rent surfboards or snorkeling gear, take boat tours or go parasailing. Each and every one guaranteed to be the cheapest and best available! Delightfully tacky. Not much beach in town, just a small strip alongside the pier. I undserstand the good ones are several miles up and down the coast. We'll find that out tomorrow. One feature not to be missed by a coffee drinker is the dozens of little stalls selling Kona coffee. Or do I mean ambrosia? This is really good stuff. They know it and charge accordingly. Fresh beans, freshly ground, some of the world's best coffee. Still cheap. If you're ever in Hawaii and see one of the many King Kamehameha hotels, go into the lobby. Always a great history lesson with world-class artwork and artifacts I thought I'd only see in a museum.

The mansion is in the throes of deep remodeling. Richtor's plans include pretty much gutting and opening up the first floor, bringing the outdoors and landscaping in. The ground floor as such is pretty uninhabitable. The second has had carpets and windows taken out but is perfectly livable with a good kitchen and bathroom and some pretty nice furniture scattered around. It's not as though we have to bundle up against the chill (Sorry, fellow Michiganders, for rubbing it in). Not even much in the way of biting insects, due to the pretty constant sea breeze. Beats heck out of a cheap motel or sleeping on the beach. Yes, that option was discussed.