January 17, 2005

• Hawaii

  Over New Year's, I took an impromptu trip to Hawaii. Pomme, Dave, and I stayed at Nick's place in Kona, on the big island (Hawaii). In return for his hospitality, we wowed him with our decision-making prowess. We reached decisions with the efficiency and precision of a finely-tuned engine, in particular employing the "I'm going biking" approach as well as the "Let's put these fins on my head" approach.

  The weather was uncharacteristically rainy. It rained two of the four days I was there, and the other days were partly cloudy. According to the locals that happens only once or twice a year. On the days when it didn't rain, I got to go snorkeling for the first time. While the weather didn't exactly lend itself to lounging about on the beach, it did allow for some moody pictures:

  
  the weather was not as bad as it appears here
  We went bar-hopping on New Year's Eve. People lit fireworks on the streets the whole night, and at midnight there was a real fireworks show. Little did people know that they were actually celebrating this fool's birthday:

  
  Dave, about to receive his beating
  The highlight of the trip was visiting the Kilauea volcano. We hiked 400 feet down through lush, tropical rain forest to the Kilauea Iki crater, which is totally barren, save for some small plants creeping up through the steam vents. At night, we hiked past the end of the Chain of Craters road and saw lava flow like red streams down towards the ocean. I gained a newfound appreciaton for the geological processes that formed Hawaii.

  
  Dave and Pomme vent their frustrations with each other
  It was my first time in Hawaii and I had a blast. The population of Kona is small so it's a friendly, tightly-knit community. In fact, we kept running into people we knew while we were there. And I was laid-back even while doing errands -- how could I not be, with 80° weather and the ocean on one side of me? I wouldn't mind spending a couple months there at some point.

  The rest of the pictures are here.

  [ Listening to: Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah ]

  • 12:06 pm
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