Place to stay near University of Hawaii at Hilo

Students, faculty,visiting or pondering the

 University of Hawaii at Hilo  will enjoy staying at vintage Pakalana Inn, located in old downtown Hilo, Hawaii.

 

Ghost shack in jungle

Abandoned Hawaiian shack. Only the sound of rushing water in the adjacent stream. The creak of trees. And the muffled drip of rain sliding over the leaves, into the moss. Haunted.

Misty Pastoral

Waterfalls abound North of Hilo.

Avocados and Surfing

 Avocados and Surfing.  I stumbled upon this lone surfboard erected at a favorite locals spot at Hakalau Bay. A memorial or totem?  The newly created park was empty, I could only listen to the surf crashing on the rocks and wonder. 

Avocado season in Hawaii. Here is a nice pile.

A J Gallery Notes: More O'ahu fun....

A J Gallery Notes: More O'ahu fun....

Strolling around interesting downtown, Hilo, Hawaii.

Tidepools and private little beaches

Ambling among tidepools bracketed by lava smoothed by ocean waves.
Hilo, Hawaii.
Puffy white clouds reflected in water so clear you can see all the way to the bottom.

Overtaken

Puttering along  through caves of towering trees whose uppermost branches intertwined to form a canopy though which only dappled light passed.
Entrophy. The second law of thermodynamics.





Soil's cool jaws shall caress you.  Or something to that effect.

Backyard Orchids Hawaii

Barring destruction, Orchids are immortal. They are considered the most highly evolved flowering plant on earth. Orchids have been around millions of years, and are "air plants" that cling to trees.

The fragrance of some orchids defies description, while others may resemble familiar fragrances - raspberry, coconut, lilacs and citrus. Hawaii is known as the Orchid Isle. These 20 plus year old backyard orchids were in beautiful bloom yesterday up Hamakua way.

Patterns of growth in jungle plants, North of Hilo

The Taro leaf  

The banyan root

Jungle vines

Waves

Transparent water

The Beach

The beach is more than a place, it is a place to be transported. The price of admission? Nothing. Just time.  I took this picture at Hapuna Beach, Hawaii with a Nikon D40.

Hotel in Hilo

Hotels in Hilo, Hawaii? In the old downtown area, the Pakalana Inn near bustling Farmer's Market is convenient for walking to shops and beach parks.

Timeless

It was late afternoon at Mauna Kea Beach, Hawaii,  as I walked along the ocean snapping pictures. I happened to catch these two basking in the surf. Sigh.

Out in the Ocean

She is not out very far out in this picture, but her diminishing silhouette seemed to dissolve and reappear. Feelings of "oneness" can occur while floating about in this benevolent sea.   

Time Spent on Beach

Aphrodite. Time spent in the ocean in Hawaii is time redeemed.

The Pacific Ocean

The Ocean in Hawaii is an entity of  three dimensions whose colors shift adjusting luminescence through degrees of turquoise. Wind dimpled. Light splattered. Clear liquid tongue on the sand, frothing mane on a wave. Utterly soft, warm, and transparent.

The Ocean

Kalanianiole Afternoon Idyll

On a sweaty afternoon hot from futile errands, I parked on the side of Kalanianaole (highway along the ocean named for Prince Jonah Kū-hiō Ka-lani-ana-ʻole. Lit., the royal chief without measure) and emerged from the muffled damp jungle to the open air where ever heedless of my litle world the endless waves crushed themselves pouring over black lava encrusted with pink calcifications (sea life of some sort?).

 Bright blue water stretching to the horizon. Not a soul in sight.
A place to stop and sigh. To remember. To forget.

Twilight at the beach

In the gloaming . . . the muffled hush of the oncoming waves, a white noise that at once soothes and beckons.

Sail Away

Antheriums, Banana Trees, Hibiscus

Beach Morning Glories

Things that Bloom in Hawaii

Flower lit by sunlight and piles of papayas from Kapoho.



Blogging Places to Stay Hawaii

Near the Pakalana Inn, located in Hilo, Hawaii (The Big Island), you will find warm water, soft sand, and gentle tradewinds.
If you are seeking a place to stay in the sleepy  village of Hilo, Hawaii, look no further.
Five refurbished rooms upstairs with views of village life, farmer's market and the ocean in a boutique hotel.
You will not be in a phoney touristy vacuum at the Pakalana Inn, but experience the tropical torpor, expatriates, locals, fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables in an open air market. And of course sunset swims in the Pacific Ocean. Try http://www.pakalanainn.com/ to book your room online. You will receive an access code.

Farmers Market next to Pakalana Inn

Fresh produce at the Hilo Farmer's Market next to the Pakalana Inn on the Big Island of Hawaii. Book a room at http://www.pakalanainn.com/.

Beach in Hawaii

A beach to take your breath away. Feet sinking into the plush sand. I was alone in the early morning and I ran to the ocean that seemed to follow me in sweeping fans of water. Transparent, spreading in a a glow over the sand that must have contained some kind of fool's gold whose wet particles glinted.  A trail of cupped footprints washing away, poured with light,  into the wind tossed laughter, my little girls running behind me. Hanalei. Random poets, wanderers, surfers, natives are beloved by Nature in the form of an all permeating and penetrating Beauty. A seduction. An opening. A flight into the pure air, or a luscious ripening sweetness impossible to describe.

Sunflowers in Hawaii

These Russian Giant Sunflowers blooming on the the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii, just north of the Pakalana Inn in Hilo, Hawaii.

Images of Hawaii

 Below a photograph of petroglyph near Waikoloa. Men with exaggerated (we assume) phallic representations. A form of braggadocio, or symbolism connoting fertility? Speculation and Interpretation of these glyphs - perhaps more questions than answers.  

Organic Fruits and Vegetables, Journeys

Posting picture to my Pakalana Inn blog seems a constructive activity on this rainy day. Here is a picture I took near Coconut Island, walking distance from Pakalana Inn. The water was aquamarine sparkling with light. This is a popular walking spot along Hilo Bay.

The road to Hakalau Gulch

This old road  leading to Hakalau gulch retains an air of penetration into the primeval.  Far from curio shops or idling tourists. Heart of Darkness? You wouldn't think of Hawaii as that kind of place.  But places are not quite as they are advertised are they? You'll have to consult Joseph Conrad, Paul Theroux, or that other guy. Francis Ford Coppola.

Away from everything known. That is travel. Where you can't be reached. Where you are gone.

North on Belt Highway from Pakalana Inn

The dark limb of this tree seemed to me to point to the jungle beyond so I took this picture with a Nikon D40. The cheapest of the Nikons. Not fast, but otherwise serviceable.
 About 30 minutes North on the Belt Highway that surrounds the Big Island (Hawaii), the Hakalau turn off leads to an old road meandering to the mouth of a river that meets the sea in a spit of black sand. Intrepid surfers paddle to waves squeezed by this narrow bay where a tsunami destroyed a railroad bridge and sugarcane processing mill fifty or so years ago. The twisted wreckage was a "locals" place off radar until it was donated for a park a few years ago. There are now trash cans with liners and the foliage is manicured making for a more civilized if less exotic experience. I have to admit I liked it better before the park, wild, and with a flavor or ruination and engulfment.

Adventure in Hawaii Crepuscular Hours

Rays of sunlight that stream through gaps in clouds. The crepuscular hours are dawn and dusk. Hapuna on the Big Island. A beautiful drive from the Pakalana Inn, Hilo.