The week after Easter Sunday is one of the most fun if you are in Hilo on the Big Island.  The Merrie Monarch Festival is a week-long cultural festival honoring King David Kalakaua who was called the “Merrie Monarch” for his patronage of the arts.  He is credited with restoring many Hawaiian cultural traditions during his reign, including hula.

The festival was founded back in 1964 by George Na’ope, and a few years later Dorothy “Auntie Dottie” Thompson formed the private community organization and added the popular competition aspect of the festival later in 1971.  Since then, the three-day hula competition has received worldwide recognition for its cultural and historic significance and proceeds from the festival support educational scholarships, workshops, seminars, symposiums and the continuation of the festival.

The week is full of cultural demonstrations, craft fairs and entertainment at various locations around East Hawaii.  

Around Town

Craft Fairs will be in full-swing Wednesday through Sunday around Hilo. Here is a list of a few of them:

• Wednesday – Saturday is a biggie held at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Features local artists, crafters, food and entertainment. Opens at 8:30am and closes at 5p Weds – Fri and 4pm on Saturday. FREE admission.
• Thursday – Saturday is another biggie at Sangha Hall. Small admission fee.
• Friday – Sunday at Prince Kuhio Plaza. FREE admission.
• Friday – Sunday at Hilo Shopping Center. FREE admission.

Entertainment:

• Hula demonstrations at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, Hawaii Naniloa Volcanoes Resort, Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Imi’loa Astronomy center
• Native Hawaiian Art Exhibit at the Merrie Monarch Festival Office.

The Competition

The event is held every year at the Edith Kanaka’ole Stadium, an open-air yet covered venue.

The Ho’ike kicks off the performances on Wednesday evening and is a favorite among the locals – it’s a free exhibition night of hula, international performers and music. On tap will be halau from Hilo, Japan & Kohala, plus the Rangi Moana dancers from Easter Island and the Tahitian Troupe Nonosina. The event begins at 6pm, but you’ll find a line forming as early as noon for the first-come, first-seated performance!

Kane halau group performance

Wahine halau in group performance

Thursday night is one of the most beautiful, with the individual competition for the title of Miss Aloha Hula.  The contestants each perform a hula kahiko (ancient hula), hula ‘auana (modern hula) and oli (chanting).  

Island Princess rides horseback in Saturday's Royal Parade

Saturday morning is the Royal Paradethrough downtown Hilo beginning at 10:30am.  It is one of the festival’s most entertaining and fun events for the entire family! You’ll see each island’s Royal Princess on horseback, local high school bands, an Ukulele marching band, and of course, hula dancers and floats.  The most entertaining is the clever decorations of the “pooper scooper brigades”!  :)   It begins and ends at Pauahi Street and winds through downtown Hilo along Kilauea Ave, Keawe Street, Waianuenue Ave and along the bayfront Kamehameha Avenue.

Saturday evening caps off the festival with the Group Hula ‘Auana (modern) competition with performances by both Kane and Wahine halau.  At the end of the night is an awards presentation for all group winners.

The Thursday – Saturday competitions will be aired live locally on KFVE tv.  KFVE will again provide online streaming of each night’s event.  Check their website at www.k5thehometeam.com for details.

Tickets are required for the competition nights.  If you would like to begin planning for next year, check out the official Merrie Monarch website for details on how to purchase.

Rainbow Falls is part of the Wailuku River flowing to the Hilo Bay.  This 80-foot waterfall is renowned for the rainbow stretching across the lagoon formed from its mist.  Rainbow sightings are not guaranteed other than during a sunny morning visit, but I’ve seen them in the afternoon on a few lucky occasions too.

Rainbow Falls from Viewing Platform

During drought conditions, there is barely a trickle flowing into the gorge. The most dramatic time to view the falls is after a rain, when the volume of water flowing over the falls is significant.  The noise is quite impressive too!  Over the past week or so, a winter storm had stalled over the islands.  On Monday 3/5, I ventured up to the park for a short video clip which you can view here.

It is known in the Hawaiian language as Waianuenue {pronounced Y-a-nu-eee-nu-eee}, which quite literally means “rainbow seen in water”.  Like many Hawaiian points of interest, there is a legend associated.  The story is that the natural lava cave beneath the waterfall was the home of Hina, an ancient Hawaiian goddess associated with the demigod Maui.

Park facilities include paved parking, bathrooms, and a scenic lookout/viewing platform that is wheelchair accessible.

Hike up to top of Rainbow Falls

River flow just before falls

There is a short hiking trail through the lush rainforest vegetation up to the top of the falls for another great view!  You’ll see old-growth mango trees covered with philodendron, African tulip trees, kukui trees (also known as candlenut tree – the Hawaiian State Tree), banana trees and a variety of tropical flowers, including ginger.

There is no access to the pool below, so do not plan to swim here.

Before you leave, you may wish to stop in the Rainbow Falls Gift Shop across the street from the parking lot!  It is located at 47 Rainbow Drive.

Directions: from downtown Hilo bayfront, drive up Waianuenue Avenue about two miles and bear to the right on Rainbow Drive. Travel about 100 yards to the parking lot entrance on your right.

A hui hou!

Su

BIG ISLAND

Every Wednesday morning, the historic Palace Theater in downtown Hilo presents a 45-minute cultural program called Hawai’iana Live!  It begins at 11am and hostess Leilehua Yuen explores different facets of Hawaii island through traditional chant and storytelling, music, hula and video featurettes.  Different shows are presented each week, so even if you’ve been here before you’ll want to go again!  Admission is $5. www.hilopalace.com.

Feb 4 is the Annual Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival! Enjoy an all day lineup of Japanese and multi-cultural performing arts, plus hands-on demonstrations of bonsai, origami, traditional tea ceremony, and mochi pounding. There will be a host of colorful craft fairs, as well. This year, there will also be a Festival of Quilts display, featuring the handiwork of all six local quilt clubs. Enjoy free shuttle transportation among most venues held throughout the town of Waimea.  A good place to start is at the Parker Ranch Center.  FREE to the public!

Feb 11 marks the day Hilo celebrates Chinese New Year with its annual Festival.  Head to Kalakaua Park downtown and enjoy Lion and Dragon dancers, great food, crafts, art, demonstrations and displays.  You can also learn about Chinese astrology, history and culture. A favorite is the keiki costume contest!  From 10a to 3p – FREE to the public!

Feb 11 The historic Palace Theater presents the annual Makaha Son’s Valentine Concert. What a treat!  Call 934-7010 to purchase tickets with a credit card.

Feb 18 is the annual Laupahoehoe Music Festival at the oceanfront Laupahoehoe Point park, just 25 miles north of Hilo.  Event begins at 8:30a and offers a full day of song, hula, school ukulele bands, great food and crafts.  Tickets are $10 pre-event and can be purchased around Hilo town.  www.laupahoehoemusicfestival.com

Feb 25 marks the 15^th annual Hilo Heart Walk and Health Fair at Lili’uokalani Garden Park in Hilo. Opening ceremonies begins at 7am and the Health Fair runs until 11am. The event is FREE or you can sign up to raise money!  www.hiloheartwalk.org

MAUI

Feb 3 enjoy FREE admission to the 5:30pm Jazz & Popp musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr by vocalist Sheryl Renee & Friends accompanied by Brian Cuomo on piano at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua.

Feb 4 is the Run and Walk for the Whales event at Makena Beach and Golf Resort in South Maui.  This 5K or half marathon course is open to adults and children, residents and visitors and includes post-race festivities!  www.mauiwhalefestival.org

Feb 18 Don’t miss one of Maui’s most popular festivals that honors the humpback whales that come to Maui waters each year.  The Whale Day Celebration and Parade of Whales features live entertainment, great food, fun activities for keiki, and a huge “Made on Maui” artisans fair and will be held at Oceanside Kalama Park on South Kihei Rd in South Maui.  The parade begins at 9am and the festival continues until 6pm.  www.mauiwhalefestival.org

Feb 24 (through 3/11) See a live performance of “Grease” at the Iao Theater on Market Street in Wailuku.  www.mauionstage.com

Feb 25 The Great Whale Count needs volunteers to assist the Pacific Whale Foundation’s research team at various sites along Maui’s shorelines.   www.pacificwhale.org

Let us know if you participate in any of these – we’d enjoy hearing about your experiences!  (Photos welcome too!)

Here in the state of Hawaii, many residents follow a longtime New Year’s Eve tradition of welcoming the new year with fireworks in their driveways and neighborhood streets.  It’s loud.  It’s smoky.  It requires a permit.   It will set many dogs into a tizzy.  It’s also a surprising and visually stunning sight for visitors. 

Fireworks can be let off legally between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m.  For those of you that are here, fireworks are on sale this week at many stores, including WalMart.  Getting them early means having access to the best selection.  ;)

(photo credit Jessica Ferracane)

The use of firecrackers to ring in the new year began as a Chinese tradition to scare away evil spirits and was brought to the islands by Chinese immigrants in the 19^th century.  Now it’s mostly for the spectacle and enjoyment.

Where to Go

Big Island – several of the resorts along the Kohala coast (north of Kailua-Kona) will host fireworks displays.  Nothing is scheduled for east Hawaii.

Maui – There is a huge fireworks display between the Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Maui at Wailea at midnight.  Fireworks are set off of a barge off-shore, so any beachside seat will have you ooo-ing and ahhhh-ing.

Kauai – At Poipu Beach Park there is an annual New Year’s Eve music fest and fireworks celebration beginning at 5pm.  Fireworks begin at 9:15pm.

Oahu – Hawaii’s largest fireworks extravaganza will be at Disney’s new Aulani Resort at Ko Olina.  Their show is said to include over $100,000 in pyrotechnics!

Waikiki Beach will also have traditional fireworks at midnight.   You can view the lavish Honolulu New Year’s Eve fireworks display live by clicking here.

Food

Sharing food with family, friends and neighbors is a tradition worldwide.  With Hawaii’s melting pot of ethnicities, it is a great time to sample different foods from different cultures.  Portuguese prepare bean soup.  Filipinos cook up pork adobo (marinated, boiled meat) and the Chinese prepare different kinds of dumplings.  One of the most popular New Year’s dishes is mochi, a type of Japanese rice cake made with sticky rice that is repeatedly pounded (a ritual primarily performed by adult men).

Good Luck

This last weekend, I had the chance to experience vacation rentals from a completely different perspective — that of the guest.  It really taught me that Hawaii Holiday may not be perfect, but we’re doing a lot of things well.

The reservation was booked and paid over a month in advance.  This is pretty standard.

We never received any kind of information like “here’s when you can get in”, “here’s where the lockbox is”, “lockbox code: XXXX” — nothing .  We had to call the property manager a couple of days before we were to arrive and directly ask.  We should have taken this as a warning.

Upon arrival, it was stormy.  The whole area was stormy so this was not surprising.

Open the door and come in — there is no information.  Not even the address is anywhere to be found (this becomes important later).  Not the vacation rental manager’s contact information, no emergency number, no “Welcome to Bob’s Place” (not the real name, obviously).  After hunting around for a few minutes, I found the rental unit information.  It consisted of:

1. A one page list of “do’s and don’t's” like “turn off the electricity when you leave”, “lock your car” and — interestingly — “we recommend you don’t use the alarm”.  Of course, no alarm codes or anything just in case. That particular one would have been better as “God help you if you do touch the alarm”.

2. A few badly faded pages of what appeared to be printouts from the Internet about things in the area and a list of area restaurants (some of which have been closed for at least 6 months).

3. A three-year old note from Dish Network to the owner (I still have no idea what the meaning of that was).

All of this wealth of information was in a 1-inch binder which made the roughly 6 pages look even more wimpy.  Again, no contact information, no house guide to any of the things you might need, like the phone number at the house.

Then the power went out from the storm.  That is when I discovered a few other things that were missing — like candles, lanterns or flashlights.  After a phone call to the property manager who’s response was ‘oh really, my power just came back’ followed by overwhelming silence.   No offers of help or anything.  No offer to even call the power company for me which would have been good since I didn’t have either a telephone book OR the address for the house.  Oh, I remember now, there was ONE lantern on the lanai table — one EMPTY lantern.  Talk about a tease.

I finally lit the freestanding gas grill on the lanai to provide both a way to cook and to provide light to see with.

Eventually the power came back and most of the rest of the evening went beautifully.  Until it was time for dishwashing/showering and we discovered no hot water.  Eventually, we uncovered that the hot water heater was downstairs in another area of the house (one we had yet to explore), on a timer, with a broken switch. Not that there was any indication of switched hot water anywhere in our amazingly helpful house notes.  Oh that’s right, there weren’t any helpful house notes.

Of course, no evening at a vacation rental would be complete without a pissed-off neighbor!  One that shows up and yells at everyone!  Hooray!  If the neighbor is irritated about the vacation rental next door, maybe, just maybe, that is an issue that needs to be handled BEFORE the place gets rented.  However it happens, this is NOT something that should become the guest’s issue.  Ever.

Remember the alarm?  The one with no instructions.  Yeah, that started going off at 8am.  We couldn’t turn it off or anything because, yet again, there were no instructions.  What a lovely joyful thing to wake up to — an incessant unstoppable beeping!

I contrast this with the times that I know we’ve had to talk people through an encounter with “wild animals” (a 3-inch gecko) or strange noises in the woods (that would be two mongooses fighting).  Now, there’s not a lot anyone can do about a power outage, but you can at least make the guest feel like that problem is important to you, that it matters to you, that you will at least call the power company for them and try to get them an answer, that you will tell them where find some candles/lanterns/flashlights/something.

Many companies in the hospitality community refer to their “valued guests”.  This experience reminded me how vital that first word is — the guest must feel valued, respected.  They have spent money with you — that money has value, so the guest has value.  Show them that you do value them.

It also showed me that I should start staying at other people’s vacation rentalsmore often and that I should ask our staff to do it too.

We live on the east side of the Big Island, but it’s an easy day trip to Kona and well worth the drive! We arrived at Honokohau Small Boat Harbor at 9am to check in. There was a quick but very thorough orientation to the vessel’s operation, some basic safety info and marine protocol. We picked out our snorkels and fins, which come FREE with the boat rental. There’s also an impressive selection of fishing gear for those who are so inclined, and scuba gear is also available for certified divers to rent, but we love to snorkel and wanted to keep things simple, so we stuck to the basics. Soon we were on our way to the boat launch just out back, ready for the fun to begin!

Kona Boat Rentals has a half day (4 hour) and full day rental option; with a group of 4 you’ll pay less per person than you would on a snorkel cruise. We took the half day, which was still plenty of time to get down to Kealakekua Bay to see the Cook Monument and scope out some dolphins. We headed down there at speed, snorkeled for a bit, and then made our way back up the coast. The boat has a GPS and charts of all the places to stop and secure the boat so everyone can jump in and swim. There’s a retractable ladder to make getting in and out easy. We had many chances to tie off and jump in, snorkeling up to the coast and even finding a secluded little beach that was only accessible from the water.

The boats are 21 feet with a canopy for shade and room for up to 6 people. There are plenty of storage compartments for your gear; of course, we brought a cooler along too. The boats are super easy to drive – you don’t need a special experience or license to operate one. The Kona seas are calm as you could ask for. The amount of equipment that comes with the boat is impressive, and the service is excellent. We’ve rented from Kona Boat Rentals twice now, and it won’t be the last time. Visit them online at www.konaboatrentals.com or call toll free 800-311-9189 – you’ll be glad you did!

You may be wondering how you can truly experience everything the state has to offer?  Unfortunately, piling everyone in the car and driving around the state is not an option here!  The only way is to island hop by air.

There are currently three operators of flights:  Hawaiian Air and go! Airlines, and Island Air.   Hawaiian Air serves all 8 major airports, while go! does not service Kapalua (Maui) and Island Air does not service Hilo.  Hawaiian is the most established airline and has the largest fleet of all jet engines.  go! airline merged operations with local carrier Mokulele Airlines back in 2009 and has smaller planes, in general.  (It’s been my experience with go! that boarding often involves a walk on the tarmac.)  Since I’ve lived in Hilo most of my time here, I haven’t flown with Island Air, but from what can be found on the internet, they use a smaller aircraft – turboprop jet engines – for their routes.

With a combined approximate 300 flights per day, there should be no problem making flight arrangements, even on a last-minute whim!   Round trip fares typically start around $150 these days and are consistently comparable between the three carriers.  Tickets can usually be purchased online through a big site like Travelocity, or at the carrier’s own website.

All of the airports around the state have open-air terminals and are quite small in comparison to many mainland hubs.  It is generally a very short walk to the gate once you’ve passed through security. Depending upon what type of traveler you are, arriving at the airport 45 minutes before a flight’s departure is usually plenty of time to jump through all the hoops for an island hop.

So, whether you are looking to connect from Honolulu to another island for your stay, or just looking to take a day trip to experience some of the unique attractions or activities another island has to offer; you’ll be flying!

TIP:  If you are flying into Hilo from another island, we recommend you sit on the airplane’s right-hand side (as you look toward the front of the aircraft).  As you approach the Big Island, you will see the observatories on top of 14,000 foot Mauna Kea (often snow-capped in winter!), forests and farmland at the lower elevations, and waterfalls tumbling over the cliffs into the ocean.  It is very beautiful!

Happy travels!  ~Su

In Hawaii, it’s a common belief that the uhane <oo-ha-nay>, or human soul, leaves your body at night and wanders around in search of knowledge, experience, or adventure, returning only when you wake up. When you die, it travels to the leina <lay-ee-nah>, sites believed to be portals to the Other World, such as the WAI’PIO VALLEY on the Big Island. Sometimes, the uhane gets lost on the way and remains as a wandering spirit on earth.

If you are on the Big Island or Maui this weekend staying at one of our vacation rentals, maybe you’d like to stop by and witness one of these haunted spots firsthand!

Big Island

The Haunted Hospital of Hilo. In an old hospital in the Kaumana area of Hilo,  the hallways sometimes resound with distant, surreal cries. Several years ago, a fire razed the hospital nursery and burned the babies to death, along with their nurses. The hospital still stands, and so do the restless souls of the poor victims who haunt it to this day.

The Eerie Dorm. The residence hall at the University of Hawaii at Hilo sits at the site of an old house. Much of the house has been rebuilt into the modern-day dorm, but its long-dead residents are keen on maintaining their presence. Today, students report hearing sounds at night, switches turning on by themselves and feeling eyes on them as they pass the halls.

Hotel of Ancient Warriors. Standing on the old castle grounds of King Kamehameha, the Kona Beach Hotel is your tropical Hotel California. Guests regularly hear chanting, footsteps and battle cries along the halls, and some claim to have seen old Hawaiian warriors. Legend has it that the king’s bones are buried somewhere beneath the hotel and only his descendants know exactly where.

Maui

Wailea Coastline. A White Lady is said to haunt this scenic coastline, stopping occasionally to stare at passersby.

Lahainaluna High School. The boys’ dorm in this school is said to be haunted by a dog and an old man. You can sometimes hear the dog’s bark in the halls.

The Iao Theater. Ghosts and poltergeists seem to inhabit the dressing room of this popular theater. Visitors always feel like they’re being watched, voices can be heard through the walls and objects often move around by themselves.

Hau’oli Ka La Ho’ola’a!    (Happy Halloween)

<How-oh-lee Kah Lah Ho-oh-la-ah>

The Big Island of Hawaii, where 2/3 of the vacation rentals we manage are located, is the most geographically diverse island in the world.  Hawaii Island (widely known as “The Big Island”) has 14 of the world’s 16 climate zones offering everything from dry desert to rain forest to snowy capped Mauna Kea!  Hawaii Island is also the home of a wonderful mix of human cultures from Hawaiian to Japanese, Pilipino, Portuguese, Chinese, European and more.  One of the reasons I (Jessica Hall) chose to move to the Big Island 8 years ago and raise my daughter here was for the vast experience and understanding she could glean from the multitude of cultural festivals all around the island.  Everyone here is familiar with the Merrie Monarch celebration in Hilo every spring, the largest Hula festival in the world, but there are MANY more!  September may be slow season for tourists, but the local residents of Hawaii were busy celebrating these many cultures and the way we live together! 

In Kamuela (aka Waimea) the history of the Hawaiian Cowboy or “Paniolo” is celebrated with the annual Waimea Paniolo

Princess of Maui at Waimea's Paniolo Parade

Parade and Ho’olaulea (celebration, party) in September.  Descendants of the Hawaiian Royal Family walk in reverence to their cultural heritage and Pa’u Riders (women in long, traditional skirts) display the colors of their island: pictured here is the Princess of Maui in pink. 

  The same weekend of the Paniolo Parade in Kamuela, the residents of Honoka’a on the  north-east edge of the Big Island also celebrated what the Big Island has become reknowned for : PEACE, at the annual Honoka’a Peace Day Parade.  The national news reported that this parade and celebration was the farthest west Peace Day gathering in the US.  Among the peaceful displays from Buddhist temples and local schools were the ever present Hula dancers on floats displaying the most elegant and artful expression of unity and togetherness: the Hula. 

Hula at Honoka'a Peace Parade

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the annual Kohala Country Fair in Kapa’au on the northern most part of the Big Island.  This gathering celebrates the agricultural and country cultures of the Big Island, where most of the local food in the State is raised.  I sampled local coffee, chocolate, honey, beef, macadamia nuts, papayas, mangos and avocados just to name a few (YES!  I had to be rolled out of there!).  A few more of my favorite Big Island festivals include: Wailea Mochi Pounding Festival, Hilo’s Black and White Night, Kona and Ka’u Coffee Festivals, Hilo Native American Pow Wow and the Japanese Bon Festival.  –Jessica Hall

Hawaii is the most isolated population center on Earth!  It is 2,390 miles from the U.S. mainland, 3,850 miles from Japan and 4,900 miles from China.

The Hawaiian archipelago spans the distance of 1,523 miles, making Hawaii the longest island chain in the world!

The state of Hawaii consists of eight larger, populated islands (with the exception of the island of Kahoolawe, which is not populated), and 124 small uninhabited islands, reefs and atolls.

The eight main islands make up 99% of Hawaii’s total land area of 6,425 square miles.  Those islands are: Oahu, Kaua’i, Maui, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Ni’ihau, Kaho’olawe, and Hawai’i (the Big Island).

When measured from east to west, Hawaii is the widest state in the United States.

The state of Hawaii has just 4 counties:  Kauai, Maui, Hawaii (the Big Island) and the City and County of Honolulu.

With a population of 1,295,178 the state of Hawaii has the highest population density in the United States (2009 Census Bureau).

Hawaii is the only U.S. state whose land area is increasing (mahalo Pele!).  Fifteen miles southeast of the Big Island is yet another volcano, Lo’ihi, erupting 3,000 feet below the surface of the ocean.  While it will still be several thousand years before this volcano breaks the sea’s surface, it has already risen more than 10,000 feet from the sea floor and has a crater that measures three miles across!

Hawaii is home to the largest and most active volcanoes in the world:  Kilauea, located on the Big Island inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  The Pu’u O’o cone has been continuously erupting since 1983.

Hawaii is also home to the tallest mountain in the world: Mauna Kea, also located on the Big Island.  It stands 13,796 feet above sea level.  However, much of the mountain is under water.  When measured from its base at the ocean floor, Mauna Kea is over 33,000 feet tall  (significantly taller than Mount Everest)!

Hawaii has its own timezone called Hawaiian Standard Time.  There is no daylight savings time in Hawaii, which means in summer, Hawaii is 2 hours behind West Coast time, and in winter, Hawaii is 3 hours behind West Coast time.

Hawaii’s average daytime temperature ranges from 72 F to 82 F, year-round.  The highest recorded temperature was 100 degrees F in 1931, and the lowest was 12 degrees F measured on Mauna Kea in 1979.

Hawaii has the highest life expectancy in the nation at 75 years for men and 80 years for women.

Hawaii has the fewest overweight people in the nation at 19.7%, compared to about 30% on the mainland.

We’re curious:  how many of these did you already know?   Which one surprised you the most?