Fun with Gravel

We got two large loads of gravel--one of ordinary gravel for where the main house will go, and one of finer red cinder for filling in areas in the front of the lot and in the street.

Approximately 25 cubic yards of gravel

Red cinder

We rented a small Bobcat, and Mitch spent the day clearing some overgrown areas and spreading out the gravel and cinder.  This is the very overgrown front of the lot, on the left side.  You can just barely see the banana trees in the back on the right.

A view of the same area from the left side.

Looking down the driveway towards the house

The driveway and front area after clearing and spreading the cinder

The area to the left of the driveway.  The bananas are to the center-left (unfortunately, they haven't fruited since we got here).

This is the road in front of our lot.  The community association owns and maintains the roads, but there is always a shortage of funds, so it can be a long time before any roadwork is done.  We used some of the gravel and cinder to fill in the worst of the potholes from our property to the main road.

The same area of the road after filling the holes and spreading cinder.

This area (in front of the house) was cleared and the soil was piled up to become a garden.  The soil is extremely rich, but unfortunately, in most areas it's only a few inches thick--beneath that is solid rock.

The Hawaiian Hawk

A Hawaiian Hawk, known locally as the Io, paid us a visit and took a rest in one of our trees.

The Io lives only on the Island of Hawaii, and is the only hawk in the state.  They're about 18 inches tall.  In traditional culture, the hawk was a symbol of royalty and killing them was forbidden.  Today, they're endangered and protected by law.

Door Installation Completed

The final details of the front door installation was completed (not including the trim).

I also started clearing some brush along the property line (next to the  pasture) in preparation for creating a garden in this area.

Chicken Eggs

We discovered that one or more of the (semi-wild) chickens that live on the property have been laying eggs under the house, and one of them is sitting on them.  She comes out about once a day to eat.

Under the house might not seem like the best place to sit on eggs, but it's out of the rain, cool during the day, warm at night, and very safe from the mongooses, which like to eat eggs but are generally too shy and skittish to leave the tree cover long enough to go under the house.

"Nest" of eggs that one of the chickens has been sitting on

More eggs (not being sat on)

We gathered up the untended eggs.  They look good, but we don't know how long they've been there, so we're not going to eat them.

Second Front Door Installed

Mitch finished the second front door today, and now we have working front doors!

View looking down the hallway

Front Door Installation

After a brief New Year's hiatus, work on the house has resumed.

The first of the front doors was installed.  We bought the doors, which are made of mahogany, unfinished and un-hung.  Mitch, our builder, spent many hours sanding, staining, and finishing the doors, installing the hinges and other hardware, and installing the frames.

It's going to be strange having front doors -- we've gotten used to the doorway being boarded up. This is what the front doorway used to look like--siding and plywood nailed on (with interior doors leaning on the doorway).

Interior view

Exterior

View of the lanai with the door open (and the other door to be installed).

Chinese Pretzels

A family living off the highway not far from us sets up a roadside stand selling "Chinese pretzels" almost every day, so we finally decided to buy some and find out what they are.  They're taste somewhat like fortune cookies, deep-fried, and pretty tasty, but nothing like pretzels.

Volcano

We went to Volcano National Park. It was fine when we left and the forecast was good, but when we got there, it was cold, raining and windy.  We did stop at the caldera and the museum before heading home.

Steam and fumes from the caldera

Heavy rain on the way home

Quick trip to the zoo

We made a quick trip to the Panaewa Rainforest Gardens and Zoo, a few miles outside of Hilo.

Namaste the white tiger, is fed every day at 3:30. Here he is munching on one of several chickens.

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A Wild boar. We overheard a woman remarking to her out-of-town guests, "Bet you don't see that at your fancy zoo."

Lunch in Kalapana & the Red Road

After a morning of hiking over lava, we were pretty hungry. Fortunately, there is a restaurant nearby.  

Kalapana Village Cafe, the only restaurant in Kalapana.

Tyler's burger

Veggie sandwich

And bonus, the food is actually pretty good. We even ate the flowers.

On the way home, we decided to take the scenic route, along the Red Road that follows the coast. Most of the road is now regular pavement, but it used to be red cinder, hence the name.

Some guy decided to build a castle here. It's now a Bed & Breakfast.

Views of the ocean from the Red Road