What a Difference a Day Makes

After two days and nights of angry storms, Hilo is back to life as usual. It is 80 degrees and very sunny. The waterfalls are flowing and the surfers are surfing and all is well with our Hawaiian world.

I snapped these with my cell phone this morning on our walk around Honoli'i:

Just in case you forgot what it was like 24 hours ago... click here.

Visiting Akaka Falls

We drove down the road the other day to visit Akaka Falls. It is about 10 minutes from our house and nestled in a spectacular gorge. We tried to time the trip so that the cruise ship passengers were already gone, so we went late in the afternoon. However, it is said that it is even more spectacular when you go early in the day, so we will make a return trip to check that out. The circle trail was closed for construction, so we took the shorter easier trail to get there. Still, there are hundreds of steps to go up and down as you make your way to the viewing area. The entire trail was paved, wandering over streams and beautiful vegetation and most of it had hand rails, but I do have some friends that might find it too physically challenging. The view was spectacular. The water falls over 420' into a huge pool. Coming and going to the falls you drive through the little plantation town Honomu. There are about 2 blocks of commercial buildings, a few shops, a cafe and a very old theater. It is easy to imagine what this little town was like back in the Sugar Days of Hawaii, as not much has really changed there in those many years.