12/12/12 - And the world is still here.....

12/12/12 – and the world is still here….

We woke up this morning and asked ourselves why, if according to the Mayans this was the last day of the earth, we would chose to stay in a home next to the Mauna Loa volcano and the Kilauea volcano that has been erupting since 1983 feeding rivers of lava into the sea! Still if today was the day, it would have been the best seat in the house for the show.

This Ohana house is amazing. Outside is shrouded in low cloud and it has rained all day which of no great surprise given we are in a rainforest. The interior is classic Hawaiian décor but it has a fire place. And beware, the lights switches are up for on and the taps are left for hot and the right for cold! Welcome to the USA where things are in pounds or feet and inches and gas is sold in gallons.   

Today when we ventured out, having explored the house and its surrounds, we drove down to the Hilo markets to buy all things Hawaiian. You really know you’re at high altitude when your ears pop three times going to the shop and your sealed food packets are swollen to bursting point when you get home. Shopping for macadamia nuts, Dole pineapple, banana, pancake mix and coconut cream pie all successfully completed. 

We also bought ourselves the Iz (Israel) Kamakawiwo’ole CD and immersed ourselves in Hawaiian ukulele music for the night before dining out at the Kilauea Lodge.   

Fact : Mount Mauna Loa at 33476 ft is the tallest mountain in the world if you measure it from the sea floor.

Question : Why has the Hawaiian flag got a Union Jack on it? Because it was a British colony after James Cook claimed it in 1778 and Hawaii claimed his life after a dispute over a theft.