Training on the Big Island

Iron Man was last weekend.  The race took place on Saturday, October 10th (it's always the second Saturday in October) and as always drew lots of visitors and excitement to Kona.  (For race winners and details, please visit the official Iron Man website: http://ironman.com/worldchampionship).  The weeks leading up to the race are always exciting.  Athletes come from all over the world to train here and acclimate to the weather before the race, and visitors pour in to volunteer, watch the race, and cheer the triathletes on.  We've had both athletes and volunteers stay with us here at the Inn and their energy is always contagious.

In the spirit of Iron Man, I thought it'd be interesting to post the experiences of an athlete training on the island.  Although my dad isn't a thriathlete, he is a world record-holding masters swimmer and spent the summer here training in the Bay.  He took part in several local swims, including the Alii Challenge and the race to Honaunau, as well as the Waikiki Roughwater Swim on Oahu.  Here's an excerpt from his summer journal:

All around me there is nothing but warm, clear, blue water.  I am one hour into the 10K Alii Challenge open water swim from Keauhou Bay north to the Alii Pier in Kailua-Kona.  I should be feeling good right now but I am suffering a bit and the blood sugar appears to be gone.  This is not good because almost an hour and a half remain in the race.  Roberta, my escort paddler, carries some food and drink so I "pull over" and try to replace the spent nutrients and then off we go.

The plans for this race started in June when we arrived at the Luana Inn for an extended summer of swimming in the beautiful waters around the big island of Hawaii.  The Luana Inn is perched less than a mile above the fabled Kealakekua Bay where Captain James Cook met his demise in 1797.  The inn is the perfect launching point for the open water swimmer.  Kealakekua Bay is a breathtakingly beautiful crescent about 1.2 miles across.  On the south side is Manini Beach and on the North side is the Captain Cook Monument.  

Most of our training swims began at Manini Beach and followed the perimeter of the bay to the monument.  The visual feast was fantastic.  Tropical fish of fantastic colors, coral formations of surreal shapes and sizes, sea turtles, rays and the ultimate treat, populate the bay: dolphins.  The spinner dolphins often come to the bay to rest and on occasion will "join" the open water swimmers.  I think they find our pathetic efforts comical so we provide a source of entertainment for them.  For us seeing the dolphins is electrifying and we redoubled our efforts to swim well and swim fast but most of all we try to just enjoy the moment while we are suspended in that beautiful blue medium from which all life on this planet emerged.

My swimming friends and I were preparing for a series of open water races.  July 5th the Hapuna Swim a one mile race at Hapuna Beach north of Kona, July 11th the King's Swim a 1.2 mile race on the Iron Man course by Alii Pier in Kailua-Kona, August 16th the Alii Challenge a 10K race from Keauhou to the Alii Pier, and finally on Labor Day, September 7th, the 2.4 mile Waikiki Rough Water swim.

The races were wonderful and well organized but the key to the summer of swimming was all the training swims in Kealakekua Bay.  Our swims were mostly about 4 kilometers in length; however, before the 10K Alii Challenge we did do a few 6K and 8K swims.  After each swim we would hang out at Manini Beach and talk, eat, and plan the next swim.  During the summer, I estimate we swam about 250 kilometers.

Back to the Alii Challenge.  I am now about 90 minutes in the race and am still suffering a bit but we have a following sea and the King Kamehameha Hotel is starting to emerge on the horizon.  At about the two-hour mark we can see the pier and then finally 2 hours and eighteen minutes after the start I am on the beach.

 I will be back next year to do it again!

Hula

One of the things I (Erin) love to do is practice hula.  The graceful movements, haunting chants, and beautiful language and music can be very moving to behold, let alone take part in.  Sometimes, when I exit the building we practice in, it is raining softly and there are pink plumeria blossoms sticking to the hood of my car.  I drive home as the sun is setting and I cannot believe how fortunate I am.  I’ve just spent an hour dancing dances that are so beautiful they make me want to cry; singing about nature, about winds and mists and flowers and the ocean and love, telling stories with our fingers and hands and feet.  Although I am a novice, I can feel clearly that this is a view into the Hawaiian language, into Hawaiian history, a connection to the people and the place.

One of the best opportunities to watch hula is at the Merrie Monarch festival (http://www.merriemonarchfestival.org/index.html) held each year in March/April in Hilo.  Dancers come from all over the world and the festival lasts for several days.  In July during the cultural festivals dancing can also be seen.  You never know when you’ll be lucky enough to come upon hula…there may be a class outside in a park, or a small party at a beach, or a local festival that you luckily happen upon.  To take part in a local class in South Kona visit the Society for Kona’s Education and Arts website: http://www.skea.org/.  (SKEA also offers ukulele, yoga, and pilates classes and is just about a ten minute drive from the Inn.)  There is so much more to hula than what you may see at a resort luau.  As it says on the Merrie Monarch website: “Hula is the language of the heart, therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.” 

 

Yoga Practice

Many of our guests are interested in taking a yoga class while staying with us. There is a lot of yoga on the Big Island but the closest options for guests of Luana Inn are:

Big Island Yoga Center (Iyengar classes daily)
http://www.bigislandyoga.com/home.html
Big Island yoga is located right up in Kealakekua off Hwy 11, less than seven miles (about fifteen minutes) from the Inn.

Paleaku Peace Gardens (Ashtanga class in the pavilion)
http://www.paleaku.com/
Tuesdays, 9:30 - 11:00am, Thursdays, 5:30 – 7:00pm
In the Pavilion: $12/drop-in or 8 classes/$80
Please pre-register for this class, Call Hooda 937-4462

Paleaku is where I practice yoga and I love it. It’s this beautiful piece of property about a five-minute drive from the Inn, up Napoopoo to Middle Keei, then out Painted Church. This neighborhood is very lush and wet and filled with lots of small farms. (It’s also a great area to walk and run.) Paleaku has beautiful grounds with several different small theme-gardens. Yoga class takes place in an open-air pavilion facing the water. Many nights I’ve heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof as we practice, and watched the sun sink into the horizon behind my teacher. It’s a magical place to practice.

We also encourage our yoga-minded guests to feel free to set up a mat or beach towel out on the lanai or on one of our large lawns. The Inn grounds are a stunning place to practice yoga.

Our favorite garden

Speaking of botanical gardens, our favorite garden is actually right here in South Kona.  There is a very special small garden, called the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, just up the road on the highway.  If you take a right off Napoopoo (our road) and head south, you'll see a small sign on your left less than a mile south (before Choice Mart supermarket).  I am a fan of botanical gardens and fell in love with this special place the first time I visited it.  Unlike other gardens, its focus is native and endemic species, and it highlights how the native Hawaiians farmed their land from mauka to makai (large trees like sandalwood grown up high, taro, ti, and turmeric down low, etc.) and how they used various plants and trees (for food, medicine, dying, carving, etc.).  The garden is obviously lovingly maintained and is a quiet, peaceful, beautiful place to learn and relax.  I have spent many a quiet moment there, resting on the grass under a softly rustling old tree.  For more information, check out their page on the Bishop Museum's website:

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/greenwell.html

A visit to the windward side

We just returned from a two-day mini break on the Hilo-side of the island. The green and damp, mist and rain, fragrant ginger and coqui frogs make for a relaxing change of scene for us.  

The first day, we went to Queen Liliuokalani Park and Coconut Island. It was a sunny clear day and both were gorgeous. Queen L Park is a great place to relax with a book and Coconut Island is a wonderful place for children (safe areas to get into the water, soft short grass and shade). We also visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens on this trip and were quite impressed. The gardens span a huge piece of property that unfolds down to the ocean’s edge, so it feels like you’re wandering through lush natural rainforest, rather than a manicured garden. We saw some extremely exotic plants including our new favorite, the white bat plant. We also made a visit to Akaka and Kahuna falls, both lovely (although almost overwhelmingly touristy and crowded) and marveled at the huge old mossy bamboo and all the different kinds of ginger. (We also like Rainbow Falls, which is less crowded and in a park with some huge old banyan trees.)

We didn’t stop at Kalopa Park this time, which is our favorite place on that side of the island. It is way up a winding farm road off the highway, about twenty minutes south of Honokaa. It has a park area with native hibiscus growing and a nature trail, as well as a longer hike through beautiful dense forest to misty cattle pasture, then back along a deep ravine through dripping damp eucalyptus and ginger. Kalopa is an off-the-beaten path sort of place, a beautiful hidden forest treasure.  

Although we wouldn't want to live on the east side, we do enjoy a visit now and then.  The rain does make for some outstandingly lush scenery. There’s something haunting and special about a dark, misty forest scented with yellow ginger flowers and damp earth. 

Snorkeling Snapshots - Two Step

The other afternoon my father and I went snorkeling at Two Step.  Two Step is one of the two most famous snorkeling spots here in South Kona (the second is at the Captain Cook monument). To get there from the Inn, we follow Napo'opo'o Road down to the water (about .8 mile), then stay on it until we reach the park (about a ten minute drive).  Napo'opo'o turns into Pu'uhonua Road, the road that leads to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau national park.  Two Step is just to the north of the park.  We parked in the park parking lot and walked back out, down to the water.  It was about three in the afternoon and there were a few people around, but it was pretty quiet.  The water was calm, warm, and clear as usual.  The afternoon was just a touch overcast and a misty rain fell part of the time we were down there.  We jumped in and swam out a bit, then spent about an hour just floating and observing the reef world below.  We saw all the normal, beautiful things: huge coral heads in lush yellow hues, brilliant-yellow tangs, vibrant rainbow parrotfish, darling little spotted box fish and shy puffers.  Then we happened upon a small group of threadfin butterflyfish.  These butterflies have grey cross-hatching on their sides and bright yellow on top.  One particularly inquisitive little fish swam right up to us from below and looked into our faces.  Neither of us had ever had this experience before.  Although tolerant of snorkelers and swimmers, reef fish are watchful and shy and usually keep a distance.  This little threadfin kept coming right up to us.  It came so close I got a good look at its delicate little face and flowing yellow top fin.  We eventually moved on, not wanting to bother it.  We weren't sure if it was just curious, or if we were infringing on its territory.  We exited the water feeling relaxed and refreshed as only the salt water can leave you.  We marveled at the fact that each session spent in the ocean is different, each provides something new, surprising, and beautifully mysterious.  It is always different, at different moments through the day, on different days, in different seasons; always filled with life, always wondrous.

Green Friends - the Stardust Gecko

When you eat breakfast in our dining room, you may be greeted by one of our "green friends", the stardust geckos. Although not native to Hawaii, these little geckos are quite at home here on the Big Island and can be spotted in gardens and homes and on lanais all over the place. If you've seen the Geico gecko on TV, you'll know what they look like: a gorgeous bright green with red, gold, and blue markings. There are native geckos on the island as well. They are tan or brown with dark markings and hunt at night. You may hear the native geckos “barking” as they hang out near lights in the evening, hunting moths. But it is the green geckos that charm most visitors. They are inquisitive little creatures, bravely hanging out near us on the walls or ceilings, waiting for a handout. They eat insects, nectar, and fruit. We have a couple "kitchen" geckos that wait around each morning for a piece of fruit. We give them their own little saucer of fruit. So please don't be alarmed if you see one of these gorgeous guys during your stay, they are harmless to humans and are very beautiful, helpful creatures.