Balabanova All Over

Monthly Archives: December 2014

[Kailua-Kona, HI] Humuhumunukunukuapua’a is the name of the Hawaii State Fish. To say this, break it up into syllables and note the repetitions – Humu – Humu – Nuku – Nuku – Apua’a. And, if you’ve seen the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, you may recall a scene where a desk clerk at a resort on Oahu proudly boasts being able to name over 200 Hawaiian fish, including Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. You can see the… Read More

Kailua-Kona, HI We started our Friday with a visit to the town of Pahoa. Lava from the Pu’u O’o vent of the Kilauea volcano had reached the town in October and had destroyed a house and almost reached the transfer station (a solid waste facility) in town. The lava is no longer active but visitors still flock to this area to see it firsthand. The road is blocked so you can’t touch… Read More

[Keaau, HI] For the second day in a row we got up and anxiously looked out the window, trying to see if the clouds finally went away. And today, they did!!! The blue Hawaiian sky greeted us for the first time as the sun was rising from behind the trees! We squealed with excitement! We started off our Christmas day with a wonderful breakfast cooked by our AirBnB hosts, which we enjoyed… Read More

[Keaau, HI] The highlight of our day today was supposed to be a sunset tour of Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain on earth when using the height of the mountain from the seafloor up (rather than from sea level). However, the rain that we encountered yesterday had apparently continued on today on the mountain, and the road between the Visitor station (at ~9000 ft) and the summit (~14000 ft) was closed. Our… Read More

[Keaau, HI] Today was a very, very long day. On the upside, we’ve already traversed the southern part of the island! We arrived on the Big Island just after noon on Tuesday, Dec. 23. We disembarked our plane (no sleeve – just stairs directly down to the tarmac) and we walked a few feet across to the terminal, which comprised of nothing more than a few huts with benches – I am… Read More