Marie Javins's Blog, page 28

It Used to Be Camping Stores, Then It Was Hardware Stores

I like ukulele stores and fabric stores. You keep your beaches and your snorkeling.

I like sunsets too.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

Q: When are you going back to Burbank?

A: Maybe Sunday. Hawaii is currently two hours behind CA, so I start work at 7. On Sunday, the mainland time shifts and I'd have to go to work at 6. I might try it for one week but being perky at 6 a.m. sounds pretty rough.

Q: Are you a morning person?

A: No.

Q: Are you a night person then?

A: Not really. 

Q: Are you even a person?

A: I might be a cat or a guinea pig.

Q: Are you okay in the flooding?

A: I am! Thank you for checking.

Q: Are you really leaving Hawaii on Sunday?

A: I can't decide. I like not having the low-grade stress of worrying about covid.

Q: Do you like Hawaiian chocolate and Kona coffee?

A: Yes, I do. Thanks for asking.

Uke Shirt in Kona

 I did an impulse buy in a touristy shop in Kona. 

Pandemic Travel

As I sat at the Maui airport waiting to fly to Kona, I found myself having a conflicted reaction to the remarkable moment I am experiencing in Hawaii. I am sure I’d hate this voyage under normal cookie-cutter conditions, but right now the scarcity of traditional tourism is creating a nearly personalized visit. But also: guilt. People are dying of COVID. Everyone I know is suffering from exhaustion and the mediocrity of familiarity and routine. A form of prison for people used to a bit of daily novelty.

And here I am living with only moderate concessions to Pandemic World. My biggest inconvenience is my work day starts at 7.

The vistas are achingly beautiful here, but on Maui, even the few tourists create unpredictable situations. Just one mask-denier causes problems for the tour companies and vendors still operating. The open-air restaurants full of diners terrify me, and I only get carry-out. Sitting on the shuttle to Haleakala worried me too. And getting a COVID test for $125-$150 every time I move islands is more of a pain in the ass than I expected it to be.

Still, my experience here is unique and almost warms my jaded backpacker’s heart. I didn’t even jump down the throat of the Oklahoma guy who said how brave I am for traveling alone. I just said “Well, I’ve been around the world alone,” instead of pointing out Hawaii is a state and god, what a provincial take on women, tourism, traditional lifestyles, etc. Is that even still a thing, not being in a traditional family unit, women on their own?

Maybe it is wherever that guy lives in Oklahoma.

Nice Touch

File under "I had no idea." 

Kihei Treat

I was all “better eat it before it melts,” then I remembered fruit doesn’t work like that.

Early Rise

Haleakala National Park is open for sunrise by advance reservation only.

Advance is not defined as "looks at website a few days before." "Curses," I thought. I was too late to just rent a car and drive myself up.

I read up on sunset, which does not require reservations, but I couldn't find a satisfying answer on if sunset was as good as sunrise. I'd have to book a tour if I wanted to see the sunrise described by Mark Twain as "the most sublime spectacle I have ever witnessed.” 

But almost no one is doing these tours at the moment, due to a shortage of tourists. 

Finally, I found one. The cycle tours. But damned if I was going to go down a giant mountain on a bike. I've only recently worked myself up to Citibiking from Lafayette Street to Hamilton Park in Jersey City. I know my limits. 

The bike people were happy to let me on-board. They're happy for all the clients they can get right now. They told me to be out in front of the condo complex in Lahaina at 3 a.m. And their driver, Billy, a Hawaiian in a Gilligan hat, showed up right at 3 a.m. 

The view was pretty amazing, and the morning was every bit as cold as my FB friends told me it would be. I had on a T-shirt, a sweater, two flannel shirts, my hoodie, a borrowed bike company fleece vest, and their plastic raincoat, and I was still shivering. 

 The other 8 tourists took off on bikes to head back down the mountain once we'd watched the sun come up. (The first clear day in a week, Billy told us.) 

He dropped me at the airport rental car center so I could get a car and do more sightseeing around Maui. But he told me a funny story about the wild chickens running around the island. 

"Ten years ago when they were trapping and neutering all the feral cats, I read an article and the guy said in ten years we'd have a chicken problem, and he was right. The chickens have no more natural predators."  

And I laughed and laughed to myself. The enemy of chicken control is not neutered cats. The enemy of wild chicken control is Safeway, Foodland, Times Supermarket, and Costco.

This Seems Painful

Tomorrow's trip to Haleakala Crater is going to be challenging.

Date: 03/06/2021, Saturday
Product Info: Classic Sunrise Tour
Total Guest: 1 Adult
Hotel: Aina Nalu Lahaina Resort
Pick up Time: Aina Nalu Lahaina Resort at approximately 3:00 AM at the Front Entrance
Check in Time: Activity Starts at 4:00am

The Mystery of the Missing Roosters

When I was scouring the webs for a rental I could afford for a week on Maui, I read a lot of reviews of my current lodging, all criticizing the chickens.

The comments were all the same: So many roosters! Couldn't sleep once they started crowing, they were everywhere!

Eh, I thought. Been there, done that, wanted to murder chickens at 5 a.m. I remember this one repetive rooster outside my serviced apartment in Kampala...that damn thing wanted me to learn to kill chickens. But my work day starts at 7 here in Hawaii, so it doesn't matter if nature's alarm clock gets it in his head to announce the dawn.

But a funny thing happened here in Lahaina.

No roosters at the complex. Nada. Not one.

There are roosters everywhere else in town. Stray roosters wandering around, underfoot, dodging cars.

But no roosters are here at the Aina Nalu on the edge of the old town.

I don't think I want to know what happened to the roosters of Aina Nalu.

Skeptical

 This made me laugh. "No way," I thought, but I tried the pizza and it actually was pretty good.