Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #23

July 8, 2023

Welcome to Blog 23

This has been a very big and exciting week with an amazing step forward. My friends Edwin and Silipe arrived early Saturday morning via Mokulele Airlines flight into Hana.

Along with Derek they spent Saturday and Sunday cutting a new more direct trail (and one that Bob and I used eighteen years ago) to the waterfall and pools. Edwin and Derek chain sawed thru many years of overgrown hau while Silipei and I put the cut pieces on the side. It was a tricky situation but we had studied the land corded map and I got an arial photograph from Armon who has a business flying people around Hana in his gyro plane. The hau is dense so it is difficult knowing the correct and most direct direction to start chain sawing without wasting time and energy.

The land is all terraced lo’i with  amazing very old beautiful stone walls used to separate the sections and hold the stream water for the kalo irragation.

We were all blown away by the manpower it must have taken to build these rock walls hundreds of yeas ago. This area fed thousands of Hawaiians and it is hard to imagine what happened and where they all went. More and more it feels like a sacred place here. My dream is to restore and replant these lo’i that have been invaded by invasive plants. 

In ancient times, Hawaiians lived under strict laws. Commoners could not get too close to the chief, nor were they allowed to touch any of his possessions, walk in his footsteps or even let their shadows touch the royal grounds. The penalty for violating a sacred kapu (taboo) was death. Breaking a kapu was believed to incur the wrath of the gods. Hawaiians often chased down the offender and swiftly put him to death unless he could reach a puu’honua, or place of refuge. There he could be absolved by a kahuna (priest) in a purification ceremony, then return home with his transgression forgiven. Defeated warriors and non-combatants could also find refuge here during times of battle.

And, speaking of this land, in the last weeks I have realized it is my puu’honua, a refuge for both my the cats and myself. It has been our safe place and that is one reason we are all so happy here in this tranquil if not sacred place. We did not escape from the gods as they were not gods by any stretch of the imagination (perhaps even vipers), but we transitioned to a higher place.

Over the past months there have been many piles of cut hau accumulating waiting to be chipped. Early Monday morning Ryan from Whispering Winds showed up on his John Deere tractor hauling his large chipper. Bradley’s four boys were here and seven men were pulling the hau out of piles and feeding the chipper. It was so great to see these the tangled hau piles turned into piles chipped compost. These chips will be raked back to the lo’s and will act as a weed barrier as well as nourishment for the soil where the coconuts will be planted. This was a long awaited day for me. Tuesday, inspite of a bandaged gash above his eye (from a hau branch) Ryan returned and there was chipping until the chipped stoped working. Chipping will be continued in a few weeks when the recently cut branches have dried out.

I am now waiting for Bradley to come and take out the hau stumps so we can move forward.

Meanwhile the post holes were being prepared with rebar for the upright kiawe posts. The first concrete pour took place on Wednesday.

Thursday turned rainy and stopped work. Friday there was no work as Chris had to prepare for his son’s graduation party which will be tonight. I am looking forward to going to my first Hana graduation party out in Kipahulu.

It has been a fun social few days. Thursday evening was magical at the Hotel Hana with Hawaiian music, hula dancing just like the good “old days” people said. Apparently things have been pretty quiet since the big lockdown during Covid. Many community members attended and it was a very special event with all the music, hula, and delicious dinner. Everyone wants more of these events.

Time to get going here, but thank you for tuning in to hear about my progress on this amazing adventure. Chris assures me he is “all mine” next week so there should be some amazing leaps forward.

People here are so friendly and welcoming and it is just “the best” experience. I leave you with a scene of these three sassy cows from this weeks drive to town. Apparently the hills are home to hundreds of cows who wander about as they like. I saw a bull climbing up a four foot wall Thursday eve on my drive home. They do get into people’s yards and cause havock with their fruit trees.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky