Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #87

December 29, 2024

Welcome to Adventure Blog #87

This week has been a real adventure -the beginning of an event I have been dreaming of for twenty five years! Chase made the rest of the big clear with his Komatsu excavator. That Machine picks up giant tree trunks like they were match sticks and rips up huge piles of hau with one scoop. I took some great video shot of this work in action, but unfortunately they are too big to post on the blog. Yesterday was the last day of five days work. Chase has been operating that machine since he was a teenager and is a master and the progress is very exciting. On the side of the machine there is a small seat which I rode on while he drove up to a high spot on the hill. It was kind of scarey as we bumped along the newly cleared path. From the flat place on the top we could see Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai and Kohala-all amazing views that I had no idea would ever be visible. From there we hiked up the trail to the pool and waterfall. There has been very little rain, but the water fall is still going and we all jumped in the pool for a cold swim. It was a memorable day for me. There is still a lot of hand clearing which will be the next project. With the major clearing made possible with the Reforesting Green Grant the next phases are workable.

The week has really just been about watching the clearing work and some gardening, but all low key. My friend Susan Purvas is here in Kipuhulu and we went to a Christmas brunch on a farm and that was pretty much it. One of my new favorite friends Mary Carol passed away on Christmas Eve day and this put a slight damper on things for me. 

I have been reading some of Bob’s mother’s letters  chronicling the family living in Hawaii from 1937-1946.

I finally got to a letter dated October 25, 1945 where she talks about Hana (owning seven houses around  Hana Bay) and then buying this land with a partner Dick Vandenburgh. It was a 900 plus acre cattle ranch that “Dick Vandenburgh bought and then resold in lots to a congenial selected group for summer homes. The former owner of that ranch was a crooked unscrupulous individual who certainly was not loved by anyone in the community. When the deal was finally completed a few weeks ago the Hawaiians in the region gave a luau for the Vandenburghs in celebration. It is the one unspoiled Hawaiian region left in these islands. The group that bought the land was called Hana Hulu and Bob’s father was the president. 

Now that  people from Honolulu have chased the Drummond’s out, “you, Mr Vanderburgh, and the nice group of Christians the luau was held in a church yard, and when the minister gave a word of greeting before the grace, he said. “The clouds have cleared again now, that you Mr. Vanderburgh, and the nice group of Christian people from Honolulu have chased the Drummonds out.” She goes on to talk about the luau….. In the next paragraph she talks about pictures that show the ridge where their summer home is going to be when they built it, and the view. This land has been chocked with hau and bamboo since the mid-40’s and was uncovered in the last days. It was cattle grazing land and we saw bits of bared wire on the old tree trunks.Actually, it was so covered I had no idea it was such a steep climb up that ridge. I think this is the very spot where we stood and admired the view yesterday. A pretty awesome surprise for me!!

Enough now I need to go and work on the patio.

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and peaceful coming year of 2025.

We now have seventeen coconuts planted and seven varieties with a cleared hill for many more.

Next time I will show the old rock walls at the top perfectly in tact. These walls were built hundreds of years ago by skilled Hawaiians to contain water for kalo/taro growing.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky