Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #80

January 25, 2025

Welcome to Blog # 90

I missed last week as I had to spend a week in Honolulu getting things done which are not possible on Maui.

It was culture shock every day and I am very happy to be back home in the country with all my four-leggeds. I did make the best of it and is was good seeing some friends and having some nice meals. And, upon return everyone was happy to see me although well taken care of.

Just before leaving both patios were almost finished and after all the months of being on weed cloth it is a real joy. The black stones in front hold the heat and are very popular with the cats in the afternoon. We are waiting for more material for a small section and then it will be all finished.

Years ago we had a big monkey pod tree in the yard. And, then when we came on a trip it had fallen over and Bob left the root but had the trunk  milled into gorgeous big slabs. Over the years the root ball became like a misshapen tree in the middle of the yard.To make the yard look better I decided it had to go and the monkey pod tree stump was removed last week. Plans are to trailer it to the school in Hana. About the same time several weeks ago I was introduced to Tonu a wood carver and Tonu wants to come out and do a carving at the school teaching the kids wood carving 101. 

Most all projects here are now at a standstill as James and a gang of thirty family and friends have all gone skiing in Japan. When he returns hopefully the last projects will be wound up. The Kawasaki mule farm vehicle should also arrive about that time.

We have a new four legged member here now-Willy. Willy. Is a one eyed darling orange kitten. He scampers around and gets along with everyone and is a joy to have.

Time to close up till next week. Wishing everyone a great week.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #89

Welcome to Blog #89

January 11, 2025

Just hard to believe I have almost been here for two years. Several nights ago I looked back at some of the earlier photos and it blows me away with where and how I have journeyed to be at this point in progress. Most visitors are astounded with the progress. I am now working with a graphic designer for the Koali Niu logo. Next is the web site and planting more coconut trees.

As I am writing this the rain is pouring down on the metal roof with a loud clamor and our dry period is over. This good as the big water tank will be emptied this week and moved down for better placement. After doing this move we need rain to fill the tank back up asap or it is back to the hose into the kitchen sink and buckets for the toilet.But, that seems to have been the name of the game with each project. And, a lot of waiting between projects.

The Kawasaki mule will be shipped from Hilo Feb 5th. I am anxious to get that to help make many jobs easier and be able to drive up the hill.

This week was mainly about putting the front patio floor together. Everything had to first be taken up: furniture, small pebbles and the pavers. Then the ground had to be leveled. James gathered many buckets of sand from the beach and laid that out over the leveled ground. Next the pavers were carefully laid (and often relaid) down fitting them all together for the best size, shape and look. This took several days and neighbor Karen came up to help direct the best placement. Next sand was carefully placed in between each paver, and finally yesterday the pavers were sand blasted to clean the dirt off. Monday he and brother Waihua will be back to grout. This took a lot more time and effort than I orginally planned, but this has been the case with all the projects.

After all my work on the back patio and my desire to do it myself, James told me he thinks the pavers all need to come up and the ground leveled. I was working on that with sand, but it will be better if redone. Oh well. 

On Thursday I made the trek to Kahalui to take Mana for grooming at Petco. The drive can get really irratating with tourists moseying along looking out the window with no sense there are people behind them who want to move on. After many trips I have perfected my way to get them to pull over although it is not a very pretty thing, but it is what the locals have to do. You pull right up on their back fender flash lights and honk and then you yell out the window MOVE OVER with your arm pointing to the side of the road. Some get it faster than others. There are signs along the road to pull over for locals but unfortunately they are made with dark colors and not that visible. 

The afternoon is approaching and enough said for now. Wishing everyone a great week coming up.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #88

January 5, 2025

 Welcome to Adventure Blog #88

I am feeling under the weather and so this will be very short.

And, this last week has been mostly about reorganizing and not so interesting for the big picture. Quite a few jobs are in the planning process; working on a logo for Koali Niu, had a successful zoom meeting with a documentary film maker for the Wave Woman book,

This next week should see a lot of forward movement.

The most exciting thing is my back patio is almost finished. Just needing some more sand now to balance and continue laying pavers. I now have a system so the job is moving along faster. Will be happy to have it all completed-hopefully this next week.

I was invited to an early family dinner on New Years and that was nice. I was home and off the road by 8:30. Makes me shudder to think of those big new year dinner parties we had to put on at Tantalus—so so much work.

Sorry this is so uneventful, but next week promises a lot.

This little black cat wandered in and has joined the gang

 Aloha nui,

Vicky

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.

Chase coming up the driveway

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

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #86

December 21, 2024 

Welcome to Blog #86 

This has been what I call a stupendous week!

The check arrived for half of the Green Grant money and Chase arrived with his excavator with the chipping claw. He has worked two days and has a giant path almost to the mango trees and pool at the top of the property. The first picture shows the big chopping claw that grabs the branches and shreds them. This is a job I tried to talk Bob into doing but he thought it was impossible. So many years later the “impossible” is happening with a reforesting grant. I love the impossible dream–just to make it happen when someone tells you it cannot be done. That is the adventure I am on.

From there starting on Tuesday he will do more on the path and then work on extending the clearing work  on the edges. Getting this hau out has been a 25 year dream so needless ti say I am over the top thrilled. This was all beautiful pasture land in 1940 when Bob’s father purchased this property along with many other acres. This  property, a part of Koali Ranch, has a lot of very important good and bad history . The bad is the way it was acquired by the man (Drummond) who sold it to Howard and Betty along with a partner. I think they were unsuspecting of the ways Drummond acquired the property from the local families.The story makes a chapter (or more) of outrageous Hawaiian history.

Thank gosh this is the shortest day of the year and the days will now start getting longer.

 There have been a lot of long dark nights cutting into my afternoon gardening time.

We have had an amazingly amount of sunny beautiful days with hardly any rain. Hopefully we get some rain soon.

In last weeks blog when talking about my trip to Oahu I forgot to mention my wonderful hostess Jean who made my stay very comfortable and it was great catching up with her. Although she was a class ahead of me at school we didn’t really know each other until our mutual Holo Holo trip to Cuba. Sunday night’s party was a holo holo group get together. 

Our hostess Jerry Bendetti and Sand Edny

Denby Fawcett, Jean, me

Skip

I have been getting a lot of brown figs and papayas.

Life here is good and wishing all of you happy holidays and the best for 2025.

Don’t forget about your dream-they can be possible as my life adventure proves.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #85

December 14,  2024

Welcome to Blog #85

It has been an amazing two weeks with a lot of excitement and more than I dreamed possible accomplished. For Thanksgiving I cooked a turkey in my new red Hamilton Beach oven and it was delicious. We had a lovely dinner with all the regulars. Sara, my step daughter runs the Da Kine shop is Haiku and since Martha Stewart own part of the corporation Sara sent her a picture of our table and she put it on her blog.

The day after James arrived with chain saws, machetes and ready for bear. Edwin, Silipe and Jim had worked the day before clearing the hay around the tulip tress so they could get in there to make the cuts. One by one we watched 14 invasive tulip trees hit the ground with a crashing sound. The view of the mountains has greatly improved plus just getting such pesky trees down is super big. I am not sure who ever introduced those trees, but it was a big mistake. Sara and I sat and watched while they took down fourteen tulips. The trees in the middle pic were covered with hau which they cleared for cutting on Thanksgiving.

Finally after many months of waiting news to start work on the grant funds arrived on Tuesday so we can proceed with the excavator to chip the trees and do five days of Chase working with his machine on the hau. Hopefully this will happen soon and there will be pictures to follow….

Besides taking down the trees I got lots of little jobs accomplished-all making the place look better. They carried some heavy cedar beams to hold the potatoes back from my new herb garden.

We spent part of a day looking for rare coconuts to add to our gene bank and found some special varieties. Edwin happily found a coconut known for it’s texture and taste that he remembered from growing up on his south sea island.

One morning around coffee we all started brain Storming and sketching possible logos for Koali Niu. When the job is finalized I will be having some T shirts made up.

Right after the gang left on Sunday afternoon’s plane Connie my Wave Woman book editor and friend arrive for three days. We discussed a possible article about land here in Hana. Maybe I will just be writing about it here on my blog as I plan on being pretty busy with several projects below.

Connie with my masseus John and Mana

We are also in process of getting our 501 C3. We have our small board formed along with bylaws so that will all be happening very soon.

I finally finished my article with Robin Rohr for Mid Week’s Chasing the Light weekly article. It should appear first of the year. After it is published I will share it in my blog.

This week I had a zoom meeting with a documentary filmmaker about doing a film on Wave Woman. He just finished the Shape of Things about the brilliant surf board shaper Dick Brewer. My friend Jericho who started the women’s professional organization with Real Sunn and won three world titles is coming over and we are going to start work in January. I am really looking forward to this project….

It is now December 13, and I am still working on this. Blog. I wet to Oahu last weekend and never could never settle long enough to get this out. Although I never want to leave when the time comes It was a very busy and fun three days w ith lovely and special evenings included a Sunday night party with the Holo holo traveling group. Monday night my new friend Lani girl took me to one of my favorite places the Halekulani Hotel for sunset and Hawaiian music. Lani is a famous hula teacher and was called to dance by musician Doug Tolentino. It was a night to remember!

I finally received the formal notice to proceed on my Green Grant so hopefully we will be moving up the hill with cutting and chipping this next week. I also ordered my new Kawasaki Mule vehicle for farm work.

Mana is recovering from her surgery and the suitcase scene I was trying to fit in above.

I am tired of struggling with this wordpress which is acting up so am going to leave for now.Thank you for tuning in and wishing everyone a happy holiday season.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #84

November 23, 2024

Welcome to Wave Woman Adventure Blog

Hard to believe this is #84 and I must have lost a lot of people along the way?

I am starting to loose myself actually…….but the next weeks are going to be exciting with the next step of clearing hau and planting coconuts. Three big helpers arrive on Wednesday for the weekend of work.

This week has not been without excitement!

Sunday morning I was shaking out a bed spread that had been drying over my stationary bike and out jumped a huge brown centipede. Before I could do anything it ran under my bed. EAKS! I knew I had to do whatever to get it out. This meant moving everything to the side of the room so I could move the bed out far enough to get under the rug. After moving the bed to the side of the room I took a deep  breath and got the upright vacuum cleaner and a big knife. I turned the vacuum on and slowly started lifting the rug up and there it was to cut a slice thru and quickly vacuum up. That was the end of that little episode, but it created a lot of extra work before company’s arrival.

We now have a Hana vet! This was my biggest worry about coming to such a remote place without proper vet care. So like everything else that has fallen into place (not without effort of coarse) it is so exciting to finally have a young capable vet right here. Dr. Krista Scimeca with Infinity Vet. Dr. Krista’s dream is to be mobile but she moved into a house here a few days ago right after our old long time vet Dr. Malcom died. Last week I finally had a small bump on my dog Haumana checked out. Krista drew fluid and said it did not look good-a possible melanoma. Early Monday morning we out the back road to Makawao Vet for the procedure. She stayed there till Thursday and is now home confined to a smallest area to heal. She had a very uncomfortable cone which I finally found the right T shirt for her advertising Hasegawa General Store. I take her out for walks and she seems to be doing good.

 I started my back patio this week. 400 capstones are estimated to complete the job plus many bags of sand. I did one forth and will continue this next week. Ossipoff used these as pavers on some of his patios and they are just right for me to handle, but it is not an easy job. Lifting and bending makes for a lot of soreness, but it is very rewarding work and I am looking forward to finishing the job. The cats are happy.

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday weekend. I am cooking a turkey in my red Hamilton Beach portable oven. Probably will skip next week’s blog with all the company and work plans.

Trying to keep this little guy from getting munched by my four leggeds.

The evening skies have been amazing.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #83

Welcome to Blog #83

November 16, 2024

It has been a rather quiet, but good week. I don’t have many pictures. Ben finished the rock wall and it looks beautiful. I am planting herbs between the wall and where the potatoes start. One BIG problem is that the potatoes are like Jack in the beanstalk plants with a fierce growth rate. Next week when help arrives I am planning on putting some of the wood beams in place behind the herbs, but in front of the potatoes and then the potatoes can more easily be trimmed as they peak over the wood to try and take over.

Finally the first native gardenia flower appeared. So mini but the wonderful smell is there. Gardenias love Hana and I love gardenias.

I had a trip to the “other side” on Thursday. The trip is always long, but spectacular. We have had lots of rain and the rivers were raging. The yellow ginger is still in bloom.

I am starting on the back patio floor this next week. I just ordered the cap stones and sand. Looking forward to this project.

Am loving my pool…

Jungle helpers are coming for Thanksgiving weekend and we are going to take on clearing more of the hill.  I am also going to cook a turkey so it should be a big step forward.

Going to cut this short as I have a very dirty house that needs cleaning.

Thanks for tuning in. Happy week to everyone.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #82

November 10, 2024

Welcome to Blog #82

I am a day late again…..I spent all day yesterday supervising work and cooking for a dinner last night.

It has been another interesting week with beautiful sunset pink skies. The first part of the week was spent working on writing a weekly article in Mid Week called Chasing The Light. Robin Rohr is a therapist and author and puts out a weekly inspirational article. She must have run across my book and contacted me several months ago for a story on my mother.  My story will appear around the first of the year. It was a lot of work with many rewrites, but I think resulting in a beautiful tribute. I will let everyone know when it is published. Once published I will include it in a blog post.

The bottom of the driveway was getting quite muddy with overhanging trees keeping the sunlight at bay. The trees got trimmed and Laka brought up fo aur tons of gravel to solve that problem. We are also figuring ways to deal with possible heavy winter rains.

I now have one more parking space at the bottom of the driveway which gives room for possibly selling a product. The taro at the very first lo’i already has one leaf and that is going to be spectacular for all the cars passing by.

We continue working on the yard and it is looking gorgeous. Ben finished the back yard rock wall yesterday. I am hoping to keep the potatoes back far enough to plant herbs along the inside edge. I harvested lots of turmeric and might put some of that in also.

At the Farmers Market on Friday we came across Randy who was selling a shot of turmeric juice that he makes with honey, lime juice and coconut. It was delicious and I am going to start experimenting to make the healthy concoction.

My friend and author Susan Purvis (Go Find It) arrived and we went to the Makahiki celebration ceremony on Friday morning at The Kahanu Botanical Garden. The Garden is part of the National Tropical Garden and the home to the largest heiau in the South Pacific-The Pi’ilanihale Heiau. The ceremony was performed at the base of the heiau as it probably has taken place for hundreds of years. The Makahiki season is the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival in honor of the god Lono. Makahiki usually begins in Mid-November and ends in late January or February aligning with the rainy season. It is a time set aside for tribute, harvest, sport, and play. The four month period was a time of peace and plenty, relaxation, games. It was a time to honor the god Lono which a replica is pictured below. All the Hana School students were there and it was pretty chicken skin. Since it was also a time for surfing and when the surfing contests took place I wrote about it in my book.

After the celebration a Hawaiian lunch was served in a bamboo plate and games were played.

In my little spare time I have been reading Bob’s mother’s letters that he had transcribed and put in a binder. The letters are copies that were written to her family and talk about life in Hawaii during the war and the Liljestrand family. I am finding it very interesting reading.

Caruso cat loves the frog.

The neighbors dogs drop by every once in a while because they are not being fed at home. I fell in love with the little black oneput some food out, but Mana decided to bring the dish back which she did without spilling a drop.

It is a beautiful day and I am going to turn the pump on for the pool and maybe jump in before some planting.

Have a beautiful week.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky

Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #81

November 3, 2024

Welcome to Adventure Blog 81

The BIG event of this last week was getting my above ground pool set up and filled with water. This all happened yesterday and that’s why the blog is a day late. Nothing is easy here and the preparation for the pool followed suit. But, I am thrilled to have this therapy pool and a cold bath of water for hot days here. I had my first “swim” this morning and it is so great to have.

Filling the pool drained the big tank so that is ready for moving which will hopefully happen next weekend as I am now using a garden hose from the bottom tank for kitchen and bathroom water.

Ben came and made more of the rock wall in the back yard. Said he was coming today, but no sign of him.

This will be short because I just spent a lot of time making the flight reservations for three friend/workers to arrive on Thanksgiving weekend. This will be a big help to make the next leap on clearing a bigger path to the pool above and getting some invasive trees cut down. It will also allow more coconuts and kalo to be planted.

Unexpectedly on Halloween I ended up at the Ranch House Restaurant. That was the “IN Place” for singles. I found out Halloween is big in Hana-especially for singles. After dinner we entertained ourselves watching a group of people putting down a dance floor. The floor squares were put down, taken up, put down and replaced.

I now have a cover for my car. This took all day last Sunday and should have been a little larger, but helps with bird poops and the sun.

. 

I harvested tumerick last week and am trying to figure out how to use so much. The market wanted 40 pounds and I don’t quite have that. Maybe I will do a tumerick bed for the next round.

Ben showed up and I need to go and find rocks for the wall.

Thanks for tuning in.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky