Just Listed! Rare Hilo Oceanfront Estate January 16, 2008
Posted by Kelly in : Big Island Hawaii, Featured Listings , add a comment
An elegant oceanfront oasis …
Four miles north of Hilo, just across Honolii Bridge, enter through a gate onto a cobblestone drive lined by Areca palms. At the driveway end, on a bluff overlooking a Hilo Bay panorama, you’ll find a private and elegant estate home.
Very few homes in Hilo are truly oceanfront — this is a rare offering. Situated on an extra large lot overlooking one of east Hawaii’s favorite surf spots, this residence offers panoramic views from most rooms. The home design is ideal for tropical indoor/outdoor living. Large wrap-around lanais, complete with soaking pool, provide spectacular views and extend the living space with areas for dining, whale-watching and relaxing. The interior of the home has been completely renovated. An open floor plan and high beamed ceilings create a serene interior ambiance ideal for tropical living and entertaining. The kitchen features a new gas stove, new cherry wood kitchen cabinets and under counter lighting. The master bath features a new spa tub and shower area with Hansgrohe thermal balanced and thermostat controlled valves with premium nickel finish and new granite countertops with double sinks. A 250,000 BTU split air conditioning unit with humidity control adjusts to your desired temperature preference.
To preserve the beauty and integrity of the home from the effects of oceanfront exposure, these additional improvements were made: new metal roof with premium heat resistant paint and thermal blanket throughout, new full metal fascia wraps entire home, outside decking created with Veranda plank (synthetic) decking and tempered glass elements, and all operational windows are dual glazed and have vinyl trim.
This home is a short drive north of Hawaii’s second largest city, Hilo. This vibrant town offers unique downtown shopping, world class astronomy centers and the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
Click here for the virtual tour and additional details
HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND - Pigs January 16, 2008
Posted by Kelly in : Big Island Hawaii, HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND , 1 comment so farPigs
There’s a small pork industry here. A handful of farmers raise pigs, and a few butchers sell or specialize in the whole animal, for which there is always local demand. Kalua pig, baked by hot rocks in an underground oven (imu) is the centerpiece of every luau. (”Ka lua,” by the way, simply means “the hole,” and so is also local slang for toilet.)
Not much bacon is made here, but most supermarkets carry local brands of “Portugese” sausage, for which, instead of mincing the meat fine, as in “Italian” sausage, the meat is very coarsely chopped. And some people make sausages at home, which they sell from their trucks along the highway.
But there are more feral pigs here than domestic stock. If you drive uphill on the gravel roads, past where most people live, into the former sugarcane fields, mauka pasturelands and rainforests, you may well see them on the road. They are the hairy (mostly black-haired) descendents of small Polynesian pigs that sailed here with the first Hawaiians, and which later mated with the European porkers that the haoles brought.
Pigs are large, omnivorous mammals, with no natural predators in Hawaii. Man is their only enemy, and in one-on-one combat they would have the advantage. They can weigh at least as much - even twice as much - as a man weighs. And they can charge at you with long, sharp tusks.
It’s always “open season” on pigs here; and in the dense forests, local guys hunt them with dogs. (Skip this if you’re squeamish: dogs corner a pig, and hold it by the ears until the hunter arrives with his gun.) So, if you don’t have a dog with you when see pigs on the road, they usually won’t be spooked. They know you’re there (hearing and smell are their strong senses, though their eyesight is poor), but they will wait a moment or two before they amble or skip - they don’t sprint - into the brush.
Perhaps, in that moment of hesitation, they’re reasoning that you are not a threat. Pigs, after all, are highly evolved creatures; maybe they’ve learned a few facts about us and our behavior, over the years, which they employ to ensure their survival. It might go something like this: “If a human appears, but you don’t hear a big bang, or if no pig suddenly drops dead for no reason, just walk away.”
