Adventure 22: More Than You Bargained For... and Why Do I Love Hana? It's an easy question really.

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Let's go with the bad news so that we can end on a positive note, shall we?  The bad news is that come next April(-ish), we will be leaving Hana.  It is for career purposes, but if we were millionaires, you can bet your butt that we would want to own a home in both Hana, Maui and on the island of Kauai for both their serenity and their surf... (and perfect weather for gardening, awesome hikes, perfect uncrowded beaches, etc. etc.).

The good news?  We live in Maui; why am I complaining?!  Once you are spoiled, and then become REALLY spoiled, you have to step back and slap yourself and then take a cold shower and realize what a jerk you are.  But as for this blog, not only do I want to bombard you with a TON of pictures, (as usual), but I also want to explain why I have a GIGANTIC, undying love for where we live.

Here's to you HANA!

Can't You See the Signs? A Lesson in What "ALOHA" Really Means....

Here are some signs from around teeny tiny Hana town...

SERIOUSLY WORTH A READ:
This would be the sign that hangs at the front of
a church that I could throw a rock at from our lawn, (but I
 would never, of course, because it's a church).  How much do
you LOVE THIS?!  My Dad asked me to walk in when he
was visiting, and as a non-religious person, I can honestly
say that, this my friends, is REAL religion.
*BLOW IT UP BY CLICKING ON IT*

And this you will find on the bulletin board at the post office...

And this you will find at the Hana Fresh Fruit Stand.
Free Pap Spears to residents... AND if you get a free pap
smear, you also get a $25.00 gift certificate for the fruit
stand.  Now that is love, caring, and genuine aloha!

Let me not forget to say though, that with any small town, of course Hana has it's drama.  Being a law enforcement family isn't all that easy in a teeny tiny place such as this.  Jun is often arresting or citing someone's auntie or uncle or brother or cousin, and if that person doesn't go to jail, it's likely we'll be seeing them the next day at Hasegawa's or even at the beach.  You often hear of racism in Hawaii against whites, but let me be honest and set the record straight, when we moved here I got as much stink eye from local caucasians as I did from native Hawaiians... Then those who opened up to us realized we aren't half bad!  ;)

Now I'm going to attempt to keep your interest for  35+ photos... (Seriously,

 some of these are VERY outdated since I've been such a slacker and all).  And as always, some are with my Nikon, some are with my good ole' phone camera.

 Koki Beach:

One of the many perks of Hana is its incredibly pristine and uncrowded beaches.  Koki beach is no exception, with its remarkable views of Alau island, sometimes incredible surf, and, well... you'll see.

By the shore.

When you live here, you become accustomed to
 everything that is going on around you.  When the rain
 is about to come, the ritual is, the birds from Alau come
to shore at Koki.  With hundreds of birds swarming, it's
 a magnificent sight.  The only people on the beach
under the blue umbrella are Jun and Reise.

Hoping I don't get pooped on while taking this shot...

We go to Koki in the mornings, sometimes just for the
solitude.  Here's Jun going out for an exercise paddle
while I'm enjoying Reise duties.  After all, I was a
 lucky girl and got to go first and had already
paddled to the secret beach and explored the
shoreline and jungle barefoot.

And we love to take Reise here because
of the shallow waters.  She LOVES the water.
Not just likes it a little... SHE LOVES IT!
She has started kicking her legs and she
always wants to put her face in the water.

Although this isn't Koki beach directly, this is about a half
mile up the road.  I had to capture this sweet cow
and his awesome pasture. 

The Cross Again, Sort Of:

On the way up to the cross, there is a path less traveled, (likely because of the bulls you might encounter along the way).  We have never made it to the very very end of the trail because of said bulls, but we have enjoyed 3/4 of the hike numerous times.

Hiking with ocean views, grassy
meadows, and butterflies.

Don't you just want to go have a picnic
underneath that monkey pod tree?

Wild flowers along the trail.

All that walking wore someone out.
(I can't believe how OLD this picture is!
I have really been slacking!).

I brought bubbles for Lono... He loves them, (as you can
probably tell), and it wears him out even more
 than the hike itself.

Bubbles making their way to the cross... Do you see
the third bubble?  I wonder if it made it?

On a different day, hiking to the actual cross
with baby Reise on the back.

The view, (these pictures were taken with my phone).

The cross with Alau island in the background.
My phone camera couldn't capture the whole
thing in all its hugeness.

Hana Bay:

An approximate 3/4 mile walk from our house, it's a great place to go for an evening stroll.  These pictures where at different times over the last couple of months.

Trying out Reise's snazzy new hiking back.  She loves it so
much that she will just smile when the wind blows.  :)

Hana Bay view over a canoe of a sweet old
 sailboat that came to anchor for a couple of days.

Now here's a story for you.  This fishes guts are coming out.
Wanna know why?  That half moon shaped BITE happened
when I was spearfishing with a friend of ours.  It was on his
line, (which is attached to him and I am swimming BESIDE
of him).  I saw him stick his head out of the water so I knew
he wanted to speak to me.  He said sternly, "Swim in NOW!"
I said, "What? Why? I'm not leaving you", (because that's
why you dive with a partner in the first place is to protect
one another.  Then he said, "SWIM NOW... GO!"  I knew
he was serious and that he wasn't injured and he was
 coming behind me and we were maybe 25 yards or less
from shore then, so I began swimming.  He came in...
said something grabbed his fish... It felt big. We asked
some locals later on and they said a few hammerheads
and a white tip shark hang out around the pier.  And
to be quite honest, we were out until near sunset, 
which is pushing your luck with sharks anyways.
That's there feeding time after all... Our fault.

Feeling like a cool kid wearing Daddy's shades.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding/Surfing:

As most of you know, I began SUPing when I was pregnant and went out all 9 months.  I began SUP surfing after I gave birth.  Jun let me have the ocean to myself on my birthday.  There wasn't a soul in the water with me and I caught a few waves while he watched Reise.

Hamoa Beach

Waiting for my ride to come pick me up...

There's my ride!

Random stuff:

Like sunsets, local food, and a baby with her dog.

We had to spend three days on the South Side due to Jun's
training for work.  It was not great... Well, besides this nice
sunset to ourselves with glasses of wine and going out
to eat at new places.  One piece of advice: Unless you
like a hotel room that makes you feel cleaner by
sleeping with your clothes on and you really
wished you had a plastic decontamination
bubble, NEVER stay at the Maui Lu.
Blood on our pillow case, nuff said.

Reise and I made Jun this while he was
at training.  She even made different faces too!

Mint from our garden used to make mint juleps.  Recently
I've also made spicy tuna roll with fresh caught ahi, local
avocado and cucumber... and I've made Japanese eggplant...
 and fish tacos with local fish, tomatoes, and lettuce from our
garden... All for ten times cheaper than what you would
pay at a store.  And who said Hawaii broke da bank?

Basil and green onions are from our garden... squash was one
whole dollar at a honor fruit stand down the street.  I made
a squash bowl curry.  I make Jun smell the food and not
eat it until I took a picture with my phone.  Such a nice
 wife for cooking, such an awful wife for making him wait.

I got to try a new fruit recently... WOOT WOOT!  It's called
Abiu, and it tastes a lot like a ripe persimmon.  YUM!

We got Reise a kiddie pool to get her
swimming.  She loves it and it's great
for those hot days when her Buddha-
ness keeps her hot and sweaty.

So lucky to wake up to this cheeky face every day!

We took a little road trip to Kaupo and stopped
to visit the Kaupo store.  It was a fun day!

Jun and Reise at one of our stops in windy
Kaupo.  So cute these two!

Lono kissing Reise's hand.  :)

Checking him for ear mites or whispering a secret, I'm unsure which.

Seriously... she pulls his hair and he just smiles.

Super cheesy family hike picture when we went upcountry
and hiked in the Makawao Forest Reserve.

A photo op in our backyard.

I always recommend clicking the top photo and scrolling through to see the BIG pictures either before or after you read.  It makes all the difference!

The end for now... There is SO MUCH MORE catching up to do... And I just found out that I won something pretty cool... Stay tuned!

Hugs and Aloha,

Danielle and the Hattori Ohana