"Final Countdown"

 

 

(image by BangElectric)

Luana Hale

Here are a couple pictures of our hale (house) nestled  on one gorgeous wooded acre in Leilani Estates in the district of Puna on the Big Island. The front 1/2 is forested with native Hawaiian Ohia trees.  The house, yard and garden is located on the back half, along with the 10,000 gallon catchment tank which is our water supply -- all from rain water processed through a filtration system.

There are lots of ferns, orchids and birds.  We are beginning to work on the yard to create flower beds, and garden area.  The property already has producing papaya tree, several avocado trees, tangerine, lime and banana!

We are only two miles from Pahoa -- a funky little town with great markets, cheap gas ($3.68), fabulous organic markets, boutiques and restaurants.

The house has a beautiful 1600 sq ft open floor plan, lots of light, no interior doors and big windows that are open most all the time.  We have a screened porch (lanai) that is about 500 sq ft which will be our art studio (and guest space) until we create some plans for additional living space and a guest cottage.

The property is very private and quiet.  We can't see our neighbors except for a tiny roof peak and the only thing we hear are birds and frog song. 

We would love to stay in touch with friends, but the connections to internet are slow.  Fortunately cell phone reception is excellent!

Haysmers
13-3543 Luana Street
Pahoa, HI  96778

email:  haysmer@sonic.net
cell:  (707) 362-1617 (no land line yet)

Grrrrr!? Final Boxes

We're down to the final boxes...you know, the ones that we dump "everything else" into....like the dog's toys and anything else that's left over after escrow has closed, the bags are packed, and the keys are in your hand.

Except, that Dexter smelled us out and found his toys half buried under the last minute stuff.

UPDATE:  Our final departure is only a few days away.  We expect to spend the last few days eating out a lot (no dishes), and spending a few nights with generous and accommodating friends (no bed).  Phil is delivering our remaining vehicle to Oakland for shipment to Hilo, and all that remains is saying good-bye to dear friends.  Dexter will be flying out this time WITH us, but he's not sure about the "packing thing."  He has, however, been practicing spending time in his crate and rewarded with many treats (as well he should.)

The next posts will probably be from our new home.  Just for fun, you can do a Google Images search for "Puna" -- the district where we live, to see lots of pictures of the area.   Or for more fun, you can pay with Google Earth to "visit" and drive down our street!   Just type in: 13-3543 Luana Street, Pahoa, HI 96778.  

ALOHA EVERYONE!   WOOF WOOF!

One Month Later...

We returned to Eureka on Thanksgiving day,after a month in our new Hawaii hale (house).  We plan to be here for 2-3 weeks only because....
...our Eureka house is in escrow set to close 12/8
...the moving container is due to arrive then...
...and Dexter's house-quarantine is complete

We spent a wonderful month at our new hale tackling the list of things to do:  Getting our water set-up completed.  This meant getting the 10,000 tank cleaned out and partly filled.  Then getting the gutter up so that the daily rain would keep the catchment tank full for all our water usage.  Installing the filtration system was on the list too -- so that we now have extremely wonderful drinking water (from the rain).  We did a LOT of work on the yard and began to envision where gardens and beds would be.

We shipped our truck off from Oakland and it arrived about 2 weeks into our stay AND we already have our Hawaii license plates on it.  It felt odd driving it in Hawaii after having driving it exclusively for so many years in California.  When we leave in December, we will also be taking our new Nissan Versa down for shipment over.  Both our furniture, personal items and Versa car will be arriving before Christmas -- which will make the holiday very special in our new place.

We also had fun exploring our new "country" -- because in many ways it is a completely new living situation.  First of all it is 75-80 every day with wonderful trade winds that make it feel cool and refreshing most of the time.  Yes, it rains almost every day, but mostly at night.  The rain varies from a soft whisper to a dramatic downpour.  But, there are blue skies and fluffy clouds almost every day.  We visited markets, galleries, swimming places, hikes, parks and began to really get familiar with our neighborhood.  (to "see" what all this looks like, you can Goggle/Images for:  Puna and you will get a sense of where we live.)

We are meeting lots of new people and making friendships in the process.   We don't have a phone line or internet at our house, so at this time, we have to drive 2 miles into Pahoa (closest town) for our connection.  When we go back, that will be next on the list.