For those of you that don't know too much about the islands, the state of Hawaii is made up of eight major islands - Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. Two of those islands, Kahoolawe and Niihau do not have populations on them because the first of the two is a tiny island that was used as a military training area and the other is owned by a family so you need permission to step foot on the island. I was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. My hometown is Captain Cook, which is on the west side of the island. I moved to the mainland in 1994 but returned for good to Hawaii in 2001. In those seven years that I was away, a lot changed at home. Some changes were good, while others we could definitely do without.
WHAT'S GOING ON?
“Where did all of this traffic come from?” That was the question that I asked my older brother as we headed south to Captain Cook from the main downtown area of Kailua-Kona. It was 1998 and I was visiting for the first time since I had moved to the mainland. We were stuck on Kuakini Highway and Mamalahoa Highway for what seemed like an eternity, literally inching our way in traffic. He explained to me that this was called the “Kainaliu Crawl”, something that was part of everyday life for the people that worked downtown or further north and lived south of town.
I had thought that there had been an accident or something since that was usually the only reason for traffic being so bad in those parts. I couldn't believe it when we finally got home about an hour and a half later on a route that usually takes us thirty minutes. Now, in 2007, it is a million times worse. Because of rising rent and home prices in the areas closer to town, a lot more people were forced to move further south where the rural areas like Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, Ranchos, and so on are more affordable. With more people moving south, the roads were just not planned for so many vehicles. Public transportation is free but the routes are quite limited so it is not used by a lot of people even though gasoline prices are quite high at $3.34/gallon or higher for regular gas. The west and south areas were not planned very well is what it all comes down to.
On the other side of the island in the city of Hilo, there are alternate routes to use to get to wherever you need to go besides the main highway. It is not that way on the Kona side of the island. On weekday afternoons, visitors trying to sightsee and locals trying to just get home are stuck in traffic for sometimes hours. I'm surprised that local hotels and B&B's don't let their guests know that they should try to avoid certain areas between the hours of 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. I'd hate to be stuck in traffic when I'm on vacation. The morning trek from the south to the north is not any better either. If you try to travel between 7:00 a.m. to about 9:00 a.m. on weekdays, between the Captain Cook to Kealakekua areas, you will be stuck in school traffic. Ironically, there is a bypass road that was built along the Kona coast that would help to alleviate the “Kainaliu Crawl”. But, due to legal problems with some of the land that the road needs to go through, the road is almost done and sits unused since construction was halted a couple of years ago.
THERE IS STILL GOOD!!!
The Big Island is a beautiful and interesting place to visit. With the Kilauea Volcano, beautiful rain forests with waterfalls cascading down lava rock and beaches of white sand like Hapuna Beach Park, there are many opportunities to explore the island by land, sea and air. Fishing on the open ocean, snorkeling, horseback riding, bicycling around the island with a group, going for a helicopter ride. There's a lot to do here whatever you like to do even though we don't have all of the shopping like on the island of Oahu. But where else could you go play in the snow and then go surfing in the Pacific Ocean a few hours later during the winter season? The people here are friendly and always try to help too. When I lived in the states, it wasn't too often that someone stopped to just see if you were OK when your car broke down on the side of the road. Many cultures have come to make the Big Island their home so you will notice a big mix when you are here. We can't forget the food either! You aren't limited to fish and poi (Taro roots that are pounded into a paste) for all of your meals. You can get fine dining or a budget priced plate lunch (Usually 2 scoops of white rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and at least one kind of entrée) or bento (A meal-to-go consisting of rice and little portions of meat, fish and/or vegetables).
