Best/worst of Hawaii from a new transplant (Hilo, Lawai: transplants, house)

[Sweetbeet]

Been here 3 months, and so far, here's my best/worst list (not sure if I can come up with 10 of each) for living on Kauai (I'll save the best for last):

Worst:
- Mold in the rainy season. Tends to grow (seemingly randomly) on cloth, leather and unvarnished wood. Pretty easy to get rid of, but still an annoyance.

- Ants. I don't mind the occasional large 'cockroach' or palmetto bug, I think the spiders are cool, and haven't seen a centipede yet but I don't think it'd bother me much. But those tiny ants that swarm whenever the tiniest drop of food is spilled are a pain.

- Extreme heat, and "Kona winds" (which, where I live, basically means "no wind"). August was a bear, and September wasn't much better. October and November are better.

- Lack of resources/shipping costs. Just a few kinds of stores I miss (Staples, TJMaxx-like discount store for work clothes). It's possible to get most anything online, but it takes a long time to find what you want, and sometimes you get stuck with lousy shipping costs, if merchants are not flexible. Many times if you call and explain the concept of a USPS flat-rate box (and your purchase fits in one), they are happy to oblige. But some will ONLY ship UPS or FedEx, ugh.

- Recycling from the dark ages. (OK, I know we're making progress, at least we HAVE recycling.) I do miss curbside pickup, and being able to mix all containers (glass, plastic #1-7, all cans) and all paper (newspaper, junk mail, corrugated cardboard). Here they only take plastics #1 and 2, only all-aluminum cans, and each thing has to be separate (glass, cans, plastic, newspaper, other paper, cardboard).

- The fact that they burn diesel to generate electricity. Just bugs me. (That, and the fact that it's .45/kWh, which is probably due in part to the source.)

OK, now I've gotten that off my chest, here's the BEST:

- Evenings/mornings. Weather in the evenings and early mornings is either pleasantly warm or pleasantly cool. Just about perfect. I LOVE hanging out on the lanai, or outside, in comfy clothes, all evening, and having my breakfast on the lanai looking out at the beautiful morning.

- Not having to dress up TOO much for work. No more pantyhose - yeah! Wearing (nice) sandals even when I have to go to court. (I still wish I could practice law in shorts and a tee shirt, all the time, but you can't have everything.)

- Mini-vacations to Hawaii. Getting to take a couple of hours or a day and instantly be in the best vacation spot in the world, for free. Snorkeling. Boogie-boarding. Going to Koke'e park. Watching whales (they'll be here soon, now...). Having a drink at one of the snoidy tourist spots overlooking the beach.

- Gorgeous plants everywhere, rainbows, the breezes when they're blowing. Sunrise over the ocean (I live on the east side). All the gorgeousity everywhere, all the time. The amazing hills.

- Coconut turnovers, crab rolls, and everything else at Hanalima Bakery, in Puhi). Yums! And the ahi tacos at Shaka Taco, in Kapa'a.

- Aloha spirit. People helping people. The candidates who *lost* the election, out waving 'Mahalo' by the highway the day after. The winning candidates thanking their opponents, for having given people a choice. People letting you merge with a wave. People happy to share their surplus (avocadoes, mangoes, smoked fish, whatever), and to take yours.

- Nonpartisan elections (people tell me it's "more partisan than I realize," but at least there's not the blatant party politics that is so rampant everywhere else).

- KKCR (Kauai Community Radio). Very diverse programming. Love the garden show, classical music on weekends, Hawaiian music in the mornings, jazz, everything.

- The YMCA pool. Wow. A 50-meter pool, outside, where there's almost always a lane open for swimming laps. AND a whirlpool spa, also outside. And very nice lifeguards, and a water slide. It's expensive, but worth it. (And there's always a breeze down there, I wish I could build a house on the lot right next to the Y!)

- Kama'aina discounts. Though I feel kind of guilty, I'm not really kama'aina yet, in the real sense of the word...

- A cool shower after a day snorkeling, followed by a beer, a nice steak, and great conversation with the ohana.

There's more, I'm sure, but this is a start.

[kani-lehua]

you got the hawaiian words/vocabulary and aloha spirit down pat. don't feel guilty by calling yourself a kama'aina and using the discounts where/when applicable. did you change your driver's license yet? got the local address. get to have the discounts.

[Sweetbeet]

Oh yeah! It was a real thrill to get my rainbow plates and my Hawaii drivers license. I love it - it's much more sturdy than the NY license, and the photo isn't even all that bad!

[summer grace]

Thanks for the list! I'm sure it is much better than NY. Lots of us here wish (well me anyway) we were recent transplants there, so reading your list is interesting. Extreme heat has to be better than extreme cold. Your descriptions of the weather, the breezes and ocean- I really enjoyed them.

[MadRussian]

Thank you for list! Nice one!

[HankDfrmSD]

Great List!

We too have to battle the ants, but I think you can win, if you work at it. We find that putting out the Combat ant traps regularly, in all the places where they show up, eventually works.

I also sprinkle a powder all the way around the perimeter of the house to keep centipedes out a few times a year, and I think it helps with the ants. Seems to me it is called Dursban, but check the labels at Home Depot.

Also, if you keep plants and trees trimmed around the outside of the house so that no branches/leaves touch the house, you will cut off one entry path that ants seem to love!

Hank

[dad2764]

Regarding the extreme heat, what was it like in the summers where you came from? Just trying to get some context.

[HawaiiboundNelli]

I for one am sure looking forward to the "extreme heat" of Hawaii lol. Here in Illinois its consistently between 95 and 105 all summer long, and with the humidity it feels even hotter. We don't have any breezes here either, so the trade winds of Hilo will be incredibly awesome! Of course, now we are getting into the winter months here where the temps are in the 40's and below...soon we will be in the 20s and 30s most of the time, dipping into the teens and dealing with snow...luckily I will be gone from here in 5 weeks and staying with my parents in Texas up until our move day January 11th. I am really looking forward to that day...Hawaii here we come!
Thanks so much for the great list Sweetbeet! I loved it, and it made me want to hop on that plane right now! I'm not looking forward to the bugs, as I have a bit of a phobia about them, but I will learn to deal. I've gotten much better about them since having kids and becoming a single mom, since I'm the one who has to kill them now haha. And in Hawaii I won't even have my teenage son to call on anymore so it will be all up to me! ugh! Somehow I don't think my boyfriend will want to come running from 6 blocks away to capture a centipede or a cane spider for me hahaha.
Chanelle

[alohakat]

Great list. Put a smile on my face and felt like a 2-minute vacation. You'll be one who stays .

[Mar0]

I hate that recycling does not accept tin cans.

Sweet, have you been to Menehune Market? The manju there is the best on the island. It is on the highway , mauka side, near Lawai Post Office.