Christmas Car Rentals

While it may seem a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, you should know that the car rental companies have already reported that there are NO rentals available for the week of Christmas, except on the island of Oahu.  So, if you are planning an outer-island Christmas vacation, you may not be able to find a rental car!

Of course, you might get lucky and someone may cancel their reservations for the same type and time that you were hoping to get.  But, short of that happening, you may want to re-think your vacation destination or timing.

Add-On Taxes and Fees

If you have never rented a car in Hawaii before, or if its been a while since you’ve done so, this seems to be an appropriate time to mention the litany of add-on fees and taxes that you will face when its time to pay up.  Fortunately, most car rental companies include these additional charges in your final estimate.  So, don’t base your expenses on the base car rental rates.

Here are fees you can expect to face:

• Concession Recoupment Fee (11.11%)
• Vehicle Reg. & Weight Tax ($0.45/day)
• Sales Tax 4.166% (Oahu 4.712%)
• Hawaii State Road Tax ($3.00/day)
• Customer Facility Charge ($4.50/day)

If you’ve been adding it up, that’s an extra $7.95/day plus 15.276% in taxes (15.822% on Oahu).  The disparity between Oahu and the outer islands tax rate is the Rail Tax to offset the cost of building the controversial, on again-off again, rail transportation system planned for Honolulu.

[The current status of which is “on-hold” by order of the Federal Appellate Court until such time as the City & County of Honolulu provides additional details on historical sites that might be affected by the rail system.  But, that’s a whole ‘nudder topic!]

Reserve Early To Avoid Being Wheel-less!

This shortage of rental cars will not only cause headaches in just securing a rental vehicle for your vacation, but you should also not expect to see any real bargains in car rental rates, either.   You can anticipate that a full-size car, SUV, or mini-van will cost $99/day and up…plus those add-on fees/taxes, mentioned earlier.

So, consider yourself forewarned and best of luck in securing your rental car!

Kona Coffee

While Kona Coffee is recognized throughout the world as an exceptionally smooth drink, Hawaii offers more than just the famous Kona Coffee. In the last 20 years, more and more growers have turned to coffee to replace pineapple and sugar cane as cash crops. Hawaii has the unique growing conditions that coffee plants thrive in. Coffee was introduced to Hawaii on the island of Kauai, but was wiped out by disease there.

Everyone who drinks coffee has heard of Kona Coffee, coffee that has been grown in a belt approximately 1 mile wide and 30 miles long, primarily on the slopes of Hualalai, one of 5 volcanoes that make up the Big Island of Hawaii. Grown between 800′ and 2500′ elevation with temperatures that never dip below 55F, but cooler nights to slow the ripening process of coffee cherries.

Photo courtesy of:  Tor Johnson/Hawaii Tourism Authority

The slower the coffee cherry takes to mature, the larger the bean and higher its water content, all of which adds to the flavor. Another benefit of this location is the cloud cover that moves in almost every afternoon, preventing it from getting too much sun. Coffee plants do not do well if it gets too much sun, which can burn its leaves and hurt the plant. (In other areas, coffee farms actually plant larger shade trees throughout the farms to provide shade and shelter from the afternoon sun.)

A final ingredient that makes Kona an ideal growing area for coffee is the excellent drainage that the lava provides. Along with the afternoon clouds, you also get some rain, but both the drainage and the slopes that are found in this area assure that the plants don’t sit in too much water.

Not Just From Kona Any More

So, what Mother Nature has provided is the ideal growing conditions for coffee plants to thrive. Many of these same elements can be found in other areas throughout the islands and coffee is now being grown on just about every island. There are also other areas of the Big Island that grow coffee including the up and coming Kau District, where Kau Coffee is gaining its own reputation as an excellent coffee.

Coffee is also grown on all the other major islands; Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. While Kona still is the name that comes to mind most often when people think of Hawaiian coffee, there are more choices than ever.

A final note on buying coffee from Hawaii. Several years ago, the state of Hawaii passed legislation requiring retailers to label their products as either pure (100%) or as a blend (10%). If you’re buying a blended Hawaiian coffee, you should know that you’re buying the “idea” of Hawaiian coffee, since 90% of it is coming from sources outside of Hawaii.

So, while it does cost more to buy 100% Hawaiian Coffee, whether that’s Kona, Kau, or whatever, spend the extra money and buy the 100% product. Worse case scenario, you can go home and make your own 50/50 blend if you want to stretch your coffee dollars. Not only will you be getting a better coffee, but your 50/50 blend will work out cheaper than the 10% blend would have cost you!

However, if you are buying coffee as gifts to take back to others, your dollar will obviously go further buying one of the many blends.

The Restoration and Protection of Hawaii’s Many Islets

I recently stumbled across a website that I found very enlightening and interesting.  If you are concerned about the environment at all, and the protection of Hawaiian wildlife, flora and fauna in particular, I think you might also find this website of interest.  It is run by the Offshore Islet Restoration Committee and includes pictures and brief descriptions of many of the endemic (found only in Hawaii) and indigenous (native to Hawaii, but also found elsewhere), as well as some of the problematic invasive (introduced) species of plants and animals.

For example, did you know that the common Lantana was introduced to Hawaii in 1858 as an ornamental shrub because of its colorful flowers?  I still find it hard to believe that people on the mainland “buy” lantana to take home and plant as part of their landscaping.

You may be as surprised as I was at the number of islets there are just surrounding the 8 major islands:

• Big Island…4 islets
• Maui…13 islets, including Molokini
• Kahoolawe…2 islets
• Lanai…5 islets
• Molokai….9 islets
• Oahu…16 islets, counting North and South Mokulua separately
• Kauai…1 islet
• Niihau…2 islets

These islets act as micro-ecosystems due to their isolation.  It is this isolation that allows for more success in controlling invasive species compared to other sites that are hard to control.  There are plants and animals that have been identified to inhabit some of these islets that are found nowhere else in Hawaii, and in many cases, the world.

The website also describes some of the efforts underway to restore and preserve the many islets that surround the major Hawaiian islands.  The following was copied from their website @www.hawaiioirc.org:

INTRODUCTION TO THE ISLETS

“Hawaii’s offshore islets are the last refuge for many rare coastal species and hold the hope for becoming a safe haven for many more. Many islets are relatively isolated from the threats that plague Hawaii’s native species, over 470 of which are listed as threatened, endangered or candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. Because of this isolation, many offshore islets in Hawaii still harbor rich coastal resources, including 22 species of seabirds in the largest Hawaii seabird colonies outside of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Five new species were first described from Hawaii offshore islets. Eight threatened and endangered species are currently found on the islets and 8 additional federal species of concern are present. The islets are home to large numbers of endemic (i.e., species found only in Hawaii) plants, insects, birds, and marine creatures. See the ‘Species’ section of this website for more information. Twelve islets are federally designated critical habitat for endangered plants and are considered essential to the recovery of these species. The ‘Islets’ section of this website includes information on the 43 largest and most biologically important islets.”  From www.hawaiioirc.org

And, I also wanted to share this list of conservation efforts you can take to minimize your impact on this fragile environment.

ISLET ETIQUETTE

Visitors to offshore islets can help conserve these fragile coastal areas by observing the following rules of ‘islet etiquette’:

• Obey all posted signs

• Leave pets at home and don’t release unwanted pets into the wild

• Stay away from all seabirds and bird nesting areas; many birds nest in burrows and it’s easy to crush the burrows by accident

• Check your clothes and gear (especially shoes and socks) before you come to the islets and remove any seeds or insects

• Pack out everything that you pack in

• Don’t damage the plants

• Remember that camping and campfires are not allowed

From www.hawaiioirc.org

Share the Awareness

While living in paradise is a wonderful thing, it also comes with some responsibilities to preserve the very things that make it paradise.  Just as we’ve become environmentally conscious when it comes to treading lightly on the reefs, protecting whales, dolphins, and turtles, there are hundreds of lesser known species of plants and animals that also need protection.  Unfortunately, the very fact that they are endangered or threatened means that we don’t come into contact with them often, so we are less conscious of their existence or need for protection.

Hopefully, you’ll share this article and help to spread the word and raise awareness that these species need our protection even more.

Hawaii Helicopter Tours – The Best Air Tours to the Big Island, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai

By Mandy Metzger

Author: Blake Cole

Kona coffee from the Kona region of the Island of Hawaii is a preferred choice all around the planet, and for great cause. It offers a robust, full bodied flavor that you can’t unearth in any other coffee. Kona coffee is produced on the Island of Hawaii, also recognized as the Big Island. Most of the coffee estates found in Kona (called the gold coast of Hawaii, not, as you may perhaps surmise, simply because of the dollars to be produced there, but mainly because of the hue of the fish that were discovered along this coast in huge numbers) are owned and operated by nearby families who have been operating the estates for generations since 1890.

The Kona coffee band found along the west coast of the Big Island, including the town of Holualoa, offers just the right quantity of rainfall, sun and clouds to produce a superior coffee cherry, although the coffee plant itself is located in other regions of the world. The height of each estate contributes to the unique character and subtle differences in flavor among the coffees produced on each Kona coffee farm. Roasting methods and processes also add to variations within the Kona coffee product line.

There are diverse grades of Hawaiian Kona coffee to decide from, depending on the high quality and size of the beans harvested. Even though several firms supply 100% Kona coffee, you have to be alert not to select a brand that is labeled as a Kona blend as these mixes often contain no extra than ten percent Kona coffee. The remainder of the beans come from lower quality supplies from Brazil, Indonesia, and Africa.

The coffee is sun dried on location on the island, and then roasted to best light, medium, and dark roasts. The beans are freshest just following roasting, but purchasing coffee in hermetically sealed packages and then freezing them will give a longer shelf life, and, in reality, can assist to make the coffee survive up to six months.

It isn’t probable to use the brand name on the package to decide regardless of whether the product is really Hawaiian Kona coffee. This is due to the fact as previously talked about, various items label their coffee as originating from Kona, whilst only a tiny amount of it essentially is. Instead you will have to search for the fine print and the list of ingredients on the bag in order to figure out whether or not the coffee is what it appears to be: 100% roasted beans from the Kona district of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Medium roasted coffees have a tendency to take on a robust, lively flavor. Some call medium coffees full city or Vienna roasts. Darker roasts are a lot more full bodied in flavor and typically include much less caffeine than their counterparts. They’re thought to be French or Italian roast methods. If you check out the Big Island of Hawaii, you can effortlessly uncover the coffee region where quite a few farms and processing facilities are situated. You can take tours and understand all about how Kona coffee from the Kona district of Hawaii is made.

But no matter whether you can make it to the island or not, there is plenty of chance to delight in the robust tastes of 100% true Kona coffee. Even though you may well not be ready to discover a 100% Kona blend at your neighborhood brick and mortar retailer, you ought to be ready to acquire precisely what you are searching for directly on the World wide web. If you have by no means tried coffee from Kona before, take into consideration trying the medium roasted blend in order to get a wonderful feel of the correct flavor of the 100% pure Kona coffee beans.

With a modest amount of buyer awareness, you can find the unique gift of 100% pure Kona coffee. Then, you can continue on to discover the several variations of tastes produced by the various Kona coffee farms. Each Kona coffee product is one-of-a-kind, since no two farms will produce Kona coffee at exactly the same height, water supply, fertilization, and processing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/the-numerous-varieties-of-hawaiian-kona-coffee-4219653.html

About the Author

Blake Cole is a student of 100% Pure Kona Coffee and its history on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Twenty or thirty years ago, “fine dining in Hawaii” would have probably been considered an oxy-moron.  The only images of eating in Hawaii was of poi served at a luau or the ever present Spam.  However,  fine dining in Waikiki has become as commonplace today as it was lacking back then.  Its a melding of European techniques with ingredients from Asia and the Pacific.  And, yes, some of the best restaurants are in the hotels!

Of course, you can always go to a traditional Luau, a feast of traditional foods including fish, pork, sweet potatoes, and taro cooked in an underground oven, called an imu. They are put on mainly for tourists either at one of the large hotels or in a secluded beach location away from Waikiki and usually include a Polynesian dance show.

Being multi-cultural, where East meets West with a Polynesian flair, Hawaii offers a wide spectrum of culinary delights. There is a wide variety of restaurants offering specialties from all over the world – French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Hawaiian and many more.  To experience fine dining in Waikiki, all you have to do is turn to one of the many hotels, possibly the very hotel you are staying in.

The Outrigger Reef Hotel’s Shore Bird Beach Broiler is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Their all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet is a diner’s delight of fresh fruit, pastries, egg dishes and assortment of meats, with the famous Waikiki beach and Diamond Head as an idealic backdrop.

For meat lover’s, the original Chuck’s Steakhouse in the Edgewater Hotel is one of the best for beef, as is the A1 Steakhouse & Oyster Bar in the Marc Suites.

And, when it comes to seafood, Sarentos Top of the “I” (Ilikai Hotel and Suites), offer fish preparations with a northern Italian touch.  There is the Lobster & Crab House, located in the recently renovated Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center where a large tank of live Maine lobsters greets you so that you may hand-pick your dinner. The Halekulani Hotel offers an elegant seafood menu at two on-site restaurants; Orchids Restaurant, in an open-air setting and La Mer, a AAA Diamond Award restaurant where the seafood is prepared in a French Provencial style.

As you might expect, you can’t discuss fine dining in Hawaii without talking about Asian offerings.  For Japanese cuisine, Kobe at the edge of Waikiki, at the end of Ala Moana Boulevard, and Tanaka of Tokyo with three locations in Waikiki, are great choices. A myriad of choices are available for Chinese cuisine everywhere. Lotus Moon Restaurant in the Sheraton Princess is one of the best. Then there’s China Garden on Kuhio Avenue and Lau Yee Chai on Kalakaua Avenue. For Thai cuisine, Bangkok Lanai located on Seaside Avenue and Keo’s In Waikiki on Kuhio Avenue are great places.

Can’t agree on what to eat?  Try the Colony restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Hotel.  2010 Diners’ Choice Award Winner, one of the few Waikiki restaurants offering a steak, seafood and sushi mix.

If you’re looking for something more traditional with Hawaiian music and a location right on Waikiki Beach, then Dukes Restaurant and Barefoot Bar is the place to be. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, nothing beats walking up on a sunny afternoon after a refreshing dip or sunbathing, ordering one of their signature drinks, and enjoy a little people watching. Try their Tropical Itch (passion fruit juice, vodka, rum, and orange Curaçao, served with a local bamboo back scratcher…yours to take home) or the classic Mai Tai.

And, if you’re looking for something more casual and less expensive, there is always one of my favorite places for lunch, the Food Court in the Ala Moana Shopping Center, just a couple miles from Waikiki, and just so you don’t think you can’t have a  more reasonably priced meal in Waikiki, Kuhio Avenue is lined with snack outlets and fast-food franchises.

For that matter, there are a hundred mom and pop eateries that offer up great food throughout Honolulu for the budget minded.  The key to having a great eating experience in Hawaii is to be open-minded and willing to try something new.  There is no better place to experience the wide variety of foods available, prepared at  high levels of quality, anywhere in the world, than Honolulu.  As you can see, fine dining in Hawaii is no longer the oxy-moron it once was.

The Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, better known as HC&S, is the last surviving sugar plantation in Hawaii.   Located on the island of Maui, it was the first business venture of Alexander & Baldwin, in 1869.  That’s when boyhood friends, Samuel Alexander and Henry Baldwin, purchased 12 acres and after adding another 559 acres, planted their first crop in 1870.

Alexander came up with plans to build an irrigation system that would divert much needed water from streams on the slopes of Haleakala to water their 3,000 acres of cane and other nearby plantations over 17 rugged miles of rain forest, ridges and ravines. Thus was born the Hamakua Ditch and the Hamakua Ditch Company, now known as the East Maui Irrigation Company, became the oldest subsidiary of A&B.

With the 1948 merger of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. and Maui Agriculture Co., HC&S became a division of Alexander & Baldwin.  Today, HC&S is the sole survivor of dozens and dozens of sugar plantations that once provided tens of thousands of jobs and one of the backbone industries of Hawaii.  How long will HC&S continue in the sugar industry?

Well, they have initiated studies this summer in conjunction with the University of Hawaii to look into alternative crops that might be more efficient.  HC&S is dedicated to the production of energy and in particular,  bio-energy crops production.  Bagasse, the fibrous remains of the stalk once the sugar has been squeezed out,  happens to be a very high bio-mass product.

HC&S has been burning bagasse for decades to generate  electricity.   HC&S burns 500,000 tons of bagasse a year, which produces energy equivalent to 500,000 barrels of oil.  This not only provides for all of their energy needs, but also provides 7-8% of all the power used on Maui, which is distributed by Maui Electric.

With all the emphasis on ethanol as a fuel alternative to oil, many have questioned whether the land would be better used to grow corn.  Ethanol derived from sugarcane has a much greater positive energy balance compared to corn-derived ethanol because of higher biomass yields.

In simple terms fermentation, the basic process for ethanol production, uses sugar as its feedstock.  Complex carbohydrates such as starches in corn must be broken down to basic sugar units to achieve fermentation. Sugarcane in its natural form already contains high levels of sugar making it a most efficient feedstock for ethanol.

HC&S continues to look at ways to have the most efficient operations possible.  Hopefully, that will involve the continued growing as sugarcane as a commercial crop.  It would be a shame to lose this last connection to such a historical industry.  The sugar and pineapple industries are the primary reasons why Hawaii has the diverse population that it does.

Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Scottish, Scandinavian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Puerto Rican, Afro-American, Korean and Filipino immigrants to Hawaii supplemented the Hawaiian workforce.   Hawaii has only two remaining pineapple producers and the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company is the last reminder of the once dominant sugar industry.

Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire

who makes her home in Kilauea at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  There are many stories of her origins, many of which are similar to stories of Maori’an legends in New Zealand.

In addition to the legends of how Pele came to make her home on the Big Island, there are also stories told of how she appears to people from time to time as either an old woman or a beautiful young lady.  She can be found hitchhiking along the roads or knocking on doors asking for something to eat.

One story, who’s origins have been long forgotten, say that a young couple was driving along one night and picked up an old woman who was hitchhiking and the old lady got in the back with their infant daughter.  They talked for a while and then there was a prolonged silence.

When the wife turned to ask a question of the old lady, the infant was sitting alone in the back seat.  They had not stopped, had not heard the door open, she had simply disappeared.  At other times, stories are told of picking up a beautiful, young woman who similarly disappears from the car.

Pele’s First Car Ride

The earliest recorded case of Pele hitching a ride in an automobile was in 1925.  As the story goes, a young Japanese man was driving his new Ford on the road to Kona in the Kau/South Kona area.  There was an old lady walking along the road, and first one, then another car passed her by without pausing, and this young man in the 3rd car, stopped and asked where she was going.

When she indicated that she was going to a place not far from where he himself was headed, he offered her a ride.  Along the way, they soon past the first two cars, both of which were broken down alongside the road and she smiled as they passed each one.

As they got close. to his destination, he told her that they were almost where he was going, but that if she needed to go further, he would take her.  When he did not receive an answer, he turned and found that she had vanished!

House Saved From Lava Flow

In another story, an old lady was knocking on doors asking for something to eat and everyone had turned her away.  Finally, she got to one house and the woman gave her some food to eat and drink.  As the old lady was leaving, she turned to the gracious homeowner and said, “The volcano will erupt soon and when it does, tie a red piece of cloth to each corner of your property and your home will be protected.”

As you have already guessed, the volcano did indeed erupt and the lady did as she had been instructed.  When the lava flow reached the property, it went around their house and the house was spared, while all those who had turned away the old woman days earlier, were destroyed.

One of the most renown believers in Pele was Uncle George Lycurgus, the owner of the famous Volcano House hotel, located on the edge of Halemaumau Crater.   One story is that he and his friends had joined a group of Hawaiians one night in the 1920’s, for a luau at the edge of Halemaumau.

The Volcano House

At the edge of their luau, some 75′ away, he saw an old woman with long, scraggly white hair, standing with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders.  She walked towards the edge of the pit and when one of the group asked if she wanted to join them, she declined, saying that she had work to do.

And, simply turned and walked toward the pit…and disappeared.  Thinking she had fallen in, they all rushed to see what happened to her, but she was nowhere to be seen.  The Hawaiians all figured that she had to be Pele.  And, almost immediately, the volcano started to erupt!

Sometime in the early 1930’s,  the Volcano House caught fire and threatened to burn completely down as the wind pushed the fire through the hotel.  Uncle George is said to have cried out in desperation, “God…can nothing be done to save this place from complete destruction?” and with that, the winds changed direction and stopped the fire from spreading further.  Pele?  Something else?

Well, Uncle George was convinced it was Madam Pele stepping in to help save his hotel.  In 1932, when business was doing badly, he placed a bottle of gin and a lei of ohelo berries in the crater as an offering to Pele and that night, the crater began erupting, spurring business for his hotel once again.

The Volcano House is undergoing an almost complete refurbishing and should be open for business once again later this year.  It has been closed for sometime now as the work progressed.  Its located across the road from the Visitor’s Center, so make sure you stop by to visit this historical hotel.

Fortunately, you won’t have to sacrifice any gin to Pele, as she has been quite active and is not showing any signs of letting up any time soon.   It’s definitely a “must see” on anyone’s visit to the Big island of Hawaii!