Green Lake with JIm

Yesterday, Jim and I went to a place called Green Lake about 6 miles from Polestar. We scrounged up two bikes and used our free Friday Afternoon to explore Pahoa a bit more.

This awesome woman Smiley and a super nice dude Gerald run this Fruit Stand on friday.
They charge 5 bucks to get into their property and swim in the Green Lake. There is also
 a hike you can go on that gets you up high on this little mountain. From the top on a clean day you
can see Mauna Kea, the largest mountain in Hawai'i. If you measured from the sea floor to the top of Mauna Kea it would be larger than Mt Everest.

Anyhow, we rode our bikes to the Green Lake and it was wild. There is tons of dense forest
on this property, fruit farms, oranges, apple bananas, passion fruits. This place seemed
like out of a movie where you get stranded on some island and find an amazing lake down in the basin of
some jungle mountain.

There is all this alga like plant stuff all over the water. It wasn't slimy at all though, really unique.
It looks like stuff that would fall off a juniper bush. No one else was there so we took out this red
raft we saw on the shore and paddled out to the area where the water surface was clear.

I brought my snorkel but when I went underwater I couldn't see anything. It was just sun rays and green
floaty things everywhere. I was actually scared to dive down because I couldn't see anything. This
place had such a powerful erie sense. It was stunning to see this place as an isolated ecosystem of birds and dragon flies, fish, huge spiders...

On the way out we talked to Smily and Gerald. I told her I wanted to buy some fruit but I only had
2 bucks. So I picked up this squash that had a name I can't remember. Being satisfied with my purchased I began to leave. She was like "well you get a lot more than that for 2 bucks!"

She ended up giving me 4 oranges, 4 bananas, 3 grapefruit, 3 passion fruit, 1 sweet lemon, 2 pink lemons, and a squash. FOR 2 BUCKS!.

Hit up fruit stands at the end of the day and you make out like a bandit...
We biked passed some papaya fields and stopped to take pictures =
Jim is a character. He's a writer from Tennessee, here in Hawaii for a week on vacation. He
stayed at Polestar because He's really into community living. We had a great talk on the lake about
different communities working toward off grid living.

coolest tree ever

stuff on the water...

love this. exactly what was swimming in my head when i wanted to explore Hawai'i

endless interesting jungle roads

papaya!!

Where I live =)

the road home

my welcome home sign ever day 

Lunch With Les, Warmpond, Kirtan Potluck

This was another rad day at Polestar. Les is my friend from the UK. He's really an awesome dude, loves sign songs while we work landscaping the property. Always up for a good laugh. He's also an awesome
Macrobiotic Cook who lectures all over.

We hacked at some huge cane grass all day and got down on the weed waker.

You have to keep the grass around the solar panels highly maintained. Any shadow can inhibit
the capacity to catch the sun so weed whacking and  cutting using the swing blade are an
important grounds task. Some of this cane grass gets so huge it can be 20 feet tall with huge gnarly stalks.
When its all cut its like crab grass but when it isn't maintained its a bear.

After lunch we made an awesome vegan Macrobiotic meal and had a pretty easy going day.

Lunch and Dinner are some of my most prized moments here. Everyone is a great cook and signs up
for a meal. 10-25 people sit down regularly for Breakfast Lunch and Dinner and its a real treat to
enjoy a great meal with so many people every day.

After Lunch Burnadette, Lyssa, Jim and I went to a local hot spot called Warm Pond. Ocean water
fills this little man made inlet and its just so warm. Fish are all over, people are just hangn out, taking a quick dip or swimming all day

Tent City, Mine is the second down the row on the left =)

Freshly Trimmed Cane grass around the solar panels, *Clears Throat*...

Les In the Kitchen Gettn Down on the Macrobiotic Lunch! This Pictures says it all. 

My good Friend Heidi, we connected over water fasting

A small lunch crowd, usually its over 20, from left to right is Jim from Tennessee, Ann, Lyssa, Me, Lisa, Sean, and Steve

The Warm Ponds, so great for a quick dip after getting done working 

The House at night

Wednesday Kirtan Potluck

Every Wednesday Polestar opens up its doors to the community and hosts Kirtan. Group singing
of some traditional Hawaiian  songs, and others from around the world. Later everyone gathers
in the main living room and has a potluck. I met some really friendly and knowledgeable people from
around Pahoa. Such a fulfilling day...

Black Rock Beach

Last Saturday a few of us went to Black Sand Beach.
Never Saw black sand like this, its super fine black lava rock, really soft.
Such a cool consistent black color.

Every Saturday and Sunday night there are huge drum circles. I haven't gone yet but maybe tomorrow night!

This is a great story... So Maxwell bought me a really fantastic pain of goggles and snorkel. You can go underwater with the snorkel and it wont fill up with water. The goggles are super nice and its just the
best pair I've ever used. So going to this beach was the first chance I had to use them and I was really excited.

This beach was a clothes optional beach btw. So were at the beach and just as you would expect,
only gross people are the ones naked, especially old wrinkly dudes.

I get in the water (clothed) and Im just so excited to use my rad underwater gear. The fish are right
up on the shore line, super close just a few feet out. The lava rocks are so fun to look at and Im really
just getting lost in this new underwater world.  I lose my orientation for a moment and realize Im right next to something I though was a fish on my right. I look over and Im a foot from this old naked dude
just doggie paddling around. No mistakes now, that was not a fish...I didn't use the snorkel the rest of the day...

Les Driving To the Beach, Im in the back of the truck, have'n a blast gettn tossed around on these crazy windy roads =)

Polestar Property, Day 2

After I got settled in I took some time last week to poke around the Polestar's property to get to know it a bit better. I found a chance while everyone was out doing their thing to get some good pictures of inside the main living room too.

Fruit Trees, Bananas, Chicken coupe, Solar Shed, Water Catchment, 

Work In the Apple Banana Orchard

A few Minutes of footage in the Bananas on You Tube

The Main House

Chicken Coupe

Greenhouse
...Ive Since cleaned it up so Ill post the progress pictures later...

24 solar panels

About $1,000 per panel for material, batteries, etc.., w/o labor when all is said and done

Deep Cycle Marine Batteries with Sine Inverters, There is a back up gas genny for cloudy days and night use.

sine inverters

                        Video of Polestar's Rain Water Catchment system 13,000 Gallon holding talk 

Yoga and Meditation, Prayer Temple

Banana Trees in the distance, Abiu, Lime, Lemon, Passion Fruit in the foreground

Norbu in the Living room

Norbu on the left and Sylvia on the right. My Austrian and Hungarian friends =) 

Dana's Beautiful Art Work, if you see on the left
she incorporated the wall light into the top of the volcano =)

OFF THE GRID LIVING IN PAHOA! =)