Officialdom in Hilo

[Kyle]We would really have liked to sleep in, but we had to get up after only eleven hours of sleep to go clear Customs and deal with various other administration related to our arrival.

Leaving the dinghy at the beach, so much quieter than the weekend.

We rowed to the now deserted beach at the park and pulled our dinghy up into a smoother spot than the day before. It was a short walk past warehouses and big oil tanks, then we were at the Customs office. The officer there was really nice. He was unconcerned about our lack of a zarpe from Ecuador. He understood tsunami warnings, although Hawai’i didn’t get one that day. We chatted for a bit and he even helped by giving directions and recommending a few places to go.

Next was the harbormaster’s office in Radio Bay. It turns out we didn’t need to see them since we weren’t moored there, but they were also very nice and called up the correct guy for us. He was in town at the government offices. That was a little inconvenient, but we lucked out and left at just the right time to catch a bus there.

On our wanderings we came across the tiny but very active fish market, and loved this ice dispenser we found down the street... Any one for ice?

Both he and the bus driver were very nice, extremely helpful. (I’m detecting a theme, here!) The paperwork for our temporary mooring permit seems very convoluted, just so we could anchor, but he did his part with good cheer and chatted away with us at the same time.

Beautiful trees and gardens are everywhere

We decided to walk back home through many of the parks that replaced the neighborhoods that were wiped out in the tsunamis. They were all very beautiful. We both decided we were really taken with the Banyan trees. Each giant tree is an enormous labyrinth of tiny, intertwining trunks. They look like paradises for little birds and lizards. I don’t know how parents keep their kids from climbing all over them or playing hide-and-seek in them.

We still couldn’t find a convenient pizza place, but honestly after that long trip, what we were really craving were fresh vegetables. An all-you-can-eat salad bar at a restaurant near the dinghy filled that bill nicely.

Begonia was in need of a proper tidying and we were way behind on emails and work memos (and the blog!). It was time for a day (or two) on the boat catching up.